Carribean Beauty

Wow! 4 months after I first stepped on the South American continent in Buenos Aires and 3 months after I reached the very Southern tip in Ushuaia we have made it all the way to Caracas at the Northern end of the continent (and as I type these lines we are already back in Switzerland). What an incredible journey it has been. From the stunning natural beauties in Argentina, the impressive archeological sites in Peru to the exotic rhythms and joy of life in Brazil/Colombia. We are taking so many memories, so many stories with us – I guess we will bore you with them until the end of our lives… Personally, I have rediscovered my love for South America and I am deeply impressed how much progress has been achieved in countries like Brazil, Peru and Colombia over the last decade. No doubt, the future looks much better and the potential is enormous…

We spent all of the final days of our trip in Cartagena, Colombia. It’s a beautiful, well-preserved colonial city on Colombia’s Carribean coast (did you know Colombia has exposure to the Carribean?) and practically the only place in Colombia that has been “discovered” by international tourists. For me Cartagena is hands down the most beautiful city on the continent of South America and I wish I had bought real estate there when I first visited 10 years ago (these days celebrities like Mick Jagger, Enrique Iglesias and Donald Trump (!) are moving in and real estate prices are now among the highest in South America). But it’s not just the historic center that makes Cartagena such a wonderful experience. It’s the whole package of being the safest city in Colombia, the nice beaches (the only place to escape the heat), the laid back Carribean lifestyle, the friendly locals, the Salsa and Vallenato music blasting from every corner and the wonderful balmy nights when a bottle of cold Aguila beer just seems to taste better (and go down faster) than anywhere else in the country. All the nights we spent drinking beer (and watching people) at the beautiful Plaza Santa Domingo amidst all kind of artists, singers and other fellow tourists… It was as close to paradise as you can get and I was secretly wishing that the nights would never end and we’d never have to get up from that chair…

Our arrival in Cartagena was very well timed – 19th of May, my birthday! Of course that was no coincidence. I have had friends there for 10 years and I thought it would be a great idea to celebrate with them. They are actually more like my Colombian family. The welcome after 10 years was so warm, I could not believe it. There was a big sign saying “Bienvenido a casa Chibcombiano” (welcome home chibchombiano – my Colombian nickname) and the whole family was there including neighbors and cousins from Baranquilla etc. I had no idea that I had left such a lasting impression… Also realized quickly why the family seemed so much bigger than last time. There are six new kids on the block – viva Colombia! So we spent my birthday night remembering the good old times, drinking whiskey and beer and eating birthday cakes. It was wonderful to spend my birthday so far from home but still have so many loved ones around. It was overwhelming and I was glad we got to hang out in Cartagena for some additional days.

In terms of day time activities there was not much going on in Cartagena – it was simply too hot! So we spent our days on the beach or at the Islas del Rosario. We undertook one trip to Moroa with the goal of buying high quality hammocks at good prices. It turned into one of those adventures I described in my last report. About one hour outside of Cartagena we run into a huge traffic jam and learn that a bridge has been closed for maintenance and will only reopen in 2 hours. So we get to wait for two hours in the middle of nowhere in the sweltering heat of early afternoon (with lots of nasty invisible mosquitos). Naturally it was the business of a life time for all the street vendors (one girl is cycling to the village and back just to sell me a Diet Coke) and I am always amazed how easy the locals take incidents like this (in Switzerland there would be riots). Fortunately, the bridge was re-opened after 2 hours and we still got to buy our hammocks. You can bet we will remember this trip every single time before we doze off in that comfy hammock…

One night while we were having beers at the Plaza Santo Domingo, we got a free lesson in how to conquer the heart of a Latin woman (or probably any woman for that matter). A beautiful young couple was seated at the table next to us and from there the story unfolded… Step 1 – the gentleman ordered a glass of champagne for the lady (and something stronger for himself). I guess this is as far as we can all follow, except the gentlement kept ordering drinks… Step 2 – the gentleman waves over a guitar player that plays and sings at their table for roughly 15min (it must have been a special guitar player since he did NOT sing Guantanamera). Step 3 – the gentlemen hires a Vallenato band to sing at their table. Vallenato is one of the traditional rhythms of coastal Colombia and is going through a huge revival (for a sample song, go to the end of this report). These guys sing with so much passion that even Gustavo and I get goosebumps. And the point is, they dont leave anymore. Gentleman buys them a couple of cervezas and they stick around for hours… Step 4 – about two hours later a horse drawn carriage arrives. Gentleman buys the coachman a cerveza and then he packs the whole band and his precious girl on the carriage – and off they go. If gentleman was not proposing that night, I dont know what the hell he was doing…!

For us it was also time to hit the road again but our bus trip to Caracas (24 hours!) and flight to Zurich (another 14 hours) was not nearly as romantic. Before we were allowed to leave Colombia I had to promise to my friends that I would return sooner than in 10 years. Well, that’s an easy one you’d think…

Anyway, I am now taking a break from backpacker’s life to decide about the next steps. Check back in a couple of weeks or even better send me an e-mail if you want to know what I am up to. Thanks to all of you for following my blog and for all the positive feedback!

Hasta pronto

Adrian

 

Here a sample of modern Vallenato (again with beautiful pictures of Colombia)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIBdN4jxtv0

Danger Zone?

The stereotypes about Colombia are pretty clear and strong: most dangerous country in the world, capital of kidnapping, the world’s largest supplier of cocaine… Well, we got news for you. Things have been changing down here (pretty much unnoticed by the rest of the world) ever since Alvaro Uribe took over presidency in 2002. He has been successfully fighting the guerilla thanks to a huge increase in the police force and the army plus tight security controls across the country (we got firsthand experience). This has had a big effect in the country side where previously the guerilla could do as they wished. It has also had a dramatic effect on the psychology of the Colombians. For the first time in 2-3 generations they now believe in a better future. With regard to the cocaine trade, the government claims that coca cultivation is down 70% since Uribe took over. Whatever the number is, there has been a shift in the psychology of coca farmers too. They have been incentivized to grow other things and noticed if there is no coca, there is no guerilla and hence no more violance. So, things are definitely moving in the right direction but there is still a lot of work to do. More than 50% of Colombians still live in poverty…

Security Check on the trip from Popayan to Cali

With regard to tourism, Colombia is refreshingly unspoilt (at least where we have been travelling so far). After all the organized “adventure” tours in Peru, adventure simply seems a natural byproduct of daily activities around here. The Colombians are very friendly, easy going and curious about the few foreigners that travel around here, so we get approached quite often and of course that is more fun when you speak Spanish…

Our gateway to Colombia was Bogota (2600m above sea leavel) where we were greeted by chili temperatures. It’s an enormous city that spreads as far as the eye can see. No wonder, all those 8 million people have to live somewhere… We toured the city for a day or two and were surprised by how modern, well organized (except for the traffic jams on Saturday), lively and safe it is. Actually when we went to Zona Rosa (entertainment district) on Thursday night I had to pinch myself a couple of times. People were dressed well, the bars and restaurants were sophisticated and best of all, people really seemed to enjoy themselves (Colombians are very good at enjoying the moment). Also liked the Gold museum, one of the most important ones in the world, with many pieces from pre-Colombian times (entrance fee $1!!)

Bogota as far as the eye can see…

One of the precious pieces at the Gold museum

The less pleasant side of Bogota was that we figured out we brought some souvenir from Peru with us. After one week of diarrhea we decided to go to a hospital where we were promptly attended and free of charge (in Switzerland they charge you $100 just for a handshake with the doctor). After a short examniation, the cute doctor (in high heels!) diagnosed some bacterial diarrhea and prescribed us one week of antibiotics and a very strict diet. Well, it actually did the trick even though we are both not back to 100% yet.

After sorting out the medical problems we caught a night bus to San Agustin (it must have been the Ice Express since the aircon was blasting at full power during the whole trip despite outside temperatures of only 15 degrees) in Southern Colombia. SA used to be in the red zone with lots of guerilla activity but thankfully it is now safe again to travel there. SA has some of the most important archeological sites in Colombia, mainly tombs and several hundred spectacular stone statues that acted as guardians of the tombs. All of this is the work of some pre-Columbian indigenous tribes and unfortunately very little is known about it. Also, only about 10% of the estimated sites have been uncovered due to a lack of funding.  Still it’s mysteriously beautiful and best of all, it is all set in a wonderful hilly semi tropical landscape dotted with fincas and plantations of all kinds. It was so beautiful and peaceful, my eyes could not get enough of it…

Tomb guardians at San Agustin

Beautiful landscape around San Agustin

 

On the second day in San Agustin we took a jeep tour to explore some more archeological sites. Our driver and guide was called Rafael, probably about 60 years old. He is a cute grandfatherly type of guy, happily honking for all the girls that crossed our way and then always giving us a mischievous smile. Even better than Rafael the person was his car – a red Chevrolet 4×4 with fare more than 200,000km under the belt and pretty much anything we touched seemed to be broken. Because of a weak battery the enginge would never start, so Gustavo and I always had to give a hand and push the car until Rafael was able to start the engine. The roads were also pretty bad, sometimes they resembled dry riverbeds more than roads. As if this was not enough of a rough ride, at some point the engine started sputtering and the car was jumping like a yearling. So we urged Rafael to pull over at a gas station and sure enough there was not enough gas in the tank… Well, that’s Colombia where everyone is improvising and trying to make ends meet every day. Turns out it was a good warm up for the day after…

The bus ride to Popayan was about 6 hours – no problem under normal circumstances. This road though (connecting two major tourist attractions)was almost completely unpaved and littered with potholes. Gustavo and I were jumping around our seats like pinballs, so we were pretty “shaken” upon arrival. Still it was worth the pain, since Popayan is one of the best preserved colonial towns in Colombia. The nick name is “ciudad blanca” (another one) because all the buildings in the center are painted in white. All the buildings seem in very good shape which is kind of miracle given the city has been flattened several times by earthquakes (the last time 25 years ago). Also, we were very surprised to be the only people wandering around with a camera – where are all those tourists…?

In the historic center of Popayan

Next stop was Cali. It is the Salsa capital of Colombia and supposedly has the hottest women. The taxi driver that took us to the hostel told us so many crime stories about Cali that we felt like turning around and hopping on the next bus. This was followed by a lecture of the friendly Swiss hostel owner that we should stay away from the transvestites in the area because apparently they are pretty aggressive and competitive. Well, we still took a walk around town and found it to be remarkably unremarkable. You could tell that the best days of the Cali cartel are a thing of the past. We still had high hopes for the night life, but I had to venture out alone (Gustavo had a headache).  I was warming up with a couple of beers in the bars of Avenida Sexta (it was the first night of drinking again after all those antibiotics!) and then heading to a club called Kukaramakara. It was the kind of place that I had been looking for but just after I ordered my first beer (around 12.45am) the lights went on. By law all parties in Cali are off by 1am (weekdays) – you gotta be kidding me?! So I asked the friendly lady behind the bar for some recommendation in Juanchito (salsa district a little out of town). Her answer? Dont go there, you gonna get killed… So I hopped on a taxi and went back home. It was a fun ride because the cab driver did not stop at any red light. Yes, Cali is still dangerous…

We are now in Medellin. To get here was another 10 hour bus ride on another Ice Express and again in very hilly and curvy terrain (Colombia has 3 major mountain cordilleras, that’s why all the roads seem to go either uphill or downhill), this time through the Zona Cafetera, the region that produces most of the famous Colombian coffee. Medellin was once labelled the most dangerous city in the world. This was in the Eighties when Pablo Escobar was the king of the city and the king of the cocaine trade. But thankfully things have changed and the most important natives these days are Alvaro Uribe (President) and Fernando Botero (Artist). Medellin is labelled as the city of eternal spring. At 1500m and surrounded on all four sides by rugged peaks it has a very balanced climate and beautiful views to all sides (most impressive actually at night when the whole city lights up like a christmas tree). The city center is bustling with activity while some of the residential areas are really quiet, clean and seem to offer good quality of life. Medellin is the only city in South Amercia that has a metro and the locals are very proud of it. It is surprisingly clean, efficient and some of the stations are even connected to the Metrocable (gondolas) that take you up on the hills (crossing over the shantytowns) from where you have amazing views of the city. We happened to arrive here on a Friday night and headed straight to Zona Rosa (of course) and again I could not believe my eyes. While the district was considerably smaller than in Bogota, the streets were overflowing with young people, all of them having a great time… Those kind of scenes were unthinkable just 10 years ago… Also highly recommended is the Museo de Antioquia which displays a number of paintings and sculptures of native son Fernando Botero.

One of the Botero sculptures in Medellin

View from El Penol, about 2hrs outside of Medellin

Anyway, after all those cities we are now heading towards Cartagena, a beautiful place on the Carribean Coast. We are slowly running out of time for this leg of the trip…

Hasta la proxima

Adrian

PS – for those of you who want to see more of Colombia, I recommend to watch the 2min video clip on YouTube (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzZe0gcc0eY

Radio Felicidad

After spending the first 2 weeks in the highlands of Peru, our arrival in Arequipa was also the arrival to the (semi) desert climate zone. I had no idea that pretty much all of Peru’s coastline is in the desert. Anyway, Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and is called the white city because most of the historic buildings in the beautiful city center have been built with white (!) volcanic stone. It is also the gateway to one of the major tourist attractions in Peru, the Colca Canyon, second deepest canyon in the world (thought to be more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!).

Historic center of Arequipa

Arequipa is flanked by snow capped volcano Misti (5822m) and Chachani Mountain (6000m). As you know, Swiss cannot resist the mountains and hence we decided to tackle Chachani. But this time we did it the easy way, by hiring a Toyota Landcruiser, two mountain bikes and a guide. Denis drives us to the base of Chachani at 4800m to the tunes of Radio Felicidad (90.3FM). This radio station was playing the weirdest 80s songs we had not heard in a long time. Little did we know that the radio station would follow us for the next 10 days and only once we got closer to the coast were the 80s overpowered by more appropriate salsa and merengue rhythms… The downhill ride was a blast – 52km of mostly unpaved road with some technically challenging sections. Fortunately no one fell off the mountain bike, no one was bitten by the stray dogs. When we got back to Arequipa we were just dusty and happy.

Mountainbiking at Chachani (Misti volcano in the background)

Dust would also be a major topic during our 3 day excursion to Colca Canyon. The canyon is about 150km from Arequipa and in order to get there we have to once again cross some major mountains with altitudes of up to 5000m. We drive through nature reserves with interesting microclimates and stop to see some amazing rock formations. Once we drive past Chivay we start to see the amazing landscapes of Colca Valley with the artistically terraced agricultural slopes dating from pre Inca times. We continue to drive towards Cabanaconde. The valley gets deeper, the terraces disappear and eventually it gets harder and harder to see the small river in the huge Canyon. Our last stop for the day is Cruz del Condor, one of the spots that keeps attracting busloads of tourists every day. Supposedly, this is one of the best spots to see Condors in Peru and Peru probably has the smallest Condor population of the Andean countries. We got lucky and could see several of these majestic birds relatively close up. It was truly a highlight to see them gliding through the air, effortlessly, without a single stroke of wing, just taking advantage of the thermal. Still, when they fly by the “noise” is very similar to the one of a glider… It was hard to leave this beautiful scenery behind us but once the sun disappeared behind the mountains (around 5pm) the air turned chilly and we instantly started longing for a hot shower… Next morning we started hiking down the canyon, descending a little more than 1000m to get to the bottom (at the deepest point the canyon is more than 3000m deep). While Gustavo El Tren took the lead, I decided to walk more slowly with the rest of the group. It took us more than 3 hours to get to the bottom and I had to eat a lot of dust because everyone kept sliding on the slippery path. Once we got to the bottom we were pleasantly surprised to find a swimming pool and some beer (even though it was warm), so we decided to hang out and take it easy for the rest of the day. However, down in the canyon the sun even disappeared at 4pm and from then on it got cold and dark and there was not really a whole lot to do.  So we ended up going to bed (to tent) at 8pm on a Saturday night – shame on us!! Next morning, our guide made us get up at 4am, so we could avoid hiking up the 1000m in the blazing sun. We started hiking at 5am and since I did not want to repeat my dust eating exercise I joined Gustavo at the front. We were in pretty good shape and arrived back at the top 1 1/2 hours later, way before the rest of the group and unfortunately also about 45 minutes before the first sunrays could warm our bodies. Man, it was freezing up there without sunshine… But somehow it also felt great. I dont remember the last time I have finished a major workout at 6.30am Sunday morning… From there it was just relax. We stopped at Cruz del Condor again, went to the hot springs and finally were driven back to Arequipa.

Agricultural terraces in Colca valley

King of the Andes – El Condor

In Arequipa we had no time to waste since the next highlight was already waiting for us – the famous Nazca lines. We took an overnight bus and arrived in Nazca 6am next morning. We did not sleep very long and not very well and I felt like I was dragged out of the bus in the middle of the night. I felt like a sleepwalker and in that condition we went straight to the airport (the best way to see the Nazca lines is by plane). Next thing I remember is that we found ourselves on a small 4 seater Cessna plane, flying across the desert with the pilot excitedly pointing out some astounding figures drawn in the sand. Some of them were difficult to recognize, even more difficult to photograph and then we also had to worry about our stomaches that started to turn funny… At some point I saw Gustavo fumbling with his little plastic bag but I quickly looked to the other side. And then it was all over, it all seemed like a surreal dream, but honestly my stomach was soooo happy to be firmly back on solid ground. It took us about an hour to recover and once we found our voices again we asked to be shipped back to the bus terminal. Next destination Huacachina, a small oasis in the desert.

The famous Nazca lines

Huacachina used to be a vacation place for the Peruvian elite but these days it is mostly inhabited by backpackers that are chilling out in the desert and enjoy sandboarding in the dunes. Naturally we signed up for the sandboarding too. So we hopped on a strange looking vehicle called sand buggy and thanks to a crazy driver felt like we were flying (oh please not again!) across the sand dunes. The funniest part was actually the 3 Italian gay men we had on board. They were screaming like little school girls at a Robbie Williams concert. The sandboarding was different from what I had expected. Instead of standing on the board like in snowboarding you actually lie on the board face down (and ideally with your mouth shut…). Some of the dunes were quite steep, the speed accordingly high but it felt very safe because the sand is normally quite soft (except for some of the speedbumps when I seriously started worrying about my manhood). When we got back to the hostel we realized that we had carried back half of the sand dunes in our pockets and shoes… Reportedly the cleaning ladies in Huacachina had to work overtime to clean up the whole mess…

Sandboarder in Huacachina

Currently we are in Lima, the capital of Peru. We arrived here after a brief stop in Paracas, a small beach resort about 4 hours south of the capital. The major attraction of Paracas are the Islas Ballestas, also called the poor man’s Galapagos (we are talking about a $10 vs $1000 price tag). The 2 hour boat trip to see the Islands was really worthwhile since we got to see dolphins, penguins, sea lions and a variet of different birds. Back onshore we got ourselves a big Ceviche (raw fish) lunch at a local restaurant. Ever since that day we have been carrying the diarrhea bug with us. Hmm…

Wildlife at Islas Ballestas

As for Lima, we have arrived here with no expectations since most of the large South American cities are nothing to write home about. However, we were pleasantly surprised how modern and cosmopolitan the place is (we even found a Hooters!). Our hostel is in a beautiful residential neighborhood called Miraflores where the streets are clean and safe. We have also been surprised by all the beautiful parks around here and the best part is that Miraflores is built on a cliff, about 80m above the Pacific. The views would be spectacular if it was not for the mist that has been hanging around for the last couple of days (mist in the desert, how does that work?). The city center of Lima is also beautifully maintained with lots of historic buildings/plazas and relaxing pedestrian areas that are patrolled by a cute police force (women in white uniforms…). With 10million inhabitants, Lima is by far the largest city in Peru but I kept wondering where all the people are hiding? The (few) neighborhoods we have seen are really really well organized and civilized… Best of all, Lima has developed a thriving restaurant industry with some very sophisticated menu’s. This is the icing on the cake after all the good food we have already enjoyed throughout the country!

Miraflores in the mist

Tomorrow it will be time to say goodbye to Peru since we are catching a flight to Bogota, Colombia. Peru was really fun and it has a great infrastructure for tourists making it easy to travel around (even if you dont speak Spanish). Unfortunately we have only seen the Southern part of the country but that will give us an excuse to come back! For now, I am very excited to return to Colombia, a country where I have travelled extensively 10 years ago (when it was still dangerous, hahaha!). I am sooooo curious to find out how it has changed in the last decade. Will keep you posted!

Hasta la proxima

Adrian

Of Incas and Gringos

After party town RdJ, Peru is quite a different experience… We arrived in Cuzco by plane via Rio, Sao Paulo, Lima and let me tell you it felt nice to use the plane once again after so many bus trips. Hopping in a taxi and driving to the hostel we noticed immediately the colonial character and charme of the city. Apparently Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America, originally built by the Incas, and it is really a beautiful and impressive place. Gee, if those walls and cobblestone streets could talk… Second thing we noticed is that we felt kind of dizzy and were breathing like old steam trains after just a short uphill walk. Well, Cuzco is at an altitude of 3400m (higher than Mt Fuji!) which is quite a leap from the beaches of RdJ. Amazingly at day time the temperature still rises to the 20s (celsius) and the sun is burning down very strongly. Night time is a different story though. All you want then is some warm clothing and a hot shower (and I have to admit that I was dreaming more than once about the wonderfully heated toilet seats they have in Japan. Later on I would have been happy just to have a toilet seat at all…).  Cuzco is also the tourist capital of Peru and yes, there are a lot of gringos around here. Machu Pichhu and Cuzco are at the top of the list for every Peru traveller and hence it is no surprise that tourism accounts for 70% of the local economy. The downside of this is that trips on the Inca Trail have to be booked one year in advance (I guess it did not help much that we started reading Lonely Planet Peru only 2 weeks before arriving there), that prices have been skyrocketing (they seriously charge USD220 for a 10 hour train ride from Cuzco to Puno now) and that they seem to sell Pizzas on every corner (despite the many delicious local specialities). Well, talking about local customs, coca tea is supposed to help you getting over altitude sickness, so I was all over the stuff in the first couple of days (maybe a little too much because I cannot go anywhere close to coca these days). And for the record, we also had lama and alpaca on our plates but the guinea pig project is still on hold (childhood memories anyone?)…

Plaza de Armas and city center of Cuzco

The ruins of Sacsayhuaman, close to Cuzco

After 2 days of taking it easy, strolling around Cuzco and getting acclimatized we felt ready for some trekking and signed up for the Salkantay Trek. This is a 5 day/4night trek, one of the more challenging alternatives to the classic Inca Trail, peaking at 4650m, supposedly with great views of the Salkantay Mountain (6270m) and totalling about 60km. This one does not lead directly to Machu Picchu, but hey if we have to take a bus on the last day to get up there that’s a small detail. The upside is that the trail is much less crowded and commercialized.

The rainy season around Cuzco “officially” ends in March, so we knew that trekking in April may bear some risk and conditions may be wetter than we like. And so they were… It was not that we were walking in pouring rain all day long but there was enough rain every day to keep the clothes wet and the  path very muddy. So from the second day our clothes and shoes did not really dry anymore and on top of that half of our group were hanging in the ropes due to diarrhea, blisters, altitude sickness and just general exhaustion. Fortunately though we had a really good bunch of people and so thanks to a good dose of OZ humour, Mexican charme, Swiss power (Gustavo aka El Tren), US spirit, British innocence (Excuse me, what is spooning?!) and some local mules and coca leafs we all made it across the Salkantay Pass and from there downwards towards the valley. However, after day 3 we had enough of mud, walking, wet clothes etc and the infamous Plan A was created. It involved hopping on a bus and getting a lift to Santa Teresa where we could camp at a wonderfully green campsite and enjoy the hot springs. And boy, it was a heavenly oasis… I felt like we had checked into a five star luxury resort. Most of us did not leave the hot springs for hours (maybe also because Kevin07 opened his bottle of red wine) and jumped in there again first thing next morning (6.30am, no red wine involved then)! It was amazing how rejuvenated both body and spirit felt and hence the 3 hour walk to Aguas Calientes on day 4 (again with some rain sprinkles) was a piece of cake. I think it was the first day of the trip that everyone had almost fully recovered from their physical pains and the thought of visiting Machu Picchu put us in high spirits anyway.  In Aguas Calientes (this place is almost gringos only) , our guide Freddy offered an additional hike of 1hr to Putucusi mountain from where we would be able to get a first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Uh la la, sounds very tempting…! But just when we were about to leave, it started raining again, so only 3 of us took up the challenge. Thank God I did not chicken out since this 1 hour excursion would turn into the adventure highlight of the trek. To be fair, it was more of a climb than a hike and at times it felt like we were only going vertical for the whole hour. We had to climb some wooden ladders straight up the rocks, the longest one probably close to 100m long (I kept thinking of the song “Stairway to Heaven”, that’s how it felt)! When we got to the top, I was totally out of breath but also unbelievably proud because I am normally suffering from vertigo and did not think I would be capable of doing something like this.  We also got lucky with the weather and while we were catching our breath at the peak, some of the last sunrays of the day put the spotlight on Machu Picchu on the hill across. We all lit up with joy. This was the perfect occasion and the perfect spot to sacrifice our 3 best coca leafs to the Inca Gods and make 3 wishes (a local tradition).

The Salkantay Trek was a muddy proposition…

Despite rain and clouds we got a glimpse of Salkantay Mountain

A bunch of tough cookies at Salkantay Pass (4600m)

Amazing view from Cutupusi after a strenuous climb

Finally, day 5 - Machu Picchu was waiting for us. We got up at 3.45am (I never thought I could get up at that time – surely the Inca Gods must have kissed me awake) in order to catch the first bus to Machu Picchu. And guess what? It was pouring and when we got up there after a 20min bus ride most of the ruins and scenery were covered in fog and clouds. Hence we first went for a hot chocolate and gave it another try one hour later. Luckily, it started clearing up somewhat but unfortunately we would never be able to see the full panorama (MP is 360º surrounded by hills and mountains). Our guide Freddy took us for a 2hour tour around the site and it was interesting to see and learn how advanced the Inca culture had been at such an early time. Even to this day though, there are still a lot of speculations what exactly MP served for, who lived there, why it was built there (I could not think of a more beautiful spot) and why it was never discovered until 1911. As I mentioned, the ruins, the terraces, the setting and the history behind it are all spectacular and interesting but I still think there is a little bit too much hype around it. Interestingly, the Unesco has asked the Peruvian government a couple of times to slow things down, otherwise MP may take permanent damage (the hill is moving at rate of 2cm per year), but sadly the bucks seem too tempting for now…

 

Classic View of Machu Picchu

The Inca Gods continued to be very kind to us (must have been all those coca leafs I sacrificed) and thanks to a farmers strike that made it impossible to get out of Aguas Calientes we got to stay there another night. This was the perfect occasion to party and finally even our OZ friends started drinking (I was already getting worried about them). It turned out to be a great night (probably the first night in Peru I was not in bed by 10pm) and while most of us were dancing away amidst exotic rhythms (irrespective of talent…) and having a great time, our poor guides were so exhausted (and drunk) that they were napping in the disco…

Finally, we made it back to Cuzco the next day and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I felt pretty deflated that day, not sure whether it was the hangover, the fact that one of the big highlights of our South America trip was behind us or simply the lack of Mexican charme around us… Fortunately my mate Gustavo had already planned the next steps of our trip and dragged me on a (gringo) bus to Puno.

Amazing landscapes and colours on the way back to Cuzco

Puno (altitude 3800m) is on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. The town looks a little awkward because none of the houses are painted and many look unfinished with iron rods still sticking out at the top. The reason? Only finished houses are taxed… We went to see the floating islands at Uros on Lake Titicaca. There are about 300 families living on floating islands made of reed and they seem to be living a very peaceful life. On recommendation of Kevin07 we took a bus to Copacabana (no joke) on the Bolivian side and from there a boat to Isla del Sol. This is a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Titicaca at an altitude of 4000m. At times I felt like on a Greek Island and at times it felt like the French Riviera. The only difference was that we could see the Bolivian Andes at 6000m and higher, plus the temperature dropped pretty badly at night (I am actually getting sick of cold places now), so we went to bed pretty early every night (again). Funnily, Isla del Sol was the first place on this trip where Gustavo and I actually lowered the average age of the guests at the hostel even though it had Youth Hostel stickers all over the place. Ah, and Isla del Sol also wins the award for first place on my trip (almost 3 months now) where I could not find an internet cafe.

The floating village of Uros

View from Isla del Sol

So far so good. We have been in Peru now for a little more than 2 weeks and it has been fun. Also, the Peruvians are incredibly friendly and (justifiedly) proud of their Inca heritage.  The sites and landscapes have been amazing. Looking forward to the coming Peru chapters…

Hasta luego

Adrian

PS – ever since we stopped trekking the weather has been good! Another sign from the Inca Gods?

Brazilian Intermezzo

Brazil was not originally in our travel plans. But since the Iguazu Falls are at the Argentine-Brazilian border we figured we may as well spend a couple of days in the land of Caipirinha and Samba to get a flavour of it for future trips. Thanks to Cristina and Juan from Sevilla (we met in Patagonia) we had a good idea of what is worthwile to see in the Southern part of Brazil.

After crossing the border into Brazil we took the night bus to Curitiba (capital of Parana state) and from there took another bus and a boat to arrive at Ilha do Mel (Honey Island) late in the morning. As soon as we were on Brazilian soil we naturally tried to spot those famous Brazilian beauties that have been the subjects of many songs, poems, movies, dreams etc. Turns out though we had to be a little more patient and were actually a little shocked to find a significant obesity problem (among men and women). Ilha do Mel though is spectacularly beautiful (to convince yourself have a look at the pictures below or go to http://www.ilhadomel.net/). It is a (mostly) quiet natural paradise where the main draw are the beautiful beaches, the surfing and the tranquility. There are no cars, no cell phone reception and most of the hostels dont have any TVs. The main street is actually a sandy path, roughly 2 meters wide, and the only traffic consists of bycicles and wheelbarrows. After sunset the island remains in the dark and in order to venture out into the “nightlife” we had to use our headlamps!! Ilha do Mel really reminded me of a song called “Sunshine Reggae” where the lyrics go something like “dont worry, dont hurry, take it easy”. And so we did, just taking walks around the island, observing bat-sized butterflies and enjoying the beaches.

After two days in paradise we packed our bags to continue our trip to Rio de Janeiro. The owner of our hostel looked at us in disbelief and could not understand that we would trade paradise for hell. She assured us that she would never go to Rio even if the trip was paid for!! We thought about it for a moment but this was our chance to visit the magical Rio de Janeiro and hence we better not be deterred by gangster stories (there are plenty of them and somehow I also still remembered the movie “City of God”).

Anyway, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro next morning after a freezing night on the bus. And let me tell you, it was not the expected love at first sight. Maybe it was because we arrived by bus through the “backdoor” of the city and seeing some pretty ugly sites early, maybe it was because the skies were still overcast after a night of rain or maybe it was just the sight of all those half dead bodies lying around everywhere when we arrived at our hostel (something we only understood a couple of days later when we were in a similar state).  We stayed at the Rio Hostel in Santa Teresa (www.riohostel.com) which turned out to be a good choice because of its location and nice views of the downtown area (would recommend to book their private rooms though). Santa Teresa is the neighborhood where the rich Cariocas (people of Rio) used to live about 100 years ago but these days it is more or less (unjustifiably) neglected by both locals and tourists because it is considered not safe (there are actually a couple of Favelas close by). Nevertheless, if you look around closely you can still find many traces of a glorious past such as the Bondinho (a cable car connecting Santa Teresa with downtown Rio), well preserved cobblestone streets and some eclectic architecture. Not surprisingly this is now the neighborhood of choice for Rio’s creative. The other advantage of Santa Teresa is its closeness to Lapa, the nightlife district for the Cariocas (Ipanema and Copacabana are more for tourists and the upper class) and the place that can take credit for the renaissance of the Samba music.

And in Lapa it happened on the first night out – I started falling in love with Rio de Janeiro. It’s hard to describe the atmosphere… Restaurants, Cafes, Bars with open doors and windows on every corner and live music (mostly Samba) everywhere. When we were trying to have dinner in a small restaurant with live music at around 10pm, the Brazilians were just about to turn the place into a dance hall. We still managed to get a bite and then went to another bar where they also had live music. And there we found her, the most beautiful Brazilian girl ever, dressed in pink, very bootylicious and shaking it to the never ending Samba rhythms. We must have been sitting there like idiots, mouth wide open, but we just could not take our eyes off her! And guess what we were dreaming about that night… Little did we know that this was only an appetizer. The night after (Friday) we could hear the Samba rhythms already from our hostel, but when we stepped outside the streets of Lapa seemed to be on fire. There was a huge crowd in the street, tons of vendors selling beer and Caipirinhas, food stalls and of course music on every corner. Well, it turned into another late night returning to the hostel at 3.30am. My personal favorite though was Saturday night. Again, we spent it in the Lapa neighborhood and I actually wanted to go to the concert of Jorge Ben, one of the most famous Brazilian musicians. However, I showed up too late and the doors were already closed. Gustavo was already on the way back to the hostel and I was a little pissed at myself for missing the concert. Then however, I stumbled upon a little place called Carioca da Gema where a Samba concert was going on. The place was packed and the music superb. I previously thought of Samba primarily as some carnival noise, but this concert definitely turned me into a Samba fan. Well, I returned to the hostel at 4am and learnt the day after that Carioca da Gema is one of the premier Samba venues in Rio. So, if you are in town, dont miss it!!

You can probably tell that my love for Rio is primarily based on its music scene. However, we also did the more touristy stuff like Corcovado (which has superb views), Copacabana (yes, there are pretty girls on the beach too!), Ipanema and finally went to a soccer game at Maracana stadium where the World Cup final of 2014 will be played. It is fair to say that the setting of Rio de Janeiro amidst the hills and with the beaches is very beautiful. The city is a candidate to host the Olympics in 2016 and Gustavo and I both sincerly hope they will get the games. That would probably cause a certain clean-up and make it shine even more beautifully in the future.

View from Rio Hostel towards downtown Rio

Bondinho, Rio’s cable car

Ipanema Beach

View from Corcovado

High above Rio de Janeiro

Samba concert at Carioca da Gema

Fanatic Flamenco fans at Maracana stadium

El Norte Argentino

Well, it’s been a couple of days again since my last update and it feels like we have become bus experts in the meantime… 20 hours from Mendoza to Salta, 20 hours from Salta to Buenos Aires and another 20 hours from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu. We are now able to tell you which bus company has the most comfortable seats, which one shows the best movies, which one serves the best food etc. Unfortunately, we have not found the perfect combination yet… In all honesty though, the bus trips in Argentina are unbelievably comfortable when you book “cama” seats (equivalent to business class seats in the plane). We have been sleeping like babies on our overnight trips…

Anyway, we spent about 4 days around Salta in the Northwest of Argentina. Salta is one of the oldest cities in Argentina and has retained a lot of its architectural beauty. It was an important trading post for Argentina long before Buenos Aires had any significance and today it is the main hub for tourists travelling around the Northwestern part of the country. We proudly managed to rent a car despite not having a driver’s license with us (mine is in Switzerland, and Patrick’s was mugged in Mendoza). During the 4 days and 1200km we also gained a better understanding of why Argentina was chosen as a back-up location for the Paris-Dakar Rally… Gee, some of these roads were in pretty bad shape – a lot of sand, gravel, dust but very few houses out there. The scenery though was amazing and we felt it was changing dramatically every two hours or so. Particulary day one struck us as fantastic and at times beyond belief. We left Salta and were driving towards the mountain village of Cachi at 3000m. On the way to get there the landscape was first dominated by agriculture and forests but then we started climbing up a dramatic mountain road (culminating at over 3200m) and witnessed beautiful rivers, valleys, hills and mountains of changing colours (from pure red/brown to pure olive green and with all the combinations you can imagine). The closer we got to the peak of the mountain road the paltrier the landscape and really looked like semi-desert dominated by little bushes and cacti. When we arrived in the beautiful little village of Cachi, we were exhausted from so many wonderful impressions. We felt we had been driving through Zion Natl Park, Mojave Desert and some wonderful hills in just half a day. Little did we know that a landscape resembling Bryce Canyon and Death Valley was just waiting around the corner. So, it was a continued “Oh” and “Ah” for the rest of the day until the sun decided to give us a rest and our cameras ran out of battery. This was definitely one of the most impressive days of our trip and we highly recommend the Valles Calchaquies to everyone travelling to Argentina (just don’t ask how to pronounce it…)

Iglesia San Francisco in Salta

Cuesta del Obispo, on the way to Cachi

Quebrada de las Flechas

Cardones National Park

We stayed overnight in a place called Cafayate which is also a beautiful little oasis at about 1600m Interestingly, this place is also turning into a major hub for wine producers and the vineyards are at some of the highest altitudes worldwide (up to 3000m!). The region has been predominantly known for a white grape called “Torrontes” but is now also growing Malbec, Cabernet and other red grapes. Again, (thanks to Gustavo’s excellent instincts) we found a nice boutique winery that is producing organic wines of very good quality (http://www.bodegananni.com/).

Anyway, after some winetasting we were eager to continue our trip since we were expecting to see a lot more beautiful gorges and rock formations. This part is called Quebrada de Cafayate and is also beautiful – it’s just that we had been spoiled a lot on the day before… Also, we encountered a little problem along the way – Gustavo had locked the keys in the car…  You feel pretty helpless in the middle of nowhere with all your belongings and essential things like water locked away. However, we did not have to wait for long and Fortuna came to the rescue. The first guy who pulled over was a neuro surgeon from Cordoba and about the 4th car who stopped was able to provide us a piece of wire. So we had the perfect tool and the perfect skills and sure enough after about 45 minutes the door to the car was open (thank god he did not charge us for this surgery!).

Quebrada de Cafayate

Neuro Surgeon Hero from Cordoba

We continued our trip to San Salvador de Jujuy and from there straight to Purmamarca. Again we learnt an important lesson, a straight line on a basic map does not necessarily mean there will be a straight road. Gosh, not even the most dramatic mountain roads in Switzerland have that many curves. I was sure my driver Gustavo would have blisters on his hands that night… The next 2 days we continued to put the pedal to the metall and witnessed more valleys, hills, gorges, rockformations, altiplanos and little colonial pueblos (Quebrada de Humahuace, Quebrada del Toro etc). However, the one thing that fascinated us most was the Salinas Grandes, a very large salt flat that was amazing to see under the wonderful blue sky.

Cerro de los Siete Colores, Purmamarca

Salinas Grandes

After our return to Salta we continued our trip to Buenos Aires. Unfortunately we had to make this detour, so Gustavo could collect his temporary passport at the Swiss embassy. Of course it was also a good opportunity to enjoy the good food and wine again in the capital. That night we had a wonderful meal at a restaurant called “Manolo” in San Telmo. Oh my God, the bife de lomo was to die for and thanks to Gustavo we also enjoyed some more bottles of good wine.

It was good to get out of Buenos Aires soon because the shopping there is just too tempting (also thanks to a continuously depreciating currency). We restricted ourselves to a few CDs (of course we had to buy Gustavo Cordera) and books and then caught the bus to Puerto Iguazu.

The arrival in Puerto Iguazu felt like a coming home. For the first time on this trip we had real tropical climate with lots of humidity, so it really reminded me of Singapore. Otherwise it is interesting that the town of Puerto Iguazu is actually quite small despite the Iguazu Falls being one of the major tourist attractions in South America. Well, we found out that most tourists stay in the fancy hotels between town and the falls and only the backpackers stay in town, that’s why it is so quiet around here. We spent one day walking around the different trails of the Iguazu Falls. And yes, they are truly spectacular even though the water levels are relatively low right now. I guess it’s the magnitude that is truly impressive – I have never seen so many waterfalls in one spot and the setting is just splendid! Was also positively surprised that we could actually take a swim in the river, not to far from the Falls. The water was nice and warm and I felt like in the Fish Spa in Singapore because as soon as you held still in the water there were dozens of little fish picking your skin…

After travelling around Argentina for exactly 2 months it is now time to say goodbye as we will be heading to Brazil tonight. Argentina is a wonderful place with lovely people (except for the sucker who robbed Gustavo in Mendoza), great food/wine and an unbelievable diversity of landscapes. I do not regret a single day spent here and highly recommend it to anyone planning to travel to South America!

Hasta la proxima

Adrian

Land of Milk and Honey

It’s been a little more than a week since my last update and I have spent all those days in and around Mendoza. About one week ago I was joined by my friend Patrick who travelled here via Buenos Aires. After travelling alone for a couple of weeks, it’s great to have a good friend around to share all those memorable experiences with. Also, in the little time Patrick has spent in Argentina he has already produced a couple of good stories (more on that later)…

 

Patrick (Gustavo) happily arriving in Mendoza

 

Mendoza really comes across as a heavenly place… In fact, this place reminds me of Italy in many ways. The climate is fantastic with blue skies and plenty of sunshine every day, the city itself is relatively small (and almost exclusively low rise) but still big enough to offer plenty of choices, there are trees and parks everywhere to offer an escape from the heat (thanks to a comprehensive irrigation system fed with water from the Andes), on every corner you find little street cafes where locals meet for a cafecito and some chitchat, from noon to 4pm businesses shut down for a siesta (and I guess to recharge their batteries for the late night parties) and finally all those culinary temptations on every corner – pizza, pasta, beef, ice cream, wine, whatever your desires, be guaranteed that there is plenty of it around here!

Street Cafes in Calle Sarmiento

Needless to say, we chose to stay in Mendoza to take advantage of this. We spent quite a bit of time going around to visit different bodegas (wineries). As a novice in the world of wine, I found these visits extremely helpful to get a better understanding. Argentina currently ranks as world number five in terms of wine production (behind France, Italy, Spain and US but ahead of Australia) and the region of Mendoza accounts for about 90% of the production. Mendoza is best known for the Malbec grape but over the last 10 years or so producers have also started to grow other grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah etc. This may have to do with the increasing foreign influence over the wine territories here. We were told that only 3-4 of the larger wineries are still owned by Argentines whereas the rest has been snapped up by foreigners. A good example of this is the Carinae winery we visited last week (www.carinaevinos.com). It’s a boutique winery that was bought by a French couple in 2003 and with the help of Michel Rolland (I was told he is one of the major wine guru’s) is now producing some fine wines. So while the quality of wines here has been going up thanks to foreign expertise, the prices are still very competitive (at least for the local market). It is possible to buy a good quality wine from one of the top producers for less than USD10 at the supermarket. While this is a little fortune in a backpacker’s budget, we figured if world governments are throwing around with money we could afford to do the same for a week or so….

Alta Vista winery with views of the Andes mountains

Sipping wine and having a good time at Cavas de Weinert

There are many choices to be made in Mendoza…

In my first report about Argentina I mentioned how safe I felt travelling around the country. Well, when we arrived in Mendoza we were warned a couple of times that it was more dangerous here than in the rest of the country because of the many tourists. The friendly hostel owner advised us to leave our valuables in the hostel because it was too dangerous to carry them around town. We followed his advice and did not encounter any problems in the city. Then one night (naturally it was on Friday the 13th!) when we were getting ready for the Aconcagua trekking, Patrick discovered that a small bag with his valuables was missing. We could not believe it since our hostel room was always locked and we could not find any evidence that someone had entered the room forcibly. We searched the room and all his luggage several times but sure enough the valuables would not appear again. So we had to cancel our trekking and instead spend pretty much all of Saturday at the police and making phone calls to block credit cards, talk to the insurance company, organize another passport with the Swiss embassy, get the DMV to issue another driving licence etc. I guess this is all part of the experience but it was just unfortunate that Patrick had been in Argentina for less than one week. Also I could not believe that none of my things were touched (or maybe I just did not notice yet!) even though they were much closer to the door.

On top of all the attractive features I mentioned at the beginning, Mendoza is also a hub for adventure tourism with the Andes mountains less than 2 hours from the city centre. After all the good food and wine, we were quite eager to work off some of the calories and decided to do some trekking around Aconcagua mountain.  Peaking at 6,959 meters above sea level, Aconcagua is the highest mountain in South America and an increasingly popular destination for professional and non-professional climbers. We took a bus from Mendoza to Puente de Inca (at 2800m) and it was amazing to see how the landscape changed during our 4 hour bus ride. When we got off the bus we were surrounded by a number of mountains, all of them between 4000m and 7000m high and many of them more colourful (red, brown, green) than the mountains in Switzerland. After some excitement at the entrance of Aconcagua National Park (the employees thought Patrick looks very similar to Gustavo Cordera, a famous Argentine singer, which prompted me to change his nickname to Gustavo! check out http://www.rock.com.ar/artistas/bersuit-vergarabat) we started our trek towards Confluencia (3400m), the first base camp for Aconcagua climbers and trekkers. During the peak season about 200-300 people are camping here every night but since March is already late season there was no more than a dozen people. After a chilly night in the tent, we spent the second day walking up to Plaza Francia at 4000m from where we had spectacular views of Aconcagua’s South face. It was really amazing to see this humongous, intimidating mountain and we could only imagine how tough it must be to get to the top (and how many chilly nights you have to spend in a tent!). Anyway, we were happy enough to make it to the South face and were running down the trail, eager to make it back to Mendoza for a decent Saint Patrick’s Day (and Aconcagua) celebration.

On the way to the Andes moutains

The South face of majestic Aconcagua (6959m)

Happy Trekkers!

Colourful mountains in the Andes

Tonight, we will be leaving for Salta in the North of Argentina. This is another 19 hour bus ride, but luckily we have  gotten used to the (quite comfortable) buses in Argentina.

Hasta la proxima!

World Peace in Chile

Since my last update I have made a lot of progress travelling a couple of thousand kilometers north and just arrived in Mendoza (33º South), the wine capital of Argentina. Luckily, I am now firmly back in T-shirt territory after spending 3 weeks in a climate zone where the temperature never really exceeded 15º.

Anyway, to get here I actually spent a lot of time travelling through Chile. This was not my original plan, but it’s great to have the flexibility. I decided to travel north via Chile mainly because I wanted to try out a different mean of transport after all the hours on the bus. So I bought a ticket for the Navimag, a ferry that runs from Puerto Natales in the very South of Chile to Puerto Montt, 1500 km further north (amazingly on this whole stretch there are only 100,000 inhabitants!) It’s a journey of 4 days and was quite uneventful expect for the beautiful fjords, the volcanoes we saw along the way (including Chaiten who had just become active again a couple of weeks ago), the wonderful sunsets, rainbows and starry skies and of course the bingo we played on the last night.

After 4 days on the ferry with nowhere to go except upstairs/downstairs and round the boat I was feeling kind of antsy and eager to get back on land and move. I decided to join Christoph, Steven and Claudia who were heading to Pucon, a resort village in the Lake District of Chile. I had read that the Lake District was very similar to Switzerland and indeed it felt kind of like coming home: beautfil resort villages, blue lakes, green forests and hills, nice chalets and plenty of chocolate stores. The only thing that does not fit in the “Suiza” picture are the plentiful volcanos.

Villarica Volcano

After resting our legs on the ferry, we were all ready for the next challenge and decided to climb Villarica volcano, an active one, peaking at 2800m. It was kind of hard to get up at 3.30am but luckily we were rewarded with a sunny day and great views from the top. However, to get to the top we had to walk uphill for approx. 5 hours. Volcanos may look pretty from a distance but when you try to clim up it’s actually quite nasty because the volcanic terrain consists of all kinds of loose rocks, gravel, sand and hence for every 2 steps forward you make one backward. Fortunately, a big chunk of Villarica is covered by snow/ice and walking with crampons made things a lot easier. Once we got to the top I wanted to take a deep breath of mountain air but oh la la my nose and eyes did not like the toxic volcano gases… Thanks to the early rise we were back in the village at 1pm and had plenty of time to spend on the beach (of course with black sand).  To top things off,  the friendly owner of our hostel gave us a ride to the hot springs that night and we went to bed rejuvenated.

Yes, we made it!

This definitely smelled like a volcano!

Beautiful views and sunshine while descending Villarica volcano

Well, after the wonderful climb it was time to say goodbye to Steven, Christoph and Claudia. We had a lot of fun, especially with our Dutch friend Steven who kept promoting World Peace the whole time and was convinced “Schmick Schmack Schmeckel” means bon appetit in German.

World Peace Steven taking his campaign to the beach

I was heading back across the border to Argentina, more precisely to Junin de Los Andes, close to the Lanin National Park. During the bus ride we had spectacular views of Lanin (3775m), another volcano (but a passive one). For a while I was contemplating to climb Lanin as well (which is substantially more difficult than Villarica) but then decided I still had enough black sand in my trekking boots and should save my energy for some other mountain. So I just did some easy hiking instead and spent some time in the picturesque resort town of San Martin de Los Andes that lies at the Northern end of the 7 Lake Route (and hence quite touristy).

Lanin volcano

Modern church in Junin de los Andes

Lago Lacar, San Martin de los Andes

Meanwhile my friend Patrick has arrived in Buenos Aires and we have made arrangements to meet up in Mendoza in the next couple of days. Will keep you posted about our adventures in and around the city of sunshine and wine.

Notes from 55º South

It has been almost one month since I started travelling and I have made it all the way to the southern tip of the South American continent in Ushuaia (the latitude here is 55º South). Hence this is a good time to reflect on the past couple of weeks…

I was pleasantly surprised about the safety and infrastructure when I arrived in Buenos Aires (even though the locals would probably disagree on this). Compared to the other South American countries I visited 10 years ago, this looks very civilized and relatively well organized (I was shocked to find out that buses actually depart on time!). Buenos Aires comes across as a cosmopolitan city but mostly so because its citizens have roots from all over the world. I was amazed to see the whole spectrum of hair and eye colours and it’s actually quite helpful because I do not stand out as the obvious gringo. “The Argentine is an Italian that speaks Spanish but would love to be English” as one of my fellow travellers explained. Another pleasant surprise was that my Spanish still quite useful despite 10 years without practice. One point I noticed immediately is that the rhythm of life down here is upside down. People go for dinner after 10pm, the bars and clubs are only frequented from around 2-3am and of course no one goes home before 6am.  So, if you feel like unleashing the party animal slumbering inside of you, come down here!! The city of Buenos Aires comes across as a mix of New York and Paris. There is a lot of history down here, lots of beautiful buildings, lovely cafes and restaurants but also lots of trees and parks. All the neighborhoods are quite different and my favorite ones are Palermo (which reminds me of the Upper West Side in NYC) and San Telmo (a mix of Soho/Meatpacking District) where all the cool bars and restaurants are. The food is heavily dominated by Pizza, Pasta and of course BBQ. The first time I went to a BBQ restaurant I tried to play it safe by ordering a skewer but nevertheless I was given 5 pieces of heavenly meat which must have totalled at least 400grams. Well, I went home pretty full and happy that night, also because the meal did not cost a fortune. Generally though the times when Argentina was “cheap as chips” are over. Several locals have mentioned that prices have risen by about 200-300 precent over the last couple of years and this is not making their life any easier. In fact, I also noticed that the prices indicated in my travel guide (published in 2008) seem quite out of date and the further south you go the pricier it gets. Sadly I think it will only be a matter of time before Argentina “blows up” again. One of my friends from Buenos Aires told me that the whole middle class has been wiped  out over the last 30 years or so and surely salaries will not increase in line with the dramatic price increases people are experiencing. On top of that there are some other interesting developments which make the daily life of Portenos (citizens of Buenos Aires) miserable. There is a “crisis de monedas” (crisis of coins), meaning that there are not enough coins available and no one knows why. Well, too bad that all the buses are operating purely on coins and if you have no coins you get no ride. Since buses are the principal mean of transportation (the railways went bankrupt about 15 years ago), people are really struggling to find the change for their daily rides. One theory says that the bus companies are hoarding all the coins while another one is saying that coins are not produced anymore because the cost of production is higher than the actual value of the coins. Anyway, I have seen Qs of several hundred meters, Portenos trying to change money. But as always, the locals are quite creative to find solutions and so it has happened to me a couple of times that I was given candy instead of change in the supermarkets.

In terms of travelling, I have spent one week in Buenos Aires and then made my way south to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. In Patagonia I have been to Calafate, Chalten and Torres del Paine (on the Chilean side). Patagonia is primarily a trekking heaven with a combination of amazing landscapes, lakes of various colours, breathtaking glaciers, spectacular mountains, beautiful flora/fauna and last but not least surprising weather patterns. People say if you want to experience the four seasons just spend a day in Patagonia. Unfortunately, the weather gods have not been on my side and so I got to experience the full spectrum of rain, snow, hail, fog, wind, sunshine etc.  (in fact I have not seen so many rainbows since my childhood!) Well, I guess after sitting in an office for 20 years I was looking to get more exposure to nature again and so I should not complain. I am also certain now that my gear is totally weather proof. My favorites in Patagonia are definitely Torres del Paine National Park and a village called El Chalten (aka trekking capital of Argentina). I could not wait to get on the hiking trails and I must have walked something like 120-150km in 10 days (not regretting any single step!). It’s amazing to walk on these trails and see how the landscape changes every kilometer depending on how exposed it is to wind and rain. Also I love the moutains down here which come in amazing shapes, although they often try to hide their beauty behind clouds. However, once they peek through the clouds it leaves you breathless. I always thought that Switzerland had a monopoly on beautiful mountains – definitely reconsidering that. The other beauties down here are the glaciers. The best known of course, Perito Moreno, at an altitude of only 200m above sea level (another confirmation of the special weather patterns down here) and one of the few glaciers in the world that can maintain its size. Others are less fortunate though and I was told for example that Glaciar Grey (in Torres del Paine) has retraced by 2km in only 10 years! In Chalten I was able to do some glacier trekking on Glaciar Torre and was truly impressed by the beautiful colours and amazing shapes. After that much hiking I decided to head to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, a grueling bus ride of more than 20 hours. Ushuaia sits at a latitude of 55º South and is officially labelled as the end of the world (fin del mundo). After driving through flatlands for many hours, the setting of Ushuaia is spectacular in a bay and surrounded by snow capped mountains. I did not expect more mountains at the end of  the world… Actually I was even told that they have pretty good skiing down here, something that may be worthwhile trying out on another trip (this is true for Patagonia also, which is said to have much more stable weather in winter time and of course much fewer tourists). Ushuaia is also the base for tourists travelling to Antartica – I had no idea that more than 40,000 people are taking that trip every year. I met several people who had taken the trip and could not stop raving about it.

Anyway, I am definitely not taking a trip to Antartica, so the only way from here is north!

  Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

 San Telmo, Buenos Aires

   Torres del Paine National Park

Perito Moreno Glacier

 On Torre Glacier

Tierra del Fuego

 Early Morning in Ushuaia, at the end of the World

  Laguna los Tres and Mount Fitz Roy