Friday, February 27, 2009

Pushing 5 months...

So here is a brief synopsis of the past few days:

On our last day in Foz Iguassu we visited the Brazilian side of the falls.... we were in a rush but did get to see it all. This side is not as extensive but does give some good views on the falls that we saw up close earlier in the week. It also gives a different point of view of Devil´s Throat. It was good but just not nearly as amazing as the Argentine side.

After our brief trip we had to rush back to the hostel, pack and head to the bus station for our 12pm ride to Rio... another 24 hours and we would be in one of the most talked about cities in the world.

We arrived at our hostel to a melee of people checking in and out after the end of carnaval, it was a mess! When we were done we started to explore copacobana. The beach was packed and ridiculously hot, we couldn´t believe the huge waves crashing down and the sheer skimpiness of everyones bikini.... including the men! We wound down the evening catching up with some journaling and having a few beers.

Yesterday we woke earlier than we expected and once again ventured out into Copacobana for some shopping and some good food. We were booked on the favela tour for 3pm. The tour is run by a group that give families a safe place to leave their children for the day so that they can work, a great cause for the much forgotten community. The tour started with a ride on the back of a motorbike to the top of the favela.... it was a little hairy at points but we made it safely, if not thanking our lucky stars that we were in one piece!

We headed into the favelas and were immediately wandering through cramped, filthy streets. It was quite something just to see happy, laughing kids, playing as any others, in the streets, water pistols and all! We then got to see the inside one of the houses there that is now an artists workshop. This guy started off small and now has his pieces in galleries all over the world, spreading the message of the favelas. http://www.artfavela.com

We headed further down and the streets got narrower and narrower until they were barely alleyways. It was great to see the kids running around but depressing to see the filth that they lived in. We finished with seeing the project that we were supporting and the good work they were doing. From the roof we had an amazing view back up the hill over the entire encampment. We were fortunate enough not to run into any gangs, however they do support the tours. Overall it was an experience that was not easily forgotten.

Today we went to see Cristo Redentor, looking over the city. We arrived in the late afternoon but it was still way too hot. He is big! It was really something and our 4th of the 7 wonders of the world! He weighs 650 tons and took 9 years to complete. He looks over all parts of the city, rich and poor indifferently. The view from up there was amazing but it was difficult to fit all of him in one picture. Particularly without catching a few other tourists in the scene aswell.

This evening we are cooking dinner ready for tomorrow when we plan to hang out on the beach and maybe go to Sugarloaf for the quintessential view of Rio.
More soon, England in 2 days... surreal.

Love to all xx

Monday, February 23, 2009

Butterflys fluttered by...

Our picnic in Mendoza was hot, sweaty, and delicious. We gorged ourselves on yummy cheeses, meats, and olives. Not exactly hot weather food, but it was necessary and needed. We hung out in the shade for a few hours, then headed home to finish packing, then bid farewell and great thanks to our wonderful Killiner hosts. We hopped on board our Andesmar bus that night and settled in for 36 hours of hell.



After two sleepless nights and cankles like you read about, we arrived in HOT Puerto Iguazu. We immediately hopped in a cab and were whisked away to Hostel Inn, a mini backpackers resort outside of town. We spent the day tanning(me moreso than Oli), swimming, enjoying a few Quilmes, and relaxing. Yummy buffet for dinner, then off to bed.

We woke up on Friday morning ready to take the falls by storm. We caught the local bus out front, and upon arrival found that credit cards were NOT accepted, so I rushed off to the ATM inside the park and debated whether I should leave Oli behind (Gingers get cranky in the heat). Luckily for him, he was behaving himself today and I returned to pay his entrance.

The Argentinian side of the falls is extensive, with tons of different paths to various miradors, a free train system, and a ferry to take you to the island. The falls themselves are amazing- over 275 cataracts, with thick mist enveloping you, providing welcome coolness in the hot summer sun. Hundreds of butterflies swarmed railings and puddles- beautiful. The walk out to devils throat was interesting, where we even saw a huge crocodile sunning himself. The intense collision of heavy falls makes it impossible to even see the point of impact through the mist, but there was a lovely rainbow, great views, and that feeling of how small we really are in the world.

Check out the photos!!



After the falls we headed back to the hostel for a night of Asado, Caperinas, and fun. We also had a very interesting show, which the boys enjoyed immensely more than the ladies.



Miserably, we headed across the border to Brazil, where we ran into slight trouble with our passports due to a speedy exit from Brazil back in December. We made it through in one piece, hopped in a cab on the other side to ride to our hostel. We were severely ripped off, and huffing and puffing we checked into the dorm, where we had a nice rejuvinating nap. Afterwards, we ate some lunch at McDonalds (don´t judge), read for a bit.... Homemade pizza for dinner, then watched Penelope. Off to bed in the airconditioned room, where we found bedbug carcasses in the bedframe. We pulled out our sleepsheets and tossed and turned all night, imagining little bites all over.

Today the plan is to head over to the Brazilian side of the falls, which is much smaller than the Argie side. The who know s what? We are planning on leaving for Rio tomorrow, but we´ll see how the bus tickets go.

Less than a week left in South America, no use for our Spanish now.... we feel a bit out of sorts! Very excited for the UK though, and to see Chrissi when she flies over. Our friend ryan finally purchased a ticket to come visit, so we will see him in the UK and in India. Exciting! Love to all, xoxoxo.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Red red wine...

After exploring the town, which is lovely and has a fabulous European vibe to it, we headed back to the house, where we found Duncan and Co. preparing an extensive asado. Argentines are famous for their bbq skills, as well as their meats, and we were about to experience first-hand how much time and skill it takes to make the perfect parilla. I could barely keep Oli´s tongue in his mouth as the short ribs were placed over the wood coals, soon followed by pork sausages, a prok slab, and finally a nice piece of rolled lomo. Preparing the grill alone can take upwards of an hour or more, and then through stratigic spacing of the red coals, each meat is prepared at a different temperature. Dinner was delicious, with different tastings of wine, nice salads, and of course the meaty main event. We finished dinner well after midnight, which is normal practice for mendocinos, then collapsed into bed.

Early Tuesday morning, we showered and dressed and prepared ourselves for a wine extravagenza. We were fortunate enough that there was room on the wine tour that Rosie and her associate Sam were giving, and they invited us to come along! Three vinyards, ranging from small boutiques to large commercial operations, as well as a typical pork lunch. We were excited!

We hopped in the van, picked up the clients, 6 young Americans (joy!) and headed off. The first vineyard we visited was Finca Decero, which was a new winery with state of the art machines, relatively new vines, and yummy wine. We were taught how to taste and see the colors present in each glass, and attempted to compare the wines using our newly aquired vernacular. We tried a Malbec, a Merlot, and a Petite Verdot, of which most tasters preferred the Malbec. The Petite Verdot was a bit too complex.. I was the sole fan of the Merlot(What can I say? I come from a family where Merlot lips are the fashion). We had a great tour of how the wine is made, where is it kept, where the cellars were, etc etc. Fabulous introduction!

We then drove 90 minutes to Posada del Jamon, a place with typical fare. Being a bit ¨meatted out¨from the dinner before, I opted for the ¨Pastry with plums, blue cheese and sweet peppers¨, while Oli went for Jamon con salsa de Naranja. We tried two different vino tintos, and when lunch arrived, I was suprised to see my food was not a pastry at all, instead a rolled up piece of pork stuffed with said ingredients, and covered in a plum sauce. Ah well, when in Mendoza! Lunch was lovely and relaxed, and after digesting a bit over a café cortado, we headed off to our second winery of the day.

Salentein was a much for commercial vineyard, with mass production and huge export numbers. We had an introduction film in the theatre, followed by a large, slightly impersonal tour of the production. The building was a bit cult-like, dark and ominous, and it brought a new feeling to the blood of Christ... We tried two wines, a Chardonnay and a Malbec. They were both alright, but nothing like the wine we had tried earlier in the day. In the sweltering heat, we headed back to the van and on to the third and final stop of the day.

Arriving at Finca Abril, we were pleased to see it was a small and quaint little winery, and found out that it was merely a hobby for the owners and not a means of income, so the wine was a bit more cared for. We got to try the delicious Onces Acres (Single Vinyard in the US) Malbec from the metal Cask, then the barrels in the cellar, and finally the bottle. I urge you to stop reading immediately if you find yourself in the tri-state area, and head out to buy this wine. It is FABULOUS. For more info, we have photos of the labels :) We also tried their lower end Rhapsodia, which is half the price in retail, but still amazing. If you are lucky enough to find either of these wines, the stars are shining down on you and you should stock up.



After a nice long day of wine and great company, we headed back to Mendoza. Nine different tastings, not too shabby for a Tuesday! We attempted to grab a bite to eat later in the evening, but found ourselves with very poor service. Still, the empanadas were amazing! Great day, we were so so lucky.

Today we are going to picnic here in Mendoza, and then we have a 36 hour bus journey to Iguazu. We have 3 minutes left on the net, and I just saw someone attempting to slide Oli´s bag out from underneath the table.. so we must run. Adios amigos!

Monday, February 16, 2009

We found curry and watched movies. How´s that for culture?

Wow..... it´s been another week since we blogged. Well we haven´t been extremely active to be honest! As you know, after dropping off our passports at the Indian Embassy, we had a week to hang around Santiago.... it went like this:

After our Saturday at the fish and veg markets of Santiago we cooked ourselves a great little dinner, drank some wine and embraced our home for the next 5/6 days. Sunday allowed us a lie-in and then we took advantage of the free museums in downtown Santiago, so we wandered between them in the sweltering heat and managed to clock up 3 museums in one afternoon!

We decided to head out relatively early on Monday and see one of Santiagos most famous sights, the Virgin of Immaculate Conception, a 36m high statue that looks over the Chilean capital. We arrived only to find our early start thwarted as it didnt open until 1pm ! So after a nice lunch in the nearby Barrio de Bellavista, we headed up the hill..... by the finicular railway of course. Once at the top, the view over Santiago was amazing and a short (but v. hot) hike brought us to the base of the virgin. She´s really big! So now I really can´t wait for Cristo in Rio!

After seeing the Virgin we went to explore the rest of the park via the teleferico - cable cars! They were a little rickity looking and Jen was a little apprehensive to say the least! It was also hot as Hades inside the little glass bubbles! We rode thm around and decided to head back to the mall that we had been to before and see another movie - It was just too hot to do anything else! We hopped on the underground and headed out there.

When we arrived we got our tickets to "Si Señor" - "Yes Man" - with Jim Carey (based in L.A. which was cool to see again and actually pretty funny!) and went into the grocery store to get some snacks, only to find an awesome International section and both Indian and Thai Curry!! So happy! After the movie we went back to the store and stocked up. Curry for dinner tonight! (and the following night, and the one after that! And of course the leftovers for lunch the following day too!!) However, we didn´t end up having curry that night as we got back too late.

We spent Tuesday hanging out and we were even able to move to a private room with a double bed. We did in fact have curry too! It was delicious! On Wednesday we decided to head west to Valparaiso, a town built into the hills in the coast. There are finiculars all over the place to take you up the steep hills. It was a nice place to hang out for a couple days, eat LOTS of curry and enjoy our hostel - we had a nice private room with a TV, a great kitchen and...... A TRAPEZE!! It really had a trapeze! Lots of fun!

Here are the photos from Santiago and Valparaiso:



We returned to Santiago proper on Friday and picked up our Indian visa in the late afternoon so we decided, as we were halfway there, why not head to the mall (I misplaced my sunnies so needed some new cheapy ones) and see another movie.... it´s just too cheap and air-conditioned not to! This time we saw "Valkerie" - very enjoyable! Friday night we hungout and prepared for our Valentine´s day treat.... a hotel.

As we went to leave, we thought we should double check the location of the hotel again. Thank God we did. It turns out that the Radisson has 2 hits on the google map of Santiago, one right by where we were, as we thought, and one way out of town in a business park. Turns out that the later was correct. So after a lengthy subway and taxi ride we made it there. Great room, air conditioning, towels, a bath, TV and real privacy. Happy Valentine´s Day Jen! Unfortunately we were in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully we did find the sushi place across the street and were able to get take out. The sushi and sashimi were great, unfortunately they didn´t give us enough soy sauce to truly appreciate it though! We headed to the bar to have a drink and thought that we would enjoy a pisco sour, the local drink of choice (Thanks Jim, Lori and family!) Despite the few mishaps, we were able to have a great Valentine´s Day. It also should be mentioned that Jen noticed many bites on her arms.. then legs.. then feet... and spent the whole night itching! It must have been bedbugs from the hostel. She was miserable, poor thing, and some of the bites were bigger than grapes!

Yesterday we left Santiago and took a bus to arrive here in Mendoza, Argentina, late last night. Here we met Duncan, my 2nd cousin, who is from New Zealand but lives here with his Uruguayan wife, Rasuara, and their 2 boys. Duncan works in the wine industry here and all over South America and is having us to stay with him, walking distance from town. It is so nice to be in a great home and have the ammenities that one takes for granted but misses dearly when backpacking!

We are exploring the town today and, with any luck, tomorrow we will be able to go on a winery tour that Rosaura is organising for some of their clients.... fingers crossed! We leave hear on Wednesday night on a 36hr bus to Iguazu Falls, and then we are a mere hop, skip and a reaaaaaaally big jump away from being in England!

We will try and update again within the week!

Miss you all xx

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The wheels on the bus go round and round..

So last Sunday we left El Bolsón for Bariloche, but were unable to get the forward ticket into Chile. So we wandered the town, not much to do, why oh why do we continually arrive places on SUNDAY!? Anywho, we ate lunch, hung out at the hostel, blahblah...movies on tv, beers, etc. Monday we left for Orsorno, in Chile. Thankfully no border problems! Arrived, and found out we couldn´t get our onward ticket to Pucón until the next day. We lucked out and found a hotel right around the corner from the station and grabbed a private room. Made pizza, and watched movies all night.

TUESDAY! Off to Pucón. Finally. Upon arrival we find that all the dorms and hostels are crazy expensive, so we scout the streets looking for a deal. We find one, in the shape of a dilapidated old house with creaky floor boards, peeling paint, and constant smoke from the wood powered stove downstairs pumping into our room. Niiiiiice. Hey, it was less than half the price of the other places! We scout the town and sign up for white water rafting class 4/5 for the next day. Woo! Do a little shopping, then its off to our humble abode for a night of dodgy pasta we made in the backyard, and multiple games of Kings in the Corner.

Woke up late, grabbed lunch around the corner- biggest burgers EVER. We took halves home for dins. Then we wandered off to wait for the trip to start!!! The bus was a bit late, and it turned out we were to be in one of 4 boats, each holding 6 rafters and a guide, as well as 2 safety men in kayaks. Awesome! The water was freezing. We had wetsuits, booties, grip shorts, windbreakers, lifejackets and helmets... we were prepared! We hopped in the raft with our guide Carlos, and down the river we went. Some people had never rafter before, including Oli, so there was lots of excitement as we went through some training. We practised balancing (Oli fell out. Blames it on me.. whatever helps him sleep at night :), high sides and low sides, as well at paddling in unison. I found the guiding of the raft quite different than the style back in the States, but it was still safe and effective. We hit awesome rapids, went over 10 foot waterfalls... AHHHH! Can´t wait to do it again while we are in Asia.

Photoooooos:

So after the rafting, we mellowed out at home, so so happy to be warm and dry again as the clouds opened up and it continued to pour after we exited the river. More cards, leftover lunch, vino, and bedtime. Woo!

The next evening we had an overnight bus to Santiago, so we spent the day napping and reading. The bus was long and uneventful... but then.... WE ARRIVED!

It is so nice to be in a big city after being in isolated tourist destinations for the majority of the past month. Immediately upon arrival, we hopped on the metro (!!!!) and dropped our bags off at the hostel and walked over to the Indian embassy. We arrived just before opening, but the people there were SO nice and let us in to talk about the process. We had to do a bank deposit down the street, fill our some applications, and hand over our passports for the weeklong process. It was so smooth and easy, and we are soooo happy we did this now instead of attempting to do it in London!!! Can´t imagine how bad the queues and processing time would have been.

After the visa thing was sorted, we wandered for miles to the outskirts of town to find The North Face for Oli to get new shoes. No luck on the shoes, but we did find outselves in an awesome mall and I came out like a bandit! I can finally donate some of my more... loved... clothing. We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which we loved, then wandered back with too many bags and sore feet. Made tacos for dinner (finally a place with tortillas!) with fresh salsa and guacamole... drank some vino and relaxed in the awesome dorm before bedtime! Side note, one of our roomies in the dorm is Sam, the German girl we hung out with in El Bolsón when Oli lost his bag! Small world.

This morning we headed into the city center to explore the fish market. It is quite famous, and you can smell it from a few blocks away. As we wandered around the lifeless mariscos, lounging on a bed of ice, we were astounded at the variety and quality of the place. You could seriously buy any of little Nemos friends or enemies and cook them up fresh for dinner. Amazing!!

We crossed the road and over to the local fruit and veg market, where we witnessed our first petty crime of the trip! A sneaky teen grabbed the gold necklace off the guy in front of us and took off, tearing through the crowd. He was persued by the victim, but the nimble feet of the young are hard to compete with. We quickly grabbed tight holds on our bags and entered, only to emerge with what must be 15 kilos or more of veggies in our brand new Puma duffel. Gotta love knockoffs! We then spent the next few hours wandering, getting lost, enjoying the gorgeous city, walking through parks and little classy neighborhoods, and here we are. We felt like we have been neglectful of our blog readers, and we should be much more diligent in the future. LOVE TO ALL! xx

ps- just bought our tix to India. flying london-chennai on March 20, then heading north. any advice? we wont recieve our india guidebook for another month, and would love some tips!