Sep 2008

Hey all,

Right.If I can remember correctly I left off with our stay in Iguazu Falls.Which was AWESOME.Well worth the travelling time etc etc.The pix speak for themselves I think.Anyway, our next stop was Buenos Aires, the port capital of this fantastic country.But first we had to get there.
This required a bus ride.But no ordinary, hour long commute into the city centre from whatever suburb of Dublin you call home.NO, this was a wee bit longer...
Twenty two hours, to be exact.BUT!This is Argentina, where they have a very, very different transport system to the one we experienced in Brazil.They have well paved highways for example.But fortunately for us, the biggest and best difference was the quality of the long distance coaches.We splashed out (the exchange rate at the moment is very good, about 4.5 Arg pesoes to the euro- another reason I love this counry!) and went for the cama total, or the fully reclinable, leather lined, wide as a fat American´s ass seats.These things were luxury!On a scale unknown in Brazil, anyway.Included for the 200 or so pesoes were individual flatscreen tv´s, full drinks service, full dinner and breakfast service, pillow and blanket , air con, etc etc.Nice!Just the thing to spend all those ass numbing hours on the road.Perhaps the films were crap, the food not too much better than airline food, and we did have to watch a fellow passenger spill her guts for next to an hour, but these things still couldn´t dampen our enthusiasm for such comforts.
Anyway, arrived in BA about 7 in the morning.First impressions at that early hour were of a large, grey city of no more or less colour than any other capital in SA (or Europe to be fair).However, once we located the nearby metro and found our sleepy selves to our accommodation in the heart of San Telmo (the tango mecca for travelers) we perked up a bit.Seeing as it was sunday we were urged by our friendly hostel guide to make a dash to the nearby antiques market for a bit of sightseeing and haggling, as its only open on the weekend.We refused and went to bed.For a few hours anyway.Once refeshed from a few hours extra kip and a much needed shower we did head down that way to the usual fare; stalls both indoor and outdoor, hawking wares such as the ubiquitus leather caps, belts and wallets that Argentina is famous for (this is, after all, prime cow country), the cup shaped gourds with which the Argentines continually swig their much-beloved mate tea from (the yerba, as its called, is a green weed that apparently has effects much like caffeine - not too bad actually) and all the usual traditional fare that one finds in such countries.Down winding streets bathed in the afternoon sunlight we strolled, finding yet more stalls, hordes of bustling tourists and locals all accompanied by the sound of local musos playing their guitars and accordions.
That was day one.Days two and three saw us catch the major sights that you have to see because they´re there, regardless of your own personal preference.So, we took in the Obelsico, the Plaza de Mayo, the Congresso building, all manner of fountains and statues.Nice, but not so different from any major capital city.BA is surpisingly European in its architecture, or maybe not so much, as it was founded and developed by the Spanish and Italians way back when.In fact, most of the food on offer is distinctly Italian, with pizzas and pasta dishes EVERYWHERE!NIce for a day or two, but SO unhealthy.The other main dish is, of course, steak.Mmmm.SO tasty!Rightly famous and served in portions to frighten even the most ardent fan of hard core beef.Definitely to be tried either way.
We also managed to take in a morning in the Recoleta, Ba´s main tourist attraction and surprisingly, free of charge.This attraction is a high walled cemetary in the heart of the swankiest area in uptown BA, home to the bones of some of Argentina´s most famous rich and celebrated.We found it relatively deserted, and had ample time to take in a multitude of lavishly ornate and monstrously overwrought sarcophagi.Statues of angels, cherubim, soldiers, and even dogs adorn these impressive tombs, and of course crucifixes of all shapes and sizes complement these immense structures.The site is dotted with some well kept fountains and many verdant trees providing plenty of shade to sit in and contemplate the mysteries of Life (and Death).Tombs of every shape, size and design are to be found here - from the simple, squarish blocks of granite to towering pillars recalling ancient Rome or Greece.There´s even a pyramid of sorts.It really has to be seen.A definite list tick-off!
After spending the rest of our second day catching up on sleep and just lazing about the hostel, we left it to the third and final day to see what most will instinctively associate with the city of BA - the sensual, flamboyant and distinctively erotic Tango.Of course, such a show is best seen at night, so we lazed away another sunny day at the green parks of Palermo, just sitting at cafes sipping Cokes and watching the locals (portenos, so called ´Port People¨) jog, roller blade and stroll by.Nothing more could entice us at this stage...We were planning on a 3 hr tango lesson followed by a show but we went for the whole package in the end, just to save time and hassle.Tango lesson, 3 course meal with free drinks (alcoholic and non) and a show lasting just over and hour, detailing the evolution of this reknowned dance over the course of five periods.Well, let it be known that I, as an Irish straight male, do NOT dance.Unless drunk or very. very happy.Or both.So, the first part of this package was, for me, as appealing as it was daunting.Not knowing quite what to expect, we got picked up by a transfer bus at about 7 in the evening.Following a few more pick ups, mostly couples from England or Ireland, we were dropped off at a local dance hall, or milonga.Greeted on arrival by the instructor, a young porteno woman with good english and a sense of humour, we were quickly ushered into the hall.And the lesson began.With gusto!
We were quickly shown the basic moves, how the man holds and leads the woman, guiding her movements with his chest out in the typically arrogant manner of the Tango dancer.Next was the basic 4 step - back, left, forward, feet together.Then the 8 step.And so on.All to the sounds of the traditional tango songs, and all in time (in theory).We had the fun of switching partners every few mins, so not only do you embarress yourself in front of your partner, you get to do it with any number of strangers who happen to be nearby.Anyway, suffice it say, it WAS fun, it wasn´t too hard, everyone had a laugh and we all even learned a bit.Maybe with practise.Maybe...
Well, that ordeal over, we all headed up to the main hall, for, in my opinion, the main event.Not the show - the dinner!Heh, and it was SWEET!Well worth the money we had paid.Starter of carne empanada, a beef pastry common in Argentina, followed by a WHOPPER of a steak about 2 inches think and the size of, oh, I dunno, Donegal!Needless to say I finished both, but not without a serious effort of will (Janelle managed half).Then a dessert of ice cream or something, I´m not sure.Anyway, fully satisfied and nicely mellowed with the beer they poured (it comes in one litre bottles and they leave it at your table in an ice bucket, like wine) we sat back and awaited the Tango!
Hmmm...how can I really, truly describe the scene?I probably can´t, but just imagine 3 pairs of impossibly well tailored dancers, the men in suits, the ladies in all manner of tight dresses, doing all manner of moves to a live house band.Lights flashing, dry ice smoking, music beating out and limbs akimbo....You get the picture...Very impressive, very professional, very sexy.The ladies were dancing between the tables at one stage and took some of the men up to play with...I was one of the lucky ones!!Hehe.Got a nice pic to prove it too.Anyway.It was cool, wicked, amazing.Better than expected, and in a city where every hotel and hostel offer similar packages, it really stood out.Or so I´d believe anyway.Bottom line - if you´re in BA, catch a show!
So, that was BA.We checked out the next day and waved goodbye to a city I had no expectation to enjoy, but did so immensely.Worth it!Pity our flight down to Patagonia wasn´t as enjoyable.Lets just say we made a majorly stupid, rookie mistake and didn´t check our flight plans properly.And Buenos Aires has TWO airports......

Hola de Argentina,

Sorry I haven`t written b4 this but its just been so mad acclimatising to this place

the food, the language the madness etc.I did post up a link to a blog on the first

few days we spent in Rio on my Facebook (its in the about me section) but we`ve

done more than since then.Anyway, for those of you not on Facebook or not

bothered I`ll give you a quick summary.Landed in Sao Paulo at 5am, got crazy taxi

to hotel, slept.Did minimum of exploring (its a BIG city)and woke early to catch a

6 hr bus ride to Rio de Janeiro.Nice scenery, weather was beautiful, we thought it

couldn`t change.It did.Whole 5 days spent in Rio was overcast if not downright

wet!We did get lucky enough the first day to go hand gliding in one of the few

moments of clear dry weather.It was class!Scary at first (when you run at full tilt

off a cliff face with a man who keeps telling you its his first time too!), but it

becomes very relaxing very quickly, almost serene.Great views of the city, its

favelas, the beaches etc etc.Defo recommended!

In some ways, tho, it was a bit of an anticlimax.We spent the next 4 days in

raingear muttering about crap Brazilian weather.Well in fairness,now we can see

why its low season.We did have fun tho.Checked out the local area, managed to

enjoy a few drinks watching a reggae band up in the hills of Rio at nite.Did tours

of the local gardens etc.We did see Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, but

they somewhat lose their appeal in the rain when there`s no one around but

the homeless and hawkers selling local touristy crap.Oh, and we took a tram up to

Cristos Rendentor, or Christ the Redeemer, the 30m statue atop a large hill

overlooking the whole of Rio.As such, its become the icon of Rio, even the whole

of Brazil.And we saw ...nothing.It rained.There was heavy, heavy fog and cloud.

The statue itself we could barely make out in the absolute pissings of rain.Heh,

couldn`t have picked a worse day to go, but unfortunately, it was our last

and we had no choice.So we left Rio with a less than ideal view of the city.But,

one thing you can enjoy, rain or no, was the food.They serve a selection of bbq

meats on large pointed skewers, one after another.Beef, chicken, steak, pork,

sausages, different beef, more sausages, a spicy type of pork, a nicer cut of

steak, they just keep coming up to your table and offering it to you.And seeing

as you pay a flat fee at the door, its all you can eat.Nice.This type of meal

is known as rodizio, and it is very popular here.And bearing in mind, this is all

on top of the usual Brazilian buffet fare, rice, black beans, farofa, etc.We spent

our last nite indulging in this, washing it back with the local Choppe beer and

caipiriniaa, the famous Brazilian cocktail.Lots of rum and sugar mainly, but man

is it strong!We were warned b4hand by a British backpacker who swore that

2 of them would be enough to send you on your way.And sure enough, halfway

through her first one,Janelle turned white and had to take a break.SO nice tho!

You wouldn`t believe something so sweet would be so lethal.Anyway, we

continued drinking more of them back at the hostel, but not many more!

Right!That was Rio, or a brief summary.We then took a 22hr overnite bus ride

to where we are now, Peurto Iguazu on the very outer edge of Argentina.It was

nasty!Cramped seats, noisy passengers, and a broken toilet whose reek increased

exponentially as the ride wore on.They did show an English version of the

Incredible Hulk tho, which neither of us had seen.Funny enough, it starts off

in a favela in Brazil!Weird.Anyway, the bus ride went on and on, and we slept,

and woke, to find us still on the bus.And son on.Anyway.We reached the

Brazilian town of Foz de Iguazu at 6am.Weary and cranky and cramped, we fell

off the bus, caught a local bus to the main terminal, which transferred us onto

another bus to cross over into Argentina.The main attraction in this area, the

reason we put ourselves thru such an ass numbing journey is the world famous

and world class Iguazu Falls.275 individual waterfalls, fed from the absolutely

huge Iguazu river, plunge hundreds of feet into the abyss creating a permanent

roar that can be heard from miles around.These waterfalls, or catarats, happen

to lie on the borders of 3 countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.And as such

there are 3 cities built up respectively to deal with the numbers of tourists who

come here annually - Foz de Iguazu in Brazil, Peurto Iguazu in Argentina and

Ciadad del Este in Paraguay.But apparently Argentina have the best views, right up

close, and the better developed amenities in the Iguazu Parque Nacional.Hence

our destination.Anyway, suffice to say we crossed over the border tho we literally

had to walk from one country to another as the bus that dropped us off at the

border station wouldn`t wait for us.Bastardoes!Much to the amusment of the

armed border gaurds in Argentina...

So, yesterday we spent at the falls.And it is AMAZING!So much better than we

could have hoped or expected.We got sunny blue perfect skies too, for the first

time, which just added to everything.Boardwalks thru jungle, wild Coatis walking

alongside us, tropical blue coloured birds flying overhead, lizards everywhere...

It was beautiful..We took a train at one stage, to the main falls, Gargantan del

Diablo, or the Devils Throat and a ferry boat over to San Martin Island to get

closer to the falls.Everywhere we were covered in huge amounts of spray, and

everywhere there were rainbows rising out of the mist with the strong sun out

in force.Of course we took hundreds of photos and plenty of video.And we`re

off back again today to do some more trails that we missed yesterday.And after

that, another bus ride to Buenos Aires, tho we hear the transport in this

country is far superior to Brazil (Thank God).Anyway, must go, ppl waiting to

use thenet as alwyas in these hostels.Feel free to write and keep in touch.I`ll

keep writing anyway!Later, adios amigos!

Right, this is my first blog so you´ll forgive me my basic blogging errors.So, we´re here now in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the weather sucks and thus I have time to write.Anyway, I´ll give you a brief summary of whats been going on so far.
Hmm, ok.Well, after the usual hellish flights (all 13 hours), I managed to touchdown in Sao Paulo international.So far, so good.Passport control hadn´t given me a once over and I hadn´t managed to get mugged yet.Unfortunately Janelle´s flight from Toronto wasn´t due to land for another 5 hours after mine!At this stage I´d been up almost 24 hours, having had very little sleep on the plane on account of being sandwiched between two less than fresh smelling Brazilian men.Nice!Anyway, I managed to stumble around the arrivals hall, ordering tasty cappacinos and jealously gaurding my backpack lest some opportunistic thieves sneak something away while my back was turned.Well, after an age of waiting she got in, as frazzled as I was.We quickly got a taxi to our hotel on downtown Sao Paulo (or Sampa, as the locals call it) and on the way discovered that driving in Brazil is akin to an extreme sport, albeit one which we´d failed to realize we´d signed up for.Our driver even rear ended some poor big Brazilian woman right outside our hotel much to her surprise and dismay.Out she popped with much Portuguese curses (I can only guess).Luckily, there was nought but cosmetic damage and she allowed us on with a shake of her head.First impressions of SP are hot, impossibly large, poor, crazy.All of which you´d expect.
Anyway we got our room, slept for hours, ate local food (you pay by the kilo, and just heap what you want on a plate from the buffet - very tasty and very economical) and slept some more.I was a little more affected by jet lag that Janelle due to me crossing a couple of time zones while she had a pretty straightforward flight from TO.
The next day was straight to the metro, working out where to go and arriving at the large bus terminus in Tiete Station.We booked onto a fairly comfortable coach for the 6 hour drive to Rio and killed some time in the nearby internet cafe.Brazilians have this strange habit of requesting your passport no at every turn, even when ordering food it seemed.Anyway.The ride to Rio was not uncomfortable;we had nice reclining seats and they even gave us a carboard toy bus filled with snacks etc.Sweet!Nice scenery along the way too; lush green fields, impossibly blue skies, multi coloured shanty towns, large ornate churches.We had one brief stop during which the driver made some announcement in Portuguese.Seemed we´d have to take a detour for some reason.And so we did.We left the main highway some time later and found ourselves traversing winding backwards dust roads in no name towns somewhere deep in the overgrown jungle.Nice sights tho - more impressive then the now boring side of the road on the main highway.However, it did add on an hour and a half to the journey, by which time we were numb, tired and a little cranky.Our arrival in Rio was by nite, so all we had time to view was the hills lit up by streetlights and the heavy, heavy traffic of the main roads.I must point out that we had arranged for a driver from the hostel in Rio to meet us at the station due to the seedy and very unsafe nature of the area.And so, arriving late, we were sure he´d have left ages ago.Not so!We were greeted by a smiling Brazilian man holding a Brazil Hostel sign.What a relief!He took us past a snaking line which was for the local taxis which was longer than you´d really want it to be.And so he took us to our hostel, past the darkened favelas, the street kids on corners playing football in near dark, the Maracana Stadium where the local futbol matches are played.We arrived, greeted by 2 smiling girls and shown to our (for the plave) luxurious double room complete with fan.
Anyway - Rio.Rio is big.6 million or so people call this home.Rio is hilly, surrounded by sheer cliffs looming out of the early morning cloud.Rio is loud, fun, mad, bad and dangerous.Our hostel is proud to boast that only 41 ppl staying there in their 5 year history have been mugged!Hmmm...Crime is a real problem here, and you don´t take anything out with you that you can´t afford to lose.You´re recommeded to bring a special wad of cheap notes with which to hand over in the event of a mugging.How´s that for a friendly welcome.Anyways, we´´ve had fun here, and relaxed a bit as the days go by.We´ve lept from Pedra Bonita hill (at 591m) attached to nothing more than an A frame held together with strong canvas and worringly frayed ropes.My instructor kept saying it was his first time too.Cheers!We spent the nite drinking the local cocktail, caprihainai, a very strong mix of rum and lime, not unlike a mojito, whilst watching a reggae band play in a corner up in the picturesque hills of Santa Teresa.We also whiled away an afternoon in the Jardim Botanica surrounded by tropical plants, flowers, trees, bamboo orchids, monkeys etc.And we´ve been caught in unexpected but by no means unseasonal rain showers for the past 2 days, scuppering our chances of relaxing on Copacabana or Ipanema beaches and spending the day ppl watching.Ah well.We´ve another day here after this one, and we´ve yet to witness the splendor of Cristos Rendento (Christ the Redemor) and the Sugar Loaf (Rio´s iconic landmark hill, reached by a precarious cable car).And after that....ugh.....a 22 HOUR bus ride to The Iguazu Falls, on the border of Brazil and Argentina.Not looking forward to THAT I tell ya.I´ll be back in touch after I have more news and happenings here in South America.Enjoy.