Santiago - Chile

Preparing ourselves for home, we have spent the last 5 days in Santiago Chile where there are hardly any street sellers or Chiclets kids, there are road rules that people obey, and there is a movement and lifestyle similar to that of any modern European city. Sensing our immenient departure and a need to wind down, we have done very little in Santiago. It has rained everyday and the sky remains a constant light grey providing little inspiration to venture outside and spend money which we no longer have. The city reminds me a little of Vancouver in the winter, with a consistently cold temperature, snow capped moutains in the background, and a flair for dark, unobtrusive jackets and clothing. Unfortunatly though, there is not a coffee shop on every corner as in Canada, and finding a cup of anything other than Nescafe is a hard feat. Spending a month in Columbia and developing a addiction to great coffee has reinforced the fact that we changed countries and cultures. So if you cant get good coffee, why not just drink great wine?!!
Chile produces some excellent wine which is available for super cheap. A good bottle is under $5 in the supermarket and so we have sampled many and have not found a bad one yet. A grape now unique to Chile due to insect wipeouts in other places, is called the Camanere and we have enjoyed this alot. We have also indulged inmany pisco sours and have learnt how to make them so watch out for a taste sensation at our palce when we get back. As well as drink lots of beverages here, we have walked around the city and checked out the plazas, shopping malls, parks and clean buildings that make this city function. We have watched movies, slept in, cooked great dinners, and enjoyed being almost the only guests in a really cool, homely hostel. We wanted to go snowboarding but we are just a little too early for the base to be decent, but its snowing now and its certainly cold enough.
But now its all over, and we are getting on a plane in a couple of hours. I think when the time comes to go home, you are often ready for it because you´ve told yourself thats the way it is. I cant say im fully ready to come home but i am looking forward to eating food with spice in it again (a serious lack of flavour in most Sth American countries and so the first thing we will probably devour at home is a thai green curry with extra chilli. Ooohh so Ausrtalian!). It will also be unsual to not have to carry toilet paper around with you, and to be able to throw it down the bowl instead of a bin next to the toilet (SA plumbing cant handle paper). I will be happy not to have hours travellin on buses or planes for awhile, and it will be cool not to see statues of Jesus on the dashboard of a bus, and also cool to see a bus or garbage truck without flashing decorative lights or pansy music blasting from it. I will however miss the continuous food sellers who get on anywhere and sell you drinks, hot food, chips, anything! It will be a pain to have to wait for a bus at a bus stop instead of just hailing one from anywhere along the road. There are lots of thing i will miss, and we will certainly be back to this land of diversity and culture, friendly people and good times. But for now, we must say adios and head to the airport. Really, i have to go right now, like 10 minutes ago...

Bogota - Columbia

Topping off our Columbian adventures, we spent 4 nights in the capital city, Bogota. Once considered an dangerous place and somewhere to avoid, Bogota has cleaned up its act in recent times, and with police presence everywhere, it feels safe, clean and a cool place to be. Its a big modern metropolis with efficient transport, business and historic districts, and really intersting musuems.

We stayed in the old town area called La Candelaria which used to be the centre of Bogota. The area around the Plaza de Bolivar contains graceful architecture of the National Congress, the Presidents House, mayors office, judicial and goverment buildings, neoclassical cathedrals and charming restuarnts serving traditional dishes such as ajiaco which is a delicious chicken stew with corn, capers and 3 types of potato. Another typical Columbian dish is hot chocolate served with a wedge of cheese which i struggle to understand. The idea is that the cheese offsets the sweetness in the chocolate but i´ll take my cheese and chocolate seperately gracias!

As mentioned, Bogota has some world class musuems and we visited the Museo del Oro (Gold Musuem) which features more than 34000 pieces of goldworks from Hispanic cultures in Columbia. Delicate, intricate, and restored with dazzling shine, this was a unique and impressive musuem. Equally unique and impressive, yet for entirely different reasons, was the Museo Historico Policia which details the Columbian police force through the years, including a sizable section on the life and possessions of drug cartel boss and policitican Pablo Esacabar. This musuem is filled with guns, uniforms and police artifacts, and we were guided around by a young ancillary member of the force who explained to us that military service is compulsary for 1 year for Columbian men, and that opportunities are good for those who wish to continue on. This helped to explain the huge police presence of young kids with batons and guns and braces on their teeths, in various policing roles such as musuem guide, traffic police, etc.

We also visited the Botero Musuem, and again enjoyed the works of this prolific Columbian artist who paints, draws and scuplts fat people, fruits and flowers. The musuem is also home to lots of Columbian modern art, plus works by Salvador Dali, Picassio, Renoir and Monet. But of course it wasnt all high culture for us in this happening city! We checked out some reggae, jazz, and live latino bars and resturants, and spent a few nights seeing the sunrise at the hostel and missing breakfast/lunch the next day. We were thankful to roll out of bed one day to find a huge Columbian food exhibition taking place in the plaza, with tonnes of stalls selling things like BBQ meats (cooked on hot stones, directly on the plaza ground), weird juices, sweets, fruits, breads and meats, and with schoool students and music groups in traditional costumes dancing and singing all day, we were suitably entertained and well feed.

We also visited Columbias number 1 tourist attraction - the salt cathedral at Zipaquira, which is about 2 hours outside Bogota. This is a huge labyrinth of underground chapels and tunnels built within the old section of the salt mines. They still mine there today, although in a different area. As you descend into the depleted area, the salt walls are mostly smoothed over and contain carved out crosses everywhere with marble blocks for pray and reference to the stations of the cross. The finale is the cathedral which is massive and eeringly beautiful. The tour was in Spanish so my understanding of the history is a little limited and im unsure if they actually hold mass in there now, or if its just a tourist attraction. Nonetheless, is was a visually fasinating sight.

Jeb tells me i have been typing away for ages, so thats enough out of me for now except to say that we arrived safely in Chile despite some airport hiccups involving customs and seeds inside an Ecuadorian musical instrument. At 4am in the morning, we were lucky enough to escape a $800 US fine, and reminded ourself that we are now travelling in the world of planes and not buses, and searches exist and are thorough. Anyways, more on Chile later.

Taganga - Columbia

So now we are really on holidays! After months of hiking up mountains, down canyons, day long bike rides, and moving places every 2-3 days, we have arrived at the beach town of Taganga, where the hardest decisions we face are what unknown fruits we will combine in our juices. The sun beams down everyday, the water is torquise and the alcohol is flowing. Further to the several juices everyday, we have been enjoying small cups of tinto (sweetened black coffee) in the afternoons served directly to you on the beach, plus many cold showers (there is only one tap in the shower anyway, and is more just like a pipe sticking out of the wall than a shower head - this is the norm in northern columbia, and also unfortunately in other parts of Sth America where it is not so sweltering hot and not so well received). We have also been lazying about on a yellow lilo, floating about in the water and getting a nice tan too. Oh and of course, eating the freshest of fish straight from the ocean, and its delicious.

Today we stepped out of this lazy lifestyle that we are getting rather used to, and went snorkelling and scuba diving. Neither Jeb or i have dived before so we did what they call a mini course which consists of 2 dives at a maximum depth of 12m. Once we became adjusted to the apparatus and the concept of breathing underwater, we had a fantastic time checking out the stunning coral reefs, superbly coloured fish, octopus, and marine life. It astounding to think that so much of this planet is underwater and unexplored. It really is an amzing world of its own down there.

Tommorrow we are heading back to Santa Marta (which is also a beachside town, 20 mins away with more faciltities and people but little to do) and from there, we will take a bus and jeep into the national park of Tayrona where we will probably do much of the same above, with the added bonus of sleeping in hammocks for a couple of days. Ahhhh....

Cartagena - Columbia

Colonial balconies spilling with colourful bouganvillas and sunny arctitecture, Cartagena is what they describe as the jewel of the Carribean. As rightly so, as it is a beautiful city which has retained true authenticity and style, not sold out by tourism. Well not yet, or at least not in some areas such as the old town where we are staying. I like that its still quite rough around the edges, which can contrast with the restored feel of the centre and especially so with the modern, fancy area with its huge designer beachfront apartments and restaurants which are increasingly springing up here. Having only seen this from the bus, we are more than happy mixing it up with the mostly black locals and making new street friends such as Jebs favourite, Mario Brother, who loves a chat on the corner at any time of the day.

Its really stinking hot and humid here as you may expect, and reminds me of a cross of places like Fiji and Vietnam, with the smells of fruit and sweat, and the oppressive heat and open local life. Speaking of fruit, we are in produce heaven here, and we buy fruit and drinks from vendors all day, every day. Fresh lime drinks, sweet strawberries and mangoes, huge avocadoes and things we dont even know. Also small sweet coffee known as tinto to give us that morning kick.

The city was very important to the Spanish as its a port town and cruically located, and therefore was prone to invasion back in the 15th century and onwards. The Spanish built a huge fort on the city edge, and walled the city with cannons which are all still in place. It has character and history and some say a sense of historical romance.

Today we had one of the most unique experiences i have ever had. We went to an active volcano and bathed in the mud inside. Its quite small, only about 35m high to climb inside, and then down a ladder into the thickest mud you can imagine. You can hardly move yourself and have to get pulled and pushed through the den by locals who massage you whilst you reap the rewards of the 51 minerals contained in the mud. There is no ground, and a bizzare feeling of weightless. Every inch of our body was covered and my skin now feels exfoliated and soft like no product could ever do. Climbing out is a challenge not to slip and you then get washed by ladies in the river (everything for tips of course). Next up, a swim and lunch on the beach, freshly caught fish, fried plaintains, coconut rice. The ocean water here is warm and only refreshing to a degree. We have taken to cooling down by drinking lots of rum which is the common carribean drink.

There is a dog fight outside right now which is rare as dogs in Sth america are everywhere but mostly quite placid and ignore you. Kinda scary sounding. Tommorrow we are travelling another 4 hours along the coast and this really will be the furthest north we will go for a week of lazing about on the beach.

Medellin - Columbia

Medellin could be anywhere in the world. Its a big livable city, really really clean, modern, an excellent Metro line running through the city, wide roads, garbage bins, big supermarkets, nice restuarants. Not quite what you expect from Columbia.

Being here on a weekend, we hit the Zona Rosa area which is the nightlife district centred around a few blocks. There are heaps of big, open bars with funky comfortable styling, nice furniture, 3 for 1 cocktails and a happy vibrancy of locals. It reminded me of several cool Sydney areas mixed together, but with a style all of its own.

With mild hangovers the next day, we made our way into the city centre to check out the Botero sculptures in the plaza and the Musuem. Fernando Botero is a internationally renowned, Medellin- born sculptor and painter, a figurative artist who depicts people and objects with exaggerated proportions. Everything is fat and bulbous and often comical but with precision and colour and flair. His sculptures are huge and line the plaza, and his paintings use oils, canvas, and pencil and with nearly 100 donations to the mususem, fill a complete floor.

Yesterday was a public holiday here, not sure what for but everything was closed and we did nothing except drink more cocktails and play cards. But we made up for it today and went paragliding! Soaring through the sky like a bird, we had amazing views of the city. Medellin is a particularly popular place for gliding due to the thermal currents here, and we had perfect flying weather. It was really relaxing and peaceful, and a great experience.

Tonitgh we are taking an overnight bus to Cartagena. Its only 13 hours and will take us almost as far north as we are going. I have to say though, we are getting a little over bus travel, and hopefully we will sleep most of the way.

Cail and Salento - Columbia

So far we are loving Columbia. Guerilla warfare of recent years is no longer a common threat in most areas, and due to a huge amount of money spent by the government, the police presence is strong and combat ready and very visible. This has pushed the guerillas further into the jungle, making the country accessible to travellers. Army and police walk the streets everywhere in groups with weapons slung over their shoulders, making things seem safer rather than scary.

Added to this, Columbia is generally a really clean, hygienic, organised country with the friendliest people who will go out of their way to assist travellers and be helpful. The weather is hot, facilties are good and its not over-run with tourists. We are glad we changed out plans to come here.

We spent 2 nights in Cali, Columbia´s third largest city which is centred around a river and the Avenue Sexta which splits the city in half. Its a big city with big buildings, big banks, big roads. Cali is not necessarily beautiful, nor does it have many sites to check out, but its hot and sultry and vibrant and is the home to salsa music. So when in Rome/Columbia...i learnt to salsa. Sexta Ave is lined with large clubs and discoteques and salsateques and whilst Tuesday is the quiet night in town, we hit the busiest club where lots of young Columbian men and women were on the dancefloor. With a few Aguadientes under my belt (the main drink around here, it´s similar to Sambucca but not quite as potent and drunk as a shot with salt and lime), i was encourgaged on to the dancefloor with 2 Columbian guys from the hostel. We danced to salsa and also merengue which is a 2-step style dance and much easier. As they told me, everywhere dances here. This is what you do when you got out, and its the means for being social with the opposite sex. I cant say i was great at salsa, but it was a fun night til the music changed and loud techno music belted out and a crazy funny strip show thing for the ladies occured which is all apprently very common.

Whilst in Cali, we visited the Zoologica or simply Zoo, which was really well laid out and maintained in lovely grounds and featured lots of pumas and big cats, plus the whole gammet of zoo animals including even kangaroos. It was a really nice day til we reaslied we had been bitten by invisible midgies again and were now in for a few days of excricuating itchiness.

We hit the road again, heading for the Zona Cafetera region and a small town called Salento. We stayed in a great hostel on an old restored coffee plantatation and realxed for 3 days in the tranquil setting. The landscape in this region is beautiful and there are rolling green hills reminiscent of Scotland or somewhere, plus lovely farmhouses and green trees everywhere. We walked through the coffee plantation and were explained the processes involved, and also saw the many blackberry and banana plantations interwined between coffee plants. And of course we drank loads of delicious coffee which we have been lacking throughout our Sth American sojourn so far. As is often the way, the best local products get exported and until now, our caffiene addiction has been quenched by instant coffee or bad tea. So we rejoiced and drank it up.

Salento is a cool little town with a spacious main plaza with a few restuarants and bars and arty shops around it, and 1 main street. The style is colourful and like a Western saloon. The local characters in this story wear gum boots and somberos for working in the plantations. There are 2 billard bars, and also a venue for playing a game called Tejo. The game is played undercover and involves throwing a metal disk or puck along a kind of playing alley. You aim for a clay pit where there are pieces of gunpowder in the middle which explode when you hit it and is the ultimate score. For those who know our Sunday Games in the Park days, its similar to Bocci Golf, but with gunpowder and a similar amount of disregard for safety. With unspoken experience in this kind of game, the locals were suitably impressed at Jebs aim and ability to hit the gunpowder.

Just outside Salento, we set of for a hike through the Valley Cocora and witnessed the huge wax plam trees scattered throughout a stunning area of farming and hillsides. The wax palms are unique to this region and grow to about 70m and are now protected. The hike ventured out of open surrounds, and into a beautiful, lush rainforest trail and ended up at a house where we were served coffee by the owners and watched the hummingbirds flitter all around us. They are super fast birds and taking a picture was a challenge but you could get so close to them as they drank from the bird feeders filled with panela syrup water, which Columnians also substitute for sugar in coffee and a straight hot drink too. We rode back in the jeep which serves as a kinda of bus, but obviosuly with alot less seats and Jeb gladly snatched up seat on the roof making for a thrilling ride.

Off next to the town of Medellin, Pablo Escabor territory.

Mancora, Peru and Vilcabamba, Ecuador

Mancora is small beach town set amongst some fairly arid scenery. The desert landscape on the bus trip here was stark and arriving in Mancora was a relief to see that there is actually a beautiful blue water coastline here. The surk break is small but perhaps it was just during our stay. Restuarants and bars line an area of the beach and whilst this is a tourist destination for gringos and Peruvians alike and there is lots of development in the works, it is still a small town with alot of space to yourself. We stayed at a very cool hostel at the far end of the town which had its on private beach and bamboo cabanas right on the sand. You take motorised scooter taxis to get around, in between lazy about at the beach in the perfect sunny weather. Sacrificing the hostel pet for a travellers feast, we enjoyed a pig on the spit, complete with salads, rum punch, good company and special memories. And then we changed countries again.

Taking another overnight bus (although this time, not quite so comfortable and with some unexpected lag time in between), we took off for Ecuador crossing the border after midnight. As we approach the equator, a few things have become noticeable. The promotion of biodiversity in both plants and animals, and green lush humid scenery is now all around us. And then of course, the feeling of getting asconded by mosquitos. Our first point of call in Ecuador is the very chilled out town Vilcabamba. The valley here is renowned for its water source which is really high in magnesium and other minerals and is said to responsible for the longevity of its residents who often live beyond 100 years. We hiked today to find the source called Agua de Hierro, however a big flood in the recent rainy season has washed away the end of the trail and we were not able to access it. But no worries, as we have been staying in a Ecolodge here which comes complete with a jacuzzi with natural herbs, a steam room filled with pine, sauna, swimming pool, and hammocks and needless to say, we are chilling out and increasing our lifespan at the same time! And all for the very reasonable backpacker price of $9 US a night. We have also been enjoying some other thrills here like homemade Snake Juice which is 80% alcohol and distilled in a jar with a venomous snake. You drink it like Tequila with lime and salt...i was hesitant (Jeb obviously was not..."snakes and alcohol together!!!") but it really was ok and we are still alive.
Another good point to Ecuador so far is the existence of brown bread! For our whole trip, we have only been getting white bread filled with air, so im very happy about this. Sometimes, its the small things...

Cafayate, Salta, Tilcara - Argentina

This afternoon we arrived in a small town called Tilcara which is just a few hours south of the Bolivian border. Tilcara could be straight out of a gaucho film set. Its dusty and dry, and surrounded by huge mountains. The Andean culture is apparent now as we head further north. The locals have darker skin and artisean offerings are of colourful ponchos and hats made of llama wools for warmth. Its very pretty here and we are staying in a great hostel perched higher above the town. Tommorrow we head to Bolivia which will be a whole new world, and one that we are really excited about.

Before we reached Tilcara, we spent 2 nights in Cafayate and did a tour through the Quebrada de Cafayate. The quebradas are a spectacular mountainous range of of distinctive formations and colours, mostly red but with sulphur green linings through parts. Wind erosion shapes the quebradas and some very cool strcutures have formed which you can climb on and around.

The next day in Cafayate, we went for a hike to the Cascadas waterfall which should be a 1 hour hike from the base of the mountain. Jeb, Arendt (our Ducth friend) and myself set off and said no to a guide as he only spoke Spanish. Bad idea. We hiked through some seriously intense mountains and creeks for over 3 hours before nearly giving up. Having a breather, we saw some people! til now it had only been insects and a herd of goats!. We crossed the creek again (shoes off, sketchy jumping etc for about the 8th time already). The local guide laughed at how long we had been walking and showed us the way to the falls. Which was only 10 minutes so very glad we didnt turn back, and stoked to have only 1 hour back. Freezing so i didnt swim but nice to have made it and appreciate the hidden water source. Despite the length, it was a very cool hike and we felt sore and satisfied afterwards.

We then spent 2 nights in Salta but didnt do much. Took the gondola up the mountain for views of the city and walked down (1070 steps). Like we needed more exercise! Salta is a nice town with an open city plaza area, but really really busy at night when everyone in town seemed to be out. Also students seem to overwhelm the place, but we think there was a teacher strike or something that day.

We are now going to eat our very last Argentinian parrilla before we head to Bolivia tommorrow.

Iguazu Falls, Tafi Del Valle, and Cafayte - Argentina

Spectaular. Iguazu Falls truly is a wonder of nature.

Firstly though, we survived the bus there which was no hard feat when you are sitting in the upstairs front seats of a double decker bus and have a panoramic view of the landscape along the way. The further north we travelled, the more lush the scenery was. Plantations of sugarcane, bananas, orchids and just trees and grass and greenery everywhere, with rich red brown soils that bleed everywhere onto the highways.

Arriving in the middle of the day, we were grateful the hostel we stayed in had a pool as the humidity was intense. But perfect blue sky summer weather and we headed to Iguazu early the next day on the local bus. Its about 30 mins from the town centre of Puerto Iguazu. The entry fee is about $30 aus to enter Parque Iguazu on the Argentinian side and walking through the gates almost felt like a amusement park. But you quickly disperse from the entry and the shops, and lose any crowds around you. There are 3 trails you can walk which meander through the park before you see the falls. And when you do, its breathtaking and so beuatiful, and really loud with such an immense amount of water. We took the lower trail first upon advice and you can so close to the falls that you get wet (not so much on the Brailzian side which we didnt go to). Footbridges take you around every vantage point possible and needless to say, we took hundreds of photos as its just so picturesque and lush. You can take a free boat across a section of the falls and then hike up a mountain in the centre for amazing close views. And then, you can swim! How cool to swim in Iguazu Falls! There is a train which takes you to the Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat) which is the main semi-circular section of the falls where the world literally seems to drop away. Its awe inspiring and we were either lost for words, or could simply mutter basics like ´wow´.

So we had a greta day, did all the trails, and saw lots of wildlife including spiders, and millions of colourful butterflies that land on you as they please, and birds with blue crests, and these animals (cant remember what they called, but they have short legs, a long tail which sticks up and a long pointy nose and are about the size of a wombat maybe). They are really quite tame and cruise about the rainforest. We came across about 20 of them and they could smell something sweet in jebs bag so they were right into and we had to really fight to get the bag back. Very cool.

We had wanted to go from Iguazu to Salta but the bus was full so we took a bus to Tucuman instead (still 22 hours). Have to tell you about the bus food for this trip...for dinner there was 3 different types of sandwichs all with ham and cheese! And, we had already had the same thing for lunch! And they cut the crusts off bread here. Gotta laugh...

Tucuman is just another city, so we deicided to get on another bus for 2 hours north and go to a small town called Tafi Del Valle with a population of 4000, and and an elevation of 2000. The bus ride was amazing as you drive through an amazing rainforest valley which looked like it was out of a fairytale. The lushest place i think ive ever seen, there was no sense of where one tree finsihed and the next began. Everywhere was just green and mossy with a big creek running through the middle of it. So glad we didnt go straight to Salta, because to arrive in Tafi was a blessing. There are mountains surrounding this valley and we hiked one for views of the area with a Dutch doctor we met. It rained all night which was unfortunate, so we left the next afternoon and came to Cafayte which is where we are now. The bus ride again was scenic but this time the vegetation changed to arid landscapes with huge cactus marking the hills everwhere you looked.

Cafayate is a wine producing region and is also surrounded by big mountains. We did a small wine tour yesterday. The best grape in Argentina is called the malbec. Wine here tends to be very dry and my favourite tasting was of the rose which is unsual for me. Last night, the hostel we are staying in put on a huge bbq feast, local wines and tunes. Ahh life is hard...gotta go now as we are taking a trip through the canyon area.

Buenos Aires

Argentinians just love cheese. Quilmes is the beer.
Cafe Tortoni. Nightly tango shows take place in this old but beutifully restored cafe.

Palacio del Congreso

San Telmo, Buenos Aires

San Telmo is a section of Buenos Aires which is especially famous for tango. It´s just outside the city centre, and we stayed here for 4 nights. But alas, we did not tango...instead, we did the reggae-tone beat til early hours of the morning in true Buenos Aires style for Jeb´s birthday. Buenos Aires really doesnt sleep and the action does not kick off til after midnight and in clubs it all starts happening about 3am. Gives a new meaning to the word siesta, and we have definitely settled into the routine of sleeping late as a result. Dinner also does not happen til after 9pm so an adjustment of the clock is necessary.

The drink of choice (ok, lets be honest...one of the drinks of choice) for the bday evening was Fernet which is a popular drink in these parts of the country. Medicinal tasting liquor, with a hint of mint and herbs and a strange aftertaste...the only thing i can compare to is jagermeister. But you drink this with Coke and people love it here. So when in rome...

On a Sunday in San Telmo, there are famous antique markets where people flock to snag a bargain and experience the area in its quaint glory. Antiques dont interest me much but it was cool to wander through the streets and check out very old chandeliers, paintings, vases, watches etc, and watch street perfomers and tango dancers do their stuff in the cobblestone streets.

Futbol is a phenomenom here in Argentina, and a item on our agenda, so Sunday we went to a Boca Juniors game which is the most popular team in the Argentinian leagure and home to the legendary Diego Maradona. The area of La Boca is actually very impoversihed and quite dangerous at night with some sketchy slums and favella areas. Tix are all reservered for members of the stadium and there are more members than tix. We had heard some horror stories of people getting robbed and riped off and i wasnt confident of my spanish to haggle with scalpers so we opted for a tour option where tix were guarenteed. Was truly an experience and the vivacious fans go absoultely nuts. A concrete stadioum felt like it was moving amid the continous cheers, songs, jumping and dancing. Very squishy and packed but dry at least considering it was pouring rain and alot of people werent so lucky being under cover. Boca won 3-1 with all the action happening in the last half...very cool, glad we got to experience one of the most craziest futbol teams in the world in their home stadium.

But enough of Buenes Aires...we felt like we had seen everything and wanted to get out of the main city. BA is great but with its European architecture and big city feel, we wanted to move on to more Andean and inigenous areas. So on a bus today to Rosario which is still a major city north west of BA, but we on the move north. The seats on the bus for this 4 hour trip were awesome and they were only a`semicama´. This means you gets snacks, lunch, your seat fully reclines with lots of space and it comfy. For the next class up and not much more money, you can fully lay flat in the bus and sleep like a baby. We are heading to Iguazu Falls on Thursday in this kinda seating which is greta becuase its about 18 hours or so.

Thats definitely enough from me now...ciao x

Colonia and Montevideo, Uruguay + Tigre, Argentina

On Monday we left Buenos Aires and took the ferry to Uruguay, arriving in the town of Colonia Del Sacromento. The jouney took 3 hours although you can take a more expensive fery and get there in 1 hour. But we wanted to enjoy being on the water on a beautiful day and we are grateful for the extra time as we befriended this lovely Argentinian couple Marte and Michael. They are in their 50s, speak English and own a resturant called Captain Cook funnily enough (they offered Jeb a job!). We discussed Argentinian politics, trade and industry, culture, history etc and left ferry after 3 hours feeling so much wiser. I tried my first mate which is a national drink like tea and is everywhere in Argentina and Uruguay. The leaf is called yerba and it is kinda like a green tea but much stronger and you drink it with a metal or wooden straw. The mate cup is traditionally made out of pumpkin, but modern varities are made other materials too. People walk aound eveywhere carrying their thermos under their arm to refill their mate.

So we arrived in Colonia and explored this picturesque port town which was founded by the Portguese in 1680 to smuggle goods across the Rio de la Plata river to Buenos Aires. There are cobblestone streets and old world charm. Its beautifully restored and as a result, quite touristy but not in a bad way. Definitely worth checking out and our timing couldnt have been better as it was the annual Carnavale in Colonia on this Monday night. In South America, eveything starts kicking off really late so even for a Monday in this small town, the festivities beagn about 10.30pm. A parade rolled though the main streets with latino dancing and an afro rhythm beat supplied by a drumming procession of about 20 guys. Leading the procession were dancers of all ages, young girls, beautiful women and old grannies mostly wearing very little and showing their finest backside assets. The parade finished in a street where their was more dancing and bands and beer stalls and meat bbq stalls. Great entertainment for a Monday night, and a chance to experience some authencti street culture.

But not much else to do in Colonia so we took the bus the next day to the capital city Montevideo and spent 2 nights there. Travelling with a expat Brit Aussie guy and a Brit lady, we wandered down to the Mercado del Puetro which is basically a big market of parillas (steakhouses) where you can enjoy the hugest steaks and red wine. So we indulged again.

Whilst in Montevideo we went to the beach for a swim. The water is brown- looking due to the rocks and silt so not quite the beautiful blue waters of Sydeny but lovely soft sand and the water was warmer than Sydney has been of late so very refreshing in this summer heat. Checked out a few bars with people but Montevideo is not a huge city so 2 nights was enough and we headed back to Argentina.

Generally speaking though, i found Uruguay to be really pleasant, very green with lots of pastures and trees, and well kept building of European architecture and clean streets. The people we met were also really friendly and we enjoyed our stay.

Left Montevideo by bus to a sleepy town called Carmelo to get a different ferry back to Argentina and a city called Tigre which is about an hour north of BA. Tigre is on the Rio Del Plata and the lifestyle is centred around the river with rowing and boating. Tigre has money and is weekend getaway destination for portenos (people of Agentina), but its beautiful and leafy and relaxing. I had got the flu a little so it was a nice place to recover. Asking for flu medication in Spanish was a challenge i had to face but it was successful and im feeling much better now! Went to the mate musuem whilst we were there and had a guide who spoke no english but we got the gist of things and have now bought ouselves a mate cup and some yerba!

We went to Tigre because the Argentinian couple we met on the fery to Uruguay have their restuarnt there, so we went for lunch (was a mission and we got lost as not really somewhere western tourists go!) The restarant was on the marina and it was awesome. Marte likes Asian cooking and had told us about her Thai influenced dishes, so we enjoyed one of the best Thai green curies ever, plus an adaption of san choy boy. Was awesome food and we got a special tour of the marina and the very expensive boats moared there. Our new friends would not let us pay, so we were very lucky and left totally satisified to catch the train back to Buenos Aiers.

Which is where we are now. And its Jebs birthday today so we are going to head out tonight i think. Will keep you posted....

Buenos Aires

Day 5 in Buenos Aires and we are starting to get the hangs of things over here. The first 3 nights we stayed in the city centre and wandered around checking out the architecture, Recoleta cemetary (where Argentian aristocrats and Evita is buried) and other key sights (will post photos of places later, but can´t download straight from camera to blog or flikr - or can i? If anyone knows, please email me. For now, i will be posting pics in bulk every couple of weeks). So for now, you just get some idle ramble and thoughts about BA from me.

And what better way to start than beer. The local beer is called Quilmes and its good. You can buy it for 4 pesos from the Supermercado (my new favourite word, but even better is the `Disco Supermercado´ which is like a chain of supermarkets over here). To clarify folks, thats about $2 aussie dollars for 650ml. Needless to say, Jeb is happy about that! Another cheap success story has been steak. Massive cuts of meat and its available everywhere. Without understanding a word of the menu on our 2nd night, we were served this fantastic steak and salad meal which costs about $10 each. Bueno! But not all things are so cheap, for example, accomodation is probably double what it said in the guidebook. This is not helped by the global financial crisis and the fall of the aussie dollar. Lots of things are in US dollars for comparison purposes, so we are paying a bit more than expected but all good and this is probably going to be the most expensive city on our travels anyway.

Yesterday we took the subway to an area called Palermo which is a leafy neighbourhood on the city fringe filled with huge parks, and lots of resturants, bars and cafes. A shop sign described it perfectly - bougeouis bohemian. The area is trendy with a fantastic weekend market where i wanted to buy everything i saw. It reminds me of a cross between Surry Hills, Paddington and some northern city suburb. On the other end of Palermo are grand, ornate consulate buildings and wealthy residences where ladies walk their designer dogs but with less pretensiousness than other cities.

My Spanish is improving every day, or at least i am getting more confident. I am also now tutoring Jeb with 2 new words or phrases a day, and he is an a great student. After some very confusing language experiences (especially on the bus...argghh!!), we are practising with each other and looking at the phrasebook frequently so will continue to improve.

Last night it stormed and rained heavily and being a Sunday today, most things are closed (perhaps as it´s the Sabbath in this Catholic dominant country). Feeling vegie deficient already in this land of meat, potato and cheese, we cooked a vegie stirfry last night despite struggling to find any kind of asian sauce or soy to cook it with. Tonight we are back to steak before leaving tommorrow to get the ferry to Uruguay and spend a couple of days there. Hopefully the rain will pass and we will come back to BA for tango, antique markets and a La Boca futball (soccer) game next weekend.