So we pulled up to our hostel in Buenos Aires about 4 in the afternoon, only to see a massive queue for something next door. Everyone in the line was dolled up as if going out, it was bright, sunny and hot...where were they going? Apparently this is a 24 hour club which only opens at the weekends but stays open pretty much all the time. Bizzare, yes.
We wandered down to the Sunday Antique Market later that evening, hundereds of trinkets, retro phones, calculators, cameras, playing cards, books, shoes, vintage clothing, the list is endless, they had EVERYTHING. Really amazing stuff. Wandering through the marketm every 200 yards or so there would be a live jazz band at the side of the street and various people doing the tango in the middle of the street. We came across a restaurant that had actually been recommended to us, so we went in. Steaks the size of our heads arrived at the table, along with bread, fries, mash, red wine. It´s no lie when they say the best steaks in the world are Argentine.
We´ve been in BA for a little over a week now, still wandering the wide Parisian-esque pavements and exploring the scores of vintage shops. BA is the kind of place I´d like to visit, buy a load of furniture and clothes and ship them all back home. There are some amazing finds out here. Altoghether, it´s quite European in comparison to all the other South American cities we´ve been to, quite stylish and everyone walking the streets is beautiful.
The one thing we didn´t find to our tastes was a festival we ventured to on Saturday. REM headlined which was definitely worth our time, especially seen as the tickets were only about 30 quid, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs also played which isn´t really worth recounting but the headline act really made it a great gig. However, to our absolute discust and dismay, there was not a drop of alcohol to be found in the place. AT A FESTIVAL. WHY? I´m still absolutely dumbfounded by the whole thing, it makes absolutely no sense to me. Dan and I questioned this for a good three hours of the evening, at one stage even wanting to find some staff so we could have an explaination for this outrage. Unfortunately we didn´t, and a festival without people walking around with beers, making random mates, dancing to no music, running around with no clothes on and just being generally obnoxious is not really a festival now, is it?
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sao Paulo
After a few more days in Rio, we headed down to Sao Paulo to witness the 4th biggest city in the world. On entering Sao Paulo, from the suburbs to the actual centre of the city takes about 2 hours driving, constantly surrounded by skyscrapers. The enormity of the place is difficult to put into words because it´s just off the scale.
Our time in Sao Paulo, albeit shortlived, was excellent. Our quaint little hostel was the first place that we stayed with a bit of a family vibe. The whole place was run by a family and as it was quite small, we soon got to know everyone staying and working there and made friends very quickly.
Our first night out consisted of us going to a ´rock´club. Now, having been to many a ´rock/indie´clubs in London, we were all a bit miffed as to what the actual genre of the music was. On requesting songs, and literally, EVERY song we requested the dj laughed at us. We couldn´t even make out what it was he was playing, all we noticed that there was air guitar being played close by and none of us knew why. The place was interesting though, small enough, outdoor bar full of twenty something emos, alternatives, a few punks and some indies. A small bar outdoors at the back of the club reeked of weed and beer-a common stench in South America.
The next day we wandered the parts of the city we could reach by foot, wandered down the massive Av Paulista ambling into bookshops along the way. Being in a city that huge and it being 32 degrees eventually took it´s toll and we hopped in a cab back to the hostel for another night on the tiles.
This time, taken along to another Rock bar, this time there was a white supremacist screamo band playing upstairs, which although aroused the interest of some of us, I wasn´t hanging around for the encore. Downstairs was a much more disco based affair and we spent the night dancing away till the wee hours. There was even an 87 year old man giving it absolute socks on the dancefloor.
Due to bus times to Argentina we had to leave earlier than we would have liked, also due to the fact that Sao Paulo is quite expensive we decided to move on. We left Sao Paulo about 10.30pm on the friday night and didn´t arrive in Buenos Aires until 4pm on Sunday. This bus journey was, as you can imagine, hellish. I won´t go into details but take my word for it that it was rubbish.
Our time in Sao Paulo, albeit shortlived, was excellent. Our quaint little hostel was the first place that we stayed with a bit of a family vibe. The whole place was run by a family and as it was quite small, we soon got to know everyone staying and working there and made friends very quickly.
Our first night out consisted of us going to a ´rock´club. Now, having been to many a ´rock/indie´clubs in London, we were all a bit miffed as to what the actual genre of the music was. On requesting songs, and literally, EVERY song we requested the dj laughed at us. We couldn´t even make out what it was he was playing, all we noticed that there was air guitar being played close by and none of us knew why. The place was interesting though, small enough, outdoor bar full of twenty something emos, alternatives, a few punks and some indies. A small bar outdoors at the back of the club reeked of weed and beer-a common stench in South America.
The next day we wandered the parts of the city we could reach by foot, wandered down the massive Av Paulista ambling into bookshops along the way. Being in a city that huge and it being 32 degrees eventually took it´s toll and we hopped in a cab back to the hostel for another night on the tiles.
This time, taken along to another Rock bar, this time there was a white supremacist screamo band playing upstairs, which although aroused the interest of some of us, I wasn´t hanging around for the encore. Downstairs was a much more disco based affair and we spent the night dancing away till the wee hours. There was even an 87 year old man giving it absolute socks on the dancefloor.
Due to bus times to Argentina we had to leave earlier than we would have liked, also due to the fact that Sao Paulo is quite expensive we decided to move on. We left Sao Paulo about 10.30pm on the friday night and didn´t arrive in Buenos Aires until 4pm on Sunday. This bus journey was, as you can imagine, hellish. I won´t go into details but take my word for it that it was rubbish.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Her Name Is Rio And She Dances On The Sand...
So we arrived in Rio on Thursday to a packed Copacobana beach and an atmosphere that only a big city can bring and had been sorely missed up until this point. Itching to sample some decent night life, we headed off to a club which was formerly a house transformed into a two floor house party type shindig. Much to our delight it was bright on leaving the club in the small hours, which was our main priority.
Sore heads all round the next morning, which was no nice experience seen as we had to check out at 12 and change hostels. Somehow, we managed to drag ourselves out and into a taxi to the next hostel. That night we sampled a Rio street party, which is pretty much self explanitory-hundreds of people crammed onto the streets with music blaring from various places and makeshift bars set up on the side of the streets. The best thing about Rio is that there is so much more to offer in regard to nightlife, unlike the generic clubs that many other cities only offer. So tonight we´re off to a favela party, right in the slums of Rio, apparently one of the best options here...so until the next time...
Sore heads all round the next morning, which was no nice experience seen as we had to check out at 12 and change hostels. Somehow, we managed to drag ourselves out and into a taxi to the next hostel. That night we sampled a Rio street party, which is pretty much self explanitory-hundreds of people crammed onto the streets with music blaring from various places and makeshift bars set up on the side of the streets. The best thing about Rio is that there is so much more to offer in regard to nightlife, unlike the generic clubs that many other cities only offer. So tonight we´re off to a favela party, right in the slums of Rio, apparently one of the best options here...so until the next time...
Into Brazil and the Pantanal
On arrival to Brazil we headed straight for the Pantanal, the biggest wetland area of Brazil. We stayed for three days and during our time there we fished for pirhanas, searched for anacondas-although we didn´t succeed, rode horses throught the jungle, sat around bonfires drinking cachaça and slept off our fatigue in hammocks. The weather was beautiful and the experience incredible. The whole place is a hub for wildlife and caiman, parrots, monkies and eagles were spotted along the way. After three days in the wilderness, we were more than ready to move on to our next stop on the map.
We left for Paraty and arrived later that day. Paraty is a town in between Sao Paulo and Rio and consists mainly of quaint cobbled roads, a beautiful harbour, white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Our accomodation can only be described as the epitomy of beach chillout. On our second day in Paraty we took a boat trip out to the surrounding islands, many of which are privately owned by celebrities. The temperature soared to about 31 degrees and luckily for us the boat´s top deck was completely bathing in the sun, as were we-sipping on cocktails of course. We stopped off at two remote beaches where we could jump off the top deck into the ocean. This of course took me about half an hour to be able to do.
Our stay in Paraty was relaxing yet short lived, soon enough we were on the road again to Rio.
We left for Paraty and arrived later that day. Paraty is a town in between Sao Paulo and Rio and consists mainly of quaint cobbled roads, a beautiful harbour, white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Our accomodation can only be described as the epitomy of beach chillout. On our second day in Paraty we took a boat trip out to the surrounding islands, many of which are privately owned by celebrities. The temperature soared to about 31 degrees and luckily for us the boat´s top deck was completely bathing in the sun, as were we-sipping on cocktails of course. We stopped off at two remote beaches where we could jump off the top deck into the ocean. This of course took me about half an hour to be able to do.
Our stay in Paraty was relaxing yet short lived, soon enough we were on the road again to Rio.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Don't Cry For Me Argentina
We got to Argentina the other day into the city of Salta. Our campsite boasted the biggest swimming pool in the southern hemisphere, which I believe. Unfortunately for us, the pool was empty. On our first morning waking up in Salta we headed off for a day long excursion white water rafting and zip lining. The rafting was amazing, hairy at moments but that was the fun of it. Thank god the boat didn't flip over, which was my main concern throughout, especially seen as we had to sign a form beforehand leaving no responsability if our death occurred.
After the rafting we had a massive BBQ and vegitated in the heat for a while. Handily enough, there was a guy who took photos of the rafting the whole way through, we bought all of the photos so you can see the hilarious looks on my face throughout soon enough.
After lunch we headed up what can only be described as a mountain for the zip lining. Now when I heard zip lining I thought, oh yes we'll merely swing from one tree to another on a zip line. Oh how wrong I was. Upon reaching the top of this mountain which was 160 metres high and overlooked a valley and the river we had just rafted down, I looked across to what we would be zip lining to.....the other mountain, ie. OVER the river 160metres in the air. I had a panic attack decided there was no way i was doing this. Not only did we have to get to the other side but we then had to go down 3 more zip lines to reach the bottom. I don't know how I did it but for some reason i just put on the harness and before I knew it, the instructor had pushed me so there was no going back. The first line seemed to last a decade and for the moments that I did open my eyes I honestly thought I was going to die. Luckily, I didn't die and made it to the bottom without crying or throwing a wobbly.
That night we threw a party for Mike and Rachel's birthdays with a massive cooler filled with 20 litres of Rum punch. We had the music blasting off the outside speakers of the truck and played drinking games until all the punch was gone. We headed out to Salta's nightlife. 'Inside Club' which did not open until 2am and was full of underagers provided us with adequate entertainment until around 6am.
We are still in Argentina now, in a place called Puerta Iguazu, home of the Iguazu falls which we visited yesterday and are by far the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my life. They boarder Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil and are one of the biggest falls in the world. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera for for fear of the spray, but as far as I know other people got loads of photos.
Now I'm off to Brazil.....
After the rafting we had a massive BBQ and vegitated in the heat for a while. Handily enough, there was a guy who took photos of the rafting the whole way through, we bought all of the photos so you can see the hilarious looks on my face throughout soon enough.
After lunch we headed up what can only be described as a mountain for the zip lining. Now when I heard zip lining I thought, oh yes we'll merely swing from one tree to another on a zip line. Oh how wrong I was. Upon reaching the top of this mountain which was 160 metres high and overlooked a valley and the river we had just rafted down, I looked across to what we would be zip lining to.....the other mountain, ie. OVER the river 160metres in the air. I had a panic attack decided there was no way i was doing this. Not only did we have to get to the other side but we then had to go down 3 more zip lines to reach the bottom. I don't know how I did it but for some reason i just put on the harness and before I knew it, the instructor had pushed me so there was no going back. The first line seemed to last a decade and for the moments that I did open my eyes I honestly thought I was going to die. Luckily, I didn't die and made it to the bottom without crying or throwing a wobbly.
That night we threw a party for Mike and Rachel's birthdays with a massive cooler filled with 20 litres of Rum punch. We had the music blasting off the outside speakers of the truck and played drinking games until all the punch was gone. We headed out to Salta's nightlife. 'Inside Club' which did not open until 2am and was full of underagers provided us with adequate entertainment until around 6am.
We are still in Argentina now, in a place called Puerta Iguazu, home of the Iguazu falls which we visited yesterday and are by far the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my life. They boarder Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil and are one of the biggest falls in the world. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera for for fear of the spray, but as far as I know other people got loads of photos.
Now I'm off to Brazil.....
Boarder Crossings To Bolivia
Before leaving Peru we went to Lake Titikaka, the highest navigatable lake in the world-it is HUGE. Here we hopped on a boat out to the reed islands. These are islands made from reeds that float around the place and people live on them and everything they live in and use is made from reeds. I know it sounds insane, infact when I was on the island i was thinking, if I told anyone about this they wouldnt believe me. I will put photos up just so people can get a better idea of what I mean.
Shortly after our Peruvian adventures we finally reached our first boarder crossing into Bolivia. This all went without a hitch minus some hungover heads from the night before-myself included. After hours of awful Bolivian roads we reached La Paz-the highest capital city in the world. This was clearly evident on arrival, I noticed it was a hell of alot more difficult to breathe along with the narrow uphill roads of La Paz this made everything an effort.
It is a bustling city where people mainly trade on the street. The woman were dressed much like that of Peruvian women but all notably wear bowler hats propped on their heads. Much of the city is a black market where stuff is sold at the side of the road, everything from clothes to playstations to fresh fruit juice. There was also a witches market where you could by llama foeteses-apparently they are used as house warming gifts, very strange.
After a few days in La Paz we ventured on to Potosi, the highest city in the world. Small and unusual, the place was somewhat stuck in the past as nothing opened on a sunday. We arrived on a sunday and found it very difficult to find somewhere to eat. As it was so high up though, the sunsets were amazing. After one night here we went on to Uyuni on the most trecherous road of all time. 8 hours of a dirt road through the Bolivian desert is nay a fun day.
We arrived in Uyuni, a ghost town which is mainly used for tourists to the salt flats and as a military base. Obviously our reason for staying was the former. The next morning we got up and got into a 4x4 to go out to the salt flats. Google them they are incredible. We got out there and had lunch, visited the salt Hotel, a hotel literally made out of salt. Took some perspective photos and just took it all in really. This would be our last taste of Bolivia as we were out to Argentina in the following days.
Shortly after our Peruvian adventures we finally reached our first boarder crossing into Bolivia. This all went without a hitch minus some hungover heads from the night before-myself included. After hours of awful Bolivian roads we reached La Paz-the highest capital city in the world. This was clearly evident on arrival, I noticed it was a hell of alot more difficult to breathe along with the narrow uphill roads of La Paz this made everything an effort.
It is a bustling city where people mainly trade on the street. The woman were dressed much like that of Peruvian women but all notably wear bowler hats propped on their heads. Much of the city is a black market where stuff is sold at the side of the road, everything from clothes to playstations to fresh fruit juice. There was also a witches market where you could by llama foeteses-apparently they are used as house warming gifts, very strange.
After a few days in La Paz we ventured on to Potosi, the highest city in the world. Small and unusual, the place was somewhat stuck in the past as nothing opened on a sunday. We arrived on a sunday and found it very difficult to find somewhere to eat. As it was so high up though, the sunsets were amazing. After one night here we went on to Uyuni on the most trecherous road of all time. 8 hours of a dirt road through the Bolivian desert is nay a fun day.
We arrived in Uyuni, a ghost town which is mainly used for tourists to the salt flats and as a military base. Obviously our reason for staying was the former. The next morning we got up and got into a 4x4 to go out to the salt flats. Google them they are incredible. We got out there and had lunch, visited the salt Hotel, a hotel literally made out of salt. Took some perspective photos and just took it all in really. This would be our last taste of Bolivia as we were out to Argentina in the following days.
A Wonder Of The World
First of all, sorry for not posting in so long. I shall pick up from where I left off. We started a trek through the Peruvian Jungle/rainforest on our quest to reach Machu Pichu. Four long haul days insued with tiring uphill walks, mountain biking and the odd stop off to bathe in some more hot springs. This was induring for everyone but especially me, and i realised that infact, I was not made for hiking purposes. However, on the fourth day, we rose at an ungodly hour (around 4am) to reach Machu Pichu for sunrise. Let me tell you, this was worth it. The first thing I noticed is the size of the place. It is absolutely enormous compared to what one is led to believe. The ruins are all in as perfect a condition that could be expected after 500 years and are obviously well cared for. Some took the option to climb the overlooking mountain, but after my four day trek and one mountain climb that we literally had to climb up ladders to reach the top of (seriously it was at a 90 degree angle) I decided against this option. I have hundreds of photos which have just been resized and I will put up as soon as I reach Brazil.
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