For anyone heading into anything higher that 3000 metres, don´t turn you´re Ipod on until you´re back below 3000 metres. We´ve only heard of one story where someone´s Ipod died as soon as it was turned on in La Paz (3,600 metres) but if you value you´re tunes it´s probably not worth the risk.
From the Ipod spec page:
“Maximum operating altitude: 3,000 metres (10,000 feet)”
http://www.apple.com/au/ipod/specs.html
From Mendoza we got a 16 hour bus to Salta in north west Argentina. I´m not sure about it being one Argentina’s most beautiful cities but it´s definitely got a more Spanish vibe to Mendoza and Buenos Aires and is very nice to walk around.
We took in a great view of Salta and the surrounding countryside from a highpoint in the town, Mount San Bernardo. Ciaran and Lisa held on with white knuckles to the walls of the cable car ascending no less than 2mph. Having a total fear of the big wheel in Funderland I honestly understand this but laughed heartily at them nonetheless – 2mph lads. Knowing we´d have to adjust our lungs to the high altitude in preparation for our hike in Peru in a few weeks we decided to walk down the mountain. 2 things I´ve learned about Lisa so far; one, never hand her the mic for Singstar 80s with the hope of getting it back and two, never ever put her in close contact with spiders. In fairness these spiders were bloody massive by any Irish standards and we both grimaced the whole way down looking at thousands of the sneaky feckers hanging in the trees, waiting.
Most tourists stop off in Salta to take the famous Train a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds), however as this was being worked on when we arrived we hired a 4×4 and tour guide to take us around the surrounding mountains and the salt lakes.
Playing around with some photos on the salt.
Nosebleed heights!
Coloured mountains
From El Calafate we moved on up to Mendoza, stopping in Bariloche for a night to break the 26 hour bus journey. All we knew about Mendoza is that it´s wine manufacturing country so we didn´t mind the gruelling bus hours to get there.
How to get a Masters in 3 hours
Not wanting to waste our time going on a wine tour the next day and not know what we´re tasting we booked ourselves in for an awaken-your-taste-buds type tasting in a cosey little wine bar 2 blocks from the hostel. We tasted one white and two reds, one of the reds was so nice we stayed for another hefty serving and after a few more hours pretending to know what we were sniffing we were presented with our Masters certificate in wine tasting.
A little more wiiiiiine
The next day we visited 2 wineries and a liquor plant.The first winery was a large commerical bodega and the second a small private one out in the Maipu region. Both were lovely if seriously little skimpy on the wine handouts 
but I prefered the small one where we got to see 2 farm hands squishing the grapes into barrels along with the odd wasp that gets stuck in the process.
We actually smelled baked beans
After all that lovely wine tasting and seeing how the whole process works we headed on to the Tapaus liquor plant and tried out a few lemon and dolce leche flavours. It´s very heavy stuff but would be a nice drizzled all over ice cream.
After leaving the liquor plant a little gutted we didn´t ship home boxes of the Dolce Leche flavour we were treated to a traditional Argentinian meal, one of the nicest meals (I think) we´ve had in South America.
Hi everyone. El Calafate and Mendoza were a good while ago now but I better catch up before it all goes hazy. We spent 3 days in Calafate more so waiting for my bank cards to arrive than making the most out of the amazing hikes you can do from here. We didn´t just lie around playing Shithead though. On our second day there we took a bus tour to the Perito Moreno glacier.
Our guide kitted us out with crampons on the ice, told us to waddle like penguins and we were all set to go. We baby stepped it all the way around the route, up steep slopes hoping our blunt spiky 80s-type-roller-skate shoes would keep us attached to the ice. I got given out to for coming down the slopes too fast but not everyone can walk downhill at a 45 degree angle can they? Our hike was topped off with a whiskey and ice (2 guesses where the ice comes from) at El Bar Perito Moreno. Ciaran ever forgetting to sip skulled his, classy.
The major highlight of the trip so far has to be coming across a wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-man on main street El Calafate. It wasn´t easy barging our way through dozens of kids to get our photo taken with him.
We met a few more Irish heads in the America del Sur hostel who Lisa again managed to convert into Shithead fans – Owen, Tanya, Melissa and Owen.
Moving on from Rio Gallegos we made our way by bus down to Tierra del Fuego, the very south of Argentina and South America itself. Our bus took about 12 hours to get Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world!
Short as it was this has been our worst bus journey yet. Ciaran and myself landed ourselves at the very back of the bus, right beside a box of cheese (our favourite) and the loo. Usually this wouldn´t be a bad thing if we were on a decent enough bus, but the bus happened to be packed out and was riddled with kids who just loooooove going to the bog and running their grubby hands on absolutely everything after using it. Gick! Ciaran locked a little girl in at one point “by mistake”, yeah sure, he claims he “didn´t know anyone was in so just closed over the door”. We would gladly have locked them all in the bog if we thought we could get away with it. The bus porter locked the loo after all this commotion of kids getting locked into the toilet (by mistake). The smell of baby puke nearly sent Lisa, who was sitting in the middle of all these darlings, right over the edge. Not even Ciaran´s “The History of Salt” book could distract her from the smell.
Ushuaia
Anywhooo, we got into Ushuaia at about 9 at night and checked into the Antartica Hostel. We loved this place so much we stayed a week instead of 3 days. Only knowing how to say hello and goodbye we desperately needed Spanish lessons and there was a school that would take 3 seriously basic Spanish students. Off we went every morning for 4 days at 9.15 dragging our feet. Now we can ask for directions and understand a bit of what people are saying back to us but only if they say it veryslowly. Sometimes it´s just safer not let on you know any Spanish but that´s not why we´re here, we want to stop insulting the locals with our charades. On our last day of class we were taken into the field and set upon the staff at the post office and Yamana Museum. 
Our finest moment was striding up to the post office counter and asking for a stamp for our postcards (which we´d written in Spanish!!) – “Mi gustaria una stampella por favour”!
The Yamana Museum was small but gives you everything you need to know about the Yamana people who, along with some missionaries trying to convert them to modern ways, inhabited Ushuaia entirely in the late 19th century. It has excellent quality photos, over 100 years old, of the Yamana in their natural dwellings. The Yamana barely exist in Ushuaia today as they were pretty much wiped out by measles and tuberculosis carried into the area by the Europeans.
Besides learning how to say “I speak little Spanish so please pretend to know what what I´m saying and bring me whatever tastes good” we went for a boat trip (with Patagonia Explorer) on the Beagle Channel. We were taken for a guided walk on a small island where Yamana Indians lived about a century ago, and up to an island with some very grumpy seals. Photos over on Ciarans blog. On the way back into Ushuaia bay the captain gave us some of his homemade Tia Maria. The guide knowing we were Irish immediately offered us an extra shot without us even having to point to our empty glasses.
I was hoping I´d bump into somebody I know in some random place during this trip and at the end of the world who walks in through our hostel door one stormy night but myself and Ciarans old college lecturer Joachim with his girlfriend. It was great to see him in this part of the world and I think we may well be seeing them again in New Zealand.
We had a ball in Ushuaia. We got our passports stamped with a super special end of the world stamp, stocked up with some warm clothes, learned some Spanish, ate tons of spuds, met the nicest people while drinking the most wine (so we can appreciate Mendoza!) we´ve had yet on the trip to date, and despite the high Argentinian prices I bought a new camera, Panasonic FX01. So go and see my latest batch.
Big thanks to Hugo (Canada), Jonathon and John (England), Marie (France) for a great night out in the Dublin bar on Friday night.
5 hours, too much caffeine but only 1 computer crash to get these photos off the camera, re-sized and fit for viewing. Click on the flickr link on the right of this page to go and see them all. Yes, they are very similar to the photo´s on Ciaran´s blog because they are all the same. Sorry, no camera!
The whole 16hour (2 hours ahead of schedule) trip down from Puerto Madryn there isn´t much else to look at but pampa, so you can´t help but take in the towns when you pass through them. We were coming into a town this morning with half constructed roads and muck everywhere so all I could think of was what an utter hole this is. Seconds later our bus flys past a “Bienvenieda Rio Gallegos” (Welcome to Rio Gallegos) sign. This is our stop off point before heading onto to Ushuaia further south. We´re stuck here until tomorrow morning when our bus leaves for Ushuaia. There´s nothing but misery and damp here.
We visited the Archaelogical Museum. Nothing further to say on that.
We´re staying in the Elara hostel (don´t recommend this place at all if you´re staying for more than 24 hours) about a 10 minute walk from the bus station. 2 bunk beds and a single squashed into a tiny bedroom. Our Portuguese room mate Sara is travelling along the exact same route as us for a while.
It´s not all bad though. We found an internet cafe and have settled in for the rest of the afternoon. ´99 Red Balloons´just came on the radio. If you know Lisa you´ll know she can´t even type with the excitement right now. I think they´re charts are still in the 80s. Imagine if Level 42 were touring. Awesome.
Hi all,
Arrived into Puerto Madryn on Tuesday around midday. Our Executive Cama (not the 180 degrees we wanted, got 140 degrees instead – I‘m talking about the angle of our seats here!) took 16 hours. I slept a bit but Ciaran and Lisa had a bit of an unsettled night. Lisa eventually nodded off thanks to her being serenaded by the fella next to her singing songs that were playing on the TV. I think he thought she wasn’t fully appreciating the music of an Argentinian version of Boyzone morphed with Danial O‘Donnell but with long greasy hair. Stacks of ‘Soul Gol‘ goin on there!
We got a $4 (peso‘s) taxi down to our hostel, Hostel Teuly, about 10 blocks from the centre of Puerto Madryn. Greeted by Betty and their gigantic Great Dane – Fincho. Nobody else stayed in the hostel while we were there for 2 nights but it was great to get 2 good nights sleep without having people falling into your dorm hammered, climbing all over your bed before finding the ladder to their bunk. We also cooked for ourselves these 2 nights to save on cash and take a break from eating out. The bottle of wine for 1 peso didn‘t even burn my eyes.
Day 2: Península Valdés
Our tour bus ($90 for the day) picked us up at 8:30 from the hostel (yay for not having to walk 10 blocks into town) and we headed off for Península Valdés, where you can see southern right whales, elephant seals, sea lions, pingüinos and orcas! We stopped off at the park entrance and paid our $35 entrance fee. The penninsula has been added to the list of world heritage sites by UNESCO.
Stop 1 - Puerto Piramides
Jumped off the bus and up to the cafe to get some sandwiches before heading off for the rest of the day. This is usually where you‘d go to get a boat out and see the southern right whales, but they‘re only in the area from May to December. They come here to give birth to their calves and I think hang around until they‘re old enough to go back out to sea. As this is April we headed onto Caleta Valdes.
Stop 2 – Caleta Valdes
This is where we got to look over the cliff and see all the Magellanic Penguins (also Jackass Penguin) waddling around the cliff face and swimming in the channel beneath us. You can‘t get very close to them because of the fence stopping you but they‘re not at all shy and definitely love to pose for shots.
A little further down the channel we came across elephant sea lions. These guys usually arrive in June, a month earlier than the ladies, to buff up, work up a bit of a tan and basically just wait for the onslaught of mating season. The group of about 10 we seen down on the beach stay there all year round so obviously don‘t see the point in migrating if the birds are only going to end up back here anyway.
Stop 3 – Punta Norte
Nobody could contain themselves so we all legged it over to the cliff edge to see if the orcas were in the area that day. We were so lucky we arrived to Puerto Madryn when it‘s orca season. We watched 2 of them swim from quite far up the beach down towards where were all watching from. This was brilliant to watch but painful to photograph! Ciaran got the shots though…sorry coming soon!
A group of sea lions where on the beach which they were swimming past so we all were hoping they‘d nab one on the sly. This is the only area in the world (apparently) where killer whales beach themselves and try grab a seal before they need to get back into the water. Sounds a bit Scooby Doo I know but they do it. Our guide told us they only feed on the beach the odd time but we were more than happy to seen them swim by anyways.
Also hanging around were some Argentine grey foxes and armadillos! These guys rock, they‘re so skulky. We don‘t speak Spanish so did‘t see the sign telling visitors NOT to feed the animals. That‘s our story and we‘re stickin to it.
Day 3: Bus to Rio Gallegos
We don‘t really want to go here but it‘s the best way for us to get to Ushuaia, furthest south we‘re going. 18 hour bus ride here we come! 
I knew I should have uploaded my photos sooner. We got into Buenos Aires on Sunday quite early in the morning, went for breakfast and I had my small backpack stolen right from under my nose. Camera, passport, memory cards, Ipod, bank cards and some very comfy shorts. The cafe staff gave us our fry-up for free which was nice considering it wasn’t their fault at all. No money was taken and some saint of a man handed my passport into the Irish Embassy this week – yay him! Seemingly this never happens so I’m thrilled to have it back. This type of thing happens in every city and I don’t think it’s on BA specifically we feel very safe here. If you’re ever carrying something you really love like a camera please wrap the bag around your legs if you’re ever sitting down in a cafe or where-ever. These guys move so fast you won’t know it’s happened until they’re out of sight listening to all those playlists you couldn’t live without on your Ipod.
Now all I need to do is get hunting for another camera, so I can catch up on all the photo’s I’ve lost so far. Any recommendations are welcome. I’m gutted you won’t get to see the pics I’d taken of Ilha Grande and the falls in Iguazu but Ciaran and Lisa have plenty so pop over there for a goo.
Taking it very easy here in BA this week so will say hello again with more news next week and will try and show Buenos Aires in a better light. It really is nice here, beer is damn cheap too :)
Tchau, tchau.
Bused it for 7hrs from Agraa down to Sao Paulo, hopped straight onto our 20hr bus to Foz do Iguacu, where the Iguazu Falls live. I didn’t sleep a wink on that bus. We had semi cama class (chair goes back 140degrees) and most of the day we’d done nothing but go up and down very steep mountains so all I could think of when I rolled from left to right lying in my seat was
- We’re going over a bloody cliff!
- I can’t find the clip for my seat belt
- I’m screwed for Bolivia (dont have the best roads there)
We arrived in Foz early in the morning and got a taxi out to what is bound to be the nicest hostel we’ll stay in on this trip. The taxi turned off the main road and bumbled up a dirt road along corn fields. We had a lovely stay in Hostel Natura. They had 2 lakes and a pool to swim in. I was shattered from the bus journeys so I didn’t go on the river walk Anwar (owner) took Ciaran and Lisa on. Habi (other owner) made us dinner for the 2 nights we stayed and it was excellent – rice, potatoes, beans, beef, salad, beer
The main thing to do in Foz is to go to the Iguacu National Park and see the falls from the Brazil side (which Foz is in). We took a pathed walk along the river and had stunning views all the way up to the largest of the falls. I was gutted my camera still wasn’t working for this trip, there were thousands of butterflies of all colours along the walk.
After this we headed to a bird park just across the road from the entrance to the Iguacu National Park. There were tons of parrots, but the toucans had to be the best fun to watch. They kept popping off their branches and hopping down to the front of their cages to have a gawk at us or pose for the camera “get my good side dahling!”. We spent about 2hours in here so it was well worth it for 22Reas.
Next day we went over to the Itapu Dam, one of the seventh wonders of the world. Ciaran will disown me for this but it was totally boring. Big lake one side, mass of concrete in middle and no water gushing anywhere! Maybe I was just cranky in the 42degrees of heat that day. We made it back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and were driven by Anwar from the hostel to the border. We flew through passport control and all of a sudden we were in Argenina, checked into the Timbo Pousada in Puerto Igazu guzzling giant size Heinekens.
|
