Adventures in Brazil

Florianopolis with its 40+ beaches was both awesome and terrifying at the same time! Terrifying, because we rented a car. The cars here are stick shift and neither Theo nor I know how to drive one. Quite the adventure. Once, a friend tried to teach me how to drive stick - I didn't have the clutch-gas-release finesse so I'd freak out, let go of everything, and put my hands up in surrender. Theo, our driver, had more of his wits about him however some parts were definitely touch-and-go. It took us about 10 tries to get the car going and on our way out of the bus terminal. We stalled often and everytime we'd start the car, it would jerk forward and the tires would make a big screeching sound. I only wish I had video of the looks people gave us lol :) We also never mastered reversing, so on three separate occasions, people helped us back up our little Fiat so that we could be on our way. Much to Theo's relief, we returned the car (with no discernible damage!) and headed off to the falls!

The Falls are incredible! I've never seen so many rainbows in my life!!


(But here is where a major rant begins: The cities from which you access the falls, Foz do Iguacu, Puerto Iguazu, and Ciudad del Este suck. The whole infrastructure of getting people to and from the falls sucks! So so so maddening!! In the last three months of traveling, I have never been more frustrated and never had so many things go wrong at once! We only had one day for the falls (with a plan to arrive on an early morning bus and leave on an evening bus later that day) so timing was everything. First, our bus got in late. Then, we ended up on a bus bound for Paraguay, going in the opposite direction of the falls, and stuck in traffic nonetheless! How did this happen?! I knew that we had to go from the Brazilian bus station to the Argentinean bus station and catch a bus from there to the falls. But the bus driver who was fully aware that we wanted to go to Puerto Iguazu (Argentinean terminal) just flat out lied. He said his bus would go to the terminal, but it was going to the PARAGUAYAN terminal. wtf?! If Theo and I hadn't gotten off where we had, we would have been stuck without a Brazilian exit stamp and at the Paraguayan border without visas. I was super upset, but then a cab driver said he'd take us to the Brazilian border to get our exit stamps, the Argentinean border to get our entry stamps, and then straight to the falls. Okay, this sounds like we're getting somewhere. But at the Argentinean border, the taxi driver suddenly doesnt have the right documents and drops us off to get our stamps and then catch another taxi. We miss the first bus while searching for this nonexistent taxi, and then catch the second bus to the Argentinean bus terminal. Then we catch another bus to the falls. So much wasted time! You would think that everything is okay now that we're finally here! But, you have to pay 100 Argentinean Pesos entry (per person) and unlike every other place in the park, they don't accept Reais or Dollars. I have exactly 182 pesos. They tell me that there is an ATM, but it's INSIDE the park. So I leave my license and Theo at the gate and go in search of an ATM. Of course the transaction cannot be completed and I end up buying a postcard I don't want so that I can get the change in pesos and have enough to get us admission into the park. Now we're in. The boat ride we wanted to take to the falls isn't running today. Okay. Anything else!?! Not knowing at that point that we could walk, we got in line for the train at the Central Station. The sign that said "departure time" listed the current time so there was no way of knowing when the next train was coming. We finally got on the train for about ten minutes, and then had to get off to transfer trains. There was another 15 minute wait. Then we got on the train that would finally take us to the Garganta del Diablo. Everything took forever and it was looking less and less likely that we'd have time to do everything. The last straw was when I looked down and saw a creepy looking bug on my foot. If you know me at all, you know I Hate bugs - even ladybugs! So I couldn't get it off at first... I couldn't kick my leg because some guy's stupid leg was in the way and shaking my foot didn't do anything. Finally got it off and then my panic and fear along with frustration from a really shitty morning hit me all at once. I started crying on the train. The day of course got better and finally seeing the falls was an amazing experience.... But the established infrastructure of getting from the Argentine side of the falls to the Brazilian falls is still stupid!! We got a bus back to the Argentine terminal and then a bus to the border. The bus waited for us to get our Argentine exit stamps but then left us while we were getting our Brazilian entry stamps. We had to wait a long time for the next bus that dropped us off at the local bus terminal and not the rodoviaria. Had to take a taxi another 6km from there and made it with just enough time to buy a soda and some fried pastries. This was okay, but so Not what we wanted... All day, Theo and I just wanted to sit down and eat a nice meal but we just didn't have the chance. Take an organized tour if you want to do both sides of the falls. Seriously. It's worth it.)

So we arrived in Sao Paolo on Sunday morning and it was relatively smooth sailing the last two days of Theo's visit. We loved Sao Paolo actually - quite the "concrete jungle" with some really amazing buildings and a cool layout. We also ate really well... one amazing Churrascaria, one amazing Japanese Rodizio (with probably 70 pieces of sashimi between the two of us!), and lots of fresh juices and street foods. Best bargaining story ever: I asked the price for a hat and it was 8 Reais. Theo wanted to buy five of them. We asked if we could buy the five hats for 30 Reais. The lady said no...We were both having a little bit of trouble understanding each other. Then another lady offered us six hats for 44 Reais. Hm... but we tried to explain that we only needed 5? So Theo and I are standing there ... deliberating. Then I offer 35 Reais for the five hats. This same lady is hesitant... then she says no. But then another lady comes up and says... 5 hats for 20 Reais. What?! I repeat what she says because really, what?! I take out 20 Reais, she puts the five hats in a bag, and we are on our way. What just happened?! lol Win!


But it's just me now. Theo is back home and I'm struggling not to be sad even as I write this. It's hard, I think, when someone who makes you so happy is just suddenly not there anymore. I feel like there's a big whole in my heart and being alone on a long bus ride doesn't help! But to reference Finding Nemo again, I will "just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

Next on the agenda is Bonito and the Pantanal! I will literally be swimming with the fishies in supposedly crystal clear blue waters and then be on my way to the wetlands in hopes of spotting an anaconda. Pray for me that the bugs don't eat me!

Worst Delay Ever

I booked a flight from Belem to Rio so that I'd land approximately 20 minutes before Theo was supposed to land. I check my e-mail however to see the most unfortunate message: "Stuck in DC." Theo's flight ended up being delayed going out of DC and then again going out of Sao Paolo. We lost an entire day because of the (in total) ten hour delay. Boo.

But he finally made it and I couldn't be happier!! We spent two full days in Rio seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado, Sugarloaf, the Lapa Arches, the Santa Teresa train, and of course the beach. We left Rio for Ilha Grande and despite the clouds and the rain, saw some really beautiful beaches. We also spent a few hours snorkeling and discovered that Theo's eardrum is no longer blown and that his new underwater camera case is awesomely functional! Now on an 18 hour bus ride from Rio to Florianopolis, Theo is recovering from some unfortunate sunburns and I am basking in the joy of getting to finally share some of my traveling experiences with him :)

Next Up: Florianopolis, Foz do Iguacu, and Sao Paolo!

The Almost Amazon

So that 36-hour bus ride was terrible! Freezing cold, frequent stops in the middle of nowhere, creepy old man finding it appropriate to place his arm so far across the armrest that it'd touch my leg, and no blankets, pillows, or movies!! I didn't know how good I had it on Argentinean buses!

Anyway, a girl I met in Santiago (from Belem) had mentioned that maybe her friend would meet me at the bus station, and that maybe I could stay with her. So when I got off the bus at 2am at a desolate looking bus station, I didn't have high hopes. But Nathalia and her boyfriend Bruno were there to meet me! They were so incredibly nice! Life would have been much, much harder without them. Basically, what they did for me is the equivalent of me asking of you, "Hey, I met this person briefly while traveling, can you go pick them up at the bus station in the middle of the night and maybe show them around town?" Jesus! I am really really amazed at how well Brazilian friends have treated me. :)

Nathalia and Bruno dropped me off at someone's house and told me it was student housing. Okay? I got a key, was shown where the refridgerator was, and beyond that, all I knew was that I was sharing a room with a guy I'd met for five minutes and that the neighborhood was potentially unsafe at night. It turns out I was actually benefiting from my first real couchsurfing experience! Franca, the guy I stayed with, frequently hosts people and ended up being a really nice guy who is on his way to medschool. I think I got really lucky. For example, I had to catch a 6:30am ferry to Marajo... Franca left the house with me at 5:30am, called a friend to accompany us, and the two of them walked me to the ferry terminal. I couldn't believe it! How are people this nice?!

As for Belem itself: I'm not sure what to make of the city. On the one hand, it felt a bit grungy and I just couldn't gauge how safe or unsafe it was. People kept telling me that I shouldn't do certain things by myself, but I couldnt tell if it was unsafe like any city can be unsafe at night, or unsafe like Bayview/Hunter's Point. The mosquitoes were also pretty vicious and I sustained a mosquito bite on my eyelid that put my contacts out of commission for a couple days. Also, the first day I was there was the loneliest I've felt during the last three months of traveling. There is a huge language divide and it was pretty isolating. Maybe it was because I had been on a bus for 36 hours with no one to talk to... and then finding myself wandering around Belem with no one to talk to, I'm not sure. I think when you half understand people and they half understand you, you just feel alone, or at least I did. I found myself really missing home... (but I got over it) :)

Belem is known for its gastronomy and I was able to try a lot of new foods. In particular, they have many awesome fruits that I don't think have an English equivalent: tepereba, cupuacu, bacuri, uxi, caju, acerola, tucuma etc. The best was visiting the Sorveteria Cairu where they let me try about 10 samples of all the must-try fruit flavors of the region :) The Ver-o-Peso market, btw, is awesome for buying fresh produce! I also visited the Mangal dos Garcas in the city, some kind of city garden/sanctuary in which iguanas, scarlet ibises, and macau's roam/fly free. It was a really nature-y place that was wonderful to visit.

From Belem, I took a trip to Marajo, three hours away by ferry. I loved it there! I got to do everything I wanted to do on the island: I saw five beaches, I got an impromptu tour of Salvaterra (one of the main towns), I mototaxied everywhere (even in the pouring rain), I ate buffalo, and I saw a sloth while hiking around a Fazenda (huge farm estates)! Love this place!! Marajo is also very cool because while I was there, the beaches were fresh-water, but during other parts of the year, they are salt-water. Because I was by myself, I had to pay a lot for a room ($50/night), but it was in a very nice pousada run by a French guy. As an example of the language barrier, I was asking him if it was dangerous in Marajo and he said no. But he said that the only danger is some sort of creature in the water. I don't know what this creature is, all I know is that he said if people are in the water, it's fine, and if the water level is high, it's fine. But of the five beaches I visited, I basically had them all to myself! It was great, but because I didn't kno what the "one danger" was, being in the water was kind of terrifying!

So with my visits to Belem and Marajo, I was at the mouth of the Amazon river, but I didn't actually do the stereotypical Amazon trip. I didn't sleep in a hammock or see anacondas or anything, but I'm definitely okay with saving it for another time. Better to catch my 6am flight to meet Theo in Rio!

The Reef

Too exhausted from Carnaval, I wasn't in the mood to do much in Recife. So I spoiled myself :) For example, I paid extra for a room with air conditioning because I was so hot in Salvador all the time. (There, I had no relief from the heat and the sweating and I even got a heat rash!)

In Recife, I didn't do anything but go to the beach and eat. I didn't even see the downtown area! Instead, I visited the famous Boa Viagem beach and ventured into the water—just a little—despite numerous shark warnings. I also visited Porto de Galinhas, a beach two hours away that was voted to be Brazil's best beach, six times!.... It was quite beautiful. Sitting under an umbrella on a pretty comfortable beach chair, I had a beer and some oysters. Life is not hard now :)

Next Up: 36 hour bus ride from Recife to Belem - I'm off to see the Amazon!

Carnaval in Bahia (Salvador)

I got off the plane in search of a taxi. When I landed, I knew very little: I knew to meet Greg at an address in Campo Grande and I knew that the address was on a circuit. I didn't know where I would be staying, I didn't have a phone number where I could reach Greg, and I didn't know a taxi would cost me 100 reais! (~$62 yikes!) I acquire a completely useless map (in French nonetheless!) from the information desk and arrange for a taxi to take me to Campo Grande. So far, so good enough. Greg had told me that the apartment is on a circuit, but I didn't fully understand what that meant. I thought it was like when they have a street fair in SF - they close down a couple blocks of the street, but you can access your destination from another street. I was so so wrong.

After about 45 minutes in the taxi, the driver explains to me in Portuguese (which I don't understand) that he cannot access the road I need to be on. He drops me off on a random street and points up - I have to go upstairs to get on the street I need to be on. That sounds easy enough. But the taxi driver doesn't know exactly which street is Sete de Setembro. He was super nice though, and stopped a lady to ask her where I should go. She took me by the arm, led me upstairs, and told me to go two blocks to the right. Now I'm on my own. I start to push through a ridiculous crowd because the blocos are going in full force. I'm still optimistic though... two blocks, and I'll be fine, right?

Wrong again.

Two blocks later, the street is definitely not Sete de Setembro. My map, btw, didn't show any streets, just areas - like a map of San Francisco showing you only "The Mission," "Downtown," "Lower Haight," etc. I stop at an information booth and a lady makes a loop sign and says that I have to get past the plaza and go the other way. (There is no plaza in sight, just thousands and thousands of people.) I try to go around where the bloco action is not happening, but it's everywhere. I had no choice but to get right back in the thick of it... being pushed and jostled by everyone and their mother, literally. I had people pushing me in every direction.... I had people pounding on my backpack... I heard people calling me "japones" or "loca" or yelling other things i didn't understand in Portuguese. It was awful... I never had to fight so hard not to cry.

(imagine fighting your way through this crowd...!)

It was pretty much the single most terrifying experience of my life. Here I was, wandering amidst carnaval blocos, lost for two hours, and with no way of getting in touch with Greg to tell him I'm lost. I was also a big target amongst drunk people everywhere and to top it all off, I had everything valuable to me on my person...passport, netbook, credit cards, etc. Every now and then I'd stop and ask someone where the street is and they kept telling me to go straight. I had no choice but to keep going.

Eventually, these people stop me and I didn't understand much, but a lady was scolding me in Portuguese and shaking her finger at me. I showed her the address I was looking for, and she tells me to wait. I understand that she wants to help. One of their friends tries to flag down one of the military police so that maybe he can escort me to where I need to be. No luck. (People btw do not mess witht he military police, they jump out of their way as soon as they seem them coming down the street.)

So I stood there with these people for a while, meawhile the blocos kept continuing on. I was still getting pushed and justled, but not as much. Every now and then, someone would look at my pathetic piece of paper (that was now crumpled and starting to tear) with the address, and then hold up a hand to tell me to wait a few minutes. After maybe ten minutes or so, one of the guys talked to another guy who works at a nearby hotel. That guy comes over, assesses the situation, then gives me the hand to wait. He disappears with my piece of paper, but comes back and leads me through the crowd to a hotel. I got to put my stuff down... this felt really really good. No one spoke English though ... they just understood that I was a stupid girl with all my stuff on me, stuck in the carnaval crowd. I'm not able to explain why I'm in this situation, and they are not able to figure out what's wrong with me. I point to a sign that says Wi-Fi, get confirmation that it's okay to use, and pull out my computer - I was thinking I could use a translation website. Wi-Fi didn't work, but the hotel security guard let me into the backroom so I could use the hotel's computer. I open up a translation site and explain what happened, get permission to leave my stuff overnight (since everyone keeps telling me how dangerous it is to have it all there), and send an e-mail to Greg. Greg says he will come meet me. Thank God! When he showed up about twenty minutes later, I burst into tears (Sorry, Greg!)... It was relief and joy and just finally feeling like I was going to be okay. *big sigh* Apparently, I had arrived on the big night for Campo Grande, so it was the most crowded it could possibly be.

Onto the fun stuff. Carnaval in Salvador, now this is the carnaval I remember!! I think, for me, Salvador > Rio in terms of music, street food, and overall carnaval atmosphere. Hearing Samba music is nice and all, but hearing Axe just makes you want to dance! You feel the music move you... you feel it in your heart! It makes you feel alive! In terms of street food, I mostly saw salsichao and tapioca (a crepe-like thing) in Rio but Salvador had the churrascos (meat sticks) that were really amazing! They also do this cheese-on-a-stick in Brazil that they heat up over hot coals - it doesn't melt, it just burns. It's awesome!!

I love getting to compare my experience in 2007 to my experience this year... Last time I arrived on a ship and went back to it every night. This year, I as staying with Greg's friends in an awesome apartment in probably the best location possible! Not sure if it was a good or bad thing, but you heard Carnaval out the window 24/7. Another change is that the experience has gotten a lot more commercial, with the trucks are much more pimped out with sponsor logos. The people on the trucks also toss slap bracelets and inflatable batons from sponsors into the crowd. Some things haven't changed which was kind of nice to see... the kissing, for example, is still in full force. There are people making out everywhere! There is a bloco called Filhos de Gandi; they wear a lot of bead necklaces and give them to girls in exchange for kisses. I have four necklaces but only because I bought them. No kisses for me until March 18th :)

So pretty much Carnaval in Salvador is unlike any other Carnaval in the world. (so i've heard...) Whereas in Brazil, one bloco would come and go, in Salvador, 20-30 trucks would line up and if you wanted to, you could stay put in one spot and see them all. In Salvador, each trio electrico (truck with a stage on top) has a a crowd both on top and surrounding the truck. People who pay for the abadas (special shirts that designate your belonging to a bloco) have access to a roped off area around the truck. Everyone else dances around them. It goes on for hours and hours. It's so fun!! Each song has its own dance and when you don't know it, the music is so energizing that you can jump around and have fun anyway. You can follow your favorite bloco throughout the entire circuit for probably 8 hours if you wanted to. Twice, Greg and I stayed up until the sun came out.

Random moments:

- The only Asian most people know is Japanese, and they yell "ey, Japones" (ya-pohn-nays) and they do a bow sometimes...

- One guy was asked, Japanese (with a bow accompanying the question)? And he said no, Vietnam. And the asker says, "Oohhh" (while making the gun symbol with both hands and firing it into the air!

- People liked me and Greg most when they thought we were Japanese. When we told them we were American we got a "Oh, American..." and they'd turn around and ignore us

- Greg and I did our best to dispel stereotypes of uptight Asian people. We danced to cheers and applause in the middle of a dance circle :)

- The last night, David Guetta played the Black Eyed Peas' remix of "Time of My Life.." Yeah, that's about right.

- Greg was handed a flyer for a "California Cantina." The guy handing him the flyer is the son of Greg's Aunt's best friend. So random!

Best Quote: "Everyone's always dancing in Brazil, that's why I love it" - Greg Low <3

Carnaval is an amazing experience, but probably one I don't need to have again for a long while. It's exhausting to dance for seven days straight... I mean in the US, we do Bay to Breakers for like a couple hours, ONCE a year. This is seven+ days straight of drinking, dancing, and debauchery. So I'm very happy that I went... I'm very happy to have survived it, and it's definitely a relief that it's over =)

Carioca Carnaval (Rio de Janeiro)

I got off the plane in search of Bob's. I had a Brazilian friend I was supposed to meet at this mysterious Bob's in the airport. I was a little worried that somehow we wouldn't connect and I'd be stuck in Rio without friends and without a place to stay! Lolo didn't have a phone or anything. But everything worked out! Lolo, Chris, and new acquaintance Reese were waiting in front of Bob's with an acai. After the bus ride from hell (going through turnstiles with a big 17kg backpack and then standing for approximately an hour with it on, on a very hot and very crowded bus), Rio was a blast! Chris and I were staying with Lolo and his roommate Aldael in university housing. Brazilians university students, btw, not only get their tuition paid for, but they also get a place to live and a stipend!! The next day, one of Lolo and Aldael's friend's offered to let us stay with him in Botafogo because it'd be closer to the center and more comfortable. So nice!

Carnaval in Rio is different from what I remember seeing in Salvador four years ago. For one, I felt safer - my friends even said I could bring a camera out with me. (Four years ago in Salvador, one of my friends was fighting back and forth with a guy over his disposable camera!) Also in Salvador, I remember hands everywhere searching pockets for anything valuable. There was none of that in Rio. The atmosphere is more relaxed here. The music is also different, strictly samba - which is fun in it's own way, but doesn't compare to the Axe of Bahia. For the blocos, there is one band playing atop a truck that people follow around, and then when it's gone, it's gone. They have a lot of shows throughout the Carnaval time too, with free music and a big dancing crowd. I had a lot of the Antarctica beer, tried a big sausage (salsichao) off the street, and avoided the "tapioca" on the street :)

Finally!

1st, Carnaval is here! I'm currently at the Sao Paolo airport waiting for my flight to Rio de Janeiro! I will spend three days in Rio and then fly to Salvador. Super excited to see two of the best celebrations of Carnaval in the world!! (Carnaval, btw, is what I planned my entire South America trip around.)

2nd, My first visitor is here! I'll get to spend the last days of Carnaval in Bahia with Mr. Gregory Low! Hi Greg!!

3rd, Pictures are up! Pretty much every single picture that I've taken since I started my trip is uploaded and ready for viewing on flickr! (Okay, so some of them need to be rotated.... but the point is, they're up!) Available for viewing: Indonesia (Jakarta, Bandung, Wedding, Manado), Argentina (Mar del Plata, Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia, El Calafate, El Chalten, San Carlos de Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta), Chile (Puerto Natales-Torres del Paine, Osorno, Pucon, Santiago, Valparaiso-Vina del Mar), Antarctica (all ports and ship life), and Bolivia (Atacama-Uyuni trip, Potosi, Sucre). See links on the right side of the page or visit flickr.com/kwiesbrock .

Might be out of touch because of Carnaval but an update on Bolivia and Carnaval will be coming eventually. Hope you all are well!

Until Next Time, Bolivia

Potosi: Potosi is the highest city in the world at an elevation just over 4000m. Sometimes, I'd tryto fall asleep and feel my heart pounding in my chest because of the altitude. The bus ride to Potosi from Uyuni was the most treacherous one I've been on so far. The bus would sometimes drive off road and dip very precariously to one side. At one point, the driver was putting in a lot of effort to get us out of some sort of ditch and back onto the road, but with no luck. When we finally made it, the entire bus started clapping :) We also got blankets and a movie - supposedly unheard of on a Bolivian bus!

I had a reservation for six people in a six-person dorm at Koala Den. But when we got there close to 2am, they said they'd have to split us up four and two. That's fine. But then they said that half of us would have to go to the annex (in another building!). On top of that, all of us would have to pay more for rooms we hadn't originally asked for! Oh Bolivia. It worked out eventually and at 8am the next day, I was ready for the mines.

As I write this, I'm finding it really hard to describe my mining experience. I am glad I did it, but it is unfathomable to me that people can live and work like this. It gives a whole new meaning to when my sister says "life is hard." Life is terrible for some of these workers. They endure extremes of weather, from bitter cold to sweltering heat. They breathe in toxic pollutants all day long that shorten their lives and cause disease - they don't wear masks. They spend hours in low levels of the mines not knowing when there will be a cave-in or neighbor who has miscalculated the strength of his dynamite. Basically, they work harder than you can imagine in conditions that are pretty much inhumane.

I went down to the fourth level of the mine with a guide and three others. First stop, however, was the miner's market to pick up sodas, coca leaves, and dynamite to give as gifts. Our guide said we could buy the miners cigarettes too, but given the high prevalence of lung disease, it just felt really wrong to give them to a miner (!) On the way to the mines, there was a flood and about twenty Bolivians looking confused. Our guide got out and put stones in the road so that we wouldnt slide down the hill. Crazy, but we made it!

We were all smiles dressed in boots, pants, a jacket, a helmet, and a headlamp that attached to the battery pack on our waists. Upon entry, no more smiles. The first level was okay... it felt like there was ventilation and I could breathe without a mask over my mouth. It was really muddy though. Masks on from here on out. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get down to the second level, sliding (well, falling) on some loose rocks. Now the real sweating begins. Down to the third level by climbing over a not-so-stable looking wall (10ft+) using a rope and more loose rock for stability. You had to be careful where you put your hands because some of the (silicon?) rocks would prick into your skin. At this point, my heart pounding in my chest. It's hot. And it's difficult to catch my breathe.

At the beginning of the fourth level, we all look at each other sweaty and exhausted... are we doing this? Can it really get hotter? (It can.) We go for it anyway. The fourth level was terrible. We had to turn back after a bit because there had been a cave-in (so recent that our guide didn't kno about it...) I didn't feel like I could really breathe again until I was out. How do these people do it?! We were hot, tired, and sweaty just from walking in the mines for about an hour. They work incredibly hard, sometimes carrying fifty pounds of rocks on their way out of the mines, and they do it almost every day! Since doing the mine tour, whenever I've been hot or sweaty or tired or made to work hard, I have the perspective still that at least I'm not in a mine being hot, sweaty, and tired... Oh, but seeing dynamite blow up is cool!!

The rest of my experience of Potosi was great. I found the city to be quite charming actually. I tried two new fruits and had a super nice dinner (mixed grill of steak, chicken, and sausage with rice, fries, and 1 Liter of beer for $11). (LOVE how cheap everything is in Bolivia!!) I also went a little crazy and bought all the Harry Potters in Spanish along with Paulo Cohelo's The Alchemist. I don't know what came over me... I'm now carrying them around until I can offload them onto Theo (thank you!) :)

I also met up with two Australians and a New Zealander and the three of us went to the Nacional Potosi vs. Oriente Petrolero soccer (futbol) game. My first South American soccer game! The game was a tie in the end, but I bought a Nacional Potosi scarf to represent anyway. The entire time, there was a band of enthusiastic fans jumping and playing music - even playing The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You." :) The strangest thing: At halftime, approximately 20-30 police officers ran onto the field with their shields and escorted the referees off. I guess to protect them from the rowdy crowd that's going to throw things at them...

Sucre: My morning bus to Sucre was cramped, uncomfortable, and kept stopping to pick up more people. For the 3.5 hour journey, it didn't stop for a bathroom either. Ah, so this is a Bolivian bus. I only had a few hours in Sucre but I saw everything I could possibly see. Love the architecture here! I was looking forward to the Saltenas at a certain restaurant, but it was closed. I Did get a chance to have a quinoa beer at the Mirador Cafe overlooking the city - this was awesome! Sucre is also the first place I've really had people begging me for money. I sat on a bench in the main plaza eating lunch and three people came up to me asking for money. (I eat fast, too!) Three hours later, I was on a bus to Santa Cruz. Sucre is definitely a city I'd come back to...

Santa Cruz: I've never disliked a city more! It was gritty and unimpressive and the best way to describe the people is "ugh." As an example, store venders weren't friendly to you when you were browsing to the point where you felt like you were wasting their time just being there. Things were also more expensive here than in other cities. In addition, I got eaten alive my bugs when I went out to dinner one night - I counted at least 26 bites on my legs! I seriously think the only reason to visit Santa Cruz is that it's cheaper to fly from here to Brazil than from La Paz to Brazil! Definitely Not coming back if I can help it! Hmpfh!

Bolivia, Generally: Bolivia, with its good, bad, and ugly, definitely made an impression on me. I'd really like to come back and spend a month or two here. it's just so cheap to live here! You can stay in a nice hostel for less than $5. You can get good meals for less than $2. And, you can see some of the most beautiful landscapes ever! I'm thinking Summer 2012... any takers?!

Feeling Lucky

On a 3d/2n tour from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) to Uyuni (Bolivia), I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be able to take in the sights around me. Bolivia has to be one of the most beautiful countries ever. Who would have thought?!

After getting our Chilean exit stamps, we drove to the Bolivian border. I was told to get off first to take care of my visa. (I was the only one who had to pay the $135 entry fee.) When I got to the front of the line, the Bolivian official took my passport and put it in a drawer. Ok? I was told later that the tour guide would pick up my passport and then go with me to immigration in Uyuni - there's no infrastructure at the border to issue me a visa and pay the visa fee... (??) Our guide, Alberto, loaded our bags on top of our 4x4, a Toyota Pathfinder, and started to drive away. Luckily I reminded him about my passport - he had forgotten! I looked inside - no stamp. So, I was basically in Bolivia illegally until I paid the visa fee... no payment, no entry stamp. Visa issues to be continued....

It's hard to describe the wonders of Bolivia's landscape. We drove by white, green, and red lakes... We saw rock formations that had eroded into the shape of trees... We saw colors that could give Crayola a lesson or two... so unbelievable. I feel like I don't have the vocabulary to describe it all and pictures definitely, absolutely, don't do it justice. Dear reader, please go to Bolivia and see some of the most beautiful things you will ever see!

Laguna Colorada

Arbol de Piedra

So logistics-wise, twelve of us were traveling more or less together, split into two 4x4s. Of the 12 people, three were Brazilians, an American (me), and then a bunch of French people (well, one Belgian woman who spoke French). Car rides and meal times meant a lot of zoning out because they spoke French most of the time. Ugh. They were perfectly nice though and I'm currently on a bus with five of them traveling to Potosi. My one complaint though is that the girl next to me went super heavy on the perfume and it's giving me a headache. :(

Anyway, weather in the Bolivian desert is harsh, and the altitude doesnt help - we reached 5000 meters at one point, and spent our first night at an altitude of 4300 meters. Some people were feeling sick, even though coca leaves were on offer.

First night's accommodation's were in a shelter... six-person dorm, no heating, no showers. Toilet paper was BYOB - good thing I stole a roll from a hostel. The second night, we had a two-person room in a hostel, Alojamiento "La Roca" - still no toilet paper. This was great except there was one key to be shared between the two of us and at least three times, I went all the way up to find myself locked out. Meals, except for breakfast days two and three were really quite good. We even got wine with our dinner :)

Visa issues, revisited: I got kind of mad at Bolivia during the trip. I was supposed to take care of my visa right when I got into Uyuni, but we arrived later than expected. First I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether the office was open or not... Then the drivers were contradicting each other as to whether I should go immediately or go the next morning. Then the immigration office was closed when I went in the morning. I kept getting these wishy-washy answers... It closes at 6 or 630.... it opens at 8 or 830... different schedule that NO ONE knows on the weekend.... ugh! All I wanted to do was pay the stupid visa fee but I felt like the whole country was conspiring against me. Don't you want my money, Bolivia?! I had also heard of people getting stuck in Uyuni for like four days trying to get their visas and I really didn't have time for that.

Things eventually worked out and that cloud of worry and stress dissipated (at the exact moment the Bolivian official put a $135 sticker in my passport). I immediately became much more accepting of Bolivia :) In terms of time, lesson learned: have a half hour flexibility going both ways, depending on whether things are starting/opening or ending/closing. It's also not that no one knows the times, but that things open and close, start and finish at the whim of whoever might be working that day.

This post has been a lot about visa issues and tour logistics... but it's really the incredible beauty that I will remember. The last day was the trip highlight: the Salar de Uyuni. It's the world's largest salt flat and, I think, quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world (very very strong claim especially since I've been to Antarctica!). It's rainy season and so the clouds and mountains reflect on the 6 inches or so of water that rests over the salt flat. You have miles ahead of you of incredible whites, blues, and grays.

You feel truly blessed to be able to see everything around you. Gosh, how is it that I never heard of this place until I started researching what to do in Bolivia? I seriously recommend it to anyone who wants to see something truly breathtaking. Mom, Stacy, Theo, I thought of you especially when I was here... I hope to come back with you someday...

Last Night in Chile

I booked a tour to Bolivia leaving the next morning (Salar de Uyuni!!!), bought a postcard, had dinner of churrasco a lo pobre, wine, and a mango sour (way better than pisco sours...), got lost on the way back to the hostel (their map was shoddy), admired the most beautiful starry sky I'd ever seen (UNBELIEVABLE), didn't take a shower because they shut off the hot water at 11pm (wth?), lost $20 changing my remaining Chilenos into Bolivianos (still mad about this), and that was that. I know I've only been to Chile and Argentina so far on this trip, but Chile, you're my favorite. I loved your food, your people, and your cities. I will return someday :)

Salta Linda

They call it Salta the beautiful, it is. I enjoyed the time I spent in the city and surrounding areas but I had a bit of a rough start. When I went to get my backpack from under the bus, it was basically soaking wet. The straps were wet enough to imprint on my shirt and the hostel that was supposed to be close, was much farther away than they claimed. When I got to my room, my lonely planet had expanded to twice its size from the water and days later, it's still not completely dry... Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't be traveling with a Lonely Planet from 1997 ... My newly-washed clothes were wet too though. It happens I guess, and this was a super nice bus too! Lesson learned: use a rain fly at all times.

That night, I spent about four hours exploring Salta... I went up to the high point at San Bernardo Hill... I explored the town's center and churches... I visited the Sunday-only fair on Balcarce street. Salta has some of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen, especially the Church of San Francisco :)

I love the architecture in this city and the cities ambiance makes you feel calm, happy, and appreciative of what you get to see around you. Balcarce's fair was okay - about three blocks of vendors selling artesenal goods. I think it's partially because of cultural insensitivity and partially because I know I don't have the room or will to carry souvenirs from every place that I'm really just not impressed by local handicrafts. I watched a Pena show (folkloric music and dancing) while I had my dinner. This was okay too... I am never really impressed by these kinds of cultural shows either, but I always end up going...

So Salta is a major hub to do tours to other places, and that's what I did. I went through the very beautiful Quebrada de Las Conchas (Shell Gorge) on the way to Cafayate - famous for its production of Torrontes white wine. We went to Nanni winery and got to sample some of their wines. They are 100% organic but the tour guide told us that Argentine's could care less about it being certified organic.. they just drink it for the taste. I'm with the Argentines. :) I also got to try wine ice cream, of the Torrontes and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties at the supposed "creador de helados de vino." It tastes exactly like wine! Awesome! The best part was probably the tunas-flavored ice cream that I had. Really, really amazing! (Tunas grow on cacti and I think are called prickly pears in the US.)

On another tour, I went through the Quebrada de Humuhuaca, a UNESCO world heritage site recognized for its history and beauty. The highlight of the tour was a stop in super small town Purmamarca, which sits at the base of the famous seven-colored hill. It was all very beautiful and such a change in scenery from where I'd been for most of the last two months: Patagonia. I think honestly though, UNESCO site or not, the Quebrada de las Conchas > Quebrada de Humuhuaca. I probably didn't need to do the Humuhuaca tour either since my bus from Salta to San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) passed through the quebrada, the seven-colored hill, and the incredibly beautiful Salinas Grandes. Even though I'd seen some of the sights before, it was the MOST BEAUTIFUL BUS RIDE EVER!! I felt very lucky to be able to take in such amazing landscapes with really quite dramatic changes in scenery throughout the bus ride.

Wine Country

Night bus from Santiago to Mendoza = terrible idea. Generally, I like to take night buses because you can sleep while covering a lot of distance. The buses in Chile and Argentina are fantastic too! When I spoil myself, I get a cama seat, which is almost fully reclining. On this bus, however, I had a semi-cama (semi-reclining) seat; it's comfortable enough. Everything started off well.... they gave us blankets, pillows, and even a midnight snack - never had these amenities before! Unfortunately, we had a border crossing that we reached at 2am. This was Terrible. 2.5 hours of getting your Chilean exit stamp, your Argentinian entrance stamp, and then your hand luggage and stowed luggage manually searched. Border crossings have been a nuisance... but you usually get off at one border for 20-40 minutes to get your exit stamp, drive another 10-30 minutes to the other border, then wait 20-40 to get your entry stamp. So it's never taken so long before. I'd also never done it at night before, and certainly not at 2am. Not so fun. Probably only got about five hours of sleep that night and now I definitely have a cold. I also missed Aconcagua, the highest point in South America. I had great advice about where to sit and when to look on the drive from Santiago to Mendoza to see it (thanks Eli!)..... but by the time we finished with the border crossing, I was too exhausted to stay awake. (It was also too dark to see lol)

I arrived at the hostel around 7:30am, well before check-in, but my room was ready so I got to settle in. Hostel Empedrado in Mendoza = awesome. I had a two-bed "dorm" room that cost about $19. This hostel had free wi-fi, free laundry, a free 15 minute international call, crepes and DIY eggs at breakfast. Fantastic! (For breakfast, most hostels have free toast, tea, and coffee... sometimes you get cereal. And that's it.) I didn't have much time that morning though because my friends were there and wanting to leave on a morning bus to nearby Maipu, for wine tasting.

15 of us got on a 45 minute bus to Maipu. We rented bikes and the second we were all paid up, it started pouring rain. Mr. Hugo (bike-shop ower) gave us all a glass of wine as we waited out the rain. Next stop: the only place where you get free wine - most vineyards cost between 15 and 25 pesos ($4-$6) to taste. Next, we went to a really amazing place that made almost everything you could want: whiskey, absinthe, liquors, jams, olive oils, chocolate, etc. I'd never had a shot of absinthe before... it's pretty gross! They made the most amazing jalapeno salsa though - I bought three jars :) After a long bike ride, we ended up at the Termus vineyard. 10 of us split 5 bottles of really good wine... I had my wine with a really amazing steak that only cost about $10. I also had the best Malbec ever(!) but the bottle cost about $100 and I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Next time maybe? We even went to a beer garden later that day - delicious stout :) It took a while to get home and some girls got lost on their way, but we eventually made it back for an all-you-can-meat asado/all-you-can-drink wine night at the hostel. Such good food! It's six of us left from the Antarctica trip and this was our last night all together. On and off, we had a month together, and it's been a lot of fun :)

So wine tasting and the asado made for a really fun day, but I have deduced that even when boozing, biking isn't that fun. One girl fell into a ditch... (she fell two more times that day...) another girl just fell off her bike in the middle of the street. (Dangerous, but that was funny because she kind of just laid down and surrendered.) Everyone was okay minus some cuts and scrapes. I didn't fall or anything, but I ended up with my normal biking bruises...

Mendoza itself and the surrounding vineyards, I have to say, weren't so impressive. I think Sonoma and the Russian River Valley of California are incredibly beautiful and this was just eh. Lots of smog and trucks passing through so that that magic of biking through vineyards was essentially lost. I walked around the city of Mendoza for four hours, giving it its proper chance, and nothing I saw was particularly memorable. Definitely glad I went to see it, and will probably always remember my wine-tasting experience there, but I maybe don't have to come back here.

As I write this, I'm on a bus from Mendoza to Salta, in the north of Argentina. 19 hour bus ride and I got myself a cama seat. So awesome. We just finished a game of bingo and I am full because they served us dinner last night, and breakfast and lunch today. (Sometimes they give you one meal for a 28 hour bus ride and that's it!) I'm trying to be good to myself because my body seems to be more stressed out than I'd like it to be... Sorry if it's TMI but I've missed a period from putting too much stress on my body, I'm not sleeping enough, I'm fighting a cold, my knee starts to hurt anytime I do any hiking, biking, or running, and I've developed little red bumps on my arms and torso that I'm pretty sure are from my first bed-bug attack :/ That said, my spirits are high and I've really been enjoying the last two month of travel. I know I should take it easy, but I can't just yet.... I'll be in Brazil in less than two weeks and that's when I plan to properly recover and rest :)

Powering Through Chile

It's a mad dash for carnaval and I've got no choice but to pick up the pace: MUST GET TO RIO BY MARCH 3RD!!!

Osorno: I left Barioche in the morning and had about five hours to spend in Osorno. At the suggestion of the bus terminal lady, I took an hour's bus ride from there to Lake Puyehoe - it was okay. I didn't know it at the time, but I had driven past it already on the bus from Bariloche. Oops! I did get that picture-postcard view of the Osorno Volcano so it was kind of worth it. (You can see this from Puerto Montt, a town I skipped.) Osorno itself was okay...pretty bustling... a little grungy ... a little dirty. The supposed sights to see weren't much to look at, but their main plaza has free wi-fi and since it was summer, live concerts in one of the main squares. :)

Pucon (Villarica): Arrived in Pucon that night around 11pm with Kelly and Megan. We had plans to hike the Villarica Volcano the next day... little did we know you had to prepare the day before to get fitted for clothes and gear. We were too late. They basically said it was impossible for us three to go but I asked if there was any way I could go because I already had my bus ticket out of Pucon to Santiago the next day. The hostel owner made a call and, though I had to be up at 6am, they were able to fit me in. Hostel Donde Egidio - super nice people there, not to mention a great hostel overall. After four hours of sleep, I woke up to get ready for climbing the volcano. 4.5 hours to the top, including a ride on a chairlift that supposedly cuts off an hour of hike time. With ice axes in hand, a group of about 16 people including myself climbed up the snowy, ashy volcano. Parts of it were terrible of course... super strong winds, ash in my eyes, and a neverending uphill trek... But the top was amazing! The colors! Volcanic rocks are also very cool. We were lucky because the smoke(?) from the volcano didn't blow at us from the top so we didn't have to breathe in those terrible fumes until the very top. You had a view into the volcano - no visible lava - and then a view of about five different lakes down below. When we started the trek, everything was blanketed in clouds but they cleared and it was just an incredible view. The best part, however, was the descent: We got to go sledding all the way down. SO FUN!! Sometimes you'd go so fast that you'd get a face full of snow..... or you'd end up sideways from banking a turn.. or you'd just crash into the person in front of you because you were butt-sledding faster than him or her. I've concluded that butt sledding is way more fun than any other snow sport :)

Back from Villarica into Pucon, I rushed around town to get a feel for Pucon. I liked it very much... it seems to be relaxed and quaint... full of really nice people. I also ate the biggest empanada I have seen so far .. about half the size of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper... super good too!

Santiago: 9pm bus from Pucon to Santiago with a 7am arrival. I'm not sleeping enough and it's starting to take a toll on my body. With no time to spare however, I powered on. I saw all the major sights of Santiago in a day... After exploring by myself for a few hours, I met up with a group for a free tour. It kind of sucked because the girl was European (i.e. not Chilean) and didn't seem to know that much about the city. I Did meet some cool people who were willing to go to the soccer game with me that night: Universidad Catolico vs. Union Espanola. This turned out to be a bust because the website lied about the game's start time... and by the time three of us were in a cab on the way to the stadium, the game was over. Boo. On the upside, the money went to Pisco Sours, Beer, and Lomo a lo Pobre (steak with two fried eggs on top, onions and french fries) instead. Great night spent with new friends :) Santiago itself was an amazing city. It was the biggest city I'd been in for quite some time, but I loved it. I can do big cities... I feel like I can navigate them pretty easily. I really only had a small taste but I will definitely be back to Santiago some day.

Valparaiso: Valparaiso is about two hours away from Chile. It's a cool little town full of hills... so much so that there are 14 (maybe 15 or 16?) elevators throughout the city that bring the people to their homes. i think locals actually just walk, but the elevators have historic significance and I think they've even been declared a historic monument. The hilly part of town is completely different from the town below... the streets are windy, there's a bohemian feel, bright colored houses dot the landscape and it's just a cool place to be. Pablo Neruda's house - La sebastiana - in Valparaiso was cool too; it looked like a ship! I tried the local reineta and congrio fishes at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. Not sure what you guys think of this, but one woman in the tour group wasnt going to eat half her fish... so i asked what she was going to do with it - throw it away - and I asked to have it. No shame! I ordered the congrio and got to try the reineta as a result. :)

Vina del Mar: I don't really have too good a feel for Vina del Mar since I only had a couple hours there... When you first enter the town, you see a giant watch made of flowers. You drive by castles and palaces... and they even have a Moai from Easter Island. (I think, anyway, that they actually brought it from Easter Island.... there may have been a language comprehension issue on my part, however.) The beach, Playa Acapulco, was beautiful and it was really nice to have some time relaxing in the sun.

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar were a day trip from Santiago. Once back in town, I picked up my stuff from the hostel, took the subway to the bus station, and then was on my way back into Argentina. Mendoza here I come!

Bariloche (Bar-ee-ah-loh-chay)

Bariloche was very good to me. Rather, I decided to be good to myself for the days I spent here. For one, almost no hiking! At Cerro Campanario, you can hike up or take a chair lift to the top. I took the lift and had tea and an empanada while enjoying a panoramic view of Bariloche. At Cerro Otto, you can, again, hike up or take a cable car. I took the cable car. It was sunny the day I did Cerro Otto and the views were spectacular!

One morning, I took a colectivo to its last stop at Llao Llao (pronounced Zhao Zhao). I kind of went on a whim and didn't know exactly what to see or do there, but I ended up walking about 6 kms and saw a lake (Lago Escondido) and a bridge (Punta Romano). Cool. While in the forest, there was a kind of bamboo that covered the pathway, making it feel like a very magical-and even enchanted-place. Very cool. Back on the road, it was raining pretty hard and a ranger gave me a ride to the hotel where I could catch the next bus back into town.

My last day in Bariloche, I went chocolate shopping for two hours. TWO HOURS!! I visited 11 stores and bought something from 10 of them lol I don't kno what came over me!.. some crazy ideas about comparing chocolates perhaps. They had one store called Mamuschka - Russian themed and complete with matroshkas (the little doll statues that are stacked inside each other). For some reason, Bariloche had a lot of little Russian touches and several stores sold Russian trinkets.... I liked this very much.

Post chocolate-shopping, I had a massage. Awesome except for the fact that the woman stood there and watched while I undressed...(Incidentally, this happened in Thailand too.) Next, I was off to Parilla de Tony. Not including all-you-can-eat restaurants, this is the most meat I've ever had. The options for single portions are 400 grams or 800 grams... that's 14 ounces or 28 ounces of filet mignon. SO MUCH MEAT!!! I got the filet mignon pequeno (400 grams): You have a massive plate in front of you that you can use to snack on the bread and chimichurri sauce they give you.... then Tony himself comes out to serve the meat. He put one filet on my plate... it was BIG. But then he put ANOTHER one on my plate!

For any Ruth's Chris fans, this was bigger than the Ruth's Chris cut and there were TWO of them on my plate! I think it was way over 14 ounces and probably closer to 20 ounces. It was amazing!!! (This was, incidentally, my second time eating at Parilla de Tony - I went the first night with my friends and it was so mouthwateringly good that I went back [by myself!]).

So basically, Bariloche to me means incredibly beautiful landscapes, R&R, massage, chocolate, and meat. It doesn't really get better than this :)

Next stop: Crossing back into Chile to hit Osorno, Pucon, then Santiago!

More Patagonia

The day after the superbowl, I crossed back into Argentina to get to El Calafate. The town is pretty touristy and they know how to make everything easy for you. Before I left to have dinner with friends, I had my bus ticket to the Perito Moreno Glaciar the next day, my transport to and from El Chalten to see Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy the day after that, and then a bus ticket out of El Calafate to Bariloche the day after that. Easy. One complaint though: I was staying at a different hostel from everyone else - at I Keu Ken. It was a nice hostel but they advertised themselves as being four blocks from the bus station... it was, but four blocks uphill... not fun with bad knees and a backpack.

Perito Moreno: This is pretty much the only reason to visit El Calafate - it's in the Glaciar National Park. The Glaciar National Park is said to house the third largest ice field after Antarctica and Greenland. Even after Antarctica, turns out I'm not sick of glaciars. This one was especially cool because you could see it breaking apart every now and then. Huge chunks of glaciar would break off and fall into the water. It was incredible to see and so loud, like fireworks only they were exploding beneath you! My camera ran out of batteries so instead of taking pictures, I enjoyed the view and snacked on chocolate bon bons. :)

El Chalten: More hiking. My body is definitely mad at me now. I hiked for 9.5 hours to Laguna Torre and halfway to Cerro Fitz Roy (the two highest points). Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy are part of the Glaciar National Park too, only about 3 hours away from El Calafate. I have mixed feelings about El Chalten... I got an incredible day.... no clouds to obscure the beautiful view and great weather... sometimess the town goes 10 days without seeing the peaks! I was lucky and it was awesome!

(This next section is a big rant. Feel free to ignore and skip to the end.) El Chalten was beautiful that day, but I'm also pissed off at El Chalten and everyone I talked to about it. I had overly ambitious plans of doing both hikes.... Once I got to the park, I was discouraged from doing so and pretty much made to believe that this is impossible (little did they know the pace I kept in Torres del Paine!). So the ranger says not to do it. The RANGER! Okay, fine. I start in on another hike to Laguna Torre - this is amazing. Then there's another viewpoint an hour away - the Maestra. I am most pissed off about this because the view (an hour away up a rocky crappy hill) wasn't any better than from Laguna Torre! I even asked people if it was worth it and asked about what you could see ... nobody told me it was shit! So that's two hours of time wasted. (This becomes important later...) Around this time (3pm), I realize that my two-week old backpack has lost its bottom... comletely ripped at the seams with my stuff falling out. It looked like everything was still there.... but it was when I went to reapply sunblock that I found out that tht was missing. Oh coppertone! I've also lost my orange which I was really looking forward to eating! So I can already feel the sunburn on my shoulders and I happen to glance at the map to find out that Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy are CONNECTED. WHAT?! I assumed doing both hikes in a day is impossible because you have to go back and forth to the start point. Nobody told me! It's like a hologram... you just dont see it for the longest time, and then once you see it, it's all you can see. So all I could see on this map that was very confusing, is the route to Cerro Fitz Roy... that I now am probably too late to take. Heading back into town from Laguna Torre, I stop and ask a girl for some of her sunblock. Bad decision. She tells me she's taken this connection route from Fitz roy to Laguna Torre... that it took her about two hours.... and that it was the most beautiful part of the park she's seen. Crap. I can't miss that!! So I get to the sign and it says three hours to Poincerot (where the first Fitz Roy lookout is), then another two hours from there to town. It was 4pm. I had to be back in town for an 8pm bus. So what do I do? I go for it! I know, I know, stupid... but I was used to beating park estimates. But the sunblock girl did NOT tell me it was SUPER uphill and I had already killed my knees getting to the stupid Maestra. So I'm discouraged.. but I power on. Again, stupid, I know. Then I run into a guide who says its another two hours - I'd been trekking for about 40 minutes uphill... and that I can't make it back to town going that way by 8pm. He says if i hurry, I can try to see one of the lakes and then rush back to town... so I did that. Then went back all the way I came... basically trekking two hours out of the way, then another two hours to town. I made it with about 40 minutes to spare before my bus but the whole way back I was so mad!!! Would have taken me about two hours to get to Laguna Torre, then three hours to Poincerot, then another two back into town... It sucks that I hiked 9.5 hours and still wasn't able to do what I wanted to do in the first place! Why did the ranger discourage me?! Why did I take the stupid Maestra?! (Not only was it crap, but I would have had those two hours to do both treks!) Why didn't anyone tell me the Maestra was crap? Why didn't I know the treks were connected?! Why did I stop to talk to the one girl who'd tell me what I was missing? Why did I go for it?!!! GAH!!!! Basically, it was my fault for not knowing, and then trying to go for it anyway... but at the time, I was mad at everyone! It was also poor time management and that's just not something I'm used to.... therefore it makes me so incredibly angry! AHHH!!!! To top it all off, I almost missed my bus because it started pulling out of the station at 7:55pm. He let me on, and everything was fine, but goodness! Anything else, El Chalten?! Thanks for the sore knees, sunburnt skin, and bad tan lines! (Rant concluded)

My last afternoon in El Calafate I spent buying sunblock, buying a new backpack, reinforcing the backpack with duct tape, and buying a new watch (my old one died recently...). I ended up with a kid's Winnie the Pooh watch because it was the only thing moderately affordable. :) 28 hour bus ride to San Carlos de Bariloche that actually wasn't bad because I was in a fancy (cama) seat that almost reclines into a full bed. Now I'm off to celebrate a friend's birthday... Happy 24th Birthday Kelly Toomey!

p.s. Mom tells me there was a 7.0 earthquake in Chile... I didn't feel it! I'm safe :)

Torres del Paine: Done!

Long. Grueling. Exhausting. Trekking 80+ miles on rough terrain with a 35lb pack, and in about six days, might be one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

Day 1: Bienvenidos a Paine

Laguna Amarga - Campamento Seron

Distance Covered: 10.25 miles; Total trekking time: 4.5 hours

11 of us took a 7:30am bus from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine. Aftering paying a 15,000 peso entry fee, we were on our way. One of the guys in our group dubbed "Captain Football" (because he wanted to make it back in time for the superbowl) led us astray and we ended up taking the long way to our camp. Spirits were high though that first night, and bottles of whiskey and vodka were passed around, in the name of reducing pack weight. I sustained approximately 10 mosquito bites that night... three of which were in close proximity on my forehead so that when I woke up, I felt like I'd been socked in the face. Good times.

Day 2: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Campamento Seron - Campamento Perros

Distance Covered: 17.40 miles; Total trekking time: 8.5 hours

Okay, the sweat is self explanatory but before we started trekking, a tent pole snapped, hit me in the face, and split my lip (blood). Anyone in Krav knows that physical trauma makes me cry (hence, tears). After that incident, it was hours of trekking with a full-fledged effort not to bite at my lip. From Campamento Seron, we did a lunch stop at Campamento Dickson with the possibility of staying the night there. But when we got there, the mosquitos were out in full force. Biggest mosquitos I'd ever seen and they weren't scared of 100% Deet. Saw a guy walking away with big red welts all over his back. Definitely not staying there. A group of us moved on to Campamento Perros, but in the end, only seven of us made it.

Day 3: The Pass

Campamento Perros - Campamento Los Guardas

Distance Covered: 11.18 miles; Total trekking time: 6.5 hours

The pass is supposed to be the most difficult part of the circuit. In all honesty, it wasn't that bad. But the 800 meter downhill got the best even of me and for the rest of the trip, my right knee would bug me after only a few hours of trekking. Two girls stayed behind to wait for the other four to catch up.

Day 4: My Body, Ow.

Campamento Los Guardas - Campamento Italiano

Distance Covered: 14.04 miles; Total trekking time: 8.25 hours

This was my hell day. The right side of my body seemed to be most tramautized by what I was doing to it. Growing blister on my right foot, right knee aching with every step, right quad muscle burning more than the left, and my right hip start hurting for good measure. I got used to beating trek estimates, but today I was really hurting and performing well above par. For the first hour, I walked by Glaciar Grey - incredibly beautiful. The next pass is from Refugio Grey to Refugio Paine Grande.

This too was beautiful... you have a view of the glaciar behind you, mountains and green forest surrounding you. Seeing these views, you remember why you're putting your body through all this. So getting to Paine Grande was a struggle but I rewarded myself by buying a sausage and a coke. (Luxury items that one does not pack on a 7-10 day trek). But Paine Grande to Campamento Italiano was hell. Everything hurt. I had hours ahead of me. I was alone. (We all walked at our own pace and that usually meant trekking hours by yourself and meeting up at the campsite later). All those dark "why the hell am I doing this" thoughts were in full force. I even started crying a couple times. Not good.

Day 5: And Then There Were Three

Campamento Italiano - Campamento Chileno

Distance Covered: 21.75 miles; Total trekking time: 10 hours

Only three of us made it to Campamento Italiano - team Zodiac Awesome. Originally, we had crazy plans of waking up at 5:30am and geting to a far away Campamento by nightfall, all in hopes of catching the gypsy train back to Puerto Natales the next day. (A group of travelers bought a bus, called it the Gypsy Train, and offered us a ride). But at 5:30am, it was pouring rain and that plan was scrapped. Still it was a long, long day. We went up past Campamento Britannico and back down to Campamento Italiano. From there to Refugio Los Cuernos. 6-7 hours more to go. I popped two advil because my legs were aching having already trekked 6.5 hours. Then I hoofed it. Determined to reach Campamento Chileno before nightfall I went as fast as I could up the stupid hill-ridden path. It was supposed to be a shortcut. Worst. Shortcut. Ever. But I made it in 3hrs 35 mins and had a beer to celebrate :)

Day 6: Finally, An Easy Day

Refugio Chileno - Campamento Torres

Distance Covered: 4 miles; Total Trekking Time: 1.5 hours

Only had to go --- kilometers today. Took about an hour. Nice. Not as nice: Thought I'd go the entire trip without having to dig a hole... but this short trek is the one that got the best of me. :/ Got to Campamento Torres, the base from which you can climb to the lookout point, the main attraction of Torres del Paine. The plan was to wait 4am and see it at sunrise, but we went up just in case. Clouds were partially covering the towers but it was good to see the super steep climb we had ahead of us (in the dark, at 4am).

Day 7: Why We Do This To Ourselves

Campamento Torres - Hotel Las Torres

Distance Covered: 6+ miles; Total Trekking Time: 4.5 hours

Two people from our original group joined us the night before so it would be five of us to make it up together. Awake at 4am to start the 45 minute climb straight up. Waiting for sunrise, I huddled in my sleeping bag while winds blasted us from every direction. (Winds at Torres del Paine reach up to 180km per hour. Crazy.)

The sky got lighter and lighter and then suddenly, there was a moment when the Torres were lit up, glowing almost red from the sunlight. It passed just as quickly as it came, but we got our perfect day. Supposedly, the Torres hadn't been cloud-free in a week but as we climbed up to them, you could see stars shining and when the sun was out, no clouds to obscure the view.

Really quite breathtaking. We all basked in our accomplishment, took pictures, and then started the long climb down. Torres del Paine circuit trek.... Done!

Took the bus back to Puerto Natales, had one of the best meals ever (lomo a lo pobre), made guacamole for Superbowl XLV, and watched Rodgers take us all the way there. Go Bears! (I mean, of course, Go Packers) :)

Body still hasn't quite recovered but I trust that it will. Moving on to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno Glaciar and then more hiking in El Chalten on Cerro Fitz Roy.

Torres del Paine

I will be out of touch again as I embark on my first multi-day hike through the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile! If you don't know where I'm talking about, Google it... it's supposed to be beautiful. I'm doing the full circuit, an 8-10 day trek, but a group of 10 other people and I are planning/hoping for 6 days. We have to bring everything with us - tents, sleeping bags, stoves, propane, food for 10 days, etc... Pack is super heavy but I'm hoping to make it the 62 miles. The goal is to get back in time for superbowl sunday to see Rodgers take the Packers all the way! It may end up taking us the full 10 days though so if I don't post before then, don't worry, I will get through it eventually and I'll update as soon as I'm back in Puerto Natales safely :)

What are you doing this week?! Update me :)

So That's Antarctica

Antarctica. Gosh. What can I say? How do I describe it? I feel like it's almost too soon to talk about it.. like I haven't fully digested the last 10 days. But this blog is meant to tell you that I'm alive... so yes! I've survived the freezing cold weather, the icebergs hitting our ship, and the penguin poop. :)

Anyone who talked to me before January 18th, knew that I wasn't planning to go to Antarctica. I scoffed at it even because it was so expensive... I had heard trips cost approximately $3000-$7000 and it wasn't worth the travel time I'd have to sacrifice. But then one of my hostel mates had just gotten back and his sheer enthusiasm over his Antarctic trip was pretty much enough to convince me.. I tend to get super excited about things and it's rare for me to find someone who gets as excited. So I had to do it. I made the decision and the credit card went through at 12:30pm. Ship was boarding that day at 4pm. (Incidentally, for anyone planning a trip to Antarctica, don't book it ahead of time unless you absolutely have to... you'll save about 2k if you book from Ushuaia.)

The MV Ushuaia sailed from Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel and then through the notoriously rough Drake Passage. That first day on the ship, most people were in bed, sick. If you had the good fortune to be looking at the right place at the right time, you'd see someone get sick as you ate your lunch. They even taped up barf bags in the common areas and throughout the hallways. Ha. Seasick medication didn't even cross my mind... I've never gotten seasick and remain convinced that if you start to feel funny, jumping up and down does the trick.

I met a lot of really cool people on the ship and a bunch of us are staying in Ushuaia now, heading to Puerto Natales in Chile tomorrow, and planning to do a ten day hike together in Torres del Paine. There were a lot of 'characters' on the ship too... an incredibly rich and garulous art collector, a smelly Russian, slutty crew members, and more. 21 nationalities in all. A typical ship day: buffet breakfast (8a-9a), attend a lecture or two (topics included "Whaling in Antarctica" and "Penguins"), 3-4 course lunch (1230pm-2pm), lecture, snack time (430pm), nap, 3-4 course dinner (730pm-9pm), drinking.

I think I've been stalling and not telling you about Antarctica...I just don't know what to say still. It's an amazing feeling to be on your way to Antarctica because you're on a ship full of people who are just as excited you are. It feels even better to step on land, to take in the beauty of the glaciers around you, and waddle around like a penguin because you're dressed in so many layers. Penguins are awesome, btw!! In the last two weeks, I've seen Magellanic penguins, Gentoos, Adelies, Macaronis, and Chinstraps.

Everything is better because you're on Antarctica too!... snowball fights are more fun, butt-sliding down a hill seems cooler etc. Cameras also go nonstop... I took approximately 2500 pictures. A typical landing day: buffet breakfast (730am-830am), dressing in many layers and rented clothing (jacket pants, gloves, hat, boots), morning landing, lunch, afternoon landing, dinner. I think the only negative is that you're walking around in snow for a couple hours so your toes are numb and take forever to un-numb themselves. Oh, it was also a little bit scary to come back from a landing and see that a giant iceberg had hit our ship. Later that day, another iceberg hit the ship denting the rail. It kept happening... but the sound of the ship hitting icebergs throughout the voyage isn't something I'll ever get used to...

Our first few landings were on the Antarctic Peninsula so we were all very excited to get on the actual continent at Neko Harbour. We got to experience an avalanche. Very cool. The best day, though, was when the sun finally came out. Glaciers and icebergs are beautiful, but when the sun shines on them, they are breathtaking. My photos, of course, dont do it justice but I think thats the best way to describe it to you. (They aren't up yet, coming soon though!) We sailed through a narrow strait - the Lamaire Channel with snowy glaciers and mountains around us. Later that day, we took a zodiac cruise around the icebergs. So. Incredibly. Amazing. The landing that day at Charcot was probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. Well done, Antarctica.

So am I glad I did it? Yes! Will I go back? Definitely!!

Next stop: Torres del Paine National Park!

Antarctica

Quite possibly the post impulsive thing I´ve ever done, but I leave today at 4pm on a ship bound for Antarctica!!! I´ll be aboard the MV Ushuaia :)

I won´t have any access--to anything really--until I´m back on January 28th, but I will be thinking of you and hoping thing are wonderful for you back at home! 

A Sea Lion Headbutted Me

17 hours on a bus to get here - not bad at all! They give you dinner (but I was asleep) and then packaged snacks: one alfajor and one tostado dulce (sweet toast). A traditional alfajor consists of dulce de leche sandwiched between two cookies that is then dipped in chocolate. It sounds good.... but it's not. I even bought the best alfajor brand to try: Havanna. I'm just not impressed. Basically, the only time I eat them is when we get them on bus rides and I wont be getting food for another ten hours.

I ended up spending four nights in Puerto Madryn when I only intended one at first. There were no buses down to Ushuaia so I couldn't leave for a few days. It's actually a good thing because they've been protesting in Chile and people were stuck further down south for 5 days! I also heard they took some Dutch tourists hostage, but I'm not sure that that's true. Gas prices have risen 300% or something and people are mad! So, in case you guys are getting bad news about shenanigans in South America: I haven't been taken hostage in Chile. I was not struck my lightning in Buenos Aires (I think three people were recently?), and I was nowhere near the flooding in Rio.

So Puerto Madryn. It's supposed to be the dive capital of South America but everyone I've talked to has been disappointed with the diving. I was too. We went down about 25m to see a ship wreck. The water was freezing, the visibility was poor, and we were only down for about 25 minutes. We didn't even get to go inside the ship because it was really dark down there. I Did get to see swarms (?) of what I can only describe as little lobsters - about half the size of my pinky. There were thousands of them about 2-3 meters deep that would surround us and swim in our faces.

But the highlight of my ocean adventures was getting either kissed or headbutted by a sea lion. I signed up to do a snorkel-with-the-sea-lions tour that wasn't the most amazing thing ever, but really cool to do. I think I'm a little jaded because the first day, we took an hour boat ride to the sea lion colony, got into the freezing water, and then weather conditions were too dangerous for us to do anything. So they got us back into the boat and we sat there freezing for an hour... fingers and toes numb, and constant, hard spray from the ocean because it was so choppy. I haven't been that miserable in a long time... But the next day, the weather was fantastic and actually swimming with the sea lions was cool! 2-4 would come around us at any given moment and bite us (didn't hurt) or just swim around and play. I had my face in the water at one point though and a sea lion came up to me, hesitated for a second, and bam! Kiss or headbutt? Not sure :)

One of the big reasons to visit Puerto Madryn is for the nearby opportunities to see animals. Unfortunately, it's not whale season which is one of the biggest draws. We even waited around two hours to see orcas snatch baby sea lions, but no luck. I guess Willy wasn't free today. It was really sad though, there were two dead baby sea lions and birds were feeding on them - the sea lions just let them! :( Because people I had talked to were disappointed with the tours, I ended up renting a car with some new friends and spent about 12 hours driving around Peninsula Valdes. We saw unidentifiable birds, penguins, sea lions, elephant seals, cows, horses, llamas, sheep (ugly when shaved) and an armadillo! All day I wanted to see the armadillo and I even called to it in Spanish. Then randomly, one was crossing the road and stopped in front of my window for a picture. What a nice armadillo. They are surprisngly small, only about the size of a large guinea pig. Toninas are a type of dolphin that I think is only found in the Patagonian waters... I didn't see any there but I saw three while crossing the Strait of Magellan.

I really liked Puerto Madryn. I felt good when I was there and not really stressed at all. Cars actually stop for pedestrians here if that's any indication (this is pretty much unheard of in Argentina). I met a lot of cool people in my hostel and while sea lioning and now I have friends to visit in Europe!

Next stop: The end of the world!