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Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts

Friday, July 10, 2015

South America - Trienta y cuarenta - the tour of never say never! - the final

South America
29 March - 05 July 2015

It's a wrap
As has become standard for me when I've ended a trip I've taken to doing a last summary or a 'greatest hits' review whenever I managed to complete the final entry on the 'how, why, when and whatever else may have been alcohol related' blog series of my most recent escapades. Sticking with tradition and therefore adopting the same template that I've used in the past, see also;
I therefore bring you the close out of our South American experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. The South American tour was a while in the making, going from the original Europe-Morocco-South America adventure of 2010, there was still A LOT left unfinished and a lot left to see.

In previous tour there had always been one perspective, but now, and moving forward, there's going to be a whole lot more room for two. So lets commence!


South America - 'The Final'

Favourite place
All the usual questions here are going to be in two versions, Inga & Henry. So lets go.

Henry's favourite places

1. Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - It's probably not even fair to compare anymore, Buenos Aires is going to come out on top in any list that I put together. A home away from home that always feels special to me. It's not a stretch to say that this place has changed my life.


Buenos Aires - Argentina

2. El Chalten - Ruta 40 - Torres del Paine (Argentina / Chile) - This area is special. Vast, expansive, stunning scenery, it has an abundance of natural beauty that simply cannot be overstated. I often sit back and think of places like Mont Fitzroy, Torres del Paine and the surrounding areas, both desolate and engaging. Simply stunning.



El Calafate - Argentina

Mont FitzRoy - El Chalten - Argentina

Ruta 40 - Argentina


Torres del Paine - Chile

3.  Cartagena - (Colombia) - 'The queen of the Caribbean', old colonial architecture, cobble stone alleyways, terraces filled with bougainvillea. Warm, sultry evenings, the sounds of the Caribbean filling the night as you sit atop the city walls, drinking your favourite cocktail. There's not too much bad about that.



Cartagena - Colombia

Cartagena - Colombia

4. Havana - (Cuba) - The Malecon, old American muscle cars, cigars, rum and salsa. Havana is not just a place but a feel, and you definitely feel it when you're here.



Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

5. Brazilian beach life - This is a tough one because there are so many places, from Rio de Janeiro, to Jericoacoara, to Paraty. The beach lifestyle, the culture and the mood just encapsulates you.



Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Inga's favourite places


1. Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Sun, sand, golden beaches, caipirinhas, fitness bunnies and the mighty Copacabana. On a beautiful sunny day there's no place quite like it.


Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

2. The beaches of Brasil - It's hard to pick out just one from a raft of potentials, from Paraty to Jericoacoara, Ilha Grande, Ipanema - the coastal lifestyle is a pure joy, and its different to Australia. There's much more of a vibe, much more of an orientation to beach lifestyle and culture that makes it unique and special.



Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil



3. El Chalten - (Argentina) - The mountains surrounding this little town are beautiful, especially in those transition months. The smoking mountains of Mont Fitzroy are is rugged, spectacular and dramatic as any. To me, and I think to Inga, they are more impressive than those of Torres del Paine. It's a close run thing between the two, but if there had to be a winner then Mont Fitzroy wins, just.



 Torres del Paine - Chile
El Calafate - Argentina

4. Havana - (Cuba) - Havana Club, siete anos, the warm Caribbean sea, the music and the cigars. Again, this is a place that has a presence, you can feel it when you're here - its much more than a destination



Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

5. Buenos Aires - San Telmo - (Argentina) - It was the first stop on our journey, the first part of Buenos Aires that Inga saw, and a place where I think I may have had a little influence over in terms of my own excitement and love for this part of the world.



Buenos Aires - Argentina


Most Surprising


1.  Elqui Domos - Pisco-Elqui - (Chile) - The valley itself is beautiful but you don't really come here for that, its the lack of humidity and 'dry air' that delivers such an incredibly rich and magnificent night sky that leaves you in awe. Along with that there's also https://milodge.com/en/#  - here  'astronomical domes' have been created on the hillside of the valley that allows you to lay in your bed and stare out into the universe. Inga and I spent a couple of nights here, laid out on the roof of our building, surrounded by the mysteries of the universe above our head. Definitely the most surprising stop.



Elqui Domos - Elqui Valley - Chile

Pisco-Elqui - Elqui Valley - Chile

Elqui Valley - Chile

Elqui Valley - Chile




The coolest place for a night out


1.   Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - There's an abundance of everything,places to eat, bars, things to do, etc. What makes it so special however is that this is not a state where Grandma's rule the roost, if you want to grab a meal at 2am then of course you can do it. The frustration I always encountered in Australia is that come 11pm on a Saturday you encounter the inevitable 'Oh sorry, kitchen is closed, but hey, there's a Macca's nearby". Seriously, protect your night economy by actually having an economy. BA has that covered.


2. Rio de Janeiro - (Brazil) - Lapa, Ipanema, Copacabana, the party keeps rolling on way after the sun has gone down. It won't take too long to find a place to get a drink, something to eat and party on until the early hours.


3. Havana - (Cuba) - Music, great vibes, fun people. What this place doesn't have in terms of the 'newest' or 'latest and greatest', it makes up for in passion, spirit and energy. There's always a party, just pick up a bottle of rum and let the party find you.


Best drinks 


Henry's favourites


1. Malbec - Argentina - Red wine is synonymous with Argentina, more so its the Malbec that is the red wine of choice. Robust tannins, an inky dark red colour, full bodied, it just pairs so well with meat (beef specifically), it's a match made in culinary heaven. The wines out of Mendoza are glorious and that just places a full stop on the need to benchmark any more than that.





2. Pina Colada - Malecon - Havana (Cuba) - Hotel Terral - Without question, the best pina colada I've had anywhere. Sweet, rich, cold, delicious. Every single time, as great as the last one, and can I add, not only on this occasion. I have been their subsequent to this occasion and they were just dynamite!


3.  Sakeirinha - Ilha Grande - (Brazil) - any of the beach front bars - This is your Brazilian-Japanese fusion style drink and it is glorious. It's a simple drink, lime pieces muddles with sugar, add ice and then your choice of sake until it floats. It's that simply. Unique, smooth, delicious and a great slant on the traditional caipirinha


4. Caipirinha - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brazil) - there are so many beach bars and so many beach peddlers that you are almost forced to drink them. Literally like rocket fuel, they pack a mean punch, just lime, sugar and cachaca its all it takes to set you free.


5. Negroni - Tortoni's - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This drink feels like home. The Negroni is not native to Buenos Aires, although it is Italian and there are enough Italians in Buenos Aires for it to be an honorary city of that country. Tortoni Cafe is an institution in Buenos Aires, literally the most famous cafe in the city. Most people come in for ia cafe cortado and medias lunas, but out drink of choice is simple but delectable, gin, campari and vermouth rosso in equal parts, serve chilled with a twist of orange peel....yum!




Inga's favourites


1.  Negroni - Tortoni's - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - There are drinks that just remind you of places, no matter where you are, that drink will take you back to that one spot, at that time and be in that moment.  No matter where we have Negroni's in future it will always be this place that she thinks of.


2.  Caipirinha - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brazil) - This drink goes hand in hand with beach life and culture. I know how Inga feels about Rio and I know that the caipirinha is ubiquitous with the Carioca lifestyle.


3.  Havana rum 7 years - Havana (Cuba) - this drink is a real 'drinkers drink', which is probably why I didtn't get into it as much as Inga. I tread on the feminine side of alcohol while she takes the male side. Quite often in bars we take great pleasure in ordering drinks and watching the bartender hand them to us whilst we instantaneously swap them over in front of their eyes, always makes for a laugh.





4. Daiquiri - El Floridita - Havana (Cuba) - The daiquiri's here are mass produced and therefore you'd expect the quality to be average but somehow they're not. Not only that but when the music is playing, you have a cigar in one hand and a daiquiri in the other, everything feels pretty damn good.





5.  Malbec - Argentina - Again, a drink that typifies Argentina and this varietal is just Buenos Aires distilled in a drink for us.


Can you believe it moments?


1. Urban Rush - La Paz - (Bolivia) - When you're standing at the top of a 16 storey building, perpendicular to the wall, having just empty space in front of you and a burgeoning city like La Paz, well, your reality take a might shift. 








2. Machu Picchu - (Peru) - the first time we laid eyes on this majestic place it felt altogether unworldly. The sun was still on its way up, the clouds were still re-arranging themselves around the moment, but in the moment we found that break we very quickly recognised why this place has moved into the elite list of the new 7WorldWonders





3.  Salar de Uyuni - (Bolivia) - Speaking of unworldly, this place is exactly that. I wasn't quite sure why the tour operators wanted to be on the flats for dawn but when we got there it all made sense. With the sun rising and the moon setting, the large cracked plates of the salt flats spread out in all directions. The silence that held this view was just beauty on a completely different scale. 






4. Torres del Paine - (Chile) - The whole region around Torres del Paine is so incredibly beautiful. Each place unique in what it can offer, its diversity of vistas, both dramatic and glorious. A part of the world that still doesn't quite get the attention that it deserves.








5. Flying over Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Witnessing the spectacular Rio from the air is a whole other experience. Not many people get to fly around Cristo, I've been lucky enough to have done it twice now, and when that helicopter moves behind the statue, around its outstretched arms, the whole glorious city is unfurled right in front of you, the beaches, the bay, Sugarloaf, seriously breathtaking - that's not an overstatement.







Best Accommodation


1. Pan Americano - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I've always wanted to stay here, so it was a hell of a way to celebrate my 40th birthday. Occupying pride of place on Avenida 9 de Julio, the views from our room across the heart of Buenos Aires was absolutely priceless. The hotel itself was very good but nothing can take away from having a sweet room with the right view to match.


2. Elqui Domos - Pisco-Elqui Valley - (Chile) - A fabulous location that allows you to take in full wonders of the universe that surrounds you. We didn't stay in the domes themselves but did have a platform above our apartment/building where we could lay out our mattresses and sleep under the stars. I've not slept under the stars too many times and certainly not in an environment where I can see the universe so clearly. 


3. Casa Canabal Hotel Boutique - Cartagena - (Colombia) - There's something Moroccan in terms of the architecture here, terrace on the rooftop, open courtyard in the centre of the building, not so surprising when you think about it. There's a long Spanish history here and I'm sure the Spanish brought with them Moorish elements in terms of architecture and design. The environment is of course perfect for these style of buildings and this hotel was exquisite.


Most random but still cool moments


1. Inga arriving at Ezeiza Airport - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - On a trip that had many, many awesome moments, the very start, when Inga walked through the arrival doors was pretty darn cool. It has been 6 months since we had seen each other, and now, meeting again on the other side of the world after months of planning was the best

2. Out in the fields - La Paz (Bolivia) - we opted for a bus from Uyuni up to La Paz. Coming into the city we encountered a protest which blocked the main roads in, so our bus driver took to the potato fields in order to find a covert way into the city. Travelling across random farm land I recall stopping alongside a random farmer and the driver asking if there was anyway he knew of how we could get into La Paz. From every perspective I'd imagine the situation would have looked a little bizarre.


3. Joining a random cross-fit group - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - We were walking through Puerto Madero one evening and stumbled across a sizeable cross-fit group going through their paces. We stood a few metres away, essentially copying the moves and exercises that the group was going through, that was until the trainer asked us 'gringo's' to join in...so we did.

4.  200 yr old ice with your whiskey - Perito Moreno - El Calafate - (Argentina) - After climbing all over Perito Moreno our group stopped on the glacier and were treated to glasses of whiskey with ice carved right out of the glacier. The ice may not have been 200 yrs old...but...there's no-one to say that its not wither


5. Cigars, daquiries and bailando, El Floridita - Havana - (Cuba) - There we were, sitting in El Floridita, cigars in hand, daquiries on the table and the local band launches into Bailando. I'm not sure what it was but everything seemed to be right, everyone in the joint appeared to be in a great mood and at the end of the song the applause was totally unexpected - so much so that you could visibly see the look of amazement on the faces of the band.

Un-coolest moment


1.  Rio Galeao Tom Jobim airport - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - Inga and I were just about to jump on a flight to Buenos Aires, and we were sitting in the departure lounge, it was there that I discovered that my credit card had been severely compromised. In the last week my card had been fraudulently utilised to the tune of $12,000! Oh yeah! It's a completely sickening feeling, even more so when in that exactly moment there's nothing that you can do to resolve the matter. I flew to Buenos Aires with what felt like a brick in my stomach. On the 'up' side, b
ecause there is an upside to the story, when I contacted my bank back in Australia they managed to work through the issue with me and ended up refunding all monies lost...PHEW

Top 5 Photos

1. Puerto Natales  - (Chile) - I'm sure there's been a lot of photos taken of these old posts in Puerto Natales. Inga took this shot and I just love the way it draws you out into the water and to the mountains beyond.


2. Torres del Paine - (Chile) - An extraordinarily beautiful natural environment, dramatic, imposing and beautiful. Again, a very difficult place to take a bad photo, this one is our favourite from a bunch of very good ones.



3. Salar de Uyuni - (Bolivia) - it's otherworldly. Standing out on the salt plains before sunrise was like nothing else I've experienced. It's the closest feeling I'll ever have to standing on another planet. Aside being bitterly cold, which the photo doesn't capture, it does capture the large plates of cracked salt sailing off into the distance and the beautiful colours of the morning sky with the moonlight being extraordinarily reflected off the plains.



4. Iguazu Falls - Iguazu - (Brasil / Argentina) - Powerful, energising & mesmerising, the falls are an incredible sight and not one photo does them justice. Still, there's something about rainbows and water that just works, right!?



5. View from Sugarloaf - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Sugarloaf has got to be one of the greatest vantage points in Rio. The way that the urban sprawl flows like water through the weakest points of the mountains is impressive. Standing up there, waiting for the lights of the city to flick on is an experience and this photos captures the state of transition from day to night.





Travel breakdown

Total number of flights

Henry: 22
Inga: 19

Total flying hours

Henry: 72
Inga: 68

Total time spent in airports - 'Enough to know that in Brasil there needs to be more access to caipirinhas to prevent people from losing their minds'


Total distance flown

Henry: 51,406 kms
Inga:  48,518 kms

Total number of bus rides - 12

Average number of cocktails per day - 7.2

And there we have it, the wrap of an almighty tour whose genesis really came in the instant when I realised that my wallet had disappeared back in La Paz in 2010. There was a lot left to do and so much that I missed that I knew I'd return, it just mattered on timing and a little bit of luck.

So where to know? Well, life had changed for me in the last few months, quite dramatically. I was about to move to Belgrade to start a new life. What I didn't know was coming was the amount of travel that we'd be undertaking in the next 3 years, it almost became ridiculous...but the experiences we were to have, well, there's no price you could ever place on those.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Lake Titicaca - The sound of violent illness –‘kombucha’



La Paz (Bolivia) to Puno (Peru)

08 May 2015 – 11 May 2015

If you’re like me then with the onset of a rancid, dirty bout of viral gastroenteritis…or is it food poisoning…whatever it was, there’s an internal dialogue that progresses from early detection, through denial, trade-off and then finally, begrudgingly, acceptance. In the end whatever ‘it’ is and whatever ‘it’ was just becomes too great for all your good will and internal fortitude, but, lets check that carry bag in here, we don’t need to be walking through security with this story just yet.

We were on the way out of Bolivia, slinking our way north west around the waters where the Sun was believed to have been born (according to Andean legend). Desolate & austere, the landscape looks just like what a daze feels like when your eyes glaze over, your mind wanders and you linger in those moments of blank comfort with no thoughts. Ephemeral and transient, moving through these ancient lands of legend we stop on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the town of Copacabana, just as the sun is taking its last bow for the day. The waters shimmer in burnt orange as the small crowd stands on the shoreline, clapping as the gold orb disappears from sight.


Sunset on Lake Titicaca - Copacabana - Bolivia


Lake Titicaca - Peru

 Lake Titicaca - Peru


Was feeling absolutely wretched in this shot

After crossing into Peru we made our way up the coastline under the blanket of darkness, spotted with the most incredible starlight we had seen, equivalent to what we had experienced in the Elqui Valley (Chile). Arriving in Puno mid-evening we checked into the Kuntur Inn and quickly set ourselves up for an excursion onto the Lake Titicaca the next day, specifically to see the floating Uros islands. Again, this had always been on my wish list and was probably inspired by a few travel documentaries hosted by Greg Grainger – who, as a side note, Inga and I ran into whilst staying on the Great Barrier Reef that same year – a story for a later blog however.

Inga and I headed out to downtown Puno that night for some food and a few drinks, and one pesky, errant, subversive Tom Collins. This one non-descript drink. This one small insurrectionist. This dangerous subversive. It was to hold my life for ransom for the next few days with a vice like grip on my well being….and you know…when it strikes, just when the death knell is sounded, what it was that brought you to your knees. That model citizen of the cocktail world, the one that never causes trouble and quite likely would be a very good neighbour, on this morning, took out a baseball bat and hobbled me. I woke up on a bright Puno morning with the violent sounds of ‘KOMBUCHA’ shattering through the walls of the homely Kuntor Inn. How in the world was I going to make it to the front door, let alone the shores of Lake Titicaca this morning?

Lake Titicaca - Peru

After downing a cup full of cement for breakfast I handed over all my valuables, all responsibility and all direction of my motor skills to Inga. I must have looked like a dead man walking in a fait accompli. Arms limp by my side, head bowed, shoulders drooped, I was shattered at 7:00am and there was nothing I could do. Those first few ours on the boat out of Puno were brutal. Occasionally I stuck my head up and looked around in order to appreciate where I was, but I had nothing, I was the one in the pack that would have been picked off out on the plains of the Serengti.

The sun here is piercing, it prickles your skin. The waters are a deep, rich blue and the equally magnificent skies are punctuated by cotton like puffs of white cloud, painting like. This lake is sacred in Peruvian legend and there is the belief that the Sun God, that was born on this lake, created Manco Capac, the first Inca King. Completely aside from  that, but as interesting, are the Uros Indians that life on great floating read islands. They are effectively the guardians of the lake and have inhabited this corner of the world in their unique and ingenious style for generations, utilising water reeds that grow in the lake to make their own floating terra firma. It’s quite incredible and really, not matter what my state, I felt absolutely fortunate to have both seen and set foot on a couple of these islands.

 
The best I could muster - its the most fake smile in illness that I could muster - Lake Titicaca - Peru


Uros floating islands - Lake Titicaca - Peru


Uros floating islands - Lake Titicaca - Peru


Uros islands - Lake Titicaca - Peru

From what I understand the reeds need to be replaced constantly, or indeed, islands need to be rebuilt frequently. The groups are generally small but with that said, even here the ever forward marching band of technology has made its way. TV’s, mobile phone, electronic devices, they are all common places and well utilised through the assistance of solar powered batteries. The children head out by boat to local floating schools and the elders, either do what they do, or, cater to tourists such as us. It makes the whole situation feel a little contrived but that, to me, is affecting me less and less these days. That’s the nature of necessity and human interaction, so if cultures adapt and pander to what we bring, then OK, if it’s beneficial for all I can accept that.