Buenos Aires - you had me at MEAT!

Sydney (Australia) - Buenos Aires (Argentina)
18 AUG 2012

Your life is filled with 'game changers', roads that will never ever be travelled and those little incidentals, or rather chance decisions that either did or didn't make an impact on where you find yourself at this very moment. Every now and then I think back to an intriguing middle aged man that JJ and I were somehow drawn to whilst traversing the back alleys of Chefchaouen in Morocco (Dr.Destiny). Without having to recount the story because the link is provided, Hammou at some point in our short conversation discussed his activities in undertaking trans-Saharan trade and how he and his 'pre-colonial' style trading caravan would regularly venture from Morocco, across the timeless sand dunes of the Sahara to fairy-tale like  Eastern African destinations, where he would acquire items of intrigue and rarity in order to sell in his Moroccan store of 'antiquities'. To me it was somewhat of a romantic notion, in a Lawrence of Arabia meets Paolo Coehlo's Alchemist type of way.

After leaving Chefchaouen the concept of the slow overland journey remained in my mind for weeks, so much so that I e-mailed Hammou several times in order to try and secure myself a berth on one of his cross contintental treks.He never replied. But there it was, in those moments of whimsical fantasy I worked hard at throwing away a life long dream of travelling to South America for the sake of riding on the back of a dromedary in 50+ degree temperatures, negating camel ball sweat, fountains of couscous and the inevitable shifty Arabian traders. It would have been an adventure though I'm sure, but it was the road that I never turned onto.

Sydney airport - flight AR1181 ready to roll!

My standard pre-flight ritual - Sydney Airport

My ride to BA (Aerolineas Argentinas flight AR1181 waiting for a red wine fuelled Mr Elisher)

The genesis of my love for South America came out of a bizarre fascination for all things Amazonian, everything Macchu Picchu related and a 1978 football World Cup that remained eternally embedded in the recesses of my mind for the mythical status which I somehow assigned it from when I was three years of age. Buenos Aires on the other hand was a city that I fell for hook, line and sinker during my first escapade to the South American continent in 2010, and a return for me on this occasion was an indulgence that I was more than looking forward to.

Catch you on the flipside SYDNEY!

Some 12hrs flying time out of Sydney and a little under 3 hours from Buenos Aires, the sun and my vehicle of transportation had repelled one another like the magnetic pole brethren of the skies that they are. All that I was left with was a magnificently coloured sunset at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and the feeling that somehow my return to BA was redemption for the way in which I was forced to exit the city two years earlier.

Sunset at 35,000 feet - 2hrs out of Buenos Aires - Argentina

Sunset over Argentina

There's two things I love about arriving at a foreign destination, both of which are not mutually inclusive. The first is the uncertainty and slightest bit of apprehension that you carry upon arriving at a destination completely unknown to you. Your mind is filled with the obvious questions of 'where will I exchange currency?','how will I get by without knowing the language?' and 'Will selling my body on the street be worth anything here?'. Then there's the destination that you know and feel comfortable with, BA is one of those places for me. Like landing at BA's Ezeiza airport and knowing that the battleground that you must encounter for the purposes of immigration, luggage collection and customs is an inevitable 90 min ordeal that you just have to accept. It's simply the price of admission kiddies and accepting that prevent you from reaching your internal boiling point and igniting the readily flammable Latin carnival that is unfolding before your eyes. Then there's also the 'advanced' knowledge you have of the transport system where dodging a 200 peso cab ride in favour of a 50 peso bus ride and 2 peso train ride is a saving which can be translated into a more than sumptuous welcome dinner at your favourite parilla in San Telmo.

So it was that my love of the 'known destination arrival' which combined for a simple short walk from the bus station to Retiro station and then a relatively short ride via the subte to the Independenzia stop. From there my half decent skills of orientation led me directly to the bright coloured La Boca like doors of the Ayres Portenos Hostel on calle Peru, and a few minutes later I was standing on my balcony overlooking calle Chile in the barrio of San Telmo and planning my first attack on the neighbourhood parillas.

A meat lovers paradise! Desvivel on La Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

The great thing about BA is that the nightlife doesn't really start to spice up until near midnight, which also means that restaurants, cafes, and bars are open into those early hours of the morning where by comparison, a sad nightlife deficient city like Sydney would already be kicking out their drunken patrons onto their desolate streets and funneling them off  to those omnipresent e-coli riddled kebab haunts that we actually dearly love. Not the case with BA my friends, they know how to work their clocks 24-7! Which meant for me that on the stroke of midnight I was walkin in El Desvivel, a typical Porteno parilla in the heart of San Telmo, ready to get started on my meat and Malbec conquest of the town.

That's what I'm talking about! El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Now for those of you that may be a little clueless about what a parilla actually is, don't be alarmed, let Mr Elisher fill in the missing gaps for you. Good 'ole Wikipedia states that a parilla is a style of grill used for cooking asado (barbeque), commonly found in South America. I however know it is a place where a carnivore can gorge themselves on exquisite meat, made in typically South American fashion, which makes you want to bleed blue and white for the simple fact that you know your state of euphoria can never ever be replicated outside of this country. A bottle of Argentinian Malbec, a morcilla, a fantastically made bife de chorizo and Mr Elisher had well and truly checked out for the evening!

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

One block up from calle Peru & Chile - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Hours later, glowing in my first night indulgence, I walked around San Telmo for what must have been hours, just taking in the night time splendour of its cobblestone streets, deteriorating old world charm, it's night time vibrancy. Settling for a little pit stop at the well known Bar Dorrego, on the boundary of the more than well known Plaza Dorrego, I had myself a double cap and drifted off into my self induced Porteno wonderland. This stay was 'gonna be good!'

3:00am at Bar Dorrego - San Telmo - Buenos Aieres - Argentina

Argentina 2012

Argentina

The Two-Timer Tour
18 August - 29 August 2012

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - 2010

If you do not go after what you want you'll never have it

If you do not ask the answer will always be no

If you do not step forward you'll always be in the same place



In the tradition of other kick-off write ups such as 'Life in a year full of Saturdays', 'The wing and a prayer tour', 'Don't call this a comeback', and '43: The tour of awesome', I bring you Argentina - The two-timer tour.

I had a friend that told me on many an occasion that I was 'charmed' which  seemed to me a very nice and quite diplomatic way of saying ' I think you're one lucky MOFO'. On reflection I have to admit that I never really liked the way in which she said it, actually I quite took offence  because it insinuated that good things merely fell into my lap, in a shower of gifts from the Gods type of scenario, and this I can wholeheartedly say has never been the case. I've always had it in my mind that to be 'charmed' or 'lucky' you had to actively place yourself in the position where it could find you. I mean you can't win the lottery without going out and buying a ticket...although we did have a client walk into our office a few days ago telling us that he had received an e-mail from Ghana, explaining to us in very great detail that he was to be the sole inheritor of $2.5 million in gold. The work that he asked us to undertake related to 'getting his documents in order' and also included the firm instructions of telling us that his wife was not to know. Still now I wonder as to the aspect of not telling his wife and wonder if it related to the fact that once he received his fabled $2.5 million that he was going to bail quicker than you could say Hassan M'souli, or, that he really didn't want his wife to know that he was in actual fact quite a naive dumb arse spending exorbitant amounts on the services of a law firm for the sake of a whim.

As I said earlier, I do take small offence to the 'charmed' aspect but I do however admit to having an understanding with the universe when it comes to travel. This little adventure being a key example.So I was sitting back at home one Sunday morning and thinking to myself, now where in the world would you like to go after you complete your PLT, if you had the means? Immediately Buenos Aires popped into my head, along with the formidable price tag, airfares alone coming in at $2500. But don't fear! As I said, the universe and I have this thing. It goes something like this, I think it, I secretly ask for it, and somehow the universe kind enough to deliver the key which more often than not lets me open the door to what I was looking for. Fast forward two weeks later, a Sunday morning in late April, and I swing to the travel pages, as is quite standard for me. Two pages turned and there jumping out at me was an Aerolineas Argentinas advert announcing return airfares to Buenos Aires for under $1000!!! 'HELLO, did someone just call my name!?'. I had myself locked into a return airfare to BA by mid-morning on the Monday.

Why Buenos Aires you ask? Well, it's simple, we ALSO have a thing. I think if I ever got into a relationship with someone then I would probably cheat on them with Buenos Aires. 'So you have to work this weekend Henry?', would actually mean that I'm running away for a few days in order to put myself into a meat and malbec induced coma. 'Oh, a funeral to attend, how unfortunate for you', would in turn equate to an empanada, tango and chorizo infested break from reality where my veins would run wild with sweet reds imported from Mendoza and the nights would inevitably involve me propping my head up in some random bar along the cobblestoned backstreets of San Telmo.

I read a quote that Paulo Coehlo stole from some else recently, and it went a little something like this;

'Solitude is not the absence of company but rather the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what we want to do with out life'

I like travelling solo. Friends have often asked me why it is that I'm so 'weird' in this regard and also for that fact that I have quite frequently travelled with guests and co-conspirators. Often after answering with the standard response, 'I enjoy the freedom and not having to constantly consider the well being and type of time  my friends are having', the real reason that I find myself encountering is that  travelling solo for me becomes a time when I can just forget everything else and connect with who I am. I mean that might sound cheesy but then again I always did enjoy a slice of Stilton.

My main destination for this escapade is going to be Buenos Aires. As a second time visitor, in a complete 'two-timing' sense I'm looking forward to utilising little inside knowledge  that I already have on the place that swept me off my feet some two years ago. Kind of a butch thing for a sultry seductress like her, but you know, I'm OK with that ......

Alright then, HERE    WE    GO >>>>>>

It's a wrap - Brasil/U.A.E

Brasil / United Arab Emirates
24 December 2011 - 15 January 2012

43: The Tour of Awesome - 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;

[Morocco-Europe wrap - June/July 2008]

[Laos wrap - April 2009]

[Vietnam-Malaysia wrap - December/January 2009/10]

[Europe-Morocco-South America wrap 2010]

[USA-Mexico wrap - February/March 2011]

I therefore bring you the close out of the Brasil/UAE experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. So without further ado, lets check the high, lows, hits and misses of 43: The Tour of Awesome!

Brasil-UAE - 'The Final'

Favourite places:  

Usually my favourite places is a city based list but as we didn't hop around from city to city this list is going to be a little bit of a mix.

1. Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - What can you say about Copacabana that isn't going to sound amazingly clichéd? Whilst it was rarity for us to have encountered a beautiful bluebird day on Copa, when the sun did hit those golden sands, well, you knew that there wasn't another place quite like it anywhere in the world. A glorious vista, ridiculously good looking people, fantastic vibes, great times. I loved my runs on the beach each day, raining or not. My only issue with Copa is the theme song that accompanies it in my mind! Damn, I can't get rid of that freakin' Barry Manilow song!!!

Copacabana on a sunny day - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

2. Paraty - (Brasil) - This old colonial town was so very laid back, your only way of surving was to bring your own pace WAY back down and take everything as slow as the town allowed for you to move. A beautiful place situated on Ilha Grande Bay, it serves as the launching point for many daily services out into the vast expanse of emerald green waters and lush rainforests. Truly spectacular!

The emerald green waters of Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil

3. Pão de Açúcar - Sugarloaf Mountain - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Rising some 396 mtrs, and quite audaciously at that from the Atlantic Ocean, this peak at the mouth of Guanabara Bay is iconic. Its posturing and cries for attention to the 'casual' passer by is more than earnt by the magnificent views of Rio  that it offers the traveller on any given day. Of course if you come to Rio you just have to make it to the top of Sugarloaf, the view just speaks for itself!

The view out over Guanabara Bay from Sugarloaf - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

4. Cristo Redentor - Corovado - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - So yes, it's full of tourists (me being one of them), and of course it's crowded, but it's tough to go past one of the newly named 7 wonders! No matter what your take on religion I think you need to appreciate that this fella certainly has a mighty view over the joint and does his best to keep things under control!

Cristo Redentor - Corovado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

5. Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - We only spent part of an evening here but the bars and the potential for good times was obvious. It kind of reminded me a little of San Sebastian or Barcelona, and you know that you can't ever go wrong in those places either.

Most Surprising

Prainha and Praia Grande - Paraty - (Brasil) - This little fishing village and it's covert, secluded beach associate were about a 500mtr abseil from the front door of the Resort Croce del Sud. Alright, slight exaggeration on the abseiling distance but the concept of 'vertical' is just a state of mind isn't it? I still kick myself for not having found more time in my stay to have parked my rear end on the deck of the bar in Prainha (or whatever the beach is called). It's the type of beach where I'm sure someone sat back on a lazy December afternoon and just thought to themselves, 'Man, a bar at that end of the beach would make this place perfect' - and hey presto, sometimes when you ask the universe it delivers in spades. God knows we had enough time in Paraty to have done absolutely anything we had wanted,  but again, I think the pace of life just got the better of us!

Epic beach, epic bar!

Coolest place for a night out

Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - I can only go with what we know, and we got to know Copacabana quite well. I'm sure Leblon, Ipanema and Lapa would have battled hard to be taken the top rated position here but it was just one of those things that we somehow didn't make it past first base, primarily due to the fact that the weather didn't really spark the sense of adventure or revelry in us. Still, if you want to drink on Copacabana or get your party on then I can guarantee that you'll be scoring party points as soon as the 'on' switch for that inner party animal is triggered.

Best Accommodation  

1. Resort Croce del Sud - (Paraty) - Brasil - The glorious view, the fantastic atmosphere, the amazing surrounds, it just made it a relaxed, chilled and absolute treat of an experience. I know it wasn't the fancy Kempinski in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai which Frichot nominated as his number one but I have the feeling that sleep deprivation got the better of him and his memory of the Croce del Sud is blighted by the incessant buzzing of errant Brasilian mosquitoes.

 

View from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

2. The Kempinski - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - United Arab Emirates - Without question this is a great place to stay. Great facilities, fantastic rooms, Ski Dubai virtually next door, the largest mall in the Emirates two steps from the front door. I know Frichot had this first on his list, and as you can see below, he's either telling me that it's number one, or, he's telling me that I can't believe I had this ranked at #2...My blog, my rules BIATCH!! ;)

'The Kempinski is #1 fool!' - Jet letting me know his rankings - Kempinski Hotel - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - U.A.E

Best place to get lost

Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - (Brasil) - Without question, you could spend weeks or even months exploring the wonders of Ilha Grande Bay - if only you knew how to sail! ...or could find someone that could sail on your behalf. It's a place of rare beauty and if you wanted to lose yourself to the world without truly caring, then you couldn't do much better than dropping out for a while here.

Ilha Grande Bay - Costa Verde - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Best drink

1. Caiparinha - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - The national drink of Brasil, made with sugar cane rum (cachaça), sugar and lime, it's THE drink of the beaches when in Rio. The devil inside this drink is not so much the cachaça itself but the amount utilised by bartenders up and down the coastline. This 'devils blood' will having you begging for sweet mercy the next day and will also have you asking yourself, 'where the hell is it that I left my pants!' - Oh yeah, caiparinha's equal good times!

2. Coconut water - Copacabana/Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - ubiquitous with the healthier clan of Rio, it's as freely available as a good 'ole fashioned caiparinha, a lot less damaging and does the job when quenching your thirst. Also, how cool is it to be drinking out of a coconut huh!?

3. Red wine - Alla Zingara Restaurante - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Our evening at Alla Zingara was a welcome respite from the caiparinha infused masses on the beaches and our own cocktail infused evenings at Porto Bay. I'm sure the red wine was Chilean but it was just the tonic we needed to rid ourselves of the evil, evil cachaça for a night

Best meals

1. Seafood Bonanza - Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - (Brasil) - There's nothing quite like getting some fresh local seafood, having a few glasses of white wine and cooking up your own feast. The prawns and fish that we obtained from the local fishing village in Prainha was fresh and had a sweetness to it that I'd never experienced anywhere else. It was an absolute treat to cook up a dynamite meal and then afterwards just stroll out onto the balcony, wine in hand and gaze over the amazing view of Ilha Grande Bay from the Croce del Sude

2. Cervantes Bar/restaurante - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - An unpretentious bar and sandwich shop, serving wholesome and basic Brasilian fare between two slices of bread. These guys are the specialists in all things sandwich related, and the construction isn't complicated at all. They'll pile your reward high with tender and ridiculously delicious pork, beef, or chicken, perhaps throw on a slice of cheese and the omnipresent slice of abacaxi! Standing at the bar with a glass of the local brew and a Cervantes product in hand was basic but legendary all at once!

Cervantes bar/restaurant - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Here's the clip that Jetson took from Cervantes of him 'smashing' one

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Cervantes]

 

3.  Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - This small bar and restaurant situated directly on Guanabara Bay in the shadows of Sugarloaf is a fantastic place to grab some seafood, a few Brahma's and take in the breezes of the water whilst you soak up the view and the atmosphere. We spent a few hours here after our first failed attempt to make it up Sugarloaf and it was more than a credible alternative.

 

Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

 

Our guilty pleasure

 

Random cafe on Avenida Prado Junior - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - On most days JJ would head just downstairs to the local cafe and acquire three coffees and rolls filled with cheesy, eggy, meaty goodness. Not the healthiest way to start any day but damn those rolls were tasty and I tend to think that the owner had a little bit of a 'thing' for JJ even though her Portuguese was non-existant and his English skills were non-existant. Still, the 'language of love' is spoken everywhere and I'm sure the two had a 'mutual understanding!'.

 

Best Bars

 

1. Rooftop Bar -Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - By far the best bar of our trip, providing great views of Copacabana from its Level 23 locale, decent bar service, good drinks and laid back vibe. We spent a few nights sinking the sun with our cocktails and had one night in particular where we all drowned our sorrows regarding the weather by somehow inhabiting the rooftop pool, whilst fully clothed. Sometimes it just has to be done!

 

Rooftop bar - Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

 

 

2. Mosaic Chill bar - Kempinski Hotel - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - (UAE) - Dubai is just full of disturbingly amazing bars, full of swank, swagger and outlandish drinks. We discovered none of them other than the one in our hotel, which happily had just the sense of comfort and vibe that we needed for a couple of nights.

 

Mosaic chill bar - Kempinski Hotel - Dubai - UAE



3. Random wine bar - Paraty - (Brasil) - One late afternoon as Frichot was cooling his feet back at the Croce del Sud, JJ and I were working our way through the streets of Paraty when we stumbled on a cool wine bar where somehow a 5 min stayed turned into three hours. With the afternoon sun well out of sight and a couple of bottles to the good we wondered how exactly we had been transported into the future in that 5 min spell - red wine - it'll do it to you every time!

 

Best Video

 

Without question, the video that Jetson put together of our helicopter ride over Rio wins hands down. If you haven't seen it then take 7 mins and 9 seconds out of your day to check it out. Music provided by his band SPEEDBALL.

 

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Helicopter ride to Cristo Redentor]

 

Best Photo taken by someone that's not me & Best Photo

Usually these two  categories are split but on this occasion JJ takes out honours for best photo with a snap that she took of me whilst we were out dune bashing on our Desert Safari in Dubai. I absolutely love the silhouette and the vibrant colours of the sky in this shot. Nice work on this one JJ!

1. On the dunes - Dubai - UAE (photo by Janelle Jordan)

Best photos - position 2 to 5

2. Copacabana from Porto Bay - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Great views, great sunset, love the colours in this one

3. Jardin Botanico - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

I'm a total sucker for B&W shots and I think this is pretty close to the best one I took on our little excursion

4.View over Botofogo, Sugarloaf and out to the Atlantic - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

You can't beat the natural beauty of Rio and I think this does it justice even though the weather really wasn't assisting in anyway

5. Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

There's something kind of mystical and magical about this shot. Sometimes the weather doesn't work for you in a photo and occasionally, as per the clouds in this photo, it can add to the weight of atmosphere that conjures up something intriguing.

Coolest moments  

1. Flight around Rio to Cristo Retendor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - It's almost like we had collectively earnt this moment. Rio had us pinned in by rain for days and it was starting to break us. We were all hoping for just the one 'perfect' day which would allow us to get airborne and experience this glorious city from the sky, and then 03 JAN 2012 rolled around, it actually happened! It was an unforgettable experience, and if you happen to check Frichot's video above under the Best Video category it won't take long to figure out why.

 

2. New Year's Eve - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - The damn rain had such an impact on NYE and our expectations that what should have been THE best evening of our ttrip turned into something that was relatively mediocre. Sitting under beach umbrellas on Copa, getting soaked, not being in the best of spirits was not the way to finish a year, but then the New Year erupted in a fierce explosion of colour and splendour. If you ever get the chance to experience an NYE in Rio then do it, and make sure you also do it from a cool rooftop bar somewhere (just a heads up).

 

Check out Jet's video of NYE fireworks here

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - NYE Fireworks Rio]

 

Welcome to 2012 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

3. Cruising Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil - This was one 'chilled' afternoon, easy drinks, easy day, easy lifestyle...and easy way. The colours of the Costa Verde are unique and spectacular. The emerald greens of the water and the surrounding forests are a treasure and not something that will be quickly forgotten.

Cruising Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil

 

4. The view from Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - We had one failed attempt to make the summit, driven away by enormous crowds that had taken advantage of the complete randomness of the emergence of the sun. Our second attempt was early the following day and our gamble to beat the crowd and weather paid off.

 

 

The view to the small Red Beach and Copacabana beyond over Mt.Leme - from Sugaloaf -Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

5. Catching up with one of the New World 7 - Cristo Redentor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - What more can you say about a 33mtr statue of Christ overlooking your hometown other than, 'that's pretty damn cool'

Cristo Redentor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil



Uncoolest Moment

Getting beaten down by the rain, Lapa - Rio de Janeiro. We had something like a week of rain, it had mortally attacked all of our plans and along with our frayed nerves we collectively encounter moments of depression whilst lunching at some random cafe in Lapa. It only last a few minutes before we snapped out of it but still it was 'uncool'.

Losing our patience and losing our cool - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Best Comeback

1. H.Elisher - morning 1 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - Our first night in Rio involved copious amounts of the national beverage. I mean so much so that our number 1 'most random but still cool event' comes as a result of caiparinha carnage, but I have to say that the best comeback of the tour comes my way the next morning. Somehow escaping what should have been the monster of al hangovers, which JJ and Jetson were experiencing on my behalf, I decided to jump out of bed and get some exercise by running the length of Cobacabana beach, 2.5kms up, and 2.5kms back on soft sand and veins full of alcohol.

2. The appearance of the Golden Orb - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - After being beaten from pillar to post with the weather, the appearance of the sun was one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Obviously I'm a bit biased with naming myself at number one but as I said earlier, my blog, my rules!!

Most random but still cool event

1. J.Jordan - night 1 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - We had literally been drinking for hours, having commenced somewhere close to 7pm the day before. Nearing 3am and discussing the benefits of locating our abode on Avenida Prado Junior, one J.Jordan offers up this is an option to myself and Jet, 'Hey, why don't we go to the strip joint near our place, you two boys should just get it out of your system now!' - WTF? lol...I'm not sure what JJ was driving at, it was obviously a completely random option for her to go with but hey, sometimes its the left of field calls that come home with the goods.

Travel breakdown  

Total number of flights - 4  

Total flying hours - 58hrs  

Total time spent in airports - 17hrs  

Total number of bus rides - 3  

Total number of helicopter flights - 1  

Total helicopter flying time - 12 mins - helicopter wait time (3.5hrs)  

Distance travelled in kms - 50,240kms  

The number of times Cristo Retendor hid behind clouds - 372  

There we have it, that's a wrap of '43: The Tour of Awesome'. It was a lot of fun, good times were had and I'm glad that I was able to do some of what I missed on doing in 2010.

 

Now it's back to the drawing board for me, the initiation of plans, destinations and collaborations. So watch this space, I could be taking off whilst you least expect it!

 

Dubai - The 'Durqa Durqa'

Paraty (Brasil) - Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - Sydney (Australia)
09 - 14 January 2012

Dubai is one of those places where the boundaries of absurd and the crazy are constantly reformulated by the key components of imagination and money. When they interact it's done in an environment of high paced frenzied construction, under a blistering Arabian sun which seems to have permanent residence on the Persian Gulf and of course utilising physical labour borrowed from its sub-continental cousins. It's a city that has undergone prodigious transformation over the last 30 years. From what was known as nothing more than a glorified fishing port, what was once just an Arabian backwater has turned into a town that's fuelled by slick oil money. It's a place that has exploited its own resources with a ridiculous degree of success and with even more ridiculous outcomes. To me however I still don't get how you exactly  decide to build a massive palm tree of sand, soil and substance into the Persian Gulf? How do you decide that constructing the tallest building in the world will garner the elements needed so as to be one of the keys to your economic success? So it's 50 degrees outside? No problems we say, Ski Dubai inside in -2 degree temperatures and go year round boarding/skiing. In Dubai the rules don't apply, well, they didn't apply prior to 2009. It's a funny thing how economic karma can truly be a bitch! But I'll get back to that.

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

On the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates (awesome shot JJ!)

We left the laid back Paraty in our travel dust sometime around mid-afternoon and headed back up the coast to Rio. Our late night flight to Dubai (actually it was close to 3am when we left), was still hours away, so too was the bus station. The central bus station in Rio is an inconvenient amount of time from anywhere that you would like to be, which means there's a catch to arriving in that period of indetermination when you can't quite find the sense in travelling to get somewhere else, i.e., Copacabana, only to turn around and come back almost immediately. Our last few hours in Rio involved blank stares, white tiled floors with the pungent smell of ammonia, and an ordinary game of football between Botofogo and some other humdrum local side. Our time at the airport was just as 'extraordinary', so lets roll forwards about 15 hours.....

Rio International Airport - Frichot getting ready for the ride back - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Cruising through an early Dubai evening and gliding along Sheikh Zayed Rd kind of reminded me of Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, in Lost in Translation. Not that I think that I'm past my prime as yet! Just that I remember his character silently moving through the evening as the circus which is Tokyo completely surrounds him with its cacophony of bright lights and human movement. Dubai is like that, constant construction, tunnels of high rise advertisements dedicated to its commercial success, bright lights, constant movement. I've always enjoyed arriving to unfamiliar or relatively unfamiliar surrounds at night. The night wraps you with its own cloak of apprehension and burdens you&nbsp with an uneasy expectation.

Welcome to the Kempinski Mr.Elisher

Sunrise in Dubai - United Arab Emirates

The main run of Ski Dubai, from the OUTSIDE! This is as close as we got!

Our digs for our short stay in Dubai was to be the Kempinski Hotel at the Mall of the Emirates, chosen for two reasons primarily. The first being that Ski Dubai is actually part of the complex and the second being that it had a range of bars that wouldn't involve for than a short transfer between floors and an equally short walk. Really, how can you go past a bar that's named Mosaic Chill? It's got to be worth a visit or several right? Oh, and being a little 'swanky' I really wanted to see what sort of reception Frichot's hairstyle would receive - if it was going to be anything like Vietnam then this guy was going to be the next Rock God in the U.A.E!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - King XXL Burger]

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - The Mega Mac]

Frichot and his new groupies - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Jet lag sometimes catches you unaware. Even when sleep isn't the foremost thing on your mind the lethargy and slowness that inhabits your bones just crushes any sort of drive that you might have to do something moderately adventurous. In those first two days we somehow managed to ditch Ski Dubai on several occasions as our drive just didn't match the grand state of our ideas. It was disappointing that we didn't somehow syphon our collective fortitude and deposit it into a chilled experience that was virtually on our doorstep. We did manage to capture Frichot downing some ridiculously named and constructed burgers in the Mall of the Emirates and also managed to get to the tallest building on the planet, the 829.84mtr tall Burj Khalifa (also known as the 'Durqa Durqa' or 'Durka Durka' in Frichot parlance). Somehow however our mojo had been soaked up by the 14hr interchange between Rio and Dubai, and all those amazing bars that I had in my mind to attack would have to wait until another date of arrival. For an Islamic state, a fairly  liberal one admittedly, there number of 'great' bars in this town is unbelievable. Almost worth the price of entry to Dubai just for that.

The Burj Khalifa, all 829.84mtrs of it - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Don't get Frichot angry - he takes out buildings!

The Burj Khalifa at night - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Frichot with more mates!

Victory at the Burj!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Burj Khalifa & fountain show]

Our nights were successfully spent inhabiting the Mosaic Chill bar  at the Kempinski in any case. I guess if you don't have it within you to search for glory then you might as well bring it into your house. It's kind of a shame, I did have us locked into the a drinks evening at the Burj Al Arab Skybar for our second night, but those plans also managed to float out into the Persian Gulf somewhere along the line.

Mosaic Bar - Kempinski Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

As is the occurrence on most holidays, the end dawns all too quickly and this was to be no exception. Our last full day was spent on a 4WD safari, 'dune bashing'  in the waves of sand that reside a short ride away from the city centre. None too surprising really, this is the Arabian peninsula and desert country is kind of the norm in these parts. At least we managed to 'get up' for that event, even though it didn't involve us doing too much more than sitting in the seats of vehicle whilst the driver tried to his best to roll his vehicle on the dunes. Of course it didn't happen but man I would have love to have seen it.

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Desert Safari]

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dune bashing - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Sunset over the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

 

A few hours later we were back at Al Maktoum international airport, already reminiscing and dreaming up possibilities for future escapades....'43: The tour of awesome' had come to a close and it had been a blast. As I've already mentioned I'm sure, I feel more than lucky to have been able to finish off part of what I wanted to do/see back in 2010 and to have done it with some great friends...and as for my next escapade? Well watch this space? A friend of mine recently said that I seem to be able to put things out into the universe and oddly enough it appears to listen and respond. So I've put my request in and I've got the sneaking suspicion that I could be away shortly!

...and that's a wrap folks!!!!