TravelStream™ news feed for member aliandjon on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aliandjon en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:27:06 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/8/1232484420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/8/1232484420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/8/1232484420/tpod.html Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:27:06 -0400 New Zealand

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Bluff, South Island, New Zealand

We are sitting here on a crisp morning, looking out from a little hut (owned by Amanda (college friend of Jons) and her man Karl) towards lake Harwea and the Haast Pass. We see Amanda's event horses grazing in the fields, the flat of the glacier valley and the snow capped mountains in the background dotted with alpine forests, the clear blue skies have given way to low level cloud and storm may be brewing over the mountains - pretty atmospheric place this New Zealand!

We have made our way up from Slope Point and across to Milford Sound, a spectacular drive through mountain passes where we couldn't help ourselves but to stare in awe at the utterly spectacular scenery, it really is like nothing else - we both agree that alpine country is the place to be! From there we head back inland to Queenstown, adrenaline central, and then on to the more relaxed environment of Wanaka. Queenstown is undeniably beautiful and has an attractive cosmopolitan feel with just about every sport to satisfy the adrenaline junkie. However, with nowhere to park up our camper (that wasn't already charging a fortune from the multitude of backpackers) and the fact that most activities were simply out of our price range, we sulked and moved on. That said, a phone call to Amanda (Jon having not seen her in the 13 years since college) and she is having a 'roof on the house' celebratory bbq the next day and would we like to come?, sees us pitching up at their home and dropping camp for the next four or five days. Their place has amazing views, is close to Wanaka, their dog Pip quickly befriends Ali and we all feel immediately comfortable! Karl is busy building their new house with Amandas dad John, and Amanda is run off her feet running her equine physio business, working at the local physio, teaching, sorting the horses etc etc, but all said and done it's, to quote a phrase, 'sweet'!

A book sale in Wanaka, and we have stocked our library of reading material, an iron man competition named Challenge Wanaka and we are shamed into doing some level of activity, a convincing level of enthusiasm from Karl (a bit of an out-doorsey nut himself) and we are booked on a days canyoning... 5 hours in the freezing canyon of the Niger River, in the shadows of Mt Aspiring, jumping off 12m waterfalls, abseiling over-hangs and sliding down rock faces into plunge pools - it was like waaay loose man!

We have clocked up a few walks in the area, stayed with some fantastic people, met many more and enjoyed every minute. It is with a mix of feelings, the sorry of leaving and the anticipation of the next stop, that we head off further north and further west today... we will add more to this bit when we get a chance!

We have found a chance so we are adding more...! We left you at Wanaka, so from there we headed north along the west coast - very breezy and very sea scarred. We eneded up at Fox Glacier and signed ourselves up for a full day walk on the glacier its self... Our guide Matty took us over 150m deep ice, investigating caves, crevices and ice holes. Cramp-ons made the walking easier and it was all very exciting and very cold. A sandwich or two on a glacier top has to be one of our most exotic lunch spots. After warming up back in the township we headed to a little river and lake area where we woke to spectacular clear blue sky views of the mountains and glaciers reflected in the waters. Time to move on as we have to eventually catch a ferry to the north island, but not before we have alittle look at the very far north of the south island. A 'quick' stop over on Arthurs Pass for a days walk up a ridge to a panoramic view of the southern alps. A quicker drive down tha pass, a morning swim in the Golden Bay area sea (Ali even braved the icey waters, especially as it meant sunbathing for a further hour to warm up again!) and a slow winding road over and around the Able Tasmin National Park and we enjoy anther river side stop just outside Takaka - a really chilled out but bustling little town, remnances of Pai Thailand! Today we have made a short journey to Nelson where we plan to feel normal even for 15mintues by having an actual coffee in an actual coffee shop! Tomorrow we leave the South Island from Picton and catch the ferry to Wellington to start our jaunt around the North Island.

The south is so varied and so spectacular with enough for everyone, again it will be sad to leave (apart from the stupid sand flies) but the north is calling...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/15/1249147437/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/15/1249147437/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/15/1249147437/tpod.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:27:26 -0400 The End

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

We thought we would like to add a few final remarks to conclude our travels.

Twelve months ago we set out on what has been the most amazing of journeys, passing through numerous continents and enjoying many different countries, meeting old friends and making new ones, growing a little older and a little wiser along the way and now we are saying a goodbye to this part of our life. It may all sound a little sentimental, but this year has become more than just a holiday, it has been normal life for us for so long and we have so many memories (and a zillion photos) from all the things we have done, seen and experienced. Normal life becons and we probably fall back into the routine of home and work alarmingly quickly, but somewhere in the back of our grey matter will be a huge amount of affection for every part of our trip, and of course the constant urge to head off again somewhere else...

We have traveled through parts of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, America, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. We have sunbathed on white sandy beaches and cooled down in the crystal clear waters; we have climbed mountains covered in snow, blanketed in clouds and choked in volcanic fumes; we have trekked through jungles, over deserts and through canyons and gorges; we have dived in many of the world best dive spots and explored sunken ships; we have skiied and canyoned, sandboarded and skinny dipped; we have travelled by planes, local buses and motorbikes; scooters, 4x4s and dump trucks; trains, long distance coahes and cars; campervans, tuktuks and boats; and even scored the odd friendly local lift. We have slept in 5star hotels, backpacker dorms and a lot of sleeper buses - enjoyed having our bed turned down and a chocolate on the pillow through to trying to find the spot without the spring in your back and not getting out of your clothes because the bed was alive with bugs and grime. We have camped at 5000m and walked at 200m below sea level, we have tanned in the warmth of 40oC, slept in the ice of -17oC and baked in the heat of 50oC. We have seen Ankor Wot, Machu Pichu and Mount Taronga; we have climbed the Patronas Towers, sailed a junk through Halong Bay and gazed at the remote islands of Phi Phi; admired the architecture of the Sydney Opera House, the glitz and glam around Hollywood Boulevard, the shear noise and volume of water at Igazu Falls and the remoteness of Solar de Uyuni. We have had shrimps on the bbq for Christmas, oohed and ahhed at the fireworks in Sydney Harbour for new year, blasted along the open roads of California on Harley Davidsons, driven a camper van to all ends of New Zealand and even managed to suprise each other for our birthdays. We have also been stopped at boarders, had our passports cited, had blazing arguments, been fined, been tailed, been ripped off, got debilitating back ache and blistering sunburn, had our banks stop access to our accounts and just about stayed on budget. We have met with friends from home and made countless new ones, exchanged stories and swapped emails, missed our families and planned new trips.

At the end of it all we are (almost) ready for home and we have missed our friends and familes and can't wait to see them. We have be granted a year sabatical from work so (hopefully) have our jobs to return to for which we are greatful for the time and the reduced stress of what to do when we get back. We owe so much to our friends who have given us their hospitality and a place to stay - for which we say an almighty thank you, you have all, and we really do mean this, made a massive difference to our trip. Our familes back home have been there for us from the very begining and through out, redirecting mail, sorting bank accounts, updating us with news from home and reminding us they are still there - we love you all and wouldn't want to do it without you.

So enough of the sentimental hindsight - it's an emotional time for us but we actually really mean all our thank yous to everyone - where next!? Well we have plenty of ideas - for every place we have been to and every storey we have heard we seem to add another 12 places to our 'must go there' list. We have been very lucky and would recommend it to anyone. Would we go back to anywhere - given the time and the money, of course we would, but there are sooo many other places out there to visit. Where has been our most favourite place, we can't say, each place has been fantastic for different reasons.
But for now, we are packing our bags for the final leg of this journey, however, still planning trips to Barbados, Mexico, the Red Sea, Siberia, the Antarctic, Mongolia, Japan, China, India, Africa...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/14/1249092962/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/14/1249092962/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/14/1249092962/tpod.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:19:39 -0400 California and home...

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Idyllwild, California, United States

With our round-the-world ticket we had a flight from Oz to LA and LA to home; it was an eventful side trip that took us south from LA to South America, but to get home we pass through LA once again. This time round we met with some old friends and their families, tried a proper pancake breakfast, stuck our feeet in the Californian sea and had our second American road trip, only this time on Harleys! All this was the most amazing way to end our travels, and we will write about that in a mo, only first we should fill you in on the trauma we had getting here...

It all started with an inocent question from a couple of fellow travellers in Mendoza, Argentina - we were asked, 'have you had any trouble with travelling around, you know, missed buses, flights cancelled, boarder patrols etc?'. We answered honestly, 'no'... then it all went horribly wrong. First, a massive snow storm hit the Chilean Alps making the roads dangerous, then the boarder into Chile was closed and our bus cancelled on the day we were to leave. This meant a frantic taxi race to the local airport before everyone else got there to try and buy last minute tickets to Chile - the problem being we had flights from Chile to LA pre booked for the following but one day. Happily we got our tickets and eventually boarded a flight to Santiago, a little turbulance but otherwise ok. We head through customs and await our bags, at which point a sniffer dog takes a keen interest in our bags... Because we had bought our bus tickets to Santiago a few days previous and knew it was a long journey, we bought our selves some lunch; because we had the distraction of ditching the bus, getting a flight and worring if we would make our connection, we forgot what we had bought for lunch... a couple of apples. Apparently you are not allowed to bring fruit into Chile and the dog knew this. We are marched off to the customs police and ordered to wait, where upon they chose Jon as the culprit allowing Ali to pass through to a waiting room. Jon was asked to explain why he had not declared he was bringing 'goods of a plant or vegitable nature' into the country and 'we forgot we had them' does not seem to be a valid excuse, the result being a citation on his passport and a $220 fine... for a couple of sodding apples! We could whine and moan about the stupid jobsworth a%#$holes but we have put that behind us now (or at least try to). Finally we get released, 2 hours later, to be greeted by pouring rain. We are tailed by two opportunists through the subway as we carry all our bags to the right platform and only shake them when we befriend the security guards.
The actual free day we had in Santiago was nice and rain free, infact the previous day's rain had cleared the normally present smog and gave us pretty good views of the city. A meal out and a nice bottle of wine and we are all set for our onward journey to LA. The first flight from Santiago to Dallas went without a hitch, but the following connection from Dallas to LA was delayed for 2 hours due to a problem with one of the engines - only discovered once we had started taxiing for takeoff, meaning we all had to disembark and wait for it to be fixed. Thankfully it was and we made our final flight to meet Tracey in LA only 3 hours late. To top it off Jons bag had been opened by US Customs by destroying his padlock leaving his bag in a slight mess and open to all as it passed around the bag collection carrosel...

But now we are here, safe and sound, enjoying the company of some friends. Tracey and Adam have a growing family in the name of Jack and Maisie and seem to be settling into the Californian lifestyle. They introduced Jon to his first pancake breakfast at a diner and settled Ali's brooding instincts by letting her free with Maisie. Just a couple of days with them but a really nice relaxing time, especially after the turmoil of getting there, topped off with an evening bbq and a few beers with Garth and Ellie invited round.
From Tracey and Adams we joined Garth and Ellie for the epic ride to their place in the mountains and to join their 'family' - three labrador pups, Fred, Ginger and Olivia.
Apparently Garth had been excited over our visit as he knew Jon had a bike license, and what else should you do in California with a bike license than take a couple of Harleys for a ride. We picked up our Road Kings in San Diego and headed out into the mountains to enjoy the slightly cooler air, the alpine scenery and the winding roads. With Ali and Ellie riding pillion, we stopped at a few choice little townships for a bite to eat, some apple pie and on to the coast for an overnight stop. The morning saw us negociate some city traffic and freeway and a sad farewell to the bikes.
A day at some of the beaches of California, a cable car ride to the mountains over Palm Springs, a dip in a hot tub and a relaxing saunter around the mountain retreat town of Idylwild and we are now facing our last night of travels. Tomorrow we make our way to the airport and our flight home. Are we excited? Of course we are, but as for the reality of normal life... well that is just something we will have to face when it happens!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1248143144/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1248143144/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1248143144/tpod.html Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:09:57 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Mendoza, Argentina

Our final stop, save the trip to Santiago for the flight to LA and home, is Mendoza - the wine region of Argentina.
To be honest, it has been a bit of a dissapointment. We have heard so many people rave about the place and so many guide books etc have said you should spend time here, but we think we must have missed something. Maybe it is because it is winter and there is no greenery, maybe it is because we have spent the last 12 months traveling the globe and we have become a little spoilt, but, well this stop has been pleasant but nothing special. Enough of the negative...
What we actually got up to in our few days here was some trekking con raquetas (snow walking) in the Andes and over dosing on vino tinto (wine tasting) in the premier region of Argentina. And, as has been the most incredible main stay of our trip through Argentina, met some of the most hospitable people (how can you argue with hospitality such that our hotsel host gave Jon his shoes when Jons had got wet during a trek in the snow!?)
With the Andes on our door step we could not miss the opportunity to do a little trekking in the area. A word with our hostel (well one particular guy, Roco) and they suggest snow walking. We have never done it before and thought it would be fun so booked ourselves a day trip to Mt Aconcagua (the highest mountain outside of the Himalayers at 6900m - although we stuck to the foothills at 3000m). After a 3 hour bus trip we reached our destination, doned our snow shoes and set off in a rather clown type fashion - these shoes are twice as wides as normal shoes and four times as long, they took some getting used to! With a bit of practice we headed towards the southern face of the mountain, through several feet deep snow and across frozen lakes. The walk was actually really good fun and very peaceful, with mountains either side of us and the Chilean border on 15km to our west and clear sunny skies we merrily marched on after our guide Agustin. The route we took was apparently an original Inca trail, one of the most southerly ever found and close to the discovery of a child sacrafice - sacraficed at nearly 6000m the Incas truely worshiped the power of mother nature and the spirits of the mountains. All very interesting and adding a little extra to the trek - that was until Ali´s ears pricked up at the storey of the bridge we reached... The area was used in the filming of Seven Years in Tibet, for those of you in the know that means Brad Pitt. We reached our ´summit´ at a bridge constructed by the film crew (improving upon the original single track rope bridge) to carry filming equipment to the film locations.
After a long, long drive back to Mendoza and a catch up on sleep (our first night being very restless thanks to the government closing pretty much all night clubs in one measure to keep swine flu at bay by ´preventing´ people from congregating en mass, meaning most people simply brought their parties to the hostels... that said, if it wasn´t for the previous 20 hour bus trip and lack of sleep, we may have joined them!), the only way to recover was to take ourselves to one of the wine regions of Mendoza. A trip to Maipu and the use of Mr Hugo bikes was a pleasant way to waste a day, but if you want to see spectacular vin yards stick to NZ or Oz! Again, maybe beacause it was winter and evereywhere was barren (and remember Mendoza is strictly speaking a dessert, their water is wholey chanelled in via irrigation drains from the Andes constructed by the Incas), but Maipu was a dry, windy, cold and rather barren place. We must be wine snobs! However, we did meet a really nice winemaker who became ever more friendly as he poured us incredible generous taster measures - Chris, must be the smiliest, happiest winemaker we have met! In addition, it was not until we returned our bikes that we found out why Mt Hugo has such a good reputation amongst backpackers... he plied us with several bottles each of his own wine while we waited for the bus!

Everywhere we have travelled, people ask us, ´where is the best place you have been?´, and we always honestly say there are different places for different reasons but there is not one place we did not enjoy. So we don´t really have a favorite, however, if there was one, Argentina would be nudging for the title. Neither of us had any expectations and have been suprised and amazed throughout our travels here. From the dodgy first bus trip to Salta and finding a room and incredible hospitality at 2am, the actions speak louder than words personality of the gauchos, the tropical environment and colosal waterfalls at Igazu, the tango of Buenos Aries, the whales of patagonia, the beauty of the Lake District, but everywhere we have recieved unexpected, truely welcoming and heart warming hospitality. Travellers here are very lucky, you are constantly amazed by the place and its people.

Now we are back in Mendoza, we await our bus tomorrow to Santiago and we await the result of the snow storm promised across the Andes and the road route to Chile... Time will tell, more when we know.
Well this little bit comes to you from the airport... yes the roads have been closed! Last night a storm passed over the Andes and has made the Chiliean side impassable - thus all boarder crossing by road have been suspended. It is typical for this to go on for 3-4 days while the roads are managed - we dont have that time as we fly to LA in a day or so. So a quick panic at the bus station, a refund of tickets, a dash to the airport and we have bought our flight ticket for this afternoon. Bit of a sod really as flights are not cheap (it was actually 100pounds cheaper to by a return ticket than one way! So if anyone out there needs a Santiago to Mendoza ticket for next week we have a couple spare...) but, hopefully, all´s well that ends well.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247529513/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247529513/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247529513/tpod.html Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:09:16 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

El Bolson, Patagonia, Argentina

We are now in the Lake District, virtually due west from our last stop, in a little town called El Bolson. This stop is another result of a passing conversation giving us new ideas of where to go. An overnight buss took us across the flat planes of northern Patagonia for us to wake to souring snow capped mountains, rushing ice water rivers and alpine forests; sometimes travelling can be so tough! We were also advised of a place to stay so set about hunting it down only to be picked up by the owner as we aimlessly wandered, our luck seems to be holding out. El Bolson is a little town south of Baralochi nestled between two mountain ranges on the Chilean boarder in the heart of the lake district, and its absolutely stunning! We were told there is little to do her other than waste time, however, with a small set of ski runs next door, plenty of alpine walks and mountain bikes for hire (and this is just in the winter), plus the chance finding of a small, local produce only, artensania market, we have to beg to differ. This is espeially true because the place we are staying is a home from home; Claudio and Valerie, who run it with their two kids and three dogs, have treated us from the moment we arrived like old friends. We were immediately settled into our rooms, offered fresh coffee and coisants and promised a traditional Argentine bbq in the evening, Claudio being an ex Hilton chef how could we pass that up!? We were right not to, we were taken to the supermarket to help chose some food and be directed as to what is good food and wine to buy and helped with the bbq, Lenny would be in heaven with half a side of cow on the menu!
Fed and watered (well vinoed) we head for bed and the promise of a mountain bike ride through the forests and hills, along rivers and to a lake.
We are greeted with a crisp, fresh morning (well by the time we got up it was nearly afternoon) and head out with Claudio for a ride. He says it is good for his health so when we asked to use thier bikes he said he would join us and show us some of the sights and routes not on the tourist track. We make our way out of the town, climbing to a view point, then down towards the valley river, stopping every now and then for photo opportunities. From there Claudio suggests a little treat and we leave the track down a short drive to a tiny little shop in the middle of the hill side that specialises in the Argentine sweet buscuits. And what a treat, the area is known for its organic produce and a sweet buscuit filled with fresh rasberry jam and a hot drink besides, we agree this is the way to exercise! A little further and we reach the lake at the base of the two mountain ranges and stop for a brief wander. The way back showed us what the area is like at sunset and as we re enter the town the place begins to take to life again (siestas here seem to last a little longer, apparently there is a hippie influence and they are so relaxed).
So now we have the hard decision to make, chill here for a few more days and pass straight through for the board crossing (remember we have to get to Satiago Chile in 10 days for our flight to LA) or head off and make stops along the way in areas that are equally known for their relaxed atmosphere and stunning scenery... we say it again, travelling sometimes can be so hard!

Decision made, and just two hours down one of the most stunningly sceneic roads and we arrive in Baralochi - home of Argentina´s finest chocolate and more importantly, skiing...
Baralochi is much bigger than El Bolson and is geared up for holiday makers, both foreign and local - it is the home of virtually all outdoor activities you care to mention; hiking, kayaking, skiing, paragliding, skydiving, white water rafting, kite surfing, snow treking and many more. But with just a few days in the area we decide to make the most of the stunning scenery and head out for a trek in one of the national parks, Lloa Lloa. The day was crisp and clean, in one of those picture perfect xmas card scene ways - you could see your breath in the cool air but the sun was bright and warmed us up a little, there was not a cloud in the sky and the frost on the ground sparkled, not to mention the still lakes and the snow capped mountains looking down on us! Hopefully the pictures will have done some justice to the area, and when we saw some of our friends photos from other parks they had been to in the area, well it just gets better. Enough of the whistful memories, the walk itself was also really nice. We wandered through evergreen forests, and oddly bamboo forests (!?), circled around a couple of the smaller lakes and got good views out over the main lake on which Barilochi sits. Also, as seems to be our custom in South America, we picked up a stray dog for the walk, we justly named him Floppy on account of his ears - he kept us company throughout the walk, bouncing around in front of us with a rather femanine bark and whine and then charging off everynow and then after a passing car...
The following day, July 16th... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ali! We thought we may get an opportunity in Chile and then scratched the idea, so given the opportunity here how could Ali pass on it? Today we went skiing! With no preparation for winter travel in the first place, we doned our waterproofs and several layers of thermals, rented some skies and off we went. The area we skied was Calle Cathedral, which unfortunately hadn´t had too much snow in the past week so a lot of the lower runs were closed. However, there was enough to entertain Ali for the day and certainly enough to see Jon fall on his ass 5 or 6 times! We had just entered high season but the slopes were pretty empty giving Jon enough room to only take out a couple of people on each of his runs and Ali enough time to just cruise about and enjoy the scenery - lake district to one side, Chilean Alps to the other!. Ali did a fine job of teaching Jon as much as he could manage, despite taking him mildly off pieste on the very first run (fall number 1, just missing a dunking in a stream!), enjoyed the warmth of the day and suprisingly, for those who know what Ali is like in the snow, did not feel the cold at all. We were lucky enough to be on the first lifts up and the last ones down, Ali gets to say she skied this year, Jon gets to nurse a few bruises and both of us have to mend our shredded waterproofs thanks to an over attachment to the button lift! All in all it was a brilliant day and a really nice suprise for Ali´s birthday, only that wasn´t the end of it...
In the hostel we stayed were some Argentinians (Dario and Silvana) we had become friends with in El Bolson and they knew about Ali´s birthday. So, while we were out they invited everyone form the hostel and organised a suprise party for Ali! Once we returned and showered they asked Jon to keep Ali out of the way for an hour or so whilst they decorated the house in balloons and even made a little ´feliz cumple´ (happy birthday) banner. Food was cooked up, wine and beer drunk, a spanish card game or two played and even a bit of serenading (Dario on guitar and Silvana, with her amazingly powerful and very beautiful singing voice, on vocals), plus the singing of happy birthday in both Spanish and English!
Now, it is the final leg of our Argentinian journey. We head for Mendoza for few days, home of the wine region, before making our way across the Alpine border to Chile - hoping, of course, the roads remain open...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247524113/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247524113/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247524113/tpod.html Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:02:39 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, Argentina

So our original plan of heading north when we reached LA seems to be going further astray... we are now in Patagonia! A passing conversation with some fellow travellers and we learn that the southern right whales are currently breeding and rearing young just off the coast of northern Patagonia. We have been, unsuccessfully, trying to see whales throughout our trip and this seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, so we booked ourselves a bus to Puerto Madryn.
The little town is on the east coast of Argentina in a little bay protecting it from the elements of the Atlantic Ocean - at this time of year it provides a sheltered spot for the whales to rear their young, and they don´t seem to mind us lot being there too.
We arrived very early in the morning, just in time to see the sun rise over the ocean as we looked for a place to stay. On finding this great and very friendly little place just a few blocks from the sea front, we are told it is currently high tide and the whales can sometimes be seen from the pier... dump bags, coffee in hand and a dash to the pier. Bugger it was cold standing watching for whales, but we were rewarded with a glimpse of two of them a few hundred metres from the shore, and a couple of seals who seemed intent on entertaining us. However, better was still to come.
We booked ourselves on an excursion into the bay itself and around a bit of the penninsular, unfortunately we were ´rained off´ as the winds picked up and made the boat trip unsafe. So, we sat out the day in the warmth of the hostel being fed with fresh cake baked by the owners - not a bad waste of a day, especially as with the wind the temperature dropped to about -5oC. But, the following day we headed out. Our first stop was on a beach 20km north of Puerto Madryn and due to the beach dropping quickly away into the water the whales swim within 7 to 15m of the beach; you get to stand on dry land and watch, close up, 15m whales cruising the beach front. Of course the purpose of the trip was to get on a boat and see these animals in their environment. With a little left over wind from the previous day making the water still quite choppy (poor Ali bearing the brunt of the poor conditions despite loading herself with travel sickness tablets), we roamed the bay for about an hour and managed to enjoy a few whales at close quaters. We have to say it was a little dissapointing, mostly due to the weather which you can not control, but having seen the photos and information on what it can be like during calm waters, well that would have been spectacular. But cant complain too much as standing on a beach watching them circle infront of you was pretty special; we will just have to keep whale watching on our to do list...
Oh, remember the parcel we didnt manage to post in BsAs, well we still have it as we arrived in Puerto Madryn on a National Holiday (post office closed), which thanks to swine flu was extended 3 extra days (governments attempt to keep people isolated by giving them time off work) meant we couldnt post the sodding thing again!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247169825/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247169825/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1247169825/tpod.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:11:14 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Buenos Aires, Argentina

These bus trips don´t get any shorter... just another 18 hours this one, Iguazu to Buenos Aires. However, this one we got champaigne with dinner and Jon got a quad measure of whisky for afters! The National Express has some serious expectations to live up to.
We may get off the buses slightly bleary eyed and could have had a better nights sleep, but we seem to be pretty good at rallying ourselves once we get to a destination. For BsAs, within an hour of arriving we had all the info we needed for onward travel, booked ourselves a place to stay and were heading out into town to run a few errends. A bit of a decision but we opted for a slightly more expensive hostel this time as it was in the ´microcentre´ - the heart of town and not a slightly cheaper one out of town. Either way the hot shower and some brekkie was very much appreciated - that was until we checked our finances... we have transfered some ´contingecy money´ into our accounts as, depending on the weather, we may have to fly from Argentina to Chili to make our connection home (in winter the Andes mountain road passes can get closed with snow), however, Argentina is not that cheap and that contingency money is fast becoming a necessity! But then, you only live once...
BsAs has an odd history for a capital city and took some time to establish its self despite being the major port for Argentina, however, these days it´s a busy hub of commerce, industry and of course tourism. The main things of attraction here seem to be BsAirians life passions - tango and football. The city has a metropolitan feel to it in the microcentre, but, as we often find, at the end of the day a city is just a city - we need some entertainment. There was the local derby final on in the foorball stakes, and here, whether you like football or not (and most of the time we couldn´t really give a stuff) it is the emense atmosphere the locals generate before during and after a game that makes the event - Lenny you would be in heaven! Unfortunately, the match was to be a few days after we planned to leave, so tango it is then.
There is a range of shows on offer, from the glam hollywood style with champaigne and four course meal to the local, traditional coffee house afairs. We, eventually, opted for a middle of the road, slightly classy coffee shop show. In the end we chose to take ourselves to Tortoni´s Coffee shop (alledgley the oldest coffee shop in Argentina), have an evening meal and enjoy an intimate, traditional show. The show was brilliant, really entertaining, and some of the moves these dances pull off is simply not possible with a natural number of joints! The show told the storey of of the origins of the tango - we think it did anyway as it was all in Spanish - and was enjoyed by both the dancers and the audience. The origins of the dance, in BsAs is in an area called La Boca, a dodgy little area slightly in land and the original home of the port. But the area is also famous for its brightly coloured buildings and dancing on the streets, so we went there too. The sun was not great that day so not sure if the photos will come out well, but the buildings in the centre are multicloured and the coffee houses have dancers and singers on the streets for passers by.
So a couple of days enetertainment, going to the capital checked off the list and a few errands run. Talking of errands, we put together another parcel to send home, packed it, wrapped it, sealed it and took it to the post office - only to be told the could only send items less than 2kgs... With a bus to catch that moring we were resigned to taking it with us to the next destination, only to find it is the national holiday and everywhere, including the post office, is closed! So, for the moment, we have a large backpack each, a rucksack each, a walking stick each and an oversize parcel to carry! But, we are now in Patagonia!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246805498/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246805498/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246805498/tpod.html Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:17:52 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

From Cordoba we took a 20 hour bus to Peurto Iguazu, base for the Iguazu waterfalls - one of the big natural specticals of Argentina. A wander of the streets and we check into a hostel and make plans for visiting the falls. Here you have the choice, you can visit the Argentinain side, take a half day out and visit the Brazilian side or take a full day out and go to Paraguy to see the view from there. You speak to the Argentinians and they are adament thier side is the best and most important - who are we to argue so we arrange to go the Argentinian side first.
The falls are now in a protected park and it was our first excperience of a pricing structure we had only read about so far - for locals it is free, for Argentinians it is $20 and for foriegners it is $60!
We were told you could easily spend 6-7 hours in the park, meandering along some of the trails in the jungle, riding the little train to the various view points, taking a speedboat to the base of some of the falls and generally being impressed by the size of the falls - its true, we spent pretty much the entire day there and it flew by. First off we headed to the base of the falls and (when Ali saw there was warm sunshine) decided to get on a speed boat and be dunked under two of the big falls. When we say we were dunked, thats exactly what happened, they drove the boat into the plunge pool and we got a complete soaking! We couldnt see a thing with all the spray but it was such a good laugh! Dripping from everywhere we headed across part of the river to a little island to dry off in the sun. Jon stripped to his pants (as did most people) and dried himself on a rock, Ali chose modesty and drip dried!
The falls are split into two main sections - one a series of 5-6 large falls spilling over a lake bed edge and the second is a colosal horse shoe shaped fall plunging so deep you cant see the bottom with all the spray (named the Devils Throat). We spent our time looking at them all, walking many of the paths and taking the little train to the park edge view points. Also, being a rainforest we were on animal spotting duty... Unfortunately Ali doesnt seem to have inherited the Beavis luck for animal appearences. Although what we did see included many brightly coloured birds, lots of butterflies, a small tapier, many coatis raiding the bins and a funny guinie pig looking thing! As the evening drew in we headed for home and a traditional Argentine bbq (Ali wasnt too keen on the blood sausages, but with half a chicken each, about 3kg of steak each and a magnum of wine to share, you cant complain!).
The following day we planned to visit Brasil for the day and their view of the falls, and why not? Only thing, being a rainforest it tends to rain... and it did, alot. The point of going to Brasil, apart from the kick of it, is because they have a better panoramic view of the falls, but in pouring rain you cant see the panorama. Reluctantly we abandoned the idea, so here we sit writing our blog.
As it happens, we needed to get some more cash to go to Brasil and all the ATMs here are not working and being a Sunday everywhere else is closed. We did get given a lift around town by a local who simply wanted to help (we think he thought we had no money for food or anything so felt a surge of compassion). Speaking rapid fire Spanish he cruised the town looking for ATMs to no avail, but we thanked him anyway! Now we have to wait for our bus to Buenos Aires, lets hope the rain doesnt follow us!
p.s. Ali would like to point out to Nat that you can buy a litre bottle of Bud here for just over 1 pound! Brilliant!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246803316/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246803316/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246803316/tpod.html Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:51:28 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Cordoba, Argentina

We have said throughout our travels that it is the people we have met that make a difference to a place. Salta was no different - after our discussions with the manager of the Cachi tour office, we got a refund and made our way to pick our bags up from the hostel; the guy running the place (and we embarressingly cant remember his name) wanted to know how it went, we explained and he said we must be exhausted and therefore should put our things down, use his shower, and get ourselves a cup of coffee. So we agreed and he joined us (with the coffee!) and made us some sandwiches, got some fresh bread, put the tv on and sat and chatted to us for over an hour. Sometimes the generosity of strangers still suprises us.
After heading for Cordoba we heard about an estancia (cattle station) nearby that we thought we may visit for a bit of the cowboy lifestyle (over here they are known as gauchos - they tend to be lone individuals who heard their cattle for weeks on end in the middle of nowhere, from grazing ground to grazing ground to market). A series of confused Spanish only phone calls, to what turned out to be our gauchos mother, and we were non the wiser if we had booked a few days on the ranch or not. With a bit more of a travellers attitude these days, the decision of sod-it lets just turn up and see what happens, saw us getting off our 18 hour bus from Salta and straight onto a 2 hour bus to a remote village in the flat lands east of Cordoba. Once there, La Cumbre, we made another call to the mother and something about a taxi was mentioned and the need for food, other than that, anything could have been said! So we wandered the little village for a while, found all the shops shut - siestas here are taken very seriously and pretty much everything closes from 1pm to 4pm - and sat wandering what next...? What next was a lady in a taxi saying she had been sent to pick us up (well we think thats what she said, they speak so quickly here and sometimes we dont catch anything)! We managed to get a little food and jumped in the taxi for a further hour along a what should have been 4x4 only road over a mountain range and into our gauchos land.
Our gaucho - Diago - was about as suprised as us, apparently the whole idea of having foriegners on the land was his mothers idea and she sometimes forgets to tell him people are coming! Fortunately he spoke a little English, and together we got by. The estancia itself had about 300head of cattle, 20 or so horses and a handful of goats, oh and India the dog and Tom the cat. It is a beautiful little cottage litterally in the middle of nowhere, surounded by mountains, scrub land and a river. We managed to tell Diago that we would like to be involved on the estancia as much as possible, but with it being winter here ther was relatively little to do. Having said that, there was a fence line that needed removing and renewing, so while Diago tightened the wires and Ali clipped the old ones off, Jon spent the day digging out the old fence posts (this was done Pete Linder style - for anyone who has ever worked at Rednil they will know exactly what that means!). So a bit of manual labour and a bit of r&r and a bit of a wander with the dog to the river and we had a nice chilled out time. The following day we had a ride across some of the land and to a bit of a view point, along side a couple of Diagos friends who help on the estacion. All in all it was very relaxing and what better place to do that than miles from anyone else in a beautiful area. We should point out, however, Diago being a gaucho is not the biggest of socialites! The lonely lifestyle (he had been on this estacion pretty much by himself for the last 9 years, venturing into town for supplies only 3 time a month) and the almost complete self sustainability of the place - solar electric, wood burner for hot water, river for water, cows for food, goats for milk - has resulted in a typical gaucho man, one of very few words. But, he was a really nice guy and we had a good time there, if only a little lacking in information every now and then.
A bumpy taxi ride and a local bus took us back to Cordoba and the plan to head to the Iguazu waterfalls. However, arriving about 7pm we found there were no buses until the following lunch time... a night in Cordoba it is then! Oh, and because we were tired and wanted something quick and easy to eat, this bit is for you Sam, we actually had a MacDonalds... and yes they are as shit here as anywhere!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246195089/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246195089/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aliandjon/13/1246195089/tpod.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:03:11 -0400 Argentina

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Salta, Argentina

Leaving Bolivia was easy (well one we had managed to get to the border via more dirt tracks and local buses), all we did was head to passport control, wave our passports at the guy behind the glass, a quick stamp out and we are on our way. Border towns are border towns, they never really show the countries off to their best - the one with Bolivia/Argentina (Villiazon/La Quiaca)was no different, especially is it seems to be a major hub for smuggling controband goods to and fro... That said it was a short walk across nomans land bridge towards Argentina where we joined the first of many control points - getting into Argentina was going to prove to be much more of a headache than getting out of Bolivia! Actually it sounds bad but all it really involved was a lot of waiting, queing and searches. The que to get stamped in took only half an hour or so, but then we had to join the several hour que to get our bags searched, make our way to the bus depot and start heading for our first destination, Salta. Oh, and then about 30 minutes later we had all our bags checked again at a road check point. So, everyone off, bags out... but our British passport must stand for something as although we too had to que we didn´t have have our bags opened.
In the end we made it to Salta, a little later than originally thought, but safe and sound. At 2am there were still a few people milling around the streets of Salta so it didn´t seem too bad to be hunting for somewhere to stay. Having found a little hostel with plenty of room we bed down and don´t wake until gone 1pm! They city beckons - Salta is an important area for the north of Argentina as it was settled by the Spanish as an area for crops, animals and mining that could not be done in the nearby areas. Now its a pretty little city and seems geared up for the tourist, in a nice way. A wander around the main square and some of the little streets, a bite to eat and coffee, a little rest on a park bench and we have decided on a plan of action. From here we are to join a tour for the surrounding countryside and small local villages, famous for their landscape and vine yards (more about that in a mo...). From there we will take a night bus to Cordoba, this promises to be a little different as the long distance buses here are renowned for being a cut above the rest - fully reclining seats, evening meal and even a glass of wine! Before all that we decide to get a taste of local folk music and traditional fare, so head to one fot the peñas - a folk music bar/resturant. The food was fine, but the live singers were much more fun. We spent the evening understanding absolutely nothing of what was sung/said, had to introduce our selves to the whole resturant twice and got ourselves several rounds of applause... it was then that the dancers (doing some traditional spanish dance) asked Ali to go up front and join them! Ali got up and was enjoying herself, but had to laugh when Jon was picked out by some of the locals to join them! All good fun and a cracking night away from the tourist scene - we have read that the fun loving and very social Argentines can make your trip, and so far it´s very true.
The tour to the countryside - well we headed for Cafayate, the northern wine region, and at the highest elevation of any vine yards the wines here have something different. The tour its self is a little whistle stop, a case of drive-stop-photo-repeat, but at about a 3 hour drive each way from Salta we can´t really complain. Plus the scenery is spectacular, it reminded us of the road trip with Ali´s mum and dad through Arizona and route 89 - all red rocks beaten by tectonic movements, wind and time. There were many rock formations that had uncanny likenesses to priests, penguins, turtles, indians and the Titanic(!?). One in particular stood out, the face of an ape that as you went along the road it ´evolved´ into the face of a man! Cafayate itself is a sleepy little township where the torrontes grape is traditionally grown, producing a very very dry white wine. A visit to a couple of vine yards, the obligatory tasting(!) and we head back to Salta. The group gelled really quickly and we managed to speak a little spanish to each, but fortunately most of them spoke pretty good English and we got by, even joining them for the never ending mate (a really strong herbal tea that is passed around socially all drinking from one cup and simply adding more herbs and water as needed).
It was our second day of the tour that things went a little wrong... The company had promised us we would be back in Salta for 7pm to make our 8pm bus. Unfortunately they arrived to pick us up nearly an hour late and then said it would be impossible to be back in Salta before 8, especially as it is election day. Quick decision needed, we take our bags off the bus and head to the office for compensation - buses are great here but they don´t come cheap, we can´t afford to miss the connection.
So this is where this part of the blog comes to you from - our extra day in Salta waiting for the night bus. We have to see the company manager later to see what will happen, in the mean time we will sign off and add more when we have it. Oh, and no photos again! (new card needed).
]]>