TravelStream™ news feed for member aushiro on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aushiro en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Wed, 14 May 2008 10:31:47 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210773060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210773060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210773060/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 10:31:47 -0400 After a long time, two travelers reunite to conquer Sudamerica.

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Sao Paulo, Brazil

For the past 4 days, ive been in the metropolitan environment of Sao Paulo. This city is big...real big!! its the 3rd biggest city in the world at 18 million people which is 10 percent of the brazilian population. quite immense, if you know what i mean. As far as place, i dont really think ive given Sao Paulo a good chance to impress me, im just physically and socially exhausted. After 4 and a half months of living out of my bag and dealing with Hostels, my mind went on standby and wanted to just unwind. So i decided to get a hotel and spend the last few days in the Japanese side of Sao Paulo called Liberdade. Its an interesting place because Sao Paulo is home to the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan. So i would say i feel at home cause everyone looks like me, but at the same time so out of place. The best way i could describe it is being ¨Lost in Translation¨ cause my japanese is okay, but not everyone speaks it here and everyone seems to be more comfortable with portugese, which in my case im probably at the 3 year old level. So i basically feel like an idiot here with a college education that cannot communicate. I guess im at the point where, i wouldnt mind understanding whats going on around me. I mean, ive been in a foreign countries for 4 and a half months and sometimes no one speaks any english. Im not complaining at all and its part of the experience, but i think it would be nice to be able to communicate effectively again. And the key word is effectively.
So about my thoughts of the trip....where do i start? Well, its my final day in this wonderful continent of South America, but it began with my dreams of coming here. I set this goal about 3 years ago after my trip to Southeast Asia and have a great sense of accomplishment. I basically lived my dream and thats so special. I have no regrets of my decision to come here. I went an entire year of travel, reuniting with friends and family, met wonderful new friends, learned a new language, and above all lived my life. I went through a considerable amount of growth in many way that i think will benefit my life in all facets. Some people felt my decision to take a year off and explore the world would impede my career. I beg to differ, this trip and decision to live life has been the best decision of my life thus far. In fact, it was great timing as well. Put it this way, along the way i met some wonderful retired folks who waited til they were done with work to travel south america. I was travelling this when im 27. Im not bragging by any means, im just saying that because i travelled at this age, im going to be able to use this experience for the rest of my life and i dont think i would get the same impact in my life at age 50.
Also, I realized how important it is to go for something if you really want it. Sure, there are things that are going to be sacrificed in order to achieve your goals, but hey thats part of life. In my case, i sort of put my career on hold, but i think it will be a even better career now cause i have more experiences to help guide me to the correct decisions.
We often think that our dreams are far fetched, so far away, and years are needed to achieve it, but i think some are just a quick decision away. its amazing, cause all i needed to do was basically pack my backpack up and buy a airplane ticket to quito. Those two actions, made this dream come into fruition. Of course, you need to have the right situation to do so....that was just for me. it may be different for others. However, my idea of dreams have changed because often we just post them on the wall and hope someday youll be able to do that or go somewhere. I dont believe in that anymore, dreams are supposed to be lived not just thought about. Reason being, there are tons of dreams to accomplish and if you get held up on one, you may not realize the others that you want. Because of this trip new ideas of travel have popped into my head because of the fellow travellers ive met. Tanzania, Golden Triangle of India, Indonesia/Bali, Malaysia, and so much more. Im not going to make it to all these places in a year or two, but im definitely going to knock one of them out soon cause im excited of the next chapter and the one after that.
Probably the most important thing i~ve learned on this trip and time off, was to not take things so heavily. We often put too much emphasis or weight on items that we think are of great importance, but really arent. ill explain...when i was working in San Diego, there were days, when superintendents would be yelling at me needing answers or else the project will get delayed. It was sooooo important to get those answers and i would stress out because of the incredible pressure. But in the end, that answer was a color of paint and realistically that answer is a grain of sand on the coast of Brazil. it really isnt of that much importance. I should have been worried more about my health, my family, and friends. Cause in the end, thats who are going to be there for you, and no one else. There are no change orders in life. We need to live like south americans and appreciate what we have and not what we dont. We should be dancing the night away and bobbing our heads to reggae during the day. In all essence, we should be having fun every minute of everyday. Thats what i want to do from here on out. I dont want to wait for the weekend of have fun, I used the phrase before ¨I work for my weekends¨, but now im going to use ¨Im going to live and have fun everyday¨. Some would say, how are you going to do that? Well, first of all im not going to be looking for a job anymore, cause a job is just a vehicle to get you to do what you want to do. Im going to be searching for a passion cause with a passion, you wont think that you are working anymore. I dont want to struggle getting up in the morning to go somewhere i dont want to go. I want to be inspired and have pride with what i do. Honestly, i dont know what that is, but ill be on the search for it.
I also reevaluated my priorities in my life. Im going to give more priority to my family and friends before anything else. Cause without them, my life would be so empty. We often put them as a 2nd priority for material items and careers. During my travels by myself, i had many occassions in which i wanted to just go home and give my mom, dad, brother, and grandma a big hug. However, being thousands of miles away i wasnt able to do so. To deal with this sense of loneliness i was always on search for people to give me that sense of companionship. However, when im at home, that companionship is always there. So there will be no search. I will always remember that.
All in all, I think my life will be more fullfilling from this point on and i thank everyone for being there for me. I would also want to give a big hug to those who ive met along the way on this great journey, i couldnt have done it without you. You know who you are. Well, i hope to see everyone at some point again and please keep in touch. I hope you had fun following me around this wonderful continent and maybe one day i can follow you. bye for now!!

-Aaron-
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210202880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210202880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1210202880/tpod.html Wed, 07 May 2008 19:53:10 -0400 After a long time, two travelers reunite to conquer Sudamerica.

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Itacare, Brazil

Taking the bus to Itacare was easier than i thought, which took an overnight bus to Ilheus and a 2 hour bus to Itacare. Itacare is a small fishing village about 8 hours south of Salvador which i believe is a Surf and Reggae paradise.
Upon arrival, i was offered help to find a place to stay. i refused cause i knew where to go and this guy kept insisting that he take me to the hostel. I let him follow me for a while and then he started asking me if i wanted marijuana or cocaine. Sheez, i just arrived and this dude is trying to deal at 9 in the morning. I guess thats the way it goes here. I checked in and met a cool french dude named Sebastian and we decided to catch some surf today.
Our first stop was Tiririca beach which is a 15 minute walk from Town. Along the way, we were approached by the skank of Itacare. This girl was disgusting and was probably a creation that brazil is not proud of. She obviously had several children cause her belly was wrinkled like a prune. She kept talking to us in broken english and offering us a massage. Her meaning of massage was not the literal meaning. Her dialogue was a little something like this "i like surfing, i like itacare, i like my life, and i like massage." This girl was like one of those enemies on Super Mario Brothers that you had to keep jumping so you can get her off of you. I mean, she would not stop and kept offering us a massage. She was definitely on crack and probably had more STDs than James Bond. In fact, if she was going to give us her so called massages she should pay us. anyways, we shaked her off of us at the beach onto some German guy, who later told us "thanks" sarcastically.
Surf at Tiririca wasnt too shallow and the idea of breaking a rental board here wasnt a good option. We decided to check out some other spot called Itacarezinho, which was a hella of a lot better. We needed to take a bus here and put our boards in the undercarriage compartment which was a little sketchy. However, it worked and no damage to the boards. The beach break was awesome! We had our own brazilian break on a tropical paradise. Easy takeoffs and nice rights and lefts. I rented a 7´6 board and it was the perfect board for the day. The backdrop of the beach was a jungle full of palm trees. it seemed like there were palm trees on top of palm trees. it was an amazing backdrop similar to hawaii, but different cause it was a jungle next to the beach. by the way, the water is warmer here than hawaii. i dont think the people here have ever seen a wetsuit.
The vibe here in Itacare is great cause everyone is so chill and no one seems like they are in a rush. People are really friendly and always saying Belezza(cool) and Tutto Bom (how are you). I really feel comfortable here, but i dont have much pictures to explain how nice the beaches are here cause its not safe to bring your camera to the beaches. apparantly there have been some robberies at beaches, so its a risk to bring it. ill try to sneak a picture at some point. however, at the end of the trip, i dont want to risk losing any of my prized pictures. we'll see.
Other than that, ill press my luck at another day of surfing, but with no rash guard my stomach is killing me. its a little tender and bruised. anyways, enough of the bitching, things are awesome here and if you want to chill and listen to reggae music as you walk the streets. Come to Itacare!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1209793440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1209793440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1209793440/tpod.html Tue, 06 May 2008 20:09:32 -0400 After a long time, two travelers reunite to conquer Sudamerica.

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Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil

So after a week in Rio, my liver had it and i needed to leave. Sheez, my last night out was with 3 native japanese dudes from Tokyo and we didnt stop partying until sunrise. its pretty bad when you step out of the club and the sun is rising. Plus, i needed to catch my flight out to Salvador that same morning, so rather than taking a 1 minute nap, i decided to go to the airport without any rest.
i started to feel pretty crappy on the way to the airport and ended up passing out at the airport in Rio. I was so scared that i would have slept through my flight at the terminal because the clocks within the rio airport are not right. one clock was an hour off. anyways, luckily the lady started yelling in portugese for the flights and my brain had a half a brain cell to say, "Get your ass up!!". I made it!
Upon arrival to Salvador, i was still drunk and needed to make my way to the guest house, where i passed out for a few hours. For the night, i reunited with 2 fellow travellers from Florianopolis, and went to a Folkloire dance show. It turned out to have 5 different types of dances including the Samba and Capoiera. The Capoeira was everyones favorite part and they just did a bunch of kicks and backflips througout the show. Everyone had incredible athletic ability and could jump through the roof. I think, they could have backflipped over me. I wouldnt want to challenge these guys to a game of basketball. If i could backflip like these guys, i would probably not want to walk again. i would just backflip everywhere.
Another cultural side of Salvador is that it is 70 percent african ethnicity. It is in Salvador which was the center of the slave trade here and slaves were actually brought and sold here in the Pelourihno (which means whipping post in Portugese). The pelourihno is the most cultural part of Salvador and has a various array of architecture and open plazas. I consider this the most beautiful of the Brazilian cities because its historical richness and lack of modern appeal. I really felt like i was in an old city that hadnt been washed from the beginning. It was untouched.
The Salvadorian people here are very nice and couldnt be more helpful with directions and recommendations. Sometimes, the beggers and people in the pelourihno are a little annoying because they want your money. It was at times hard to enjoy the place because people were constantly bothering you to get your coins. Another downer to Salvador its shady side and there is some danger here with walking in the night. One particular story, which is consider a freak accident was with a lad from england that was staying at our hostel. This guy was threatened at gunpoint just a few streets from our hostel. They ended up taking his watch, but he refused to give them his wallet. He ended telling them to fuck themselves and they fired a round at or around him. It didnt hit, but he said it sounded like a blank. Still, if i had a gun pointed at my face, i probably would have shit my pants and happily handed the money over. I guess, sometimes its just being unlucky and this kind of thing could happen in any major city. its just that no one has ever told me a story like that one. zoiks.
Well, after enjoying these past few days of Salvadorian culture and musical fusion, im going to get my last bit of Brazilian surf. im heading to the surf town of Itacare, which main influences are surfing, reggae, and ecotourism. Sounds like my kind of people. =)
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Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Okay, so it took about 20 hours to get from Florianopolis to Rio De Janeiro and it wasnt too bad, cause i slept most of the way. Usually its a struggle to sleep on the bus because of the bumps and stops. However, this one was pretty good. The more and more time i spend in Brazil, i realize that i am spending lots of money. This is probably the most expensive country in South America. Its hard to believe because there is so much poverty here and only 1 percent of the population owns all the land here. The gap between rich and poor is probably one of the widest gaps for the world. Most brazilians say its solely because of corrupt government and business, which drives a few to succeed and many to suffer.
Rio when we arrived was really beautiful because the weather had just turned and looks like it will be a few good days ahead of us. For the first day was spent walking around Copacabana and Ipanema, which are the most famous beaches in Rio where most locals and tourist go. The sand is soft and the water temperature is just like hawaii, but there is some trash floating in the water. Nonetheless, the brazilian bikini was out with full force on a hot sunny weekend day, which made most men and myself very happy. I tried a tropical drink called Acai which is made of a berry found here in Brazil which is very nutritious and full of vitamins. its a quite pleasant drink to have on a sunny day.
For my second day, i also spent most of it at the beach, but at night we went to this Favella Funk Party, which is apparantly a party in a Favella where locals and tourist can drink and dance together. After a roundabout way with our tour operator we finally arrived at this so called Favella at about 12 midnight. I looked around at this Favella and it didnt look that bad. The buildings look like they would hold up in a windstorm. I saw worst in philippines and cambodia. Here we got into a club where there was an upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs was for all the gringos and some richer locals. We had our own bar and dance floor. It was cool, but the real fun and action was on the first floor cause everyone was downstairs and with the mix of gringos and locals. it was really fun especially as we had more drinks. The locals were really happy to see me cause i was the only asian in the entire club and everyone was high fiving me as i entered the dance floor. it was awesome. We had to leave at 4:15 cause the party was over. i probably could have gone longer, but our tour guide reiterated to us that he was leaving and i didnt want to get left in this neighborhood. So i jumped in the van and passed out on the way home. it was a fun night.
The next day, i shrugged off the hangover and went on a city tour. We saw most of what Rio is famous for,
1. The Famous Christ de Redentor, which is one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Its an amazing feat but I dont agree with this classification. I could probably name ten places that are more impressive than this statue on a hill. Ankor Wat, Teotihuacan,Tical,....get my drift.
2. Maracana Stadium where the famous rio team la flamengos play.
3. Sambodromo which is where the famous Carnival is held.
4. Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio
5. Pao de Azucar or sugar loaf mountain. we are suppose to end the day at sunset here, but like all tours we missed it. it was still cool cause i got some good night shots of rio.

it was an amazing day of sights and we saw so many things in so little time. I would recommend the tour cause it includes all of the tickets to enter these places with little hassle.
So far things had gone well and i really have a good feel of the city with the limited time i have had here. Unfortunately in Ipanema i did have a bad encounter with a local who tried to demand money out of me. He just came up to me and said ¨where are you from?¨ i replied hawaii and then he demanded my money. i knew this was the case cause i was alone and walking in the streets. he was a bigger set guy so i knew i could outrun the fat fuck. So i knew not to let him get to close, so i picked up my pace before he asked me that question. Once i heard money i just dashed and i heard him swearing at me as i left him in the dust. I dont want to judge rio with this one incident. All i have to say is watch out when taking money out of an ATM and go with someone. Dont go alone and dont do it at night. Luckily he didnt do anything more than demand the money. Had i seen a gun or weapon, i would have happily handed over what i had, but i knew odds were in my favor to outrun this pajero/fucker. all is good and i learned my lesson without consequence. So i could just see Coach Lorenzo (my bball coach from high school) yelling at the guy, ¨you think you got speed? you cant catch aaron cuz he got speeeed!!¨ hahahah!!!
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Santiago, Santiago, Chile

Heres some pics of Plaza de Armas and Santiago. it was a day trip and dont have much to show but some pictures.
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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Here is some pics of my day trip through Buenos Aires. I already wrote about the place. Here is just ventured to the town of La Boca and more of Bomborena.
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Florianopolis, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil

After spending two fulls days in Punte del Este, Uruguay aka ¨Ghost Town¨ of the east, we needed to get out of here. Apparantly after february, everyone and their mom leaves town and probably doesnt come back until the following year. most shops are closed cause the overhead costs more than the amount they would make if they were open. I met this english lad named Hadley and hes on a around the world tour for a year. Hes been in south america for only a week and has already been to 2 countries and decided to join me in brazil which will be his third country. Thats moving.
So after a 20 hour busride up to Florianopolis, we were in Brazil!!! My first impression of brazil matched exactly what i expected, ¨very very green¨. The mountains were covered with lush greenscapes and trees. Florianopolis is located on a island called Santa Catarina and this place is pretty darn cool. So cool, people decide to stay here for indefinite period of time. I met two guys Sam and Ivo who have been there for months and love it here. Its easy however, to see what draws them to say. Ill outline the few:

1. The Women are amazing. I never seen anything like this, i though it was a myth that the brazilian women are more beautiful than argentinean women, but its no myth its for real. At the beach and clubs here I never seen more beautiful women in my entire life. Better than San Diego at 4th of July. Me, Sam, and Ivo decided to play a game called ¨find the unattractive women¨ and we found 2 in a line of 80 or so women at a club called ¨Confraria¨.
2. The weather is great. The weather mimics Hawaii very much and the humidity isnt as bad. The water is refreshing, not as warm as hawaii, but you can surf here without a wetsuit even though all brazilians have a full suit on. I thought i had thin skin, but florianopolis surfers are really sensitive to the water. by the way, the surf is good here, but beware of the strong rip currents.
3. It is safe. i never felt safer in south america. I think it might be the safest of all brazil. i was living in a town called Lagoa which is the heart of the nightlife and tourism here in Florianopolis or Floripa. Things will change in rio and bahia salvador.
4. People are wonderful. All brazilians here seem to always have a smile on their face, which is very welcoming for any tourist.

So i spent about a week here, just chilling on the beach, surfing, playing volleyball, swimming, and hanging out at night. its been a great relaxer in a place that has a lot of energy. Apparantly, i arrived at downseason and if i had arrived during january and february, there would be no reason to leave to see the rest of brazil, cause everyone would be down here anyway.
Aside of the paradise of brazil, i had a little disagreement with the immigration personnel upon entry to the country. For US citizens, we are granted a 30 day stay with multiple entries to Brazil, while other countries get 90 days. I didnt get to talk with the immigration officer cause we took a overnight bus through the border and got our passports back in the morning. Thinking it was a slam dunk process, turns out the officer granted me 25 days in lieu of 30. I actually need 27 days cause my flight is already booked. I went to contest this at the Federal Police here in Florianopolis and said, ¨why wasnt i granted what i paid for?¨ The lady replied ¨its up to the immigration officer and he/she can grant you anything up to the limit of 30 days¨ So basically what was stated was that an immigration officer here can be having a bad day or have a beef with a persons country and grant them a unfair amount of days. There is nothing the federal police or myself could do about this. dont worry, im not going to be stuck here, but will need to pay a fine of roughly 5 bucks a day over the limit. i wasnt fighting for the money, but the principle of getting what i paid for. i guess the phrase, you get what you pay for, does not exist here in brazil. cause i paid for 30 days and got 25. its kinda like buying a pair a shoes and getting a different one in the bag.
aside of wasting a day of my vacation here at the Federal Police, things are still going great, we are on our way to Rio in a few days. The time to face reality is slowly ticking and ill be back in the states in a matter of 3 weeks. Kinda crazy!!
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Montevideo, Uruguay

The best thing about travelling is not only seeing things you have never seen before, but the people you meet along the way. An even better occurrance if you get the chance to meet them again in their home country. I met my friend Evelyn in Ushuaia, Argentina and got to reconnect with her in Montevideo, Uruguay. It´s definitely nice to have a local guide you around the city and you just playing follow the leader. Sometimes, it takes some energy and frustration to get to the right places, but when you got the local, everything is on auto pilot.
I probably did more in Montevideo in 3 days than most people see in week. For my first night in the city, i went to a Casamiento(wedding party) of one of Evelyn´s friends. We basically ate empanadas, drank wine, and had conversations with a mixture of english and spanish. The people i met at the party were wonderful and was a great way to begin my stay here in Uruguay.
The next day we walked around the east side of Montevideo to see its Playas and street markets. Afterwards, we had a great Chorizo lunch at the Mercado del Puerto which was the best place to eat in Montevideo. The Parilla here is right in your face and you can feel the heat and smell the wonderful food being cooked. Definitely not the place for vegetarians. Our next stop was at another side of town which is rarely visited by tourists on the west side of Montevideo. Here we went to one of the few remaining Fortresses where a small museum of Montevideo´s history is held. From this Fortalezza a great panoramic of Montevideo could be seen, probably the best panoramic view of the cityscape and port.
For Sunday, we went to a huge outdoor street market which has everything and i mean everything. You can buy antiques, snakes, rabbits, puppies, kittens, sunglasses, clothes, electronics, basically if you can think of something it´s here. We didn´t buy anything though, except some overloaded hamburgers with actual ham in the hamburger. Here you can choose various toppings for your hamburgers, like onions, peppers, olives, and various salsas. it´s quite different from a american burger. For the night scene, we checked out a traditional musical concert in Ciudad Vieja at a place called Espacio Guambia. Here we saw a very eccentric musical concert of 15 males on stage with flower costumes and singing at the top of their lungs. They were also dancing telling jokes and acting out skits. It was nothing like i´ve ever scene, so i took a video of it and i will try uploading it once i find another decent computer. This was probably my favorite event of Montevideo and would recommend it to anyone visiting the country. ´
All in all, my trip to Montevideo was wonderful all in part to Evelyn cause i wouldn´t have seen anything, but the old city if she never came and took me out of it. Cheers!
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Cordoba, Argentina

I know this a weird title for a Blog, but it´s really a good title. Being Asian traveller and walking the streets in a south american country, I get a lot of stares and comments of "Chino" on a regular basis. However, i found someone that also gets that same impression, my new friend Tolani or "T" who is english with Nigerian ethnicity. He told me that sometimes he feels like a movie star. I kept telling him that he should just tell everyone that´s he´s some movie star or rapper, but then the lie would just fall apart when everyone finds out that your staying at a youth hostel. So anyways, here we are an Asian and an African roaming the streets of Cordoba. And of course, we get the usual stares, but probably even more cause we are walking together kinda like the "rush hour" movies. It almost worked when i introduced myself as "Jackie" and Tolani as "Chris", but i just couldn´t stop laughing. So the joke never came to fruition cause i could never keep a straight face.
Cordoba itself, i can´t say too much about it cause we didn´t see it at it´s best. Apparantly it has one of the best night lifes in all of Argentina, but arriving at the beginning of the week, we never really gave it a good shot at making an impression. The city itself has a huge population of university students which fuel it´s nightlife. apparantly there are 7 very large universities here. There are some cool museums as well, including the Museum of Modern Arte and a Contemporary Art Musuem which is almost near completion. An architectural interest lies in at the Paseo de Buen Pastor which is an incorporation of a old building and completely contrasting addition of contemporary architecture where a great posh restaurant is located on the pink glass extension (check pics).
All in all, Cordoba was a beautiful city and i enjoyed it very much. However, i think i might have enjoyed the rush hour quotes more than the actual city. Like "do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" and "I go this way and you go that way". I don´t know, it´s one of those you had to be there trips. Peace out, i gotta go get Ricky Tan.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1207233300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1207233300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aushiro/23/1207233300/tpod.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:57:33 -0400 After a long time, two travelers reunite to conquer Sudamerica.

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Mendoza, Argentina

Today was a great day cause i got my tooth repaired. For those of you who didn´t know, i got my tooth chipped in Vina Del Mar when this Pajero (Dumbass) bumped into me while i was drinking a large bottle of cerveza. yeah, who thought drinking a beer could chip a tooth. Anyways, I waited to Mendoza cause i heard the dentist were really good in Argentina. Turned out that was correct and it was a hell of a lot cheaper than it would have cost in the states. I got it fixed for a low cost of 40 bucks. The deductible would have costed more to just see a dentist in the states, and then they would say "that´ll cost you about 300 bucks to fix". So my recommendation for those who live with crappy insurance or even no insurance and have bad teeth, get it done in Argentina. Of course, you´d probably need to mix it in with a vacation, but that´s good right.
So mendoza is wine country. It´s probably the Napa Valley of Argentina where their prize wine is called Malbec. On wine tours, you´ll be able to walk through the actual wineries and get to see how wine is produced, stored, and eventually bottle. Of course, the best part is trying the different types of wine here, but it´s nice to see how it was produced. Another famous product of Mendoza is its olive oil. On the same wine tour you are able to visit a olive oil factory and taste unfiltered and filtered extra virgin olive oil. Apparantly, extra virgin olive oil means that the acidity of the olive oil is very low which makes the oil more difficult to produce and requires only the highest quality of olives. The lower quality olive oil are usually produced by the the waste products of the extra virgin olive oil, such as the skin.
One thing i noticed about Mendoza, is there isn´t much to do here besides wine taste and go horseback riding in the dark (which was really weird but cool). With that in mind, the hostels here try to suck you in with all you can eat BBQs and Pizza and even beer. I guess, they are trying to make the place into a Buenos Aires, but that will never happen. However, they are quite good about making sure there is something to do every night that will prevent you from getting up the next day. I guess it´s part of travelling and the hostel business. nyaah!
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