TravelStream™ news feed for member ej122493 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ej122493 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:32:20 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236612300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236612300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236612300/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:32:20 -0400 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Bariloche, Argentina

The cruise really took the wind out of our backpacking sails and so decided that the last few days of our South American adventures would be less rushed..

No getting away from the fact that Bariloche is beautiful (see pix) but theres only so many views of the lakes and mountains you can admire before it all becomes a bit samey...usually I would have been on my way after a couple of days but hey...I guess its been nice not to keep moving from one place to another just before the craziness of NYC and the so-called real world.

Kat and Jon finally caught up with us on their South American Travels too so good to see a couple of NYC faces to ease us back into the swing of things before our flight tomorrow

In the last few days we have....

Gone horsebackriding in Bariloche (sore arse after 5 hours!)
Drove around twenty million lakes and took as many pictures
Saw a black glacier...saw a couple of landslides and thunderour rumblings
Biked around another twenty million and took another twenty million photos
Went rafting to the Chilean border (rather tame compared to Banos but still scenic)
[Mer: I was sore for 3 days straight... in places I didn't even know I had muscles!]

We have decided rather than face ANOTHER 24 hour bus journey to take the easy option and fly back to BA to catch our international flight...a little more expensive but well worth it me thinks! [Mer: YAY!!!!!!!!]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236028920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236028920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1236028920/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:30:07 -0400 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Valparaiso, Chile

The plan was to leave the cruise at Punta Arenas and go trekking in spectacular Parque Nacional Torres del Paine to check out some mokre glaciers and snow capped mountains...well... that WAS the plan.

After trying to figure out how we could cram all the trekking and sightseeing into a short period of time we decided to sack it off and just relax in our final days before returning to NYC. So...we got back on the boat....ate more and watched more videos....think I´ve got used to this life style and don´t really wanna go back to backpacking during this trip again...

Oh well....have made it to Valparaiso and now taking an overnight bus on our way to Bariloche in Argentina ...no more rushing around until NYC hopefully!

[Mer: I MISS OUR CRUISE BOAT!]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235507520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235507520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235507520/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:28:30 -0400 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina

The last 10 days cruising from BA to the falklands, around Antarctica to the southern most tip of S.America has been a great time for relaxing and re-energising after many months of being constantly on the move, taking in more stunning scenery without the need to plan our next long haul journey.

The majority of time has been spent watching videos (we counted 34 films!) in our stateroom (AKA cabin to normal people), reading and daily trips to the gym to offset the gluttony of the 24 hour all inclusive food. Ive refrained from double size portions (Mer orders two desserts these days!) but can't pass up on the cookies!! [Mer: I actually watched 37 films... a few chick fliks... And when Mark says he can't pass up the cookies, that's an understatement! I think he's consumed almost a dozen daily. Fatty.]

Cruising has been an interesting experience but not one I will repeat for many years. I can see the attraction for many but personally its just too god-damn easy! Also you don't really get to spend to much time in each place so it really feels like 'ticking off' destinations rather than actually seeing them properly.

Cruise highlights include:-

Saunas
Detox Seminars
Eating sh*tloads
Standard cruise entertainment (2 bit magician, awful comedian and runner up Pop Idol no hopers)
Very good Jazz, Big Band, and Tango groups
A game of Family Fortunes/Feud - we were rubbish
Champagne dinner on Valentines night (overpriced bubbly cost a fortune)
Afternoon Tea and Scones
Winning fifteen bucks on penny slots [Mer: Only to lose it all on Roulette... sigh.]
Watching the Champions league on deck whilst sailing through the Beagle Channel
Did I mention the food?

Ushuaia like every other port stop was a rush job and the embarking time didn´t really give us much time at all....however we still managed to make it to the end of the most southern road in the world and take the obligatory photo.... [Mer: We went on a hike to Tierra del Fuego... THAT was lovely with some really nice scenery.]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235334600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235334600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235334600/tpod.html Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:49:21 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

[Mer: BREATHTAKING! The blue color in the icebergs and glaciers designate the older bits of ice... not sure why, but it makes for some beautiful photos. :) We couldn't actually step foot on Antarctica. But there are other boats/cruises that allow it... for another $6K. Screw that! Enjoy the pics... I just wished I had a better camera with a better zoom.]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235679420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235679420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1235679420/tpod.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:38:59 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Stanley, East Falkland, Falkland Islands

Cruising is a bit too safe for me but obviously appeals to the masses
who want to switch off for 15 days. I prefer the randomness of
backpacking but was surprised to bump into Uki and Aki the Japanese
couple we have found on a number of occasions (Costa Rica, Galapagos
Islands)...on the boat!!

Uki was the man of the hour on the Falklands and
found half price tix on the sold-out trip to see the King Penguins,
where we passed through live minefields left after the 1982 conflict
along with a couple of shotdown chinnock helicopters.

We were
taken aback by the thousands of Gentoo, Chinstrap and King penguins at
Volunteer point mooching around the beach. Although wary they weren't
scared of us and gave us the opportunity to get close up whilst they
feed their new born chicks by regurgitating squid (nice), preening each
other and generally squawking and flapping around.

Stanley the
main town, is a quintessentially English farm community (even has a red
telephone box) which seems rather out of place on the tip of South
America....I even saw a house that looked like my Nan's old house -
very wierd...we considered having a beer in the English pub but
couldn't see the point as they only had German lager on tap....

We got bored of Stanley quite quickly and got back on board our floating home...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234014780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234014780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234014780/tpod.html Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:22:05 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Mendoza, Argentina

This blog is getting tougher and tougher to write.....partly because there´s not that much new stuff to write about....feels like Ive seen every South American plaza with some bloke on a horse that liberated the region..partly because I´m travel jaded and ready to stop moving around (for a while) and partly because I´ve got half my mind already planning my return to NYC...

regardless....I shall endeavor....

After the worst border crossing ever at 4am between Chile and Argentina (do I really look like I´m smuggling fruit and veg across the border?) we headed to the nearest hostel we could find and grabbed some more sleep. Upon waking we strolled around Mendoza people watching (Mer didn´t like my comments about the beautiful ladies...) and working out the best option for visiting the Wineries in Maipu. [Mer: No need to comment on the women with your girlfriend right next to you... especially, when she's been wearing the same ratty clothes for weeks on end and after the bike accient. So me scarred with hole-y shirts, next to the beautiful Argentine women? There's no comparison... booo...]

Mendoza is a very chilled town/city with loads of nice parks/plazas to relax, watch a street performer, drink mate and just generally chill out. You can tell that Chile and Argentina have a lot more money than the rest of the countries visited to date, a lot more westernized but in saying that losing cultural differences that Ive enjoyed elsewhere...

We eventually decided to hire a car and drink-drive our way around the wine region. This turned out to be as cheap as hiring a couple of bicycles and given that Mer is still rehabilitating proved to be a good option. 3 different wineries were visited on the 1st day including a liqueur making place (awesome chocolate liqueur) and 4 on the second which led to us buying a couple of cases of Mendoza's wine...the only problem was working out how to ship it back! This didn't prove to be the easiest task in the world and after a few hassles, arguments and debates as to whether it would have been easier just to find the same god-damn bottles in NYC we ended up carting the crates all the way to Buenos Aires to have them sent by FedEx even after been knocked back the first time for not having a wine exporter license - Mer was not my most favorite person...) -- [Mer: The wine is still cheaper down here... and it's also part of the experience to drink them at home, remembering the vineyards, which Mark was all for until the end of our Mendoza journey and we had to sort out shipping... big point of contention, but we worked it out.]

Not much more to say on Mendoza really other than STEAK..lots of it.....and I got my fair share...Don Mario's was reported to have the best steaks in the city so we rocked up and I ordered the bife de chorizo which literally came up the size of a brick....I put on a good show but failed to finish and we scarpered before we sucked into buying something from the desert menu.

Oh..and shite Hostel International hostels...could you rooms be any smaller - visions of submarine living quarters spring to mind...

[Mer: Favorite wines: Perpetuum Cabernet Sauvignon, Achaval Ferrer Port, Trapiche Gran Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon... I'm iffy on my Malbecs... and although I never tried a Torrontes (a white wine varietal special to Argentina) at any of the wine tastings, we bought a bottle in WalMart (yes, we went to a Walmart!) for a picnic. The Torrontes is fantastic!]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234534980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234534980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1234534980/tpod.html Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:04:08 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District, Argentina

Whilst in Mendoza an Irish couple had told us about their cruise around the Antarctic...sounded awesome...and with Mer needing more recovery time we decided to book too after about 5 mins of consideration

so..instead of making our way down to Patagonia we caught a bus over to Buenos Aires where we would board the Star Princess on Valentines Day for a cruise to the end of the earth (who said I´m not a romantic? ' err... actually Mer did!). [Mer: Mark's plan for V-Day was exercising in the boat's gym... every girl's dreams... I'm a lucky woman, I am...]

Buenos Aires..hmm...maybe I missed something but it was nothing special....sure it was pretty and had a European feel to it..French, Spanish architecture and the local Portenos had a little italian flavour to their manner but all in all nothing special....just a place to eat more steak, drink more wine and spend more money. [Mer: I liked BA... cosmopolitan with a bit of Spanish flair & charm... colonial buildings and beautiful parks, including a well-kept rose garden... and of course, an interesting nightlife, which we didn't really partake in too much since we kept filling ourselves silly with steak and wine. That, and the fact that everyone eats dinner at 10 or 11pm, which we're not used to.]

The highlight for me was finding an American sports bar to watch the UNC - Duke College basketball grudge match at midnight where UNC kicked Duke´s arse. [Mer: Seriously... what an intense game!!! We waited almost 2 hours in line to get in, because it was the only bar in BA with American ESPN (instead of spanish ESPN deportes)... Quote of the night - "Bring it home, bitch!" (courtesy of the Duke fan in the bar)]

The other highlight was seeing Mer´s face as she realised that what the private cabins in the internet cafe probably were being used for...signs asked patrons to keep the cabins clean!....lol [Mer: WTF?!?!? Ew. I smelled things I can only imagine you smell in the Red Light District... seriously disgusted... and I swear I saw a man make a bee-line to the bathroom with a shiny, wet hand. EW!!! My only saving grace was the hand sanitizer gel...]

Perhaps...a single man´s haven for debauchery? perhaps ..but I´d pick Mendoza over BA every time....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233870300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233870300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233870300/tpod.html Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:24:20 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Santiago, Chile

Santiago hadn´t been on the ´must-see´list (just another big S.American City - right?), however with Salta out of the picture is was the next best destination for heading South. Our good friend, Manuel was kind enough to organise a stay at his family´s apartment and after a 20 hour journey arrived at their beautiful apartment in the suburbs where his sister Elisa hosted us. Hospitality was so good we stayed for three nights, upon where

- I played 6 a side football with Elisa´s boyfriend, Thomas and his quick-footed Chiliean friends, managing to hold my own for 90 (well...60 mins of 90).
- We enjoyed the Local Chiliean Sushi - all local produce.
- We BBQed on the Cassanova´s balcony overlooking the mountains.
- We used and abused the internet connection...I may have accidentally found some work in New York.
- We were taken on a guided car tour of Santiago (30 mins was all that I needed) [Mer: The outdoor fruit, meat, cheese, everything market was amazing and HUGE! Definite highlight for me, who likes food and shopping.]

It was a great feeling kicking back and just taking it easy without the worries of our next destination...I really believe I´m ready to return to NYC base....however beforehand there is Mendoza wine country in Argentina, Buenos Aries, Iguazu falls(possibly), Patagonia, Falkland Islands and an Antarctic Cruise to be enjoyed.....Bring on the Penguins!

[Mer: I LOVE THE CASANOVAS!!!]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233613560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233613560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233613560/tpod.html Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:03:44 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

OH MY GOD! HOW EXPENSIVE IS CHILE! I feel like I´m back in NYC. Arriving in San Pedro de Atacama (an oasis in the Chilean Desert) dealt us a nasty shock where food prices were at least triple that of Bolivia....After scouting a few restaurants for ridiculous prices we settled on a 'lunch special' to try and keep costs down but even a bottle of coke was $1.50 - we were paying 15 cents in Bolivia!

After recovering from price inflation shock we found out that we couldn´t reach our next intended destination, Salta Argentina by bus until Friday (6 days away) as all buses were fully booked! WTF! A quick change of plan was needed and therefore decided upon a world record breaking 24 hour long arse haul to Santiago instead.

San Pedro is a nice enough town except its definitely cashing in on the touristy aspects so although nice to walk around and relax we definitely saw no need to stay long (other than the great Cafe we eventually found).

The next 24 hours were spent doing chores and deliberating whether to return to NYC for good in March or to hide in S.E Asia until later in the year. Our fate, once again lies with the UBS Gods.

3 Highlights of S.P de Atacama

- Moon Valley :- A tour of surrounding desert, salt caves and eroding salt mountains, with lunar like-landscape (not been to the moon yet so cant confirm validity of claim). I sent obstinate Peg-leg Park back from the caves as she wasn´t gonna be able to navigate through them with her healing leg, and thus she decided to go on her own private tour of the area causing me to panic upon return, thinking she´d fell down somewhere and broke her neck. A search party was sent out, Park was found and words were had. [Mer: The guide said the caves would take 30 min. So I took a walk instead of sitting on my ass... how was I supposed to know they were going to finish in 20 min instead.]

- Superbowl Sunday:- Go on the Cardinals! So close and yet so far. We had great fun cheering on the underdogs who appeared to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Locals weren´t sure what the crazy beer fueled gringos were shouting about in the bar. [Mer: Still not quite sure how the Cardinals got to the Superbowl...]

- Meridyth finally took her first shower since the bike fall - enough said! [Mer: So disgusting... I had to keep both my elbows and my knee dry for almost a week. How do you shower while keeping 3 out of 4 appendages dry?!?!? The shower was amazing, albeit frigidly cold.]

At the time of writing we were into our second hour of 24 to Santiago to squat with the Casanova family for a day or two (Muchas Gracias para su ayudar, Manuel. Tu eres el mejor!).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233444420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233444420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ej122493/2/1233444420/tpod.html Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:47:10 -0500 Marko en Centro y Sud America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Uyuni, Bolivia

This was the best value for money 3 day jeep tour for $80....ever!

We went with Expeditions Empressa and they didn't put a foot wrong.

Some of the views we saw ..for me...were the most dramatic of my life..no doubt. I get fed up trying to find words to describe the views so I will let the pix do the talking. I just hope they do the places justice....
]]>