TravelStream™ news feed for member garygapyear on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/garygapyear en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:37:46 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1229477400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1229477400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1229477400/tpod.html Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:37:46 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

So then , my time has come and I´m now about to head off to the airport to fly back home to what I am told is a very cold England ! It´s the end of what has been truly a trip of a lifetime ... a completely fabulous 12 months in Latin America travelling through 14 countries across thousands & thousands of miles with more hours on buses than I can care to remember. I´ve seen so many amazing things and had so many awesome travel experiences during this year that I think it will probably all only really deeply sink in when I get back home , re-read this travelblog in it´s entirety and look again at the thousands of photos. At this point as I am about to embark on my journey home I think it´s quite natural that I have a mixed range of emotions. I feel really lucky & privileged to have had this chance to live out a long held dream and of course I have a palpable sense of sadness that it´s now over. But I also feel a strong sense of accomplishment and completion at having planned and undertaken this trip and there is a big part of me that I´m pleased to say is quite ready for home. Pleased to say because this is how I hoped my trip would end , with me feeling quite ready and having a sense of completion rather than being absolutely devastated at going home. I couldn´t have said this after 6 months or even 9 months ... I think its only been the last 2-3 months where some degree of travel fatigue has set in in the sense that you can only live so long the hostel,dorm,bus and rucksack life before you start to want your home comforts. This is not to say of course that I wont miss this travelling lifestyle because I know I will , especially when I get back into the day-to-day realities of being back at work. But I hope to carry with me from this year a lasting memory of the spirit of the Latin American people. A high proportion of people on this continent live, by most developed country standards, quite unimaginably difficult, dirty, hard or simply boring working lives but they do so with a smile, a spirit and a warmth & friendliness for other people that is truly humbling and thought-provoking . I hope to try & remember this the next time I´m about to grumble about some aspect of my, by comparison, very comfortable home and work life ... having visited the length and breadth of this continent I do feel so lucky and more appreciative of what I have in England ! I think I´ll particularly miss the social side of this travel experience , which has probably been the most social time in my life since my university days . Travel is of course about visiting amazing places and experiencing different countries and cultures but it is equally an experience that is shaped and made wonderful , especially as a solo traveller , by the like-minded travelling souls that you meet . To any of my travel buddies that are reading I would like to thank you all for the great fun times this year ... I hope I might get to see some of you again and of course if you´re ever in my neck of the woods in England , my door is open with a nice English cup of tea waiting ! Even with a whole year to travel , which seems a very long time, I haven´t been able to do absolutely everything that I wanted to ... this continent is simply too big and there are just too many wonderful things to see & do that you have to make choices somewhere ... I hope maybe one day I will be able to come back and see more ! But overall I´m very satisfied with my gap year travel experience .. the number of places I went to that were disappointing were very few and the time spent there in the context of 12 months very limited so I can hold no regrets on what I have & haven´t done. Travel is a personal thing & needs to be driven by a personal calling to want to go so I wont be banging on at every one I meet that they must go & travel because it has been so great for me ... the travel drive must come from within. But what I will say here is that if you can see the chance in your life to live out a dream that you hold ,  then life is really so short so take a risk , make the needed changes and grasp that opportunity with both hands ... I feel like I have been able to do that that this year & will treasure this experience whatever the future may hold for me. ********************************************************************************My "Best Of's" List********************************************************************************Fave Overall Countries ~ 1. Argentina 2. Colombia 3. GuatemalaFave Cities ~ 1.Buenos Aires, Argentina 2.Bogota,Colombia 3.Xela,GuatemalaTop Natural Wonders ~ 1.Galapagos Islands,Ecuador 2.Iguacu Falls,Argentina 3.Moreno Glacier,Argentina Top Archaelogical Sites ~ 1.Macchu Pichu,Peru 2.Tikal,Guatemala 3.Palenque,MexicoTastiest Food ~ 1.Mexico 2.Argentina 3.BrazilBest Trekking ~ 1.Torres del Paine,Chile 2.Inca Trail,Peru 3.Volcan Tajamulco,Guatemala Fave Hostels ~ 1.Plantation House,Salento (Colombia) 2.Black Sheep,Medellin (Colombia) 3. Casa Jardin,San Cristobal de las Casas (Mexico)Biggest Party Places 1.Buenos Aires, Argentina 2.Granada,Nicaragua 3.Bogota,ColombiaMost Comfortable Buses ~ 1.Argentina 2.Chile 3.MexicoNicest Coastal Parks ~ 1.Tayrona,Colombia 2.Cahuita,Costa Rica 3.Manuel Antonio,Costa RicaTop Leisure Activities ~  1.Scuba Diving,Utila (Honduras) 2.Horse-riding, Creel(Mexico) 3. Zipline Canopy Tour,Monteverde (Costa Rica)Friendliest Locals ~ 1.Colombia 2.Guatemala 3.PeruBest Looking Girls  ~ 1.Argentina 2.Brazil 3.Colombia******************************************************************************** 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228564140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228564140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228564140/tpod.html Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:37:24 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I ´ve arrived here in Rio which is now my last destination before I head back home to England ! The last bus ride of my trip to get here from Iguacu Falls actually turned out to be the longest of the entire year at a marathon 26 hours ! Pleased to be finishing up this epic year in such a fabulous location as Rio & also its good to have a decent length of time to enjoy it , 12 days , so I´m not in a mad rush to see everything in a few days before I have to leave. I felt it was better to just see one place in Brazil more thoroughly rather than try and cram in some other places in my remaining time. Crossing the border into Brazil came as a bit of a shock on the language front ... My level of Spanish isn´t exactly great but at least its sufficient to understand most of what´s going on around me and I can travel around & do what I want to do without any basic comprehension issues. Brazil is a different matter entirely and I found myself struggling even with some simple things as I dont have any knowledge of Portuguese at all ! On arrival to Rio I checked into a hostel in Santa Theresa which is a "bohemian" area of Rio up in the hills above the Centro and Lapa areas. It´s full of wonderful yet dilapidated and graffiti-covered colonial houses and has a cool little tram that runs from the bottom part near Lapa up to the top ... its also apparently the area of Rio where Ronnie Biggs the Great Train Robber lived , although I havent been to his house. Lapa is a short distance down the hill from the hostel and is one of the happening nightlife places to go at the weekend ... basically there are hundreds of people out on the streets eating,drinking & having a good time before moving on to the mass of bars and  clubs nearby. Lapa used to be a really rough & dangerous area , having been neglected for many years but more recently has been undergoing a revival , although there are still a number of homeless people that seem to be living under the famous Lapa arches and it somehow does to me have something of a dodgy feel to it. I spent my first day in Rio exploring Santa Theresa on foot and on the little tram ... there is an old restored house in a place called "Parque das Ruinas" which has some really great views across Rio and gave me my first glimpse of its fantastic setting. I also went to see the "Lapa Steps" , an extraordinary piece of urban art which basically consists of a set of steps covered in tiles from all around the world to create a colourful and beautiful mosaic. It was started in 1990 by a Chilean man called Selaron with just the colours of the Brazilian flag and has evolved over time to much more and is now a living work of art in the sense that the artist constantly changes the tiles ... he gets sent new ones which he works in to replace an old one. Selaron calls it his "great madness" and says he will continue to work on the steps until his last day ! Many famous people have been photographed on the Lapa steps such as Snoop Doggy Dogg , Edward Norton and Bono. On Sunday morning I went to the famous "Christ the Redeemer" statue which is located on a mountain called Corcovado ("hunchback") in "Tijucar Forest" which is a national park area. The "Cristo" statue is one of the defining images of Rio and is on many postcards , pictures and souvenir items. Its pretty expensive to go up there and see the statue ... either by train , minibus or taxi all costs roughly the same and then I needed to pay the national park entrance fee on top. When I finally got up to the statue I was horrified to see thick mist everywhere and I couldnt see anything ! But luckily the mist did later clear intermittently and I got to see the superb views right across Rio´s amazing setting. Unfortunately it was one of those classic travel things that is really super touristy with many many people and a right scrum for photos ... going on a Sunday probably wasnt the greatest idea aswell as there are no doubt even more people. But these things are so popular because they are so good and it was unmissable .. although in actual fact the classic Rio images tend to be rather more the statue overlooking the city , which of course you cant get a snapshot of from the actual Cristo itself. On Sunday afternoon I went to a football match at the Maracana stadium which was absolutely fantastic , just like watching the football in Argentina. I was lucky with the timing as it was the last Sunday of the Brazilian season. I got to see a team called Fluminense (one of the 4 top Rio teams) play in the famous big old stadium which will host the 2014 World Cup Final. Fluminense are struggling this season and actually had to win to totally guarantee not being relegated ... they only managed to draw 1-1 but in the end the other results also went their way to they survived in the top division (Serie A) of Brazilian football. Once again the atmosphere was just amazing ... South America football crowds really are unique in their ability to create a real party at a sporting event. The scores from the other games in the division were being flashed up on the big scoreboard & as things started to go Fluminense´s way the party spirits cranked up even more ! On Monday I went up to the "Pao de Acucar" (Sugarloaf Mountain) , the famous granite rock set in Guanabara Bay which appears as a classic image on so many picture postcards of Rio. Its a tad under 400m high and you get up there to the top via a cable car which also stops on the way at another more flatter rock called "Morro da Urca". The views are really great all around when you get up to both of the rocks & as with the Cristo statue on Corcovado it allows you to really appreciate how stunning is the setting of Rio. After doing most of the things I wanted to do centrally and around in Rio I decided to move down to the beaches on Tuesday. The place I was staying in Santa Theresa , Rio Hostel , also had another hostel down in Ipanema in a great location right at the corner of Ipanema and Copacabana just a few blocks from the ends of both beaches. I spent a few days enjoying the beaches and also what was to prove the last of the good weather ! Ipanema is a bit nicer than it´s arguably more famous neighbour Copacabana in my opinion- it has the picturesque mountains of "Morro Dois Irmois" at one end & is a bit less built up than the mass of high rise concrete that is the backdrop to Copacabana. Copacabana is one of the most densely populated parts of Rio and I felt I got a bit more hassle from people selling stuff there than at Ipanema. But both the beaches have all the ingredients of Brazil beach life that you imagine ... nice sand , sea , football & volleyball on the beach , skaters & skateboarders , body builders & runners , stunning girls , sun worshippers , surfers and the ubiquitous beach sellers . There are many little bars on the promenade where you can have a drink and people-watch on the beach and the promenade. There´s also a rocky area at the Copacabana end of Ipanema beach called the Praia de Arpoador where you get a great view along the whole beach and see the surfers in the breaks below. You cant see Copacabana on the other side unfortunately (that would be perfect) as the fortress that separates the beaches is in the way. At the far end of Copacabana beach was the famous Copacabana Palace hotel , one of the oldest most famous , luxurious and expensive places to stay in Rio. Madonna was actually playing a concert in the Maracana on Sunday night here in Rio and she was staying at the Copacabana Palace ... there were groups of fans waiting outside to catch a glimpse and apparently she came out onto the balcony to give them a wave. Wouldnt have minded seeing Madonna in concert in Rio but the tickets were really expensive ranging from 100 to 170 pounds which I decided was a little bit over stretching the budget. On Thursday afternoon I went to the lake & the botanical gardens which are behind Ipanema beach a few blocks back. The saltwater lake "Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas" is very nice to look at but you cant really swim there as its pretty heavily polluted ... but that didnt stop some local kids I saw hurling themselves off the bridge (I got some great photos). The lake has the backdrop of the Corcovado mountain with Cristo statue and a large Xmas tree in the middle which must look great when lit up at night (I only saw in daylight) .. its a pretty middle class area with expensive apartment blocks lining the lakeside which must be a great place to live. Nearby were Rio´s botanical gardens which are a very tranquil & pretty place to spend a few hours wandering and relaxing. There are enormous Royal Palm Trees and a series of different features such as waterfalls , Japanese style garden , statues and old gates from buildings of the past. After the great weather of my first week in Rio , with scorching sun every day, things changed dramatically on Thursday night as it poured down with rain and that was to set the tone as it subsequently remained cloudy and rainy for most of the rest of my time in Rio ... I am just glad I had done all the things I wanted to do already before it turned. On Friday as the weather was pretty awful and I wanted to enjoy another weekend of "Lapa" nightlife I moved back up to the Santa Theresa hostel together with a few other guys I had been hanging around with in Ipanema. On Saturday I went on an organised tour of a "Favela" or slum neighbourhood in Rio ... I had to take a tour to experience the favela as they are highly dodgy places to attempt to visit on your own .The favelas are an infamous part of Rio and there are many of them but we visited "Rocinha" the biggest one where over 200 000 people live. Rocinha sprawls upwards and its quite stunningly enormous ... it is constrained on both sides by hills so they have to build upwards and upwards. Below the favela towards the beach are some of the most expensive places to live in Rio which cost up to 5 million dollars , illustrating the notorious inequality of income for which Rio is well known. The Rocinha favela tour was eye opening , humbling and very interesting. We were taken by minibus to the bottom part of the favela from where we were all given a motorcycle taxi ride up to the top ... pretty hair-rising ride up as you cling on for dear life as the rider whizzes up there , narrowly avoiding other bikes & pedestrians , overtaking buses on blind bends and braking sharply into the corners ... you just have to trust that these guys do this every day and are experts who know how to handle the bike. From the top we then started the tour by walking down through the favela. A lot of the danger of the favela comes from the drug trade & associated high crime rates and at the top part we were not allowed to take photos as there were some drug dealers around who obviously dont want tourists cameras snooping around ... they are fairly easy to spot as they are the guys with walkie talkies and/or machine guns ! The drug trade in the favela is extremely lucrative ... an industry worth millions of dollars a month which is controlled by one gang apparently. Every so often there is a police raid into the favela and people are killed including innocent people who get caught in the crossfire between the gang and the police. But this is just one part of favela life and the reality for the vast majority of the residents is very different and relatively "normal" with daily work and running of businesses just like anywhere else. The favela is frankly a pretty horrible place to live , however , with cramped space , overcrowding , poor sanitation , rubbish strewn everywhere , a spaghetti of unsightly electricity wires (which some people apparently hook into illegally for free electric) , horrible smells and dirty puddles on the ground. But as so often in Latin America it is humbling how friendly and warm the people are despite living in what is by developed country standards appalling living conditions. The children of the favela are particularly friendly and very cute & photogenic ... some of the kids played a highly impressive drum routine on empty pots and tin cans to earn a few reals. The last few days or so have been a bit more lazy , lounging at the hostel , wandering downtown and doing a bit of souvenir shopping. I´ve pretty much done everything in Rio I wanted to do other than spend more time on the beaches ... but the continuing rain and cloud has put paid to that notion. Also of course I´ve been enjoying the Rio nightlife scene , visiting a number of different bars and clubs with friends from the hostels. The "Cariocas" (Rio residents) certainly know how to have a party and the live music that appears in many places is great and makes for a top atmosphere. Rio has been really great & has lived up to its reputation with the scenic surroundings , all the famous places to see , the beaches and the legendary nightlife ... so I am glad I finished my trip here it has made a top choice for the final destination of this fabulous 12 month journey of mine. As an aside,I now have well over two thousand photos from my last three stopping points - Buenos Aires, Iguacu Falls and Rio - which I still need to load up onto here ... but I´m afraid that will have to wait now until I get back home to England ... rest assured many of the pictures are really great (even if I do say so myself) so they´re worth waiting for !!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227718380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227718380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227718380/tpod.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:50:48 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Montevideo, Uruguay

After a relaxing couple of days in Colonia I moved onwards to the Uruguayan capital , Montevideo , which was only a short couple of hours journey on the bus and where I spent a few days exploring. I cant say that I was super-impressed by Montevideo , it was OK but nothing particularly inspiring or special to get excited about . But maybe I didnt give it a totally fair crack of the whip as in the back of my mind I just wanted to get back to my beloved Buenos Aires ! I stayed in the Old City "Ciudad Vieja" but it wasnt very impressive either aesthetically in terms of the architecture or in the atmosphere or culture of the place. The Old City juts out onto a promontory and has the working port/docks on one side and a rather grim collection of apartment buildings on the other side. Generally a lot of the Old City seems to be pretty run down and neglected ... it needs a facelift and some investment in restoration of some of the buildings to give it more appeal to tourists I think. I stayed close to the Plaza de la Constitucion which had the cathedral , a couple of other interesting buildings like the Cabildo & Club Uruguay and a McDonalds whose flags decorated one pedestrianised side of the square ! Just a few blocks walk close by was another uninspiring and somehow neglected plaza , Plaza Zabala , which was named after the founder of the city. Then at the edge of the Old City there is the old gate but alas it was under reconstruction and covered up. The Old Town and New Town are separated by a very large square , the Plaza de la Independencia which is possibly the most impressive part of Montevideo that I saw , but still somewhat marred by the monstrosity apartment blocks at one end. Plaza de la Independencia has a large statue of Artigas (the leader of Uruguays independence from Spain) , the Palacio Salvo (Uruguays first skyscraper and I think an impressive building) , the old government building "Casa de Gobierno Historico" and then some more modern buildings like the Radisson hotel and the new "Palacio de Justicia". From this square there is basically one long road , Avenida 18 de Julio , which runs all the way up to a park called "Parque Batlle y Ordonez" (that was actually someones surname , the famous historical figure Senor Batlle y Ordonez) which is where the footie stadium is located. I wanted to see the historic old stadium which was built for the first world cup in 1930 and which which Uruguay actually won ... its very run down , unimpressive visually and looks exactly like what it is ie. a 1930 stadium ! but nonetheless I liked the sense of history that this was where the first World Cup was played. In Rio I plan to go to the Maracana stadium which will hold the 2014 World Cup Final so I will have seen both ends of the time spectrum first hand , aswell as of course the stadia in Argentina used in 1978.The Avenida 18 de Julio is mostly commercial with loads of shops and restaurants but there are some kind of interesting buildings and little plazas along the route. I saw my first Santa Claus and Xmas Tree this year in one of the plazas ... have to say it seems a little weird to be thinking about preparations for Xmas in such a hot and unusual climate when I am used to the cold weather (but warm atmosphere) of England at Xmas.There is a large new building in Montevideo called the Antel Tower (after the government telecoms company Antel whose HQ is in the building) which is 160m high . There is a public viewing platform on the 26th floor of what is essentially a working commercial building so I went up there and enjoyed some super views over the city and the port. One extraordinary thing about Montevideans is their love of Mate ... you see people everywhere carrying their little flask of water under one arm , a mate gourd in one hand and usually also a lit cigarette in the other. I have seen mate being enjoyed elsewhere in Sth America of course but nothing like as universally as I saw in Montevideo. For the uninitiated , "Yerba Mate" is a plant which is brewed in hot (but not boiling) water  and is a stimulant like coffee , consumed from a little pot called a "gourd" . So to summarise , as said above Montevideo was just alright but nothing more and so a few days was plenty of time to see what there was to see. On Friday lunchtime I got the bus back across to Colonia and then the fast catamaran back to Buenos Aires for a farewell weekender in my favourite city. As an aside this little old travelblog of mine has hit a bit of a milestone as according to it´s counter it has now surpassed 10,000 unique visitors !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228260300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228260300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228260300/tpod.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:14:20 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Puerto Iguazu, Litoral, Argentina

Escaped the magnetic draw of Buenos Aires with some sadness after having such a fantastic time there for a cumulative total of two weeks. But the compensation for leaving BA has been a trip to the totally awesome Iguacu Falls which is my last stop in Argentina. I stayed at the Hostel Inn Iguazu which was more like a resort than a hostel - a huge place with swimming pool , ping pong , pool table , outdoor bar and an enormous eating area. It was easily the biggest hostel I have stayed in ... sometimes bigger is not necesarily better and when I am travelling solo I often prefer the smaller more intimate hostels where its easier to get to know people. But in Iguacu I was rooming with my American amigos Mike and Josh from BA so it was OK and naively we had all thought in advance that it would be a more relaxing time , easing off on the excesses of BA. But in fact the Iguacu hostel turned out to be a party place and a bit of a continuation of BA with both nights ending up in the bar well into the early hours of the morning. On one of the nights the hostel put on a great BBQ outside by the pool together with Brazilian style entertainment (dancing , drumming and clapping). I guess I feel like I can slow down , sleep and lead a more abstinent lifestyle when I get back home & so I want to live the remainder of the trip to the full ! Iguacu Falls themselves were maybe about a 20 minute bus ride from the hostel and after we arrived on the overnight bus from BA early in the morning we just had a shower , dumped our stuff , ate breakfast and headed straight to the National Park. The falls sit at the convergence of three countries  - Argentina , Brazil and Paraguay and actually there are 275 separate waterfalls spread along something like 2.5km of the river. Once inside the park we got on a little train which took us up to the "Estacion del Diablo" (Devil´s Station) from where its about a 10 or 15 minute walk along the special walkways to get to fabulous viewpoint over the biggest most spectacular waterfall the "Garganta del Diablo" (Devil´s Throat) which is U-shaped, over 80m high and the most powerful waterfall in the range. Spent quite a while up there enjoying the falls and taking dozens of photos. Afterwards rather than getting the train back to another station "Las Cataratas" , where there are more walkways , we opted to pay for a boat ride down the river. It was pretty cool getting to see some caimans and birds aswell as the riverside scenery from a different perspective on the little boat. After that basically there are two circuits of walkways to explore , the upper and lower circuits , which allow you to see many of the different waterfalls from both above and below. It was all pretty spectacular stuff , with rainbows over the falls from above and some great views of the range of falls . Personally I think the lower circuit was my favourite , even more so than the showpiece the Devils Throat. We spent quite a few hours wandering around and then rounded off the day with a trip on a speedboat out to a couple of the falls ... basically they take you so close you get a shower so you are absolutely drenched (they do give a waterproof bag in advance to store all your stuff like camera , wallet , T-shirt and so on) . It was cool but pretty expensive given it lasted less than 15 minutes. Anyway I liked the falls so much that I returned back on the second day to see them once again. As with everything in Argentina it was pretty expensive to get in but at least they do offer a discount on a second day so you can get in for half price. I think perhaps I appreciated the falls even more on the second day when I got to go around and see it all again ... they really are a truly amazing natural wonder. There were lots of people who I overheard who had been to Niagara or Victoria saying they thought they were no comparison to Iguacu ... havent been to Niagara but I have been to Victoria Falls and I have to agree. On the following morning , the Thursday,  I said goodbye to my American chums as they are staying in Argentina and I headed across the border to Foz do Iguazu in Brazil from where I caught the long haul bus across to Rio de Janeiro , my final destination !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228509540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228509540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1228509540/tpod.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:15:14 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Puerto Iguazu, Litoral, Argentina

Well I´m leaving Argentina now for the final time after a cumulative total of six weeks in the country during my various visits. I would say that it ranks alongside Colombia and Guatemala in the top three countries on my entire trip. With fantastic nightlife , great food ( steaks !) , red wine , football , sights & scenery and some of the most stunning looking girls you could ever see , what more could any male traveller ask for ! ? Hard to really pick one or two highlights as its pretty much all been great , the only major disappointment was the weather in El Chalten. Starting most recently , I loved Buenos Aires and spent a total of two weeks there which excluding the Spanish School and Volunteering stints is the longest I´ve stayed anywhere on my trip . I met some great people in BA , both old friends and new , which will add to my fond memories of the place and enjoyed some of the biggest party times of my year , partly I think because I could see the end of my gap year in sight & wanted to live the remaining time to the full. I started in Argentina way back in September coming down from Bolivia to the north-west of the country and visiting Salta and Cafayate which I enjoyed very much. Salta is a cool colonial city to explore and hang out whilst Cafayate had the wine tasting and great scenery at the Quebrada. Then I went to the second city of Argentina , Cordoba , which perhaps wasnt as great as I thought it would be , maybe because I wasnt there at the weekend when it is supposed to come more to life ... but still I´m glad I got to see the city. After a short stay in Cordoba it was off to the wonderful Mendoza where I enjoyed a four day stay - checking out the city , enjoying the unforgettable "bikes & wines" tour in Maipu , taking the day trip out to the Chilean border with it´s superb Andes scenery and of course I cant forget gatecrashing the 1978 World Cup Stadium for a personal photo shoot :) Then after a stint across in Chile I re-entered Argentina at Bariloche which is a popular holiday resort for Argentinians and easy to see why with its scenic lakeside setting , scenery & trekking and lively nightlife. The view from "Cerro Campanario" near to Bariloche ranks as one of the most "wow" vistas on my whole trip ... really breathtaking. Then some more time back across in Chile was followed by my visit to El Calafate and more specifically the magnificent natural wonder that is the Moreno Glacier which was simply awesome ! The big disappointment of Argentina was the trekking around El Chalten where the nasty Patagonian weather meant I didnt get to see the famous mountains of Torre and Fitzroy in three days there. Finally there was my visit to Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego , known as "El Fin del Mundo" (the end of the world). This represented a momentous point for me ... having started out at the north of Mexico I had reached the tip of Latin America and ultimately the start of my journey north back towards home ! The other superb natural wonder in Argentina , alongside Moreno Glacier , came right at the end of my time in the country , namely the Iguacu Falls , which totally lived up to their hype and were just fabulous . You could hear people talking at the Falls who had been to Niagara or Victoria saying how much more impressive Iguacu is ... I´ve not been to Niagara (yet !) but I have been to Victoria Falls & I have to agree , Iguacu is incredible ! Argentina has a bit of everything and is a really wonderful country - it totally met & even surpassed my high expectations and it justifies its position as a favourite with most travellers that have been here !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227972660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227972660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227972660/tpod.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:38:40 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

I returned to BA on Friday for a farewell weekend in the city after spending five days in Uruguay. Had yet more big nights out on both Friday and Saturday in various bars with a crowd of people from our hostel & another one nearby , which was of course a lot of fun. On Saturday afternoon I went to the polo again with a largely similar group that had gone out the previous night. It was semi-final week this week in the Argentina National Championships so there was a pretty decent crowd there. The first match was enjoyable enough and we indulged in a treat of sharing a bottle of champagne (to experience how the real Argentina polo crowd live !) which thankfully wasnt actually as expensive as imagined. As with the previous week the first polo match is in the relatively smaller polo stadium and then all the crowd move to the bigger military stadium next door for the second match. Unfortunately this week in the process of moving between the fields after the first game it started to rain a little ... bit of a change from the scorching weather of the previous week. We took our seats in the little grandstand hoping it would just be a few drops but then the heavens really opened and there was a complete downpour which made everyone run downstairs to try and get some sort of limited cover under the grandstand seats. The sky turned totally grey and the rain set in so most people started to run for the exit. We saw no point in sitting watching the match in such dreadful conditions and indeed it wasnt long before the actual game was called off (its to be replayed on Tuesday & we could have reused our tickets but alas I will have left BA) so we didnt miss anything. It was a bit crazy outside the stadium as it was raining so heavily & everyone ran for some degree of shelter under a nearby bridge. There were huge puddles building up around the roads and even water leaking through the bridge and no chance of getting a super scarce taxi so we made a mad dash to a nearby DIY store which had a cafeteria , getting absolutely drenched through in the process. Dried off & had a coffee and sandwiches in the cafe ... after maybe an hour or so the rain had dropped off & we could walk back to the hostel. To complete a weekend of sport and partying , on Sunday I went to the Boca Juniors football match which was totally awesome and I havent experienced a football atmosphere like it.  Boca are chasing the championship with a few games to play and were playing another BA team called Racing so the local rivalry added to the spice. Along with River Plate who I´d seen in the previous two weeks , Boca are Argentina´s biggest most famous club with former players such as Maradona and Tevez aswell as current stars like Juan Roman Riquelme. We had to pay quite a premium though the hostel to guarantee getting in but it was worth it to experience the atmosphere at the Boca stadium La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) which has high banked stands to add to the enclosed feel. In a strange way of planning things the away fans are given the top terrace so they are above the Boca faithful where we were standing. We had been prewarned that this means things tend to be "delivered" from above down onto your head such as urine , spit , cigarettes and various objects ... and even more disgustingly a few weeks ago away fans were apparently actually throwing excrement down ... how lovely ! From what I could see we werent getting peed or crapped on but the spit was certainly being sent over in abundance ! With great foresight I was wearing my hoodie ! As at the other games I have been to the fans basically have a football party with constant singing , jumping , chanting , dancing , waving of flags and so on ... but the nature of the stadium and it being full meant the atmosphere was in a different league. Luckily Boca won the game 2-1 with both goals from the local hero Riquelme (one a penalty but the second was a truly superb volley ) so the Boca fans were sent home (eventually) happy. At the end of the game , as with the other games I have attended , the home fans get locked in so we had to stand there and wait about 30 minutes. At this point some of the local hardcore supporters climbed up onto the fence at the front and turned to taunt the Racing fans above , amongst whom quite a number of nutters had stayed behind rather than leave in order to exchange insults and send some more saliva down . As a relatively impartial observer it was actually all rather more funny than in any way scary ... I think to be honest those involved in the shenanigans thought so too ... and the real hooligans ("The Barras Bravas") at Boca apparently stand down the other end.  After the footie we went for a yummy "parillada" (meat grill) dinner at a nearby Boca restaurant , washed down with red wine and all so cheap it was amazing ... a great way to finish off my time in fabulous Buenos Aires. I left BA on Monday with some sadness as I really love the city and had a great time here ... but the compensation is that I am going across to Iguacu Falls , which is very exciting as everyone who I have met who has been there says how amazing the Falls are ! I am travelling up to Iguacu together with Mike and Josh , a couple of American friends who I´ve been hanging out with BA.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1225844160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1225844160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1225844160/tpod.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:47:18 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile

Time for some closing thoughts on Chile , where I have spent a total of three weeks across two visits whilst I have been criss-crossing with Argentina on my way south. I would say it´s possibly the least typically South American country I have been to on my trip ... maybe partly it feels this way due to the lack of ethnic diversity & indigenous people (of course there is Mapuche culture here , I just didnt experience it first hand so I cant include it to my perceptions of the country). You tend to meet just as many people here who are simply on holiday for a few weeks in Chile and Argentina rather than long-term travellers and it´s an expensive place to travel - the most expensive country on my entire trip. For me the two highlights of Chile have to be Valparaiso and Torres Del Paine , although the latter also leaves me with somewhat mixed feelings. Valparaiso is a totally unique place and quite unlike any other place I have been to this year ... I really liked it´s ramshackle , higgledy-piggledy , bohemian character with it´s "cerros" (hills) , fabulous coastal setting and the graffiti & street art everywhere ! Torres del Paine was truly spectacular scenery but it was also undoubtedly the toughest physical challenge of my trip - over 70km with a full pack in frankly abysmal weather at times was a real endurance test and I cant deny I wasnt actually glad when it was over ! I would have liked to have done the trek in the summer with great weather and I´m sure it would be a different experience ... as I felt so much better on that fourth day when the sun was shining. I enjoyed the capital , Santiago , probably more than most ... and with a five-day stopover seemed to stay longer than most ... as I found it had a good mix of sights,culture,nightlife and activities. In general the city of Santiago seems somehow to suffer in many travellers minds by a forced direct comparison to Buenos Aires , which everyone universally loves and which no other city on the continent except possibly Rio de Janeiro can really compete with. Apart from Santiago , Chile has been rather a quiet time without too much in the way of buzzing nightlife ... it´s been more about the outdoors and the landscape/scenery such as the volcano & lakeside setting of Pucon and the tranquility & wooden churches of the unique Chiloe. Chile has certainly been enjoyable in it´s own way but alas also somehow in my mind it suffers by comparison to other countries on my trip, however much one tries not to judge it in this way. Certainly I prefer Argentina to Chile in quite many different ways , Chile doesn´t have the real friendliness of the local people like in Colombia or Peru for example and for me it lacked a more "typical" South American experience of Peru, Bolivia or Ecuador. Having experienced the chilly Chile , with the at times downright malevolent Patagonian weather , for some time I also found myself longing for a warmer climate further north ! I missed out on the north of Chile , such as the Atacama desert , but even with a year to travel it´s such a massive continent that regretably it´s just not possible to do and see everything that one would like.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226657880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226657880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226657880/tpod.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:48:00 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Was very pleased to get to the capital , Buenos Aires , after a marathon 26 hour / 3000km journey from Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego. The journey first involved a twelve hour bus ride to Rio Gallegos starting at 5am from Ushuaia. As I crossed from Argentinian Tierra del Fuego to Chilean Tierra del Fuego & also a small ribbon of Chilean land on the mainland I had to stop at four separate border points ... exit Argentina,enter Chile,exit Chile and enter Argentina again ... my passport is filling up fast just with Chile and Argentina stamps. In Rio Gallegos I arrived at 5pm and had to endure a rather tiresome nine hour wait for the plane to BA which didnt leave until the unearthly hour of 1.45am ... Rio G is a pretty dull place to be honest with not a lot to occupy the time ... even after dinner , coffees internet and a couple of beers I was still kicking my heels somewhat... finally got to the hostel in BA about 6.30am. I have spent ten days in Buenos Aires and had a super time ... it´s the most time I have spent in one stopover if you exclude the longer-term Spanish School and Peru Volunteering stints so apologies this will be a rather lengthy blog entry ! BA is up there amongst the best places on my trip and has definitely been some of the biggest party times. BA runs to it´s own clock in terms of nightlife and you basically need to become nocturnal ... people think about eating around 10-11pm , go to a bar maybe 11pm-1am and then start their night out proper ... the clubs are busiest after about 3am and go on until around 7am ... there are even after-parties for the truly mad which run until lunchtime the following day. So needless to say I had some great nights out here and visited some of BA´s top venues such as Pacha , Crobar and Lost ... it´s a bit weird leaving a nightclub to go "home" to the hostel when it´s already light outside. Managed to meet quite a lot of new people in BA , aswell as catching up with some old friends such as Rob & Saskia , whom I volunteered with in Peru , who are now going to live here in BA , and quite a few other people I had already met in Chile. BA is a pretty easy place to find fellow travellers to socialise with ... there´s nearly always someone who wants to go out every night ! I stayed in two different hostels with five days in each. I started off staying at the legendary "Milhouse" , BA´s most infamous party hostel , which is pretty centrally located. But in actual fact I was finding myself going out up in Palermo more than anywhere in central BA , which is really more about convenience for some of the central sights , so I moved up to another place , Tango Hostel , in Palermo , which I actually found I preferred to the Milhouse. BA is very hot and humid this time of year - it´s been quite a nice change to be in T-shirt and shorts after so many weeks battling the elements down in Patagonia , but at times it is really almost too hot and I found myself needing to retreat to the shade or the aircon of a cafe. On the sporting front , I´ve been to watch two football matches , Independiente vs River Plate and River Plate vs Argentinos Juniors. Football in Argentina is great , the stadiums weren´t anywhere near full but the hardcore fans are incredible .. they sing,chant, dance,jump up & down and basically have a football party for a couple of hours. The action on the pitch is largely irrelevant to the festivities in the stands , they carry on anyway ... some of the fans dont even seem to watch the match but spend the entire game turned to face all the others to incite the party. It´s a weird system to get out after the game - in the reverse of how things are done in England , the home fans get locked in the stadium until the away fans have left... discovered this at the first game I attended when I tried to make a break for the exit in injury time to beat the mad scrum for the bus , the gates outside were locked and there was a row of riot police waiting who kept us there for about 30 minutes. Being a bit taller than most Argentinians and standing at the front near the police made things interesting when the supporters were getting impatient and starting to throw objects at the police from the back. Aswell as the matches I went on stadium tours of both Boca Juniors and River Plate´s grounds - you get to see the stadium, stands , pitch, press area, trophies and in Boca´s case go into the dressing rooms. It´s pretty religious in there with little statues of the Virgin Mary  ... arguably Boca´s most famous current player is Juan Riquelme who plays for Argentina and has played , allbeit briefly , for Barcelona ... his dressing room seat is right under a Virgin Mary and his cross that bears his name hangs on his hook ready to wear when he plays games. Aswell as the football I went to see some polo in Buenos Aires ... it´s a pretty big sport here , Argentina are arguably the best in the world at it , and personally I have never been to a game before so it was something new for me. As expected , the polo club itself was all quite posh - with Mercedes-Benz car stands , expensive polo clothes shops and largely attended by a well-dressed "Champagne & Prada" type crowd , although there were quite a few obvious travellers such as me kicking around for good measure. The game itself was actually surprisingly impressive , more so than I expected ... the players really are supremely skillful in both their mastery of the stick & ball (I´m sure that isnt the correct terminology !) aswell as expertly controlling the horse ... now I have enjoyed seeing it here I wouldn´t mind seeing some more back home in England. As for the city of BA itself , the main places of interest I would say are the city centre , La Recoleta , San Telmo , Palermo and La Boca , all of which I enjoyed visiting and wandering around. The city centre is based around the Plaza de Mayo which was actually not that impressive at all in terms of the architecture ... many other Latin American cities are far more impressive visually ... but it has its sense of history and political significance which gives it an appeal. There is the famous pink coloured government palace or "Casa Rosada" from which there has been many famous speeches to assembled crowds and the square is a place for political message ... for example there is a ramshackle hut manned by some "forgotten" Malvinas War veterans on one side and each Thursday the "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" march around the square - these are the parents of people who disappeared during the "dirty war" under the military rule in the 1970´s when opposition to the regime was not tolerated. Also around the Plaza de Mayo is the rather unimpressive cathedral and the "cabilda" building which is nowadays a museum. Other points of interest around the city centre area were the imposing National Congress building , the huge obelisk to commemorate 400 years of the founding of BA and the Plaza San Martin. In Plaza San Martin there is the palace of the same name , a  statue of The Liberator himself and further down a large clock tower that was presented to the city by British residents. The clock tower used to be called Torre Britanico but the name was changed after the 1982 war and indeed close by is a memorial to those who died in the war ... it has the names of those who died in the conflict , a burning "eternal flame" (to signify an eternal Argentine claim on the islands) and two members of the armed forces standing guard. Of course BA has a mass of shops , being a modern city, and there were a number of cool streets around the centre of the city to at least "window shop" such as Avenida Santa Fe, Avenida Corrientes and Avenida Florida. "La Boca" is where , obviously , the Boca Juniors stadium "La Bombonera" (The Chocolate Box) is situated and is a traditionally more working class part of the city and a port area ... it´s actually somewhat dodgy down there if you stray too far from the stadium and the touristy parts , with muggings apparently a fairly regular event ... had no problems myself though. There is a huge rusty old bridge over the river , the "Puente Transbordador" which helps gives it added urban gritty feel and the locals call the area the "Republica de la Boca" , seeing themselves as distinct from other parts of the city. The main touristy bit of La Boca is around "Caminito", a street with brightly painted houses , lots of art for sale on street stands and murals painted on the walls. There are also a row of restaurants/bars for dining al fresco with tango performances and musicians playing to entertain the tourists ... its somewhat scorned by locals as "Buenos Aires for Export" but it´s pleasant enough for an afternoon. Another rather touristy barrio is San Telmo , which is next to La Boca and an atmospheric place with it´s colonial architecture (in varying states of repair) , antiques shops , traditional bars/restaurants and artesans markets. San Telmo´s big day is Sunday when there is an antiques & art/crafts market in the main square and the streets around aswell as various street performers to add to the atmosphere. The antiques market sold all sorts of stuff ... just about everything you could imagine was on offer such as records, clocks, bottles, watches, jewellery, ornaments, car number plates, antique tango signs , cutlery and much much more.  It´s nice enough but for me it was just too heavily rammed with tourists ... although feeling a little delicate after only four hours sleep after Saturday "night" and the searing heat probably didnt put me at my most tolerant , to be fair. Moving north of the city centre , I took a trip to Recoleta , which is one of the posher districts of BA and apparently quite a prestigious place to live ... it´s most famous for La Recoleta cemetery which is in the heart of the barrio. The cemetery is really an extraordinary place ... one of those quite remarkable sights that makes you go "wow" , actually not that easy with me now after so many months of travel and seeing so many amazing things. It is essentially a mini-city of mausoleums , mini-churches and statues in a huge variety of architectural styles but all very grand. Its the resting place for many famous Argentinians - military leaders , writers , politicians , scientists , artists and even a boxer , Angel Firpo. It´s the resting place for Eva Peron "Evita"and although her "Duarte" family (her maiden name) mausoleum is one of the more modest in the cemetery  it was easily the most popular with the crowds gathered continually to take a look. To be buried here is not easy , there is a long waiting list and the cemetery authorities are very picky about who comes here ... you need a famous name or background ... there was apparently resistance to Evita being buried here and it took 20 years before Juan Peron was able to arrange for the remains to be sneaked in at night in 1973. North of Recoleta is Palermo , where I stayed for the second half of my time in BA and which is a a huge sprawling barrio comprised of several mini-districts ... with large parks , nightlife , apartment blocks , shops & commerce. I enjoyed some relaxing times wandering around the different parks in Palermo such as "3 de Febrero" , the Japanese Garden , the Botanical Gardens and the not-so-impressive BA Zoo. All over Palermo there are monuments and statues to famous figures in history such as San Martin , Evita , O´Higgins , Sarmiento and Garibaldi ... apparently when BA was landscaped at the start of the 20th century it was the fashion to overlook park spaces with a statue. Buenos Aires is an addictive place that draws you into it´s clutches and makes you want to stay - often it´s described as being a European style city and clearly thats true ... it has all the sights , activities , sports , parks , shops , nightlife and anything else that you could want . It´s pretty expensive to enjoy yourself here and certainly in that department its on a par with major European cities at times. Many travellers spend many weeks here , come back for more than one visit , or even decide they want to live here like Rob & Saskia ... indeed as for me personally , well this is only the second place on my trip (the other place was Bogota) where the notion has actually crossed my mind that I wouldnt mind a couple of years or so living here so I guess that sums it up pretty nicely. In any case I am planning to come back for another weekend after Uruguay before I head on up to Iguacu Falls and the last two weeks of my trip in Brazil. As a final note there are loads more BA photos to come on here ... I have taken more than a thousand photos in BA and I need to load them up in bursts or I´ll be forever in the internet cafe !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227538260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227538260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1227538260/tpod.html Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:54:32 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

After ten cracking days in Buenos Aires both my tired body and my fast depleting bank account needed a bit of a break so I got the ferry over here to Uruguay which I realised is the thirteenth country on my trip ... hoping it doesnt prove unlucky ! . It took about three hours via a very nice and comfortable ferry ride to get here to Colonia del Sacramento. This place is yet another UNESCO World Heritage site ... lost count of the number of those that I have visited on my trip ... due to it being one of the few places where there is still a significant amount of colonial architecture in this specific part of the continent. Colonia is a tranquil place by comparison to the hustle and bustle of BA , which makes it a popular destination for BA residents on day or weekend trips aswell as us travellers alike. It sits directly opposite BA on a promontory which just out into the big river , the "Rio Plata". The old town of Colonia , the "Barrio Historico" , is a very cute and picturesque collection of colonial architecture, ruins, cobbles, tree-lined streets and a waterfront promenade. Colonia was actually founded by the Portuguese rather than the Spanish and they managed to hold out against Spanish invaders for around a century. Certainly it´s not the "real" Uruguay but rather a pretty touristic place ... but nonetheless a pleasant location to relax for a couple of days. I thought it was hot and humid in BA but Colonia was absolutely searingly hot ...almost unbearably so ...I found myself continually looking for shady spots as I was walking around and needing a siesta in the afternoons ... hmmm , who was it who was moaning about the cold and the wet in Patagonia !  There are a number of highlights of the "Barrio Historico" such as the old gates to the city or "Puerta del Campo" , the lighthouse or "Faro" (which I climbed up to the top for a good view over the town & the river) and its attached convent ruins (San Francisco convent was battered by the Spanish and never re-built) , the pleasant "Plaza Mayor" with it's colonial houses and palm-tree shade and the "Plaza de Armas". The "Plaza de Armas" has the imposing church , "Iglesia Matriz" , which is the oldest church in Uruguay , and also the ruined walls of the Portuguese governors mansion next door to the church ... also a row of restaurants along one side makes a very nice spot for a drink or a bite to eat.As the old town juts out into the river it's possible to walk around its edges along the waterfront , which is very pleasant , especially in the evening when the heat of the day has dropped. There's a little beach of sorts where the locals come to swim in the evening and also a port/marina area with a long pier ... I walked out along this and sat on the rocks right at the end by some local fisherman to watch the orange-coloured sunset ... all very peaceful and photogenic. It has been good to take some more leisurely time , ease off on the mad nocturnal party lifestyle of BA and write some of my BA blog. With only three weeks remaining now on a 12-month trip , my thoughts are also naturally drifting more & more towards the realities and practicalities of going home ...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226274480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226274480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/garygapyear/latinamerica08/1226274480/tpod.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:19:37 -0500 Gary's gap year adventures travelling through Central and South America

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Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina

Arrived on Sunday afternoon down here in Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Ushuaia describes itself "the end of the world" , although actually there is another naval town , Puerto Williams , situated on the Chilean side of the island that is a bit further south. The arrival on the plane was really great as we flew along the "Beagle Channel" and got to see just how spectacular the setting is where Ushuaia is located. For me this city represents a key milestone as it´s the end of my long journey south that started back in the north of Mexico way back on Jan 4th. After ten months , thousands & thousands of kilometres and more bus rides & hostels than I can remember it´s a watershed moment ... after this I´m heading back north and ultimately towards home. From a quick google search it seems that Ushuaia is approx. 13300 km (8300 miles) from London so it´s actually not the furthest from home I have been , despite the length of my trip , as Australia is quite a bit further away (17000km). It was pretty wet and windy when I arrived in Ushuaia on Sunday and I was expecting more Patagonian weather for the duration of my stay but in actual fact Mon,Tues & Wed morning were great - blue skies & sun ! On Monday morning although I´d only really just arrived in Ushuaia I had to plan my exit ! Transport out of here fills up pretty fast so I needed to get organised . I decided I didnt want to spend something like 50 hours on the bus up to the capital so I took the expense of the flight ... but it turned out I couldnt get a direct flight to Buenos Aires as LAN airlines were booked out for my dates so I had to get a bus ticket to Rio Gallegos and then a flight onwards from there. Aerolineas did have some direct flight availability but I dont understand their pricing it´s something like three times the price of LAN. Exit plans sorted I went for a short hike with a Canadian guy I had met coming in on the plane & who was at the same hostel as me. We headed  up to a place called "Glaciar Martial" where there is a "hanging glacier" , in essence a snow covered mountain rather than traditional glacier like the fabulous Moreno. At the start of the walk there is a chairlift but it was closed so we walked all the way up the first part which was easy walking on a road . Then things get more interesting as you start to walk on snow/sludge and climb up higher on rocks and moss - pretty steep to get up there but the landscape is pretty spectacular and the views back over the town & the Beagle Channel were fabulous as we got higher and higher up. Back in town had some lunch and then headed for the little tourist office to get my passport stamped with "El fin del Mundo" (the end of the world) ... you actually have a choice of three designs and I got mine stamped in on the same page as my "Mitad del Mundo" (the middle of the world) stamp which I got at the equator in Ecuador all those months ago. Wandered the town a little to get some photos in the good weather with the clearer view of the mountains than on the Sunday when I had arrived. Ushuaia is essentially based around two streets , the main street San Martin with lots of shops,restaurants and travel agencies and then the main road along the sea front with the working container port , naval base and the tourist port with lots of tour boats. The Falklands Islands/"Las Islas Malvinas" are a very sensitive issue around here in Ushuaia as they are seen as being part of the same Argentine province as Tierra Del Fuego. There is an "Islas Malvinas" plaza on the seafront & a number of monuments commemorating those Argentinians who died in the 1982 war. You see quite a number of banners around the town on houses and cars saying "Islas Malvinas war veteran lives here" or "Islas Malvinas are and will be Argentine".... rather than discuss the politics of the issue here suffice is to say that Argentina continues to strongly believe the islands are rightfully theirs. On Tuesday I went on a boat trip out into the Beagle Channel which a bit expensive as with everything in Patagonia but turned out to be pretty good especially as my weather pessimism proved unfounded and we had blue skies & sun ! You get superb views of the town of Ushuaia and it´s setting as you head out into the channel.We went to a number of little islands such as "Isla de los Lobos" and "Isla de los Pajaros" to see some sealions and various seabirds such as different types of cormorants... not quite the Galapagos Islands (side effects of doing so many cool things on my trip is the need for bigger and bigger wows !) but it was nice enough. We also went to see the lighthouse "Faro Les Eclereurs" and stopped for a walk on an island called "Isla Bridges" where we had more great views and were given a talk about the lives of indigenous people that used to live in the area called the Yamana. On Wednesday I did consider going trekking in the Tierra del Fuego National Park but by mid-morning the weather was looking grey again and to be honest after the last few weeks of Patagonia I was feeling rather tired and generally a bit saturated of trekking,scenery & the outdoors. So I had a rare lazy day of not doing very much , hanging out at the hostel , reading , uploading some photos and so on ... some travellers spend a large part of their trips with days like these but for me it´s more of an occasional thing. Also good to take it easy on Wed as on Thurs I had to be up at the ridiculous hour of 4.15am to go and catch my bus to Rio Gallegos. Looking forward to the remainder of my trip plan is to go to Buenos Aires for at least a week or so followed by a few days in Uruguay . Then it´s a trip to the fabulous Iguacu Falls before finally crossing into Brazil for my last couple of weeks, heading east towards Rio , from where I fly home in the middle of December.
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