TravelStream™ news feed for member paulhand33 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/paulhand33 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 20 May 2009 09:50:58 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241677560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241677560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241677560/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 09:50:58 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

For some strange reason, despite being over twice the distance, the cheapest flights I could source between Argentina and New Zealand, rather than crossing the Pacific, took me around the other side of the world. It's not saying much but I probably got more sleep on the flights than I got in my six days in Buenos Aires. This curious combination gave me a day in Johannesburg. I had read Nelson Mandela's memoirs back in Central America so I was keen to check out the Apartheid Museum. It's an extraordinary place, and gives the visitor a real sense of what this perverse political system must have been like to live under. On entrance, for instance, you're given either a 'White' or 'Non-White' ticket and guided towards the separate doors. Despite its notorious reputation for crime and traffic, Jo-burg is a very friendly place and the locals I met went out of their way to make me feel welcome. All the taxi drivers seem to want to talk about is the World Cup next summer. If Trap's men do the business, it'll be great to get back around then - it's goin to be quite the party.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241503680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241503680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241503680/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:13 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District, Argentina

It's great to be back in Buenos Aires - my only previous visit was four years previously and I fell in love with the place. The airport, on high alert from the Swine flu, is full of people wearing face masks - at little extreme it only handles flights from other parts of Argentina. Caught up with old friends and made many new ones - the zest for life of the porteños makes it a great place to round off my trip of the Americas. Caught an Oasis concert in the River Plate stadium on the Sunday evening there and never experienced a concert crowd quite like it - no lulls, they were relentless from the opening song to the encore. Even the Gallagher brothers, more talkative than usual, seemed impressed. Having seen the city before, didn't bother too much with museums and seeing the sights - got to see everything from bohemian tango to hard rock by night and the days were spent hanging around talkin sh1te in the cobbled streets and outdoor cafes of San Telmo. Made a fascinating trip out to the suburbs to see the Buenos Aires hurling club where I received the best of Argentinean and Irish hospitality. Sad to leave both Buenos Aires and Latin America but it ended a trip which began in Boston back in October on note so high it's off the scale. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242823200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242823200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242823200/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 08:42:43 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

So arrive in Wellington after a beautiful bus trip down the North Island. I heard great reports about the New Zealand countryside from fellow travellers and now that I'm finally here, I've a feeling I'll like it. Wellington is the capital but much more compact than Auckland and, with a great bar and cafe scene, has a cosy feel to it. Someone described it quite aptly as like Galway but with a parliament and a lot of Government departments. Seems like a great place to base myself for the year, if I can find a job, and in this current climate that is a big 'if'.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242023940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242023940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1242023940/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 08:39:55 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

After so long in the developing world, it's a surreal feeling exiting Auckland airport and not being greeted by pestering taxi drivers and hawkers. In a way the city feels a little bland but it's pleasant and friendly and finding it reassuring to be back in a place with decent plumbing. Have a great weekend there with very hospitable hosts (thanks Eithne and Myles!). Have a few things to ponder on Monday morning with my first chat with a recruitment agent - like everywhere, the jobs market is pretty tight here so take her advice and head south to try my luck in the Kiwi capital, Wellington.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241070600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241070600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241070600/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 07:36:38 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina

Cross the famed Straits of Magellen onto Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire. Eight hours and four border crossings later - zigzaging in and out of Chile - we reach Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. It's billed as the end of the world and with winter setting in and a chill in the air it's easy to believe the hype. I'm asked on the waterfront by an elderly Argentinean would I mind taking a photo of her and her husband. It turns out her maiden name in Kearney and her ancestors emigrated to Argentina from Ireland -  we're everywhere, even at the end of the world. Took a trip out to see the sealions and the famed lighthouse and had a browse around the fascinating prison museum. Beautiful and all as it is there's not a whole lot going on here so happy to be hopping on a flight up to civilisation and Buenos Aires.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240724220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240724220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240724220/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 01:50:32 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

Being low season, myslef and an few English backpackers have a full bus to ourselves for the 35 hour trip down the legendary Ruta 40 to El Calafate. It's phenonemal scenery, incredibly barren. There is a sense however that the isolation may not endure - a new paved highway is being built alongside our gravel road and parts of El Calafate itself are construction sites of brand new exclusive hotels. It's fast becoming a major tourist destination and the trip to the nearby Perito Moreno glacier explains why. I had scoffed a little when a fellow traveller had earlier descibed his experience here as an Epiphany - I discovered the glacier's beauty is impossible to do justice to in words. The village itself is a pleasant, friendly place with fantastic food and decent nightlife.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240463460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240463460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1240463460/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 01:37:42 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Santiago, Chile

Arrived in Santiago off a night bus from San Pedro and am whisked over to the very studenty Bella Vista area on the ultra modern metro system - so many of these cities' public transport systems truly put Dublin to shame. Friday night is in full swing and masses of people are out on the streets drinkin very cheap beer. They're a friendly bunch too - it's not long before myself and a few fellow backpackers make friends. Like so many Latin Americans, the Chileans aren't averse to havin and auld bitch about their neighbours - among this group I was questioned lightheartedly about why the hell I'd be goin to Argentina. The local derby match between Cola Cola and Universidad de Chile is on on the Sunday. A few of us ramble out to try and get tickets but are unsuccessful. Security is pretty tight - a lot of angry tatooed young lads around - so it's probably best we end up watchin it among friendly students in a local bar.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241069040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241069040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1241069040/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 01:37:17 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Bariloche, Argentina

Another overnight bus trip - made manageable it must be said by the very comfortable Chilean buses - takes me over the border into Bariloche. Within about two seconds flat of arriving i'm tuckin into a bife de chorizo - in English I think it means a steak about the size of a head. With crystal clear lakes and snow capped mountains, Bariloche reminds me a little of the trip through Switzerland I took way back last July- in fact it's no surprise we discover a Swiss 'Colony' while mountain biking around the area. It's low season but there's still a fair few backpackers around. The hostel was decent but modest enought - the clean dorms and hot water though gave it a palatial feel thinkin back to the dingy accomodation through the Bolivian Salt flats a week earlier.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239747240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239747240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239747240/tpod.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:28:55 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Make it over the border after a an appropriately chilly four hour wait at a remote desert border crossing. Despite being in the driest place in world, San Pedro de Atacama's plumbing is probably the best I've experienced since Columbia eight weeks ago. It's a sleepy enough town, one of the best in the world to view the stars. We get a fascinating tour of the sky from a wacky and wonderfully politically incorrect French astronomer called Alain.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239314220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239314220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulhand33/3/1239314220/tpod.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:10:31 -0400 The Americas: Boston to Buenos Aires

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Uyuni, Bolivia

Arrive in Potosi on Holy Thursday before embarking on a three day tour of the largest Salt Flats in the world. Potosi's silver mines are still in use - back in the 16th century they made the city the richest in the world and the second most populous after London. That wealth is barely visable today, apart from a handful of mine owners who rather obnoxiously drive about in brand new hummers. We head across dirt roads to Uyuni - you can immeditately tell how touristy a place is in South America by the amount of Italian restaurants and this place has the highest concentration of pizzerias I've ever seen. Everyone is here to see what will surely become one of the natural wonders of the world when the all the online votes are cast later this year. Another wonder on this trip is that every 4 by 4 is a Toyota Land Cruiser - the local guides don't trust anything else. The dirt roads here put them to the test. The scenery, as well as the accomodation on the trip, is wild and desolate.
]]>