TravelStream™ news feed for member robfrumkin on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/robfrumkin en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:57:28 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1189425360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1189425360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1189425360/tpod.html Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:57:28 -0400 A bit more globe-trotting, this time for an honest wage. Back in the Haymarket fold, but this time swapping the heat and poverty of Teddington for the calm tranquility of Mumbai!

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London, United Kingdom

That's it - cab's arrived - I'm off - come and visit me in Mumbai!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1188940800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1188940800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/india_07-08/1188940800/tpod.html Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:09:03 -0400 A bit more globe-trotting, this time for an honest wage. Back in the Haymarket fold, but this time swapping the heat and poverty of Teddington for the calm tranquility of Mumbai!

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London, United Kingdom

So, here we go again. After a few months back home, I'm off again - this time to India to actually do some work. It's slightly odd - this time last year I was desperate to get away and wasn't remotely nervous about way lay ahead. Yet this time, I find myself a bit more cautious and being more sure I'll miss home than last time. I suspect that's for a number of reasons, mainly, having been away for so long last time, I've come to appreciate home and London more, my nephew Marcus is just that bit more interesting than he was this time last year and of couse, I knew last year that Arsenal would have a shit year - this time around, I think we may surprise a few people! Of coure, as I'll be back in Jan, I'll still see the sharp end of the season. None of this is to say that I'm not thoroughly looking forward to the challenges in India. Working again will be fun -  I missed a load of things travelling and this summer at home, and office banter was high up the list. of course, the difference, I imagine, in India, will not be chats about the footy over the weekend, but the cricket - think I'll survive. And that's it for the time being. Tune in soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177747680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177747680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177747680/tpod.html Sat, 28 Apr 2007 04:08:49 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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London, United Kingdom

Home at last - and that really is it!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177608240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177608240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177608240/tpod.html Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:17:38 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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San Francisco, United States

So that's it - the end - after 7 months of trawling round the world, I'm sitting here at San Francisco airport on my last day of travelling - I've done the shopping, hit duty free and the last thing to do is get on the plane. Chances are, by the time you read this blog, I'll already be back home.  It's odd - it seems like a lifetime ago that I was sitting by the pool in my hotel in Delhi at 8am, waiting for my room to be ready, contemplating what lay ahead of me - and now here I am - less than 24 hours from home. But firstly, San Francisco and New York. Well, not a lot to say about New York as I didn't actually do anything touristy - my parents were in town so it was some shopping, a night at the theatre, catching up with friends and family in town and just generally chilling. It's slightly strange to visit one of the world's most popular tourist destination cities and not actually do any sightseeing, but there you go - I've done enough on this trip and I'm sure I'll make it back there at some point. As for San Francisco, I've been really surprised  by this place. Having seen and visited numerous American cities, this is undoubtedly my favourite - it's certainly a lot more relaxed than I'd expected and the bohemian spirit of the 60's seems to still be very much in evidence. When you get off the ferry in Sausalito, where I've been staying, you're greeted by a guitar playing dog! I suspect one legacy of the 60's is the very large amount of perfectly normal people you pass in the street talking to themselves, perhaps an enduring symptom of a few too many illegal substances a few years back. Weirdness seems endemic here - how else can you explain this particular houseboat?! Sausalito is a gorgeous little place, at one end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Although the tourist brochures reckon it's like the French Riviera, I'm not so sure - it reminded me more of somewhere like Hampstead, but with better views. Very villagy and relaxed. I stayed in Sausalito to see my mates Ben and Jo who are on their second secondment out here and I must say the life seems to suit them, in particular Ben's morning commute on the ferry across the bay. Interestingly, Otis Redding wrote Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, whilst on a houseboat in Sausalito.   Of course, whilst I'm here, I had to do the touristy things - Alcatraz, China town and of course a ride on the trams. Alcatraz is a very cool place to visit - I suppose it's one of those places whose reputation seems to have been made in spite of the truth of its existence. It wasn't really home to mass-murderers, but prisoners who had a nasty habit of escaping from other places. Even Al Capone was meant to be placid here, mainly because he was going mad with syphilis! Even though the place is cram full of tourists, the cell block retains a large element of creepiness, with cells recreated showing how the inmates lived. During the 30 years it was actually a prison, it only housed around 1,500 inmates and again the myth seems to have overcome fact for example The Birdman of the same film, didn't actually keep birds there - that was in his previous prison. However, the famous escape of Clint Eastwood's film, did take place and the false heads used by the inmates are proudly shown in situ. Of course, no trip to San Francisco would be complete without a trip on a cable car and up I went to the top on one of the hills - and then I got off and walked back down again - well, at least I can say I've done it! And that's San Francisco, my penultimate city on this trip - one more to go, London, where I have decided to be a tourist for a few days on my return. I haven't been to the Tower or the Natural History Museum for years and now seems as good a time as any. London blog to follow next week!! But, back to the reflections.  At some point in the next few weeks, I'll probably have the chance to sit down and pen my thoughts about the entire trip, but for those list lovers amongst you, here are some of the highlights, lowlights and the all important facts about this trip: I have been away for 195 days I have travelled around 70,000 miles - that's the equivalent of going round the world nearly 3 times I have taken 52 flights I have visited 11 countries and 2 SARS (Honk Kong and Macau) I have stood in 28 immigration queues I have eaten one Guinea Pig I have gone as far South on the globe as it is possible to go (without visiting Antarctica) , at Cape Horn The furthest North I'll be, is actually London I have missed 19 matches at the Emirates Stadium I have lost 2 stone, gained ½ stone and then lost it againI have taken 5,283 picturesI have broken one camera (though I still reckon it was Dad's fault)Most Surreal moment - Being chucked out of the Taj Mahal for not being Muslim Best City - a tie this one - Buenos Aries for it's fun and faded glamour and Hong Kong for its sheer vibrancy Worst City - Agra - truly one of the world's great shitholes Best Country - China - Surprising, great people, great fun Worst Country - Japan - disappointingly dull Best airline - Cathay Pacific Worst airline - American Airlines - crap Nature at its best - Swimming with seals in the Galapagos Nature at its worst - The West coast of the South Island in New Zealand during a cyclone - not fun Worst experience - Panic attack whilst diving in New Zealand - really was a life flashing in front of your eyes moment Most emotional moment - The slums of Delhi - until you see them you can't appreciate the desperation Dullest place - Christchurch, New Zealand Best food - China - variety and flavour - fantastic Worst food - Peru, where Piranha was a highlight Best Scam - Monkey shit on the shoe in Delhi - Peru comes a close second Most impressive man-made visit - The Terracotta Army Most impressive scenery - A late entry, but the glaciers and fjords of Patagonia - stunning Most over-hyped trip - Machu Pichu - cold, wet and quite frankly not worth the money or the trip Place I wish I'd stayed longer - The Galapagos - a week's just not enough Trip I wish I hadn't done - ferry ride in Chile, dull and overlong Strangest sight - another very late entry - the houseboat in Sausalito built like the Taj Best sunset - Varkala, India What was the point of that? - Getting up at 4am to see sunrise over the real Taj Most relaxing place - Belize - so laid back, it's virtually horizontal Most hectic place - Mumbai - insanity Chalk and Cheese - Flying from Mumbai to Tokyo - are there two more different cities in the world?? Place I'll be grateful never to go again - Miami Airport - three times through, each one a nightmare And that's it - The End
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177297080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177297080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177297080/tpod.html Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:58:55 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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San Francisco, United States

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177124220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177124220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1177124220/tpod.html Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:57:27 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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New York, United States

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176905880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176905880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176905880/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:43:21 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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Washington DC, United States

When I left India back in November (that really feels like a long long time ago!), I quoted Churchill in my blog and commented that this was the end of the beginning. Well, now it's definitely the beginning of the end, as I visit my last country, the USA. I've started off in Washington DC, and have been welcomed by the worst weather the place has seen in years. Cold, rain and winds have all conspired to leave me bedraggled and miserable as I stomp around the place. In fairness the main sights are all clustered around a relatively small area so on day one, before the worst of the weather kicked in I managed to wear out some more of my shoe leather to have a look at places such as The Capitol, Washington Monument and of course, The White House. Most of you know about my mild enjoyment of the West Wing TV series, so I was quite excited about actually seeing the place. Unfortunately with all the security in this town, you really can't get anywhere near it. Tourists group around a couple of fences for a few snatched shots of the building and seem to spend most of the time jostling for space with the inevitable protesters calling for George's head on a plate. Opposite one end of the White House is Lafayette Park, where protesters regularly held camps and rally's. Following 9/11 draconian laws were brought in restricting the right of protest - the Supreme Court ruled that anyone there before the laws were passed could stay and today, only one camp remains. As its resident is clearly barking mad and stinks, she doesn't seem to be doing her cause much good! My first day also marked an auspicious day in US history, the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination (14 April). So, of I trooped to Ford's theatre, the scene of the shooting and saw a risible account of the events. But anyway, I saw the balcony, took the requisite picture and wandered off. Day two brought some pretty shitty weather ( I was really pleased to see it was 26deg in London), so to cheer myself up I took myself of the Holocaust Museum. I'm about as cynical as the next man when it comes to the kitsch and general excessiveness of the US, but I have to say this museum is wonderfully done. To deal with such an emotive and powerful subject as the Holocaust takes some doing, yet the approach, simplistic at times, the organisers have taken brings a sense of realism and shocking impact that left me on the verge of tears on more than one occasion. I've obviously studied the events in details over the years and have visited other exhibitions and museums, yet this place seemed to effect me more than others. I don't know why, but it did. Two particular exhibits stand to mind  the first was a series of photographs about life in a Latvian village pre-war. At the end of the corridor, a simple sign stated that off the 1,500 or so Jews who'd been the subject of the study, only one girl of 15 survived. The second exhibit was even more stark and stunning. It's simply piles and piles of rotting shoes recovered from Auschwitz. At the end of the corridor numerous people were sitting down propped up by the walls, looking utterly shell-shocked. Prior to this corridor, the numerous kids on school trips had been loud and annoying - after the corridor you could hear a pin drop for the rest of the exhibition. It was that disturbing. I'd always thought of the Smithsonian Museum as one rather large structure in Washington. I was surprised to find that it's made up of 6 different main sites in the centre and a few other outside. My main target was the Air and Space Museum, which it turns out, is the world's most popular museum, in terms of sheer visitor numbers. There are a number of quite remarkable exhibits there - the Wright Flyer and the Apollo 11 command module perhaps being the two most famous, but amongst other exhibits, full-scale V1 and V2 rockets, numerous planes along with the world's first privately-funded spacecraft. All in all a worthy place to spend a few hours and to bring out the big kid in all of us (well, me anyway!) The Smithsonian's main building is also the Capital's strangest - a gothic-castle structure right in the middle of town. Looking rather out of place amongst the concrete government buildings and museums, it's certainly eye-catching! My final visit for the capital was the Capitol Building, home of the US legislative branch - and quite an impressive structure it is too, though as the guide took pleasure in finding the Brits in the group, not the original one as we'd burnt that to the ground in the war of 1812 - apparently Blair apologised for that when he addressed Congress on his last visit - don't know why! The Chamber of the Senate is an odd little place - not nearly as big as one might imagine, the Senators sit at desks which closely resemble old-fashioned school-desks, right down to pencils and pens in the little trays at the front. Of course, though, the main news while I've been here is the massacre at Virginia Tech, not that far from DC. Over 30 people were massacred by a sole gunmen yesterday and yet the nation doesn't seem to be in a that much of a state of shock about it. I was in the Smithsonian as the news started to come through and overhearing conversations then and over the past couple of days, the reaction seems to be more one of who to blame than shock and outrage that one might expect at home. More terrifying is the attitude to guns here - there seems to be a consensus emerging in the press and on TV that seems to be that gun control isn't working, so lets go the other way and let everyone carry a gun. The logic obviously being if the students had been armed the killer would have been "taken out" before he'd killed many of his victims! Of course, the alternative argument that if he hadn't been able to buy a gun over the counter at Wal-Mart, he might not have killed anyone, doesn't seem to be getting too much of an airing. It's actually frightening to see so many guns on the street here. Admittedly we're lucky in not having an armed police, but here in Washington (which obviously has a higher number of police than most cities), you see armed police and security guards on every corner. To be honest, it's not that surprising so many people are shot in this country. Judging by the size of most of the cops here, I doubt they are capable of running after a suspect, so just shoot them instead. Easier in the long term! Fly down to New York shortly for a few days of retail therapy and meeting up with my parents again, before the absolute final leg in San Francisco and then, next Thursday, home..........
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176296580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176296580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1176296580/tpod.html Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:36:43 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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Punta Arenas, Chile

And now the most Southerly part of the trip, Ushuaia in Argentina. It was a strange relief to be back in Argentina, if only for a couple of days. To be honest, I'm not exactly enamoured with Chile - it's trying a bit too hard to be western and seems to lack the culture and fun that South America's famous for. As for Ushuaia, it's a gorgeous little city perched on the Beagle Channel at the southern end of Tierra del Fuego. Getting here's a bit arduous - although there's an airport this is only really served by flights from Buenos Aries and at this time of the year, there are no flights from Chile, so back on the bus for a 12-hour trip. This time, unfortunately, not an overnighter with sleeper seats! This was a slightly auspicious time to be  visiting these parts - Last week was the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict and Ushuaia was very much the base of operations for the Argentinean war effort. It was also the main centre for the commemorations of the war and provided an opportunity to re-assert the Argentina in claims to Las Malvinas. Judging by the amount of flags, window and car stickers, feelings here are still running quite high about them. To be honest, not sure what the fuss is all about - we should let them have them if they care that much. There's not enough oil there for us to care about and if we want sheep, we can always claim New Zealand back! The main attraction down here is the Tierra del Fuego national park and where Torres del Paine, disappointed, this place more than matched expectations. It's the most stunning scenery with wooded mountainsides rolling down to the sea and fjords. This is what I imagined Patagonia to be about and I wasn't wrong -it's stunning and worth the effort to get down here. However, the main reason for coming this far south was the opportunity to get on another boat for 5 days. After the spiffing fun of our last boat trip, I was looking forward to this, the way a chocolate bunny looks forward to Easter.  I was thinking back the other day to the contrast when I travelled from Mumbai to Tokyo and the contrast between these two boat trips is more than equal to that! Whereas the feeling on the other boat was that we were an inconvenience to be tolerated by the crew, on this boat, you were looked after magnificently. Admittedly this trip was a cruise, but the ironic thing was that the cost of the two trips was nearly the same and actually run by the same company. Anyway, the point of the trip was to see much more of Patagonia than you could from land. Sailing through the Magellan and Beagle Channels, thorough the wonderfully named Glacier Alley, disembarking at various points to see unforgettable scenery, flora and fauna. First stop though, was one of those places that seems to be written large in human endeavour, Cape Horn. The most southerly point of South America, it also marks the meeting point of the three great oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Southern. It's name conjures visions of mountainous seas, howling gales (that's enough literary bollocks, ed.) etc. Over the years, it's estimated that Cape Horn has claimed 800 ships and over 10,000 lives, making it without doubt the most dangerous sea passage in the world. Fortunately, when we arrived, although there was a bit of wind, the sea was remarkably calm  and we were able to get into the Zodiac boats and land at the tiny Chilean Naval Lighthouse on the island. The station is manned by one family, man, wife and child (4 years old). The posting is for one year only and apparently it's a great privilege to be chosen - buggered if I can understand why! As for the island itself, it's what you'd expect - bleak, windswept and cold! One interesting sight on the island is the cordoned off landmines. Apparently we weren't the only people to have trouble with the Argy's in the 70's and 80's and Chile and Argentina nearly went to war twice over the area around here. There's still a bit of animosity which is probably why Chile's the only country in South America that refers to the Falklands as the Falklands, not the Malvinas. The next couple of days of the cruise was very much orientated towards glaciers, mainly because they're so easy to see from the boat. The cruising highlight was down Glacier Alley, where 6 glaciers appear from the mountains in various sizes and states. For the global warming theorists, there's a great example of a receding glacier, but ironically next to it is a glacier that's advancing faster than it's neighbour is receding. Returning to my green theme from earlier blogs, the whole issue of glacial reduction is meant to be one of the key indicators of global warming, yet on this boat, amongst the various lectures, I've heard different theories on the reason why they're receding. To be honest, the most logical reason is that we're in the middle of two ice-age periods - the last major ice-age was 50,000 years ago and according to the research they occur every 100,000 years or so. Glaciers are formed during ice-ages, so it's logical that when we're not in one they should recede. Indeed the amount of Fjords and glacial valleys around the world proves this. The green argument is that at this moment they're actually retreating faster than they should and certainly this is true if you look at the polar ice-caps which have shrunk at an alarming rate over the past few years. But, don't believe everything you read about glaciers being the proof of global warming. They're not! Our final stop was to see a colony of  Magallanic Penguins. Unfortunately, as we're quite late in the year the number on the island has shrunk to around 400 from a peak of about 100,000! These are pretty shrewd penguins and as they approach winter, they all get in the water and bugger off up the coast, half to the Chilean coast around the Atacama and the really clever ones up the Argentinean and Brazilian coasts to Rio de Janeiro! Still, those that were left put on a nice little show as they have their morning swim and waddle around on the beach. Patagonia is stunning and although I didn't think I'd see anywhere as beautiful as New Zealand, this cruise has just about pipped it. Not necessarily for diversity of landscape, but certainly for scale and magnitude and sheer impact. And that's the end of South America for me. Tomorrow I hop on a plane to Washington DC for the last leg of my trip in the USA. I've been on this continent for around 2 ½ months and it's been a great place to be. I can fully understand why so many people fall in love with it. It's not quite as culturally diverse as Asia and I've found the people to be not quite as welcoming, but for natural beauty it's hard to top. Be it the Galapagos, the Amazon, Patagonia, and of course the Andes which so dominate the landscape, the beauty of this continent is fantastic.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1175711940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1175711940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1175711940/tpod.html Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:54:46 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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Puerto Natales, Chile

I suppose it had to happen - after basically a full year of summer-like weather, winter's finally caught up with me in Patagonia. So, all together now, poor Rob! Two whole weeks down in Southern Chile, where summer's given way to Autumn and the wind and the rain's whipping in straight from Antartica. We've now been in Puerto Natales , Chile's gateway to Patagonia, for a few days and despite the weather, I'm still rather glad to be on dry land following a journey from Santiago that's roughly equivalent of Edinburgh to Lagos in Nigeria, which is rather a long way, when you think about it. Exepct this time, no planes, but an overnight coach and a four day boat trip that should have been three. But firstly, Santiago, Chile's capital and to be honest a disapointment. As I've mentioned before, Chile is the most westernised of South American countries and nowhere is this more apparent than in Santiago. It lacks the faded glamour of Buenos Aries or the vibrancy of Lima, but is also a lot less threatening than Quito. Walking around the pedestrian areas of the central city, you really could be in any western city, with rather bland department stores sitting next to numerous fast-food outlets. Even the churches lack the opulent gold decorations found in the rest of South America.  The food is also rather disappointing when compared to Argentina,. Leaving Santiago we decided to take a night-bus to Puerto Montt before catching a boat to Puerto Natales. Firstly the bus - wow! Chile's railway system collapsed about 30 years ago and long-distance buses are now the major way of getting around the country. So we took the first class of buses which gave you a flat-bed sleeper seat, as good as any airline offers. 12 hours later and well rested we arrived in Puerto Montt, possibly the dullest city in Chile.  It shouldn't have mattered as our boat was meant to leave at 4 in the afternoon, but when we turned up at the terminal we were told we couldn't board until 11pm and we wouldn't actually sail until the next morning. Additionally as the weather wasn't so great, instead of arriving on Thursday morning, we'd not arrive till Friday morning. I've been very lucky on this trip so far - I can't really think of any bad experiences - disappointments, yes, but bad, no - until now! Although the boat is in reality a ferry, it's used by an awful lot of tourists and supposedly caters for them. The reason being, at this point in Chile, the road system kind of dies as the country breaks up into islands, with no real mainland and taking a boat affords you the chance to sail through spectacular scenery. Well, yes the scenery was quite cool, but after 5 days on an uncomfortable smelly boat, with awful food, the sight of dry land was a major relief for the 150 passengers. But, our transport had one more cruel trick to play on us - due to the high winds, although we arrived at Puerto Natales at 7.30am, we couldn't dock for 5 hours and even after we'd docked we weren't allowed to disembark for another hour, effectively costing us another day! I reckon the livestock on board was treated better then we were! So here's a travel tip - if you're ever heading down this way, DON'T believe the hype about what a great boat trip it is - it's not - fly instead. Okay, moan over - now to Patagonia proper. The landscape round here is very beautiful, mountains, glaciers, fjords - really everything you'd expect from Patagonia. And of course the infamous winds, raging in from the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The weather in this part of the world is notoriously changeable - when there's no wind and the sun comes out, it's very pleasant, but when the sun goes in and the wind picks up, you know about it! I've never really experienced winds like this before - not the sudden gusts, but the consistency of their strength. Winds of up to 150mph are regularly recorded down here. There are two key natural wonders in this part of the world, Torres del Paine in Chile and the Moreno Glacier in Argentina, both within reach of Puerto Natales. The first excursion was back into Argentina and the glacier. Unlike the New Zealand glaciers I visited, Moreno runs down into a glacial lake. Additionally the face is constantly in flux, with chunks of ice breaking off and tumbling into the lake, forming mini-icebergs. It's not so much the sight of these chunks breaking off that's impressive, it's the noise - they really do make a tumultuous sound and even when chunks aren't breaking off there's a constant buzz of noise from the face with the ice creaking and groaning away. However, as a comparator to the Kiwi glaciers, Moreno was a little disappointing. Whereas Fox and Franz seem weirdly out of place descending into rain-forests, Moreno is kind of right in situ. The face is also not quite as daunting as the other two and overall it just seems to lack the imposing scale of the NZ ones, which totally dominate their landscapes. Saying that, however, it is a great sight and if you're down in this part of the world, it's definitely worth the effort to see. The following day and to the centre piece of Chilean Patagonia, Torres Del Paine. You're bound to have seen pictures of these mountains before, indeed they're so iconic, the Alaskan tourist board nicked them for their own brochure a couple of years ago. They're located in the, unimaginatively called Parque des Torres del Paine, which is something of a Mecca for hikers and trekkers around the world. Having visited the place, I'm a bit confused by this. The park is essentially barren moorland and looks very similar to the highlands of Scotland and as such, apart from the peaks of Torres del paine, it's pretty desolate. The weather is also a major factor. With no protection afforded by the landscape, it's very easy to get caught in vicious snowstorms or more likely regular freezing gales. Most of the year, the park's pretty much impassable anyway, due to the weather and in the peak months of Jan and Feb, the park's meant to be so crowded, it's not uncommon to see human traffic jams building up as quicker walkers try to pass slower ones. Rather like Machu Pichu, I suspect this is another example of the theory being somewhat better than the reality. But as there was never any chance of me moving more than half a mile from motorised transport, I suppose I'm not one to really pass judgement! As for the peaks themselves, they are quite magnificent. Rising out of the relatively flat tundra around, they dominate the landscape entirely and as the day wears on and the sub shifts position, their different colouration becomes even more pronounced. As a sight, they are worthy of their reputation. On the way to the Park, we'd passed by a cave where the remains of a giant creature from the ice age had been found, the Milodon. Rather like a lot of things in the world, the remains now reside in London, at the Natural History Museum and all that remains is this rather tacky scale-model. And now, moving on again - even further south, to the Argentinian town of Ushuaia, the world's Southern-most city, on Tierra del Fuego. From there back on board a boat for a 4 day cruise around Cape Horn and through the Magellan and Beagle channels. Hopefully a more enjoyable experience awaits than the previous boat trip!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1174746300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1174746300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robfrumkin/robworld0607/1174746300/tpod.html Sun, 25 Mar 2007 10:41:32 -0400 Flashpacking - Rob's Round the World Trip!

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San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth - there are places where rain hasn't fallen for over 100 years and in the town of San Pedro, where we were staying they received an astonishing 0.4mm this year in their rainy season in Jan and Feb! I'm not exactly sure of the meteorological reasons that cause such little rain to fall - it's something to do with its location between the Andes and coastal mountain ranges, but whatever the reason, you really do know you're in a desert because of the amount of bloody dust that's around! There are three other interesting facts about the area around the Atacama. It's the most volcanically active place in the world, with around 10% of the world's active volcano's in the region - it has the highest geyser field in the world, at 4,300 metres and following on from that, it's the highest desert in the world. Additionally, because of it's height, lack of pollution and virtually guaranteed clear skies, it's the world centre for astrology with numerous large observatories dotted around the place. But it's not a totally arid place. Because of the mountain ranges, some rivers have emerged to create some very fertile valleys - archaeologists have discovered evidence of civilisations going back some 7,000 years. On one trip we were taken down into one of these oasis towns and it was slightly odd being in the middle of an incredibly lush fruit orchard in the middle of the desert! Anyway, back to the desert - San Pedro is pretty much a tourist town catering for the streams of travellers coming in from all over the place. Ever morning and afternoon you see minibuses scooting off to various destinations around the desert, for day tours. Initially I feared that it would be rather like Cusco in Peru, where you're constantly feeling like you're being bounced from one tour to the next, with no way of escape. But in San Pedro, it's a lot more relaxed. There doesn't seem to be a cartel of agencies forcing you into tours, rather you can shop around and figure out what tours suit you and your timescales. Another slightly odd (and whisper it quietly, but good) thing was the lack of American tourists. Everywhere I've been in South America has been inundated with Americans. Rather like the Japanese in the rest of the world they tend to move in large amorphous groups with a guarantee of large noise following - apologies to any Americans reading this, but it's true!! Bu in San Pedro Europeans seem to be the order of the day with especially large numbers of French and German tourists. I'm not sure of the reason but the relative weakness of the US dollar might have something to do with it, along with the perceived expense of Chile. But, to be honest, other than the shops in Santiago, Chile hasn't struck me as being that expensive compared to Peru.But anyway, back to the tours - San Pedro is all about the sights and geographic wonders. The Valley of the Moon at sunset is stunning with beautiful rock formations and mountains changing colour as the sun sets. The sky at night from  the dedicated tourist observatory is really good fun. Aside from the obvious stargazing, the first sight of Saturn and its rings through a telescope is quite weird. It almost looks like someone's actually drawn a picture on the other side, but I'm assured this was the real thing. The stunning lagoons nestled at the bottom of the volcano's was perfect tranquillity and the geysers field at 6.30 in the morning was a spectacle. Unfortunately, to reach there for this time you had to get up at 4am for a 2 ½ hour drive over pretty shitty roads. Although the fields blow all day, the advantage at seeing them at dawn is the sub-zero temperatures make the steam clouds even more impressive. And when I day sub-zero, I mean it. When we reached there it was minus 8, which was a bit of a shock to the system! A little later in the day we went for a swim in one of the hot pools and although the water temp was between 20 and 40 deg, depending on where you were, the outside temperature was still pretty nippy. Still, worth doing!! On another, much sadder subject, I found out a couple of days ago, that my Godfather has just passed away. Howard was incredibly supportive of my decision to come on this trip and always wanted to know the latest on my trip, even when he was very ill. So, to Howard, wherever you may be, you were right - this is the best thing I could have done. To the rest of you - get out there and see this world of ours - it's not that big and it's worth the effort. And now, down to Patagonia, Cape Horn and the end of the world!
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