Well this last week in BA has been quite entertaining! Sometimes I forget I am in BA and think I am still in La Paz! As I havn´t written in a week I don´t really know where to start so to sum it up, here´s what I´ve been up to:
Watched movies and hung out in the hostal (I´ve seen Black Swan, Despicable Me, Charlie St Cloud and Due Date)
Evita Museum
Buenos Aires Zoo (was really nice, they have every animal you can think of! Seriously! Llamas, deers, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, hienas, tapirs, cows, zebras, insects, etc!)
Shopping ( I had to update my backpacker wardrobe!)
Hanging out in the hostal again (it´s just too easy when breakfast is served until midday and you can get rid of your hangover in front of the tele)
Hostal gossip (I won´t publish this on my blog!)
Ate amazing steak and drank good wine at Don Ernesto (Mmmh! I shared a bife de lomo (tenderloin steak) and a bife de chorizo (rump steak) with Simone and they were both really yummy! Perfectly red inside and tender! Papa, the wine we had was Cabernet Sauvignon Norton 2010 from Mendoza which was really good and Malbec Xero also from Mendoza which wasn´t as good! We then were given god knows how many Limoncello shots after dinner, on the house!)
Clubbing in Kika (Very fun although got a drink poored down me when some guys got into a fight!)
Visited the Congress Palace (Pretty, on a plaza with hundreds of pigeons, just like Trafalgar Square used to be. I took the Subte line A and this line uses really old trains, from the 50s, the inside was all wooden and very different from the other lines! I didn´t feel like I was in BA in 2011!)
Malma Art Museum (Very nice but a bit small! Nice building too, reminded me of being back at uni and looking at different architecture!)
Ate more amazing steak and drank more good wine at Don Ernesto (the waiter recognised use and came over to kiss and hug us which was really nice! I had steak with potatoes in a creamy sauce! Delicious!!! And the wine we had was Cabernet Sauvignon Alamos 2009, also very nice! And again more Limoncello!)
Drinking in Palermo
Clubbing in Kika again (even more fun than the first time)
More hostal gossip (...)
Cinema (went to see the Hangover 2, sooo funny!)
The hostal I´m staying at is quite small so everyone kind of knows each other which is really nice. I have 2 days left in BA, so tomorrow night we are going to La Bomba again and then probably out clubbing and on Tuesday we might go to a tango show. Oh yes that´s right, I have to visit things during the day.. hmm, well, we´ll see where that takes us!
Monday, 30 May 2011
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Pictures of Las Cataratas de Iguazu
 | ||
| 'In this area, you might encounter dangerous animals, please keep to the trails, please keep children near by and in sight at all times' (Arg) Reassuring!! |
 |
| Butterby! (Arg) |
 |
| (Arg) |
 |
| (Arg) |
 |
| (Arg) |
 |
| (Arg) |
 |
| (Arg) |
 |
| Brazil on the left! (Arg) |
 |
| See the boat under the fall! (Arg) |
 |
| Me and Adele, she stayed with me for about 20 minutes! (Arg) |
 |
| Adele (Arg) |
 |
| Garganta del Diablo (Arg) |
 |
| Stoopid racoons!!!! (Bra) |
 |
| View of the falls in Argentina from Brazil (Bra) |
 |
| View from Brazil (Bra) |
 |
| (Bra) |
 |
| (Bra) |
 |
| (Bra) |
 |
| (Bra) |
 |
| Almost a full circle!! (Bra) |
 |
| (Bra) |
 |
| Our hostal in Puerto Iguazu (Arg) |
Moving in to Buenos Aires...
I arrived in BA on sunday and came straight back to the hostel I stayed at last week, on the Subte (Tube). Checked in, had a shower and went out for the afternoon. I went to the Recoleta area of town, which is a residential area. It reminded me a lot of Paris or Lyon. My plan was to go to the Recoleta cemetery where the elite used to be burried, including Eva Peron (Evita), but it started pooring with rain so I headed for the little market which was nearby. Once the rain stopped, I headed for the cemetery. It is a pretty amazing place but slightly disturbing! The tombs are huge, like little houses with doors. You can look into some of them and the coffins are on shelves. It's kind of strange!
At one point, I was trying to take a picture of one of the tombs and to get it in the shot I had to back up into one of the small alleys. And there this guy walks over to me, grabs me and tries to put his hand over my mouth. I managed to scream and push him away (really hurting my shoulder in the act) and he backed off and then started asking me for change. Obviously I walked away and the security guard came and chucked him out. I was pretty scared but I am absolutely fine now! What pissed me off more than anything was that there were people walking nearby and nobody bothered to ask me if I was okay or see what was going on!
Anyhow, I came back to the hostel that evening, had a beer in the bar with a few people and headed to bed. On Monday, I went to Florida street with Eva, where there was a little market. In the evening a big group of us from the hostal went to La Bomba again. It was really good, there was a reggae singer this week. When we left, we were told to get into a school bus which was taking everyone to another place. So we got in and ended up in another bar somewhere. It was pretty pricey so we headed back to the hostal and had some drinks there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Je suis arrivee a BA Dimanche et je suis venue direct a l'hostal ou je suis restee la semaine derniere, j'ai pris le Subte (Metro). J'ai pose mes affaires, je me suis douchee et je suis sortie pour l'apres-midi. Je suis allee dans le quartier Recoleta. Ca me rappelait vachement de Paris ou Lyon. Je voulais aller au cimetiere de Recoleta ou les riches se faisaient enterrer, ainsi qu'Eva Peron (Evita) mais il a commence a pleuvoir donc je suis allee a un petit marche pas loin. Quand il a arrete de pleuvoir, je suis allee au cimetiere. C'est tres impressionant comme endroit mais un peu bizarre! Les tombes sont enormes, comme des petites maisons avec des portes. Tu peux voir a l'interieur de certaine et les cercueils sont poses sur des etageres. C'est tres bizarre!
A un moment, je voulais prendre une photo d'une des petites maisons et pour qu'elle rentre dans le cadre j'ai du reculer dans un petit passage. Et il y a un mec qui s'est approche de moi , m'a attrape le bras et a essaye de mettre sa main sur ma bouche. J'ai pu crier et le pousser (je me suis vachement faite mal a l'epaule en meme temps), il s'est recule et a commencer a me demander pour de la monnaie. Je suis partie et le garde est venu le mettre dehors. J'ai eu vachement peur mais maintenant ca va! Ce qui m'a le plus enervee c'est qu'il y avait des gens qui marchaient pas loin mais personne ne s'est arrete voir ce qui se passait ou si j'allais bien!
Enfin, le soir je suis rentree, j'ai bu une biere avec quelques personnes de l'hostal puis je suis allee me coucher. Lundi, je suis allee a Florida avec Eva, une grande rue avec pleins de magasins et un petit marche. Le soir, on est reparti a La Bomba avec un grand groupe de l'hostal. C'est vachement bien, il y avait un chanteur de reggae cette semaine. Quand on est parti, on nous a fait monter dans un bus qui menait tout le monde quelque part d'autre. On s'est retrouve dans un bar quelque part. C'etait un peu cher donc on est revenu a l'hostal ou on a bu quelques bieres.
At one point, I was trying to take a picture of one of the tombs and to get it in the shot I had to back up into one of the small alleys. And there this guy walks over to me, grabs me and tries to put his hand over my mouth. I managed to scream and push him away (really hurting my shoulder in the act) and he backed off and then started asking me for change. Obviously I walked away and the security guard came and chucked him out. I was pretty scared but I am absolutely fine now! What pissed me off more than anything was that there were people walking nearby and nobody bothered to ask me if I was okay or see what was going on!
Anyhow, I came back to the hostel that evening, had a beer in the bar with a few people and headed to bed. On Monday, I went to Florida street with Eva, where there was a little market. In the evening a big group of us from the hostal went to La Bomba again. It was really good, there was a reggae singer this week. When we left, we were told to get into a school bus which was taking everyone to another place. So we got in and ended up in another bar somewhere. It was pretty pricey so we headed back to the hostal and had some drinks there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Je suis arrivee a BA Dimanche et je suis venue direct a l'hostal ou je suis restee la semaine derniere, j'ai pris le Subte (Metro). J'ai pose mes affaires, je me suis douchee et je suis sortie pour l'apres-midi. Je suis allee dans le quartier Recoleta. Ca me rappelait vachement de Paris ou Lyon. Je voulais aller au cimetiere de Recoleta ou les riches se faisaient enterrer, ainsi qu'Eva Peron (Evita) mais il a commence a pleuvoir donc je suis allee a un petit marche pas loin. Quand il a arrete de pleuvoir, je suis allee au cimetiere. C'est tres impressionant comme endroit mais un peu bizarre! Les tombes sont enormes, comme des petites maisons avec des portes. Tu peux voir a l'interieur de certaine et les cercueils sont poses sur des etageres. C'est tres bizarre!
A un moment, je voulais prendre une photo d'une des petites maisons et pour qu'elle rentre dans le cadre j'ai du reculer dans un petit passage. Et il y a un mec qui s'est approche de moi , m'a attrape le bras et a essaye de mettre sa main sur ma bouche. J'ai pu crier et le pousser (je me suis vachement faite mal a l'epaule en meme temps), il s'est recule et a commencer a me demander pour de la monnaie. Je suis partie et le garde est venu le mettre dehors. J'ai eu vachement peur mais maintenant ca va! Ce qui m'a le plus enervee c'est qu'il y avait des gens qui marchaient pas loin mais personne ne s'est arrete voir ce qui se passait ou si j'allais bien!
Enfin, le soir je suis rentree, j'ai bu une biere avec quelques personnes de l'hostal puis je suis allee me coucher. Lundi, je suis allee a Florida avec Eva, une grande rue avec pleins de magasins et un petit marche. Le soir, on est reparti a La Bomba avec un grand groupe de l'hostal. C'est vachement bien, il y avait un chanteur de reggae cette semaine. Quand on est parti, on nous a fait monter dans un bus qui menait tout le monde quelque part d'autre. On s'est retrouve dans un bar quelque part. C'etait un peu cher donc on est revenu a l'hostal ou on a bu quelques bieres.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
More emotional goodbyes and Las Cataratas de Iguazu to end on a high note!
On Tuesday night, Michael left BA to go back to Australia. We were all pretty upset especially the 2 amigos! I hate this part of the trip, you kind of forget at some point you have to go back to reality!
So the next day, Liv and I continued our adventure up to Puerto Iguazu, in the North East of Argentina, on the border with Brazil. We watched The Fast and the Furious 4 on the bus, or should I say Rapido y Furioso 4! It was a filmed copy so it was terrible quality! The bus ride was 17 hours and the driver didn't think it was necessary to put the heating on all night so we absolutely froze! I think he was high too because he was driving like a complete maniac. I woke up twice because he swerved in the road! I don't know if he was trying to avoid any pot holls or something like that but it was not a very relaxing journey!
We arrived in Puerto de Iguazu at around 9.30 am and went to Hostel Inn, just outside of town, which was recommended to us by so many people. This part of Argentina is almost like the jungle. It's similar to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia, but the heat is bearrable. The hostel we stayed in is beautiful, there's a huge swiming pool, trees everywhere and the earth is red (so are my shoes as a matter of fact!). We made our way to the Parque Nacional Iguazu for our first day at the falls. We walked around for a couple of hours admiring the immensity of the falls. Then we got a boat and they take you right up close to the falls. First they let you take pictures and then they drive under the falls, once on the brazilian side and then on the argentinian side, under the Salto San Martin which is Huge! We were absolutely drenched but it was so much fun! I wanted to do it again, until I found out that the previous week someone died because the boat crashed! We then got a second boat over to Isla San Martin, there is a little beach where we dried off. After that, we got the boat back and got a little train up to Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and from here you walk along the top of the falls and you can look right down into it! It's absolutely breath taking! There's a lot of water!!!! Iguazu actually means 'mucho agua' in the local indigenous language. By this point, at around 5.30 pm, it was getting quite chilly and my flip flop broke half way through the day and my feet weer hurting, so we started making our way back to town and our hostel.
The next day, we woke up at about 9am, had breakfast and started our 2nd day at the falls. This day, we headed over to the brazilian side to view the falls from there. We got a bus with our hostel and they gave us a packed lunch too. We crossed the border and got dropped off at Parque Nacional do Iguaçu and realised we were in Brazil and remembered they no longer speak Spanish! So we couldn't understand anything of their Portuguese! All we could say is 'Hola' and 'Obrigado' ! Anyway, we visited the falls on the brazilian side. Here, you get a panoramic view of the falls where as on the argentinian side you see parts at a time. It's humungous! And there are rainbows everywhere (on the argentinian side too). We saw one rainbow which was almost a full circle and another which seemed to be 5 metres away! Incredible! We walked along the falls and you get right up close to them and get slightly wet.
Which side did I prefer? Argentian no doubt about it! Don't get me wrong, the view is amazing on the brazilian side but what did it for me was walking on top of Garganta del Diablo on the argentinian side! So amazing!
How could I forget? As we arrived in Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, we got off the Disney land type bus service with voice over and all, and I got ambushed by a bunch of racoons, which are apparently coatis, but racoooon sounds funnier! So yeah, these stupid racoons cornered me and stoll my pack lunch! It was no fair play at all, I was outnumbered! Not to mention they were armed with rabbies infested blood! Not cool! I even tried picking up my apple and almost got attacked! Ai Ai Ai!
We came back to the hostel at about 4pm and lazed around the pool for a couple of hours, booked our bus tickets out of Puerto Iguazu and ordered take out because we missed dinner in the hostel.
This morning, I went to the bus station with Liv. She's going to Rio de Janeiro. Well she was! She got delayed at the border and ended up missing her bus from Foz do Iguaçu! Luckily, they booked her onto another bus tomorrow for free!
I have a bus at 4pm to go back to BA. Not too excited to be spending a week and half there, but I'm sure I'll find things to do! I've already got a few things planed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mardi soir, Michael a quitté BA pour rentrer en Australie. On était tous assez triste, surtout les 2 amigos! J'aime pas cette partie du voyage, on oublie qu'a un moment donné il faut retourner á la réalité!
Alors le lendemain, Liv et moi avons continué notre aventure en direction de Puerto de Iguazu, dans le Nord Est de l'Argentine sur la frontiere avec le Brésil. Le trajet a pris 17 heures et le conducteur n'a pas mis le chauffage donc on se les ai pelé pendant toute la nuit. J'ai été réveillée 2 fois car le conducteur conduisait comme un fou et il devait etre entrain d'éviter quelque chose dans la route parce que ca a bien secoué tout le bus!
On est arrivée a Puerto Iguazu vers 9.30 du matin et on est allée a Hostel Inn, juste en dehors de la ville, qui nous avez été conseillé. Cette partie de l'Argentine ressamble beaucoup a la jungle de Rurrenabaque em Bolivie, sauf qu'il fait pas une chaleur insupportable! L'hostal ou on est restée est magnifique, il y a une énorme piscine, des arbres de partout et la terre est rouge (comme le sont mes chaussures maintenant!).
On est partie au Parque Nacional Iguazu pour notre premiere journee a voir les chutes. On s'est baladée un peu pour admirer l'immensité des chutes. Ensuite, on a pris un beteau qui nous a mené super pres des chutes. D'abbord, ils nous laissent prendre des photos et ensuite ils vont sous les chutes, du coté brésilien puis du coté argentin, sous le Salto San Martin qui est Énorme! On était trempée mais c'était super drole! Je voulais y retourner jusqu'a ce qu'on me dise que la semaine passée quelqu'un y est mort dans un accident de bateau! Ensuite on a pris un 2e bateau, pour Isla San Martin, il y a une petite plage oú on a pu sécher un peu! Apres ca, on a pris un petit train qui monte a Garganta del Diablo (Gorge du Diable) et de la tu peux te balader au dessus des chutes! C'était absolument super! Il y beaucoup d'eau!!!! D'ailleurs, Iguazu veut veut dire 'mucho agua' dans la langue indigene de la région. Vers 17h30, il commencait a faire froid et j'avais mal aux pieds car mes tongues se sont petées, donc on est rentrée.
Le lendemain, on s'est levée a 9h, on a déjeuné et on a commencé notre 2e journée aux chutes. Ce jour la, on les a vu du coté brésilien. On a pris le bus avec l'hostel et ils nous ont donné un déjeuné aussi. On a traversé la frontiere et on nous a déposé au Parque Nacional do Iguaçu et on s'est rendu compte qu'on était au Brésil et qu'ils ne parlent plus Espagnol la-bas! Donc on ne comprenais rien au Portuguais qu'on nous parlait. Tout ce que je pouvais dire c'était 'Hola' et 'Obrigado'! On a visité les chutes du coté brésilien. Ici, on a une vue plus panoramique alors que du coté argentain, on les voit en plusieurs parties. Il y a des arc en ciel de partout (des 2 cotés). On en a vu un qui faisait presque un cercle complet et un autre qui avait l'air d'etre a 5 metres de nous! Incroyable! On s'est promenée le long des chutes et on pouvait s'y rapprocher vachement.
Quel coté j'ai préféré? Biensur, le coté argentain! Le coté brésilien est magnifique mais marcher au dessus des chutes au Garganta del Diablo était génial!!
Comment ai-je pu oublier? En arrivant dans le Parque Nacional do Iguaçu et apres avoir pris le bus de Disney Land avec la fille qui parle dans les speakers, je me suis faite entourer de ratons laveur (qui apparement sont des coatis) qui voulaient mon déjeuné! C'était pas juste, ils étaient nombreux et j'étais seule! En plus, ils ont l'arme de la rage! Pas cool! J'ai meme essayé de ramasser ma pomme mais j'ai du vite la reposer par peur d'etre attaquée! Ai Ai Ai!
On est rentrée a l'hostel vers 16h et on s'est reposée au bord de la piscine pendant quelques heures, on a reservé nos tickets de bus pour quitter Puerto Iguazu et on a commandé a manger car on a raté le repas a l'hostel.
Ce matin, j'ai accompagné Liv au terminal de bus car elle va a Rio de Janeiro. Ou devrais-je dire: allait? Elle a été retardée a la frontiere et a raté son bus de Foz do Iguaçu! Heureusement, ils la laissent prendre un bus demain gratuitement!
J'ai mon bus cet aprem a 16h pour retourner a BA. Pas tres excitée de passer une semaine et demi a BA, mais je suis sure que je trouverais quoi faire. J'ai deja quelques trucs en tete.
So the next day, Liv and I continued our adventure up to Puerto Iguazu, in the North East of Argentina, on the border with Brazil. We watched The Fast and the Furious 4 on the bus, or should I say Rapido y Furioso 4! It was a filmed copy so it was terrible quality! The bus ride was 17 hours and the driver didn't think it was necessary to put the heating on all night so we absolutely froze! I think he was high too because he was driving like a complete maniac. I woke up twice because he swerved in the road! I don't know if he was trying to avoid any pot holls or something like that but it was not a very relaxing journey!
We arrived in Puerto de Iguazu at around 9.30 am and went to Hostel Inn, just outside of town, which was recommended to us by so many people. This part of Argentina is almost like the jungle. It's similar to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia, but the heat is bearrable. The hostel we stayed in is beautiful, there's a huge swiming pool, trees everywhere and the earth is red (so are my shoes as a matter of fact!). We made our way to the Parque Nacional Iguazu for our first day at the falls. We walked around for a couple of hours admiring the immensity of the falls. Then we got a boat and they take you right up close to the falls. First they let you take pictures and then they drive under the falls, once on the brazilian side and then on the argentinian side, under the Salto San Martin which is Huge! We were absolutely drenched but it was so much fun! I wanted to do it again, until I found out that the previous week someone died because the boat crashed! We then got a second boat over to Isla San Martin, there is a little beach where we dried off. After that, we got the boat back and got a little train up to Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and from here you walk along the top of the falls and you can look right down into it! It's absolutely breath taking! There's a lot of water!!!! Iguazu actually means 'mucho agua' in the local indigenous language. By this point, at around 5.30 pm, it was getting quite chilly and my flip flop broke half way through the day and my feet weer hurting, so we started making our way back to town and our hostel.
The next day, we woke up at about 9am, had breakfast and started our 2nd day at the falls. This day, we headed over to the brazilian side to view the falls from there. We got a bus with our hostel and they gave us a packed lunch too. We crossed the border and got dropped off at Parque Nacional do Iguaçu and realised we were in Brazil and remembered they no longer speak Spanish! So we couldn't understand anything of their Portuguese! All we could say is 'Hola' and 'Obrigado' ! Anyway, we visited the falls on the brazilian side. Here, you get a panoramic view of the falls where as on the argentinian side you see parts at a time. It's humungous! And there are rainbows everywhere (on the argentinian side too). We saw one rainbow which was almost a full circle and another which seemed to be 5 metres away! Incredible! We walked along the falls and you get right up close to them and get slightly wet.
Which side did I prefer? Argentian no doubt about it! Don't get me wrong, the view is amazing on the brazilian side but what did it for me was walking on top of Garganta del Diablo on the argentinian side! So amazing!
How could I forget? As we arrived in Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, we got off the Disney land type bus service with voice over and all, and I got ambushed by a bunch of racoons, which are apparently coatis, but racoooon sounds funnier! So yeah, these stupid racoons cornered me and stoll my pack lunch! It was no fair play at all, I was outnumbered! Not to mention they were armed with rabbies infested blood! Not cool! I even tried picking up my apple and almost got attacked! Ai Ai Ai!
We came back to the hostel at about 4pm and lazed around the pool for a couple of hours, booked our bus tickets out of Puerto Iguazu and ordered take out because we missed dinner in the hostel.
This morning, I went to the bus station with Liv. She's going to Rio de Janeiro. Well she was! She got delayed at the border and ended up missing her bus from Foz do Iguaçu! Luckily, they booked her onto another bus tomorrow for free!
I have a bus at 4pm to go back to BA. Not too excited to be spending a week and half there, but I'm sure I'll find things to do! I've already got a few things planed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mardi soir, Michael a quitté BA pour rentrer en Australie. On était tous assez triste, surtout les 2 amigos! J'aime pas cette partie du voyage, on oublie qu'a un moment donné il faut retourner á la réalité!
Alors le lendemain, Liv et moi avons continué notre aventure en direction de Puerto de Iguazu, dans le Nord Est de l'Argentine sur la frontiere avec le Brésil. Le trajet a pris 17 heures et le conducteur n'a pas mis le chauffage donc on se les ai pelé pendant toute la nuit. J'ai été réveillée 2 fois car le conducteur conduisait comme un fou et il devait etre entrain d'éviter quelque chose dans la route parce que ca a bien secoué tout le bus!
On est arrivée a Puerto Iguazu vers 9.30 du matin et on est allée a Hostel Inn, juste en dehors de la ville, qui nous avez été conseillé. Cette partie de l'Argentine ressamble beaucoup a la jungle de Rurrenabaque em Bolivie, sauf qu'il fait pas une chaleur insupportable! L'hostal ou on est restée est magnifique, il y a une énorme piscine, des arbres de partout et la terre est rouge (comme le sont mes chaussures maintenant!).
On est partie au Parque Nacional Iguazu pour notre premiere journee a voir les chutes. On s'est baladée un peu pour admirer l'immensité des chutes. Ensuite, on a pris un beteau qui nous a mené super pres des chutes. D'abbord, ils nous laissent prendre des photos et ensuite ils vont sous les chutes, du coté brésilien puis du coté argentin, sous le Salto San Martin qui est Énorme! On était trempée mais c'était super drole! Je voulais y retourner jusqu'a ce qu'on me dise que la semaine passée quelqu'un y est mort dans un accident de bateau! Ensuite on a pris un 2e bateau, pour Isla San Martin, il y a une petite plage oú on a pu sécher un peu! Apres ca, on a pris un petit train qui monte a Garganta del Diablo (Gorge du Diable) et de la tu peux te balader au dessus des chutes! C'était absolument super! Il y beaucoup d'eau!!!! D'ailleurs, Iguazu veut veut dire 'mucho agua' dans la langue indigene de la région. Vers 17h30, il commencait a faire froid et j'avais mal aux pieds car mes tongues se sont petées, donc on est rentrée.
Le lendemain, on s'est levée a 9h, on a déjeuné et on a commencé notre 2e journée aux chutes. Ce jour la, on les a vu du coté brésilien. On a pris le bus avec l'hostel et ils nous ont donné un déjeuné aussi. On a traversé la frontiere et on nous a déposé au Parque Nacional do Iguaçu et on s'est rendu compte qu'on était au Brésil et qu'ils ne parlent plus Espagnol la-bas! Donc on ne comprenais rien au Portuguais qu'on nous parlait. Tout ce que je pouvais dire c'était 'Hola' et 'Obrigado'! On a visité les chutes du coté brésilien. Ici, on a une vue plus panoramique alors que du coté argentain, on les voit en plusieurs parties. Il y a des arc en ciel de partout (des 2 cotés). On en a vu un qui faisait presque un cercle complet et un autre qui avait l'air d'etre a 5 metres de nous! Incroyable! On s'est promenée le long des chutes et on pouvait s'y rapprocher vachement.
Quel coté j'ai préféré? Biensur, le coté argentain! Le coté brésilien est magnifique mais marcher au dessus des chutes au Garganta del Diablo était génial!!
Comment ai-je pu oublier? En arrivant dans le Parque Nacional do Iguaçu et apres avoir pris le bus de Disney Land avec la fille qui parle dans les speakers, je me suis faite entourer de ratons laveur (qui apparement sont des coatis) qui voulaient mon déjeuné! C'était pas juste, ils étaient nombreux et j'étais seule! En plus, ils ont l'arme de la rage! Pas cool! J'ai meme essayé de ramasser ma pomme mais j'ai du vite la reposer par peur d'etre attaquée! Ai Ai Ai!
On est rentrée a l'hostel vers 16h et on s'est reposée au bord de la piscine pendant quelques heures, on a reservé nos tickets de bus pour quitter Puerto Iguazu et on a commandé a manger car on a raté le repas a l'hostel.
Ce matin, j'ai accompagné Liv au terminal de bus car elle va a Rio de Janeiro. Ou devrais-je dire: allait? Elle a été retardée a la frontiere et a raté son bus de Foz do Iguaçu! Heureusement, ils la laissent prendre un bus demain gratuitement!
J'ai mon bus cet aprem a 16h pour retourner a BA. Pas tres excitée de passer une semaine et demi a BA, mais je suis sure que je trouverais quoi faire. J'ai deja quelques trucs en tete.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
First few days in BA ...
I'm in Buenos Aires at the moment, probably the biggest city I've been to yet in South America! I arrived at 7 am on Sunday and went to Pax Hostal, where some of the girls I met in Mendoza are staying. Checked in but had to wait until 1.30 pm for a bed to be ready. So I had a shower, had breakfast and went for a walk. I walked around the San Telmo area, where my hostal is. San Telmo is the oldest neighbourhood of BA, full of cobbled streets, artists and dancers. I visited the antiques market and the street market. Then I walked to Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosado is, the presidential building. The building is pink, hence its name. On my way back to the hostal, I walked past a group dancing to folklore music. It was really fun!
I found the girls when I arrived back at the hostal, we ordered chineese food and watched Hitch. As we went up to open to door for the delivery man, I ran into Liv and Michael in the corridor! I was so happy to see them, as I was expecting them the next day!
On Monday, we visited La Boca is a poor neighbourhood and we were told to be really careful when there. But I loved it. The streets are filled with brightly coloured buildings and tango dancers fill the street cafes. We had lunch in one of the cafes whilst listened to nice music and watching the tango dancers. They invited us up to dance too!
Last night, we went to La Bomba, which is a drum show held in an old warehouse. It was amazing! Then we went for drinks at The Milhouse hostal.
Today, I walked around the centre a little bit, I saw the Obelisk which is the icon of BA, you must have seen pictures of it. It's in the centre of the main street, 9 de Julio. That avenue is absolutely huge, there must be about 18 lanes!
Tonight, Michael is going back home to Australia! So sad!
That's about it for now...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Je suis a Buenos Aires en ce moment, c'est peut-etre la plus grande ville ou j'ai ete en Amerique du Sud! Je suis arrivee Dimanche matin a 7h et je suis allee a Pax Hostal, ou je retrouvais quelques filles que j'avais rencontre a Mendoza. J'ai du attendre jusqu'a 13.30 pour un lit par contre. Donc je me suis douchee, j'ai pris le petit-dejeune et puis je me suis baladee un peu. Je me suis promenee dans le quartier San Telmo, qui est le plus vieux de BA, pleine de petites rues, danceurs et des artistes. Je suis allee au marche des antiquites ainsi qu'un marche dans la rue. Apres j'ai marche vers la Plaza de Mayo pour voir la Casa Rosada, ou travaille le president. Le batiment est rose, comme dit son nom. En rentrant a l'hostal, j'ai croise un groupe qui dançait. C'etait super bien!
J'ai retrouve les filles a l'hostal et on a commande chinois et on a regarde Hitch. En montant, pour ouvrir la porte pour la nourriture, j'ai croise Liv et Michael dans le couloir. J'etais tellement contente de les voir, ils m'avaient dit qu'ils venaient le lendemain!
Lundi, on a visite le quartier La Boca, qui est un quartier defavorise et on nous a dit de faire gaffe la bas. Mais j'ai adore. Les maisons sont de toutes les couleurs et les danceurs de tango sont dans tous les cafes. On a mange dans un cafe, en ecoutant de la musique et en regardant les danceurs. Ils nous ont meme demande de dancer avec eux!
Hier soir, on est alle a La Bomba, un spectacle de tambours. C'etait genial! Apres on est alle boire un (!) verre a Milhouse hostal.
Aujourd'hui, je me suis balade dans le centre ville et j'ai vu l'obelisk qui represente BA. Vous avez surement vu des photos. C'est au milieu de la rue principale, 9 de Julio. Cette avenue est enorme, il doit y avoir environ 18 voies!
Ce soir, Michael rentre en Australie! C'est triste!
C'est a peu pres tout pour l'instant...
I found the girls when I arrived back at the hostal, we ordered chineese food and watched Hitch. As we went up to open to door for the delivery man, I ran into Liv and Michael in the corridor! I was so happy to see them, as I was expecting them the next day!
On Monday, we visited La Boca is a poor neighbourhood and we were told to be really careful when there. But I loved it. The streets are filled with brightly coloured buildings and tango dancers fill the street cafes. We had lunch in one of the cafes whilst listened to nice music and watching the tango dancers. They invited us up to dance too!
Last night, we went to La Bomba, which is a drum show held in an old warehouse. It was amazing! Then we went for drinks at The Milhouse hostal.
Today, I walked around the centre a little bit, I saw the Obelisk which is the icon of BA, you must have seen pictures of it. It's in the centre of the main street, 9 de Julio. That avenue is absolutely huge, there must be about 18 lanes!
Tonight, Michael is going back home to Australia! So sad!
That's about it for now...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Je suis a Buenos Aires en ce moment, c'est peut-etre la plus grande ville ou j'ai ete en Amerique du Sud! Je suis arrivee Dimanche matin a 7h et je suis allee a Pax Hostal, ou je retrouvais quelques filles que j'avais rencontre a Mendoza. J'ai du attendre jusqu'a 13.30 pour un lit par contre. Donc je me suis douchee, j'ai pris le petit-dejeune et puis je me suis baladee un peu. Je me suis promenee dans le quartier San Telmo, qui est le plus vieux de BA, pleine de petites rues, danceurs et des artistes. Je suis allee au marche des antiquites ainsi qu'un marche dans la rue. Apres j'ai marche vers la Plaza de Mayo pour voir la Casa Rosada, ou travaille le president. Le batiment est rose, comme dit son nom. En rentrant a l'hostal, j'ai croise un groupe qui dançait. C'etait super bien!
J'ai retrouve les filles a l'hostal et on a commande chinois et on a regarde Hitch. En montant, pour ouvrir la porte pour la nourriture, j'ai croise Liv et Michael dans le couloir. J'etais tellement contente de les voir, ils m'avaient dit qu'ils venaient le lendemain!
Lundi, on a visite le quartier La Boca, qui est un quartier defavorise et on nous a dit de faire gaffe la bas. Mais j'ai adore. Les maisons sont de toutes les couleurs et les danceurs de tango sont dans tous les cafes. On a mange dans un cafe, en ecoutant de la musique et en regardant les danceurs. Ils nous ont meme demande de dancer avec eux!
Hier soir, on est alle a La Bomba, un spectacle de tambours. C'etait genial! Apres on est alle boire un (!) verre a Milhouse hostal.
Aujourd'hui, je me suis balade dans le centre ville et j'ai vu l'obelisk qui represente BA. Vous avez surement vu des photos. C'est au milieu de la rue principale, 9 de Julio. Cette avenue est enorme, il doit y avoir environ 18 voies!
Ce soir, Michael rentre en Australie! C'est triste!
C'est a peu pres tout pour l'instant...
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Overdosing on Cathedrals and Churches...
I arrived in Cordoba on Friday morning and walked around the city all day, visiting the many many many many ... Churchs and Cathedrals. They are all very beautiful but bloody hell there are many! I then walked further South to the Parque Sarmiento, which I managed to get lost in! I was looking for La Vuelta al Mundo designed by Gustave Eiffel. I had no idea what it was until I finally found it. Turns out its a metal ferris wheel! I was slightly dissapointed as I had gotten lost and my feet were hurting! I also visited a few museums such as the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Caraffa and El Paseo del Buen Pastor, which was exibiting really cool paintings by Ciruelo.
I came back to the hostel and ate soup and a sandwich which reminded me of our road trip to Patagonia! I spoke with a couple of french guys in the hostel, one of which went to Mexico and told me how he got kidnapped, robbed and beaten up after a night out. Other than that he said it's a beautiful country!
Today, I took a bus to Alta Gracia, just outside of Cordoba. It's a really pretty little town with even prettier houses. I visited the Museo Che Guevara, which is in one of the many houses he lived in. It explained all about his life from a child. Then I walked North of town because I wanted to see the Gruta Virgen de Lourdes, as the name intrigued me. I thought I was lost because the roads turned into dirt roads but I managed to find my way. Basically, it's an outdoor church and the altar is in a small cave/grotto type space. It's really pretty!
I came back to Cordoba around 6pm, hoping to buy some very funky leggins, with raindeers on them (they seem to be all the rage down here!) but everything was closed! So I'm just hang out in the hostal, waiting for my bus which is at 9pm. I also thought I'd update you before I go to BA, because I think I'll have another La Paz situation on my hands!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Je suis arrivee a Cordoba Vendredi matin, je me suis baladee en ville pendant toute la journee et j'ai visite de nombreuses Eglises et Cathedrales. Elles sont toutes tres belles mais qu'est ce qu'elles sont nombreuses! Ensuite, je me suis promenee dans le Parque Sarmiento, ou j'ai reussi a me perdre! Je cherchais La Vuelta al Mundo de Gustave Eiffel. Je n'avait aucune idee ce que je cherchais, mais j'etait assez decue quand je me suis retrouvee face a un carousselle metalique! J'ai aussi visite quelques musees, dont El Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Caraffa et El Paseo del Buen Pastor, qui montrait des peintures de Ciruelo que j'ai vachement aime.
Je suis rentree a l'hostal et j'ai mange une soupe et un sandwich qui m'a vachement rappelle de notre voyage en Patagonie! J'ai discute avec 2 francais dans l'hostal, dont un qui s'est fait kidnapper et tabasser au Mexique. Apart ca, il dit que c'est un tres beau pays!
Aujourd'hui, je suis allee a Alta Gracia, just en dehors de Cordoba. C'est une tres belle ville avec de tres belles maisons. J'ai visite El Museo Che Guevara, qui est dans une de ces maisons. Ensuite je me suis baladee dans le Nord de la ville, pour voir la Gruta Virgen de Lourdes car le nom m'intriguait. Je pensais que j'etais perdue car les routes se sont transformees en petits chemins, mais je me suis retrouvee. La Gruta est une sorte d'eglise a l'exterieure, dont l'autel est dans une petite grotte. C'est tres jolie!
Je suis rentree a Cordoba et j'attends dans l'hostal car mon bus est a 21h. Je pensais aussi que ce serait une bonne idee d'ecrire maintenant car je pense que BA sera la meme situation que La Paz!
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Pictures of Mendoza and Maipu (the town!)
 |
| Carrefour made me feel like I was home! :) |
 |
| Basilica de San Fransisco, Mendoza |
 |
| Meat anyone? |
 |
| Sofia and I and our food which we obviously started in the bus! |
 |
| Sofia and I |
 |
| Tapenades, olives, etc |
 |
| Dulce de Leche and jams |
 |
| Alcohols! |
 |
| Cristina, me, Martina and Absinthe! |
 |
| Museo del Vino Rural |
 |
| Sebastian! |
 |
| Legitimate wine tasting! |
 |
| Malbec made in Museo del Vino Rural |
 |
| Adrienne, Sofia and I |
 |
| Exclusive parking! |
 |
| Drinking wine in Tempus Alba |
 |
| Malbec from Tempus Alba |
 |
| Maipu |
 |
| Melena de Leon, Hormiga Roja and Mamba Negra |
Emotional goodbyes and drinking wine.
Tuesday, Liv and Michael left for Mar del Plata on the East coast and I was on my way to Mendoza further North. We said our emotional goodbyes at the bus terminal and Michael's mooned me and everyone else at the bus terminal, probably to brighten my mood! I caught my bus for Mendoza and for the whole 14h bus ride, the guy in front turned around to look at me, every 15 minutes without fail! I wanted to scream at him after the first hour.. but kept my cool! We played bingo and the winner got a bottle of wine! Not like the bingo with Cruz del Sur in Peru, where you win a return bus ticket! We watched Seven Pounds, The Hangover and Old Dogs.
Arrived in Mendoza, I took a taxi to my hostel and ran into Sofia, a girl I had spoken to in Wild Rover, in La Paz. We went out for dinner with her boyfriend Ross. The next day, Tursday, Sofia and I took a bus to Maipu (or maybe it was yours!), after buying a kilo's worth of buffet lunch (yay, another traveller who eats like me! Fiouf!). In Maipu, we rented bikes from Mr.Hugo and met Catarina, from Costa Rica, Martina, from Canada, Adrienne, from the States, and Nicki and Georgie from England. We biked around the very cute little town of Maipu.
The first place we went, A La Antigua (20 pesos), offered us a wide range of different tapenades, aubergine paste, sweet chili paste, olives, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, followed by a delicious rasberry jam, courgette jam, chocolate Dulce de Leche, coconut Dulce de Leche, and more. We then tasted one of the 10 bottles of alcohol they had. I tasted the Passion de Femme, made from rose petals, and also the awfully strong Absinthe (it was 75%, I'm not sure how strong it usually is, but bloody hell!! And I thought that Cristal from Arutam was bad!). Finally, we tasted their milk and white chocolate, which was amazing and took the burning sensation of the absinthe away!
We then went to Museo del Vino (the only free tasting available). There's a little museum with old wine making machine and huge wooden barrells. As we were walking around we saw a worker, Sebastian, and took a picture with him. Then he whispered to us to come around the back and poored a carafe of wine from one of the wine tanks and gave it to us! He then also asked who was single! We went back out into the main area and tasted the wine they make, Malbec.
Next, we went to Tempus Alba, where we had our packed lunch and shared a bottle of Malbec in the beautiful sunshine!
Finally, we went to the Beer Garden and tasted their beers. For 10 pesos, we got 3 small glasses of Mamba Negra, Hormiga Roja and Melena de Leon. My favorite was the dark one.
We then biked back to Mr.Hugo's where we were offered another glass of wine to finish off the allready wine fuelled day!!
Biking around the winneries with the girls was really fun and I would have probably done it again the next day had I known and had I not booked my ticket to Cordoba. I'm also planning to meet the girls in Buenos Aires when I go.
Till next time...
Arrived in Mendoza, I took a taxi to my hostel and ran into Sofia, a girl I had spoken to in Wild Rover, in La Paz. We went out for dinner with her boyfriend Ross. The next day, Tursday, Sofia and I took a bus to Maipu (or maybe it was yours!), after buying a kilo's worth of buffet lunch (yay, another traveller who eats like me! Fiouf!). In Maipu, we rented bikes from Mr.Hugo and met Catarina, from Costa Rica, Martina, from Canada, Adrienne, from the States, and Nicki and Georgie from England. We biked around the very cute little town of Maipu.
The first place we went, A La Antigua (20 pesos), offered us a wide range of different tapenades, aubergine paste, sweet chili paste, olives, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, followed by a delicious rasberry jam, courgette jam, chocolate Dulce de Leche, coconut Dulce de Leche, and more. We then tasted one of the 10 bottles of alcohol they had. I tasted the Passion de Femme, made from rose petals, and also the awfully strong Absinthe (it was 75%, I'm not sure how strong it usually is, but bloody hell!! And I thought that Cristal from Arutam was bad!). Finally, we tasted their milk and white chocolate, which was amazing and took the burning sensation of the absinthe away!
We then went to Museo del Vino (the only free tasting available). There's a little museum with old wine making machine and huge wooden barrells. As we were walking around we saw a worker, Sebastian, and took a picture with him. Then he whispered to us to come around the back and poored a carafe of wine from one of the wine tanks and gave it to us! He then also asked who was single! We went back out into the main area and tasted the wine they make, Malbec.
Next, we went to Tempus Alba, where we had our packed lunch and shared a bottle of Malbec in the beautiful sunshine!
Finally, we went to the Beer Garden and tasted their beers. For 10 pesos, we got 3 small glasses of Mamba Negra, Hormiga Roja and Melena de Leon. My favorite was the dark one.
We then biked back to Mr.Hugo's where we were offered another glass of wine to finish off the allready wine fuelled day!!
Biking around the winneries with the girls was really fun and I would have probably done it again the next day had I known and had I not booked my ticket to Cordoba. I'm also planning to meet the girls in Buenos Aires when I go.
Till next time...
Pictures of our road trip to Patagonia!
 |
| Chilean boarder control |
 |
| We soon stopped in fear of getting shot! |
 |
| Argentinian boarder control |
 |
| Jumping in Argentina |
 |
| One of the many chocolateries in Bariloche |
 |
| Cherry liquore chocolates! |
 |
| My chocolate brownie and dulce de leche ice cream.. oh and Liv and Michael! |
 |
| 1st day of the trip.. we stopped to eat maybe 1 hour into the ride! |
 |
| Dinner! |
 |
| Oh look a tractor in the road! It was going so fast too! |
 |
| Day 2: lunch stop! |
 |
| Friendly people who let us use their kitchen |
 |
| Oh so interesting scenery of Route 40! |
 |
| Wild horses everywhere! |
 |
| Is that dirt on the car? Oh no.. just a bit of TAR!!!!! |
 |
| Beautiful mountains in El Chalten |
 |
| Cerro Fitz Roy |
 |
| Liv and I |
 |
| Lago Desierto, El Chalten |
 |
| Amigos! |
 |
| Lago Desierto |
 |
| Oh look a horse skull! |
 |
| Liv thought this sign meant cars could fall of the mountains! |
 |
| Trek up to Lago Torre was cut short by torrential rain! Oh dear! |
 |
| Michael and I in our hostel in El Calafate. BEFORE. |
 |
| AFTER |
 |
| Jumping in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares |
 |
| Glaciar Perito Moreno! |
 |
| Glaciar Perito Moreno |
 |
| Up close |
 |
| Ice anyone? |
 |
| The never ending Glaciar Perito Moreno |
 |
| Fancy half a cup of tea! |
 |
| Jumping on Route 40! |
 |
| Our rooms in Bariloche! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)