So it's my last night on holiday! Which is all a bit sad. I have been pretty lethargic during my last few days in Santiago, bar perhaps today when I went snowboarding. My first day in the capital I did some of the obligatory sight seeing, the cathedral, the main square etc but I seemed to run out of steam pretty quickly and I ended up going to the Cinema, I saw Public Enemies. Which turned out to be a)pretty good b)the first film where i actually liked Jonny Depp's character and c) another stellar performance from Marion Cotillard. Saturday which had been scheduled in as my snowboarding day, somehow mutated into my lazy rainydayin day. The forecast had been lots of snow which meant actually being on the mountain wouldn't be much fun, whereas sunday was meant to be sunny.
Well turns out it was! I had a great day today, fresh powder, brilliant blue skies and it wasn't too busy at all.
The only bad part about today was arriving back at the hostel. I had been fantasising about a long steaming hot shower for my poor aching, cold body. As any skier/snowboarder will know, this is the most essential part of your apres-ski schedule. Now as the description of my hostel in my guidebook had actually mentioned a jacuzzi, and from the hot showers i had already had there, i never questioned the fact that I'd get one. 20 minutes after I get back, and I'm standing next to the shower getting more and more irate with the temperature. IT SHOULD BE HOT BY NOW! After about 5 minutes of cold water, the temperature finally moved to lukewarm, sick of waiting i stood under the water patiently waiting to reach the hot steamy stage that i so desperately needed. As I waited, and I waited, I became more and more irate, lukewarm is the worst of all temperatures. If it had stayed cold i wouldn't have got in, but don't give me this pathetic half-way house, it pleases nobody. ALL I WANTED WAS SOME HOT WATER! YOU GAVE IT TO ME THIS MORNING FINE, WHY CAN'T I HAVE IT NOW! I started praying, please just make it a little bit warmer, come on ... I started pounding on the wall in anger and slamming the tap... I then tried each of the 5 showers there, the same problem with each, only that i also got even colder waiting for each to reach it's lukewarm state. Nothing worked, i was pretty distraught by this stage. I began to shout slightly insane angry outbursts. Then I decided I would write to lonely planet and all the other guidebooks and complain about what an awful place this was. Even that idea didn't cheer me up. I had passed through frustration into anger, onto desperation and had finally reached despair. Eventually admitting the most devastating of defeats I got out and dried off, which turned out to be the most satisfying part of the whole thing. What a disaster, oh well I have warmed up now.
So my flight is tomorrow at midday, and after a brief stop in Madrid, I will be home in london. Hopefully Iberia won't let any dogs into the cabin this time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an upgrade, but I know I'm fooling noone, not even myself.
Will let you all know how it goes in a few days,
Harry
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Friday, 14 August 2009
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Having a bit of an Argy Bargy
So I write this on my last overnight long distance bus journey on my way from Buenos Aires to Mendoza (well that's what i was doing when i first wrote this, I'm typing it up about a day later). Even though I still have a good 5 or 6 days left things definatly feel like they are winding down and after nearly 2 months this trip is starting to come to a close. On a trip like this I always think the countries or places that given this slot near the end of the trip get a bit of a raw deal as you can't help but think about going home etc.
With a prime front row seat on the top level of the bus I only have to glance out at my panoramic view of the andes and our approach to it to be taken right back into the moment. Even though they are roughly on the same latitude, from what it looks like outside Mendoza is alot colder than buenos aires, where we had a few days of 18-19 degrees. I've just finished a pretty good 5 day run in BA, I was meant to be reunited with my friends but I couldn't get out of Brazil in time, so by the time I got here they were already in London. But my timing did turn out pretty good as one of my good friends (really good friends if she bothers to read this!) who was moving to BA to study for a year abroad, pitched up the day after me. With a great pair of personalised guides, one from Alex, one from Brendon, thank-you both much appreciated, we set out to explore the city.
For the few days/weeks before i got to Argentina whenever i mentioned it to travellers they always said, ooooh watch out for the swine! Arg had infact been hit pretty hard by the swine as far as i know (ironically when i was staying there I met a rather gormless couple from aberdeen who had cancelled a holiday in mexico only to come here instead!). Anyway needless to say I'd been in argentina all of a few hours when i started sneezing and my nose started running. The swine the Swiiiiinee! I felt as though I had been baptised formally into Argentina. I was also pretty sure that i just had a bit of a cold and it was not the swine. Regardless i threw around the word with wanton abandon, well rather selective wanton abandon I didn't mention it to authorities or Hostel staff. Revelling in my first few days of swine didn't actually live up to all the fun that the hype had made out, I just felt a bit generally rubbish and unenergetic. The first day I just slept most of the day, which it turned out is what everyone in my room did anyway, mainly cause they were ultra trendy and cool though and got back so late from clubbing all night! woohoo (i.e. gormless scottish couple, and other assorted twats). You may have gathered i hadn't fallen completely in love with my roommates.** (I did later meet a japanese guy from my room who seemed to be a pretty nice guy) I didn't get round to actually speaking to the gormless couple for the first few days, in the hope that I had just made a bad first judgement of them and they weren't gormless idiots. Unfortunatly a few days later I did, and it turned out they were.
Anyway after getting a good bit of sleep out of the way Catherine (or Catheter as i fondly call her) arrived and we promptly decided to go and check out what was going on in town. We tubed it to Palermo, the trendy part of town, caught a bit of the saturday market, wandered through a few trendy shops although Catherine found some of them a bit too trendy for her. On the hunt for lunch we found ourselves stalking this man we walked past who looked like he had the best steak in Argentina. We ended up walking past him about 4 times, walking off down the street, then coming back about 20 mins later, walking past him another 5 times, standing in front of him, staring at his plate, then sitting down where we had a partial view of him. The problem was that he was the whole reason we were there, but we couldn't work out what he had ordered from the menu. We thought if we tried to approach him now he might perform a citizens arrest and put a restraining order on us. In the end we ambushed him as he was going to the loo (who knows why we thought this was a better idea). Then after all this build up, and a long wait (the service there wasn't great) the steak turned up and it wasn't thaat amazing! Never judge a book huh. Nevermind it was by no means bad. We spent the next few days checking out the different must-see areas of BA, and eating in all the delicious cafes and restaurants our friends had recommended.
I can't think of any other particular events from BA at the moment, I never quite made it over my case of the sniffles, but at the same time they haven't been too catastrophic. The only one other observation I had about BA was the fact that nobody seems to a) bother to pick up their dog shit (poop'n'scoop) or b) even care that nobody is doing it. Which means it is necessary to walk pretty much staring at the pavement directly in front of you if you want to avoid pooey foot syndrome.
Anyhow that is all I have to report so far. Today was my only day in Mendoza, I leave tomorrow morning on a 7 hour bus trip to Santiago, a bus ride that is meant to be pretty spectacular, although also prone to being cancelled if it snows, so fingers crossed. I went wine-tasting today, which was actually pretty fun, and infomative. I never really use to have much of a clue about the real process, and some of the tastings were very tasty! We ended up at a olive oil tasting place, where i had my own guide as every other person in our 25 strong group spoke spanish, which gave me the advantage of getting to the tasting part a bit before everyone else. I tried to stuff down as much oil soaked bread with sundried tomatoes as i could before they arrived, and got a few dirty looks when they finally rounded the corner. They brought out some new plates for everyone else so i don't know what they were complaining about!
Right I better get off to bed, have to be up early for breakfast and bus. Lots of love to you all,
Harry
With a prime front row seat on the top level of the bus I only have to glance out at my panoramic view of the andes and our approach to it to be taken right back into the moment. Even though they are roughly on the same latitude, from what it looks like outside Mendoza is alot colder than buenos aires, where we had a few days of 18-19 degrees. I've just finished a pretty good 5 day run in BA, I was meant to be reunited with my friends but I couldn't get out of Brazil in time, so by the time I got here they were already in London. But my timing did turn out pretty good as one of my good friends (really good friends if she bothers to read this!) who was moving to BA to study for a year abroad, pitched up the day after me. With a great pair of personalised guides, one from Alex, one from Brendon, thank-you both much appreciated, we set out to explore the city.
For the few days/weeks before i got to Argentina whenever i mentioned it to travellers they always said, ooooh watch out for the swine! Arg had infact been hit pretty hard by the swine as far as i know (ironically when i was staying there I met a rather gormless couple from aberdeen who had cancelled a holiday in mexico only to come here instead!). Anyway needless to say I'd been in argentina all of a few hours when i started sneezing and my nose started running. The swine the Swiiiiinee! I felt as though I had been baptised formally into Argentina. I was also pretty sure that i just had a bit of a cold and it was not the swine. Regardless i threw around the word with wanton abandon, well rather selective wanton abandon I didn't mention it to authorities or Hostel staff. Revelling in my first few days of swine didn't actually live up to all the fun that the hype had made out, I just felt a bit generally rubbish and unenergetic. The first day I just slept most of the day, which it turned out is what everyone in my room did anyway, mainly cause they were ultra trendy and cool though and got back so late from clubbing all night! woohoo (i.e. gormless scottish couple, and other assorted twats). You may have gathered i hadn't fallen completely in love with my roommates.** (I did later meet a japanese guy from my room who seemed to be a pretty nice guy) I didn't get round to actually speaking to the gormless couple for the first few days, in the hope that I had just made a bad first judgement of them and they weren't gormless idiots. Unfortunatly a few days later I did, and it turned out they were.
Anyway after getting a good bit of sleep out of the way Catherine (or Catheter as i fondly call her) arrived and we promptly decided to go and check out what was going on in town. We tubed it to Palermo, the trendy part of town, caught a bit of the saturday market, wandered through a few trendy shops although Catherine found some of them a bit too trendy for her. On the hunt for lunch we found ourselves stalking this man we walked past who looked like he had the best steak in Argentina. We ended up walking past him about 4 times, walking off down the street, then coming back about 20 mins later, walking past him another 5 times, standing in front of him, staring at his plate, then sitting down where we had a partial view of him. The problem was that he was the whole reason we were there, but we couldn't work out what he had ordered from the menu. We thought if we tried to approach him now he might perform a citizens arrest and put a restraining order on us. In the end we ambushed him as he was going to the loo (who knows why we thought this was a better idea). Then after all this build up, and a long wait (the service there wasn't great) the steak turned up and it wasn't thaat amazing! Never judge a book huh. Nevermind it was by no means bad. We spent the next few days checking out the different must-see areas of BA, and eating in all the delicious cafes and restaurants our friends had recommended.
I can't think of any other particular events from BA at the moment, I never quite made it over my case of the sniffles, but at the same time they haven't been too catastrophic. The only one other observation I had about BA was the fact that nobody seems to a) bother to pick up their dog shit (poop'n'scoop) or b) even care that nobody is doing it. Which means it is necessary to walk pretty much staring at the pavement directly in front of you if you want to avoid pooey foot syndrome.
Anyhow that is all I have to report so far. Today was my only day in Mendoza, I leave tomorrow morning on a 7 hour bus trip to Santiago, a bus ride that is meant to be pretty spectacular, although also prone to being cancelled if it snows, so fingers crossed. I went wine-tasting today, which was actually pretty fun, and infomative. I never really use to have much of a clue about the real process, and some of the tastings were very tasty! We ended up at a olive oil tasting place, where i had my own guide as every other person in our 25 strong group spoke spanish, which gave me the advantage of getting to the tasting part a bit before everyone else. I tried to stuff down as much oil soaked bread with sundried tomatoes as i could before they arrived, and got a few dirty looks when they finally rounded the corner. They brought out some new plates for everyone else so i don't know what they were complaining about!
Right I better get off to bed, have to be up early for breakfast and bus. Lots of love to you all,
Harry
Thursday, 6 August 2009
As much as I enjoy writing this blog, when Im having a really good time I do find it difficult to sit myself infront of a computer and try and remember what I've been up to. Which I guess is my main excuse for writing so little during the last week or so in Brazil. Make what you will about my more frequently updated times in Bolivia and Peru. To get around this I have with me a funny little disney style notebook which I brought in the rainforest in bolivia (I know, I know, globalisation, McDonalds etc etc). As I currently write this I am sat on a 35 hour bus journey from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires, with the whole day and a second night stretched before me. I'm wondering why I took buses which cost over $165 from rio-BA when the flight cost $200, with scenery that so far today has been about as unremarkable as driving through surrey.
Anyway I have finally left Brazil, or I will have by around 2pm. I leave a little behind schedule (not drastically so) and a little over budget (slightly more drastically so) **Note to Mum and Dad, this was through no fault of my own, every effort was made for conservative spending, but market forces, shifts in international economics and fluctuations in currency have all conspired to push me into my own little credit crunch.As Gordon Brown says "It's a global phenomenon" "don't blame me" and "the only way out is to spend lots more money" - thank god I've been paying attention to the news. With Gordon's wise words I think I'll be able to pull myself through.
As draining in both money and time as Brazil has been, I feel it has more than rewarded me. I know I mentioned this previously but the people I've met here have made a big difference. Both Bernardo and Renata, friends of my cousins, who I stayed with in Sao Paolo, and Fernando a friend of one of my great friends in london, made a huge difference to my trip and showed me round some great local spots. Ok so lets see what I managed to get up to while in Brazil, highlights were:
All you can eat sushi in Sao Paolo, attempting to climb sugar loaf in rio but picking the wrong trail and getting stuck halfway, going out to a live samba night with free caipirinas till 12 in rio, cycling around Sao Paolo's equivalent of hyde park with Mariana my colombian friend who I met in Paraty, hanging out on the sofa with a brazilian friend at their friends flat, watching a football match for free in Maracana the largest stadium in south america with some brazilian friends who had some inside contacts for us, going to a houseparty with Mariana where i was the only person who wasn't an artist.
lowlights included:
going to the cinema to try and watch Bruno, it not being on and making the incredibly bad mistake of watching Harry Potter which was without doubt the worst film I have seen in the last 5 years. Waiting to meet my friend next to the laziest busker i have ever seen, who "played" the triangle, or rather repeatedly hit it in a pretty unrythmic fashion, which is really the only skill you could ask of a triangle player. It did cheer me up to notice in the 20 painful minutes i had to sit next to him, nobody gave him any money. During the same period of time watching a crazy man (who I can only hope for Brazil's sake was crazy and not somehow employed by them) who stood next to perfectly functioning traffic lights blowing his wistle and flailing his arms around when the lights were green and then doing the same for the cars in the other direction. The only rationale I could come up with behind this is that it was to help out drivers who were colour-blind or had particularly bad eyesight but perfectly good hearing abilities. I'm not going to bother mentioning the thousands of flaws with the theory. I sat there silently praying that he would blow slightly too hard on his whistle one time and it would go flying out of his mouth and get runover by a large truck, leaving me only to have to deal with his manical arm movements (for more manageable).
Back to the present. I was greeted on the bus by a weathered 40 something year old man, who had decided that my seat was the one that had taken his fancy. After a few taps on the shoulder he turned around and promptly pointed to the seat infront. My portugese not quite being up to scratch enough to tell him to get his scrawny butt out of my seat I decided to take up his offer of said seat. We seemed to be getting along reasonably well until the next morning. With the sun shining through the window, and feeling a little toasty and cooped-up I thought it would be a good idea to open the little window next to me. Cool fresh air poured into our stuffy cabin, yet as I sat down my old friend behind me started muttering and pointing telling me he'd rather not have a change from this stale air. Resisting the urge to tell him I'd rather not have to turn around and look at his face, I made a token jesture and half-shut the window. With a pleasant supply of fresh air still seeping in, I leaned back, Victory!
Which brings us all up to date with the present. I arrived here in Buenos Aires this morning, and have checked into a great little hostel in the centre of town. I had my first of many steaks for lunch and had a little wander around the main square, where i proceeded to fall asleep on the grass. The plan for the timebeing is around 5 days in BA before 1 night in mendoza to sample a few wines, finished up with around 3 or 4 days in santiago, hopefully with time for a days snowboarding and a visit to valparaiso.
Anyway I have finally left Brazil, or I will have by around 2pm. I leave a little behind schedule (not drastically so) and a little over budget (slightly more drastically so) **Note to Mum and Dad, this was through no fault of my own, every effort was made for conservative spending, but market forces, shifts in international economics and fluctuations in currency have all conspired to push me into my own little credit crunch.As Gordon Brown says "It's a global phenomenon" "don't blame me" and "the only way out is to spend lots more money" - thank god I've been paying attention to the news. With Gordon's wise words I think I'll be able to pull myself through.
As draining in both money and time as Brazil has been, I feel it has more than rewarded me. I know I mentioned this previously but the people I've met here have made a big difference. Both Bernardo and Renata, friends of my cousins, who I stayed with in Sao Paolo, and Fernando a friend of one of my great friends in london, made a huge difference to my trip and showed me round some great local spots. Ok so lets see what I managed to get up to while in Brazil, highlights were:
All you can eat sushi in Sao Paolo, attempting to climb sugar loaf in rio but picking the wrong trail and getting stuck halfway, going out to a live samba night with free caipirinas till 12 in rio, cycling around Sao Paolo's equivalent of hyde park with Mariana my colombian friend who I met in Paraty, hanging out on the sofa with a brazilian friend at their friends flat, watching a football match for free in Maracana the largest stadium in south america with some brazilian friends who had some inside contacts for us, going to a houseparty with Mariana where i was the only person who wasn't an artist.
lowlights included:
going to the cinema to try and watch Bruno, it not being on and making the incredibly bad mistake of watching Harry Potter which was without doubt the worst film I have seen in the last 5 years. Waiting to meet my friend next to the laziest busker i have ever seen, who "played" the triangle, or rather repeatedly hit it in a pretty unrythmic fashion, which is really the only skill you could ask of a triangle player. It did cheer me up to notice in the 20 painful minutes i had to sit next to him, nobody gave him any money. During the same period of time watching a crazy man (who I can only hope for Brazil's sake was crazy and not somehow employed by them) who stood next to perfectly functioning traffic lights blowing his wistle and flailing his arms around when the lights were green and then doing the same for the cars in the other direction. The only rationale I could come up with behind this is that it was to help out drivers who were colour-blind or had particularly bad eyesight but perfectly good hearing abilities. I'm not going to bother mentioning the thousands of flaws with the theory. I sat there silently praying that he would blow slightly too hard on his whistle one time and it would go flying out of his mouth and get runover by a large truck, leaving me only to have to deal with his manical arm movements (for more manageable).
Back to the present. I was greeted on the bus by a weathered 40 something year old man, who had decided that my seat was the one that had taken his fancy. After a few taps on the shoulder he turned around and promptly pointed to the seat infront. My portugese not quite being up to scratch enough to tell him to get his scrawny butt out of my seat I decided to take up his offer of said seat. We seemed to be getting along reasonably well until the next morning. With the sun shining through the window, and feeling a little toasty and cooped-up I thought it would be a good idea to open the little window next to me. Cool fresh air poured into our stuffy cabin, yet as I sat down my old friend behind me started muttering and pointing telling me he'd rather not have a change from this stale air. Resisting the urge to tell him I'd rather not have to turn around and look at his face, I made a token jesture and half-shut the window. With a pleasant supply of fresh air still seeping in, I leaned back, Victory!
Which brings us all up to date with the present. I arrived here in Buenos Aires this morning, and have checked into a great little hostel in the centre of town. I had my first of many steaks for lunch and had a little wander around the main square, where i proceeded to fall asleep on the grass. The plan for the timebeing is around 5 days in BA before 1 night in mendoza to sample a few wines, finished up with around 3 or 4 days in santiago, hopefully with time for a days snowboarding and a visit to valparaiso.
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