Friday, January 4, 2008
We are on our way home!
Cheers!
Katie and Timb
Monday, December 31, 2007
Mendoza
Our first stop was at the Museo del Vino. This was a small muesum set up at a vineyard, which had a collection of wine making equipment streching back to colonial times. We were given a good tour, in english, that explained how the equipment was used and how it had evolved from collecting graps in baskets made from hide, crushing grapes with their feet and storing it in clay vessels to the modern stainless steel vats and pneumatic press used today. After a tour around the museum, we were taken into the modern winery and given a tour of their current operations. It was all very impressive and I actually learned a little about wine making. After the tour we were given some wine to sample, a chardonnay, which wasn´t too bad, although whites are not the regions specialty.
After the museum we got back on our bikes and headed off to the next stop, a winery called Vina el Cerno. This winery was a few kilometers away, and by the time we arrived we had discovered how increbily uncomfortable the bike seats were. I have ridden quite a few bikes and nothing compared to how hard and lumpy these seats where. Luckily, we were on a wine tour so we head to the tasting room to dull the pain. At this winery we sampled their chardonnay, cabernt sauvignon, syrah, and their malbec, the varitey the region is famous for. Malbec, is actually the variety looked down on by the French (Mal meaning bad and bec meaning kiss.) I thought it was pretty good but Katie prefered the syarh and the cab sauv. After the wine we got back on the bikes, the seats seamed to be a bit better by then, and headed to our next stop, a winery by the name Bodega Carinae. We arrived just in time to join an english tour that had just started. This winery had just been restarted a few years ago, after being abanonded for a generation. Appartently the son had not want to continue the family business and after the father had died, the vineyard just sold their grapes to other wineries. In 2002 or so a couple had bought the land from the son and started the up the current operation, which had already won a couple of international contests. We tasted several of their varieties and bought a couple of bottles to bring back with us. We also had a picnic lunch in the the vineyards.
After that we went across the street to visit an olive plantation. We wandered around a bit and sampled some olives and oil in their gift shop but decided not to take the tour. It was getting late and we still had one more winery to visit.
The last winery we visited was called Familia Di Tommaso. We took a short tour of the facilities, which were no longer be used to produce wine. We were able to walk into one of the large storage barrels, which had been cut open for the public to view. The ceiling of the barrel was coated with crystals, which had formed during the many years the barrel had been used for storing and fermenting wine. They were quite beautiful. We tasted a couple of wines, and bought a bottle of Malbec. Then we biked back to the rental place and caught a bus back into Mendoza.
The second trip we did from Mendoza was the Alta Montaña Tour. We had heard from several people that the road from Mendoza into Chile was spectacular and we wanted to see more of it than just from the bus window. We found a tour that would take us to see most of the sites we wanted to visit.
The trip started off with a surprise, due to a unforeseen time change. We were informed, five minutes after waking up, that the tour group was downstairs waiting for us, and that it was eight o'clock, not seven. We threw our stuff together as quickly as possible and headed off for the mountains. The first stop was at a reservoir that supplied Mendoza and the surround vineyards with water. The drive up there reminded us how dry this region was and how important this water was in maintaining the productivity of the surrounding area. The reservoir and irrigation system was originally built by the natives, but since had received considerable modification to keep up with modern demands.We continued on stopping at the small town of Uspallata for a snack and Los Penitentes Ski Resort. The next stop was the one I had been looking forward to the most, Aconcagua. At 6962m it is the highest mountain in the Americas and the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. We were able to hike for about an hour on a loop out to a lookout point and back to the park entrance. It was nice to get out of the van and stretch our legs after all that driving. It was a beautiful, clear day, and we enjoyed the chilly sunshine. It was the first time we had to wear jackets for a couple of weeks.
The top of the pass was freezing and the wind was blowing hard, chilling us to the bone in seconds. The view, however, was amazing! The snow capped peaks of the Andes stretched out before us in all directions. After snapping a few photos, we were quite cold so we piled back into the van and headed down the mountain.
The last stop on our tour was the Punte de Inca, which despite its name, was not built by the Inca. It is a natural bridge formed from sulphurous deposits spanning the Vacas river. Their are hotsprings located under the bridge, but after an earthquake in 2005 , the bridge was closed as it was unsafe to cross.The bridge was the last stop of the day, and we all piled back into the van for the drive back to Mendoza. After spending a lot of time in big cities was nice to get back out into the mountains and stretch our legs a little.
Buenos Aires - The Good Stuff
Puerto Madero:
We arrived in Buenos Aires in the morning of a bright sunny day and decided immediately that we had to be out exploring the city on foot. We directed ourselves towards the waterfront and headed out into the warm morning. Puerto Madero is a newly revived area, running alongside the old dikes of the port on the Rio Plata. There are four dikes, filled with murky brown water, surroundedby old warehouses that have been transformed into upscale apartments and restauraunts. It rather reminded us of Yaletown. We wandered in the hot sun along the side of the dikes, pausing on shady benches, and to take a photo in front of a rather magnificent footbridge. We crossed the foot bridge and wandered through the neighbourhood towards the waterfront. We strolled along a long footpath running alongside a salt marsh. The whole waterfront area has been revitalized and is now an Ecological Reserve. We intended to explore the reserve, but it was just too hot, so we headed into the Plaza de Mayo for lunch. The plaza is surrounded by some important historical buildings, including the Cathedral and the Casa Rosada, the residence of the president. It is also the site of regular protests, so it is gated across the middle, and around the key buildings. We headed back to our hostel along the pedestrian thoroughfare, called Florida. It is a busy mall, lined with shops and people passing out flyers advertising everything from leather goods to strippers. It was packed with people commuting to and from their jobs in the downtown core around Plaza de Mayo.
Recoletta Cemetary and the Museo de Bellas Artes:
Parks and Palermo:
Monday, December 24, 2007
Happy Holidays!
Timb and I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas from sunny Buenos Aires! We are enjoying our stay here very much, and have been out exploring the city everyday. It is a much different Christmas experience to what we are used to, but it is an enjoyable one none the less. We hope that you all are enjoying your own Christmas holidays, wherever you might be. Eleven more days and then back to the rain. We will see you all soon!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!
Katie and Timb
Water Falling in the Jungle
Unfortunately, whilest Timb was in the bathroom having a well deserved shower, I discovered that we were not as alone in our room as one would have hoped. I picked up my bag to discover a large black cockroach huddled beneath it. I let out a shriek and it ran, and i jumped back against the wall. As I did so, I spied another cockroach scampering into our room from beneath the door. It was all I could do to keep my composure, as I had never seen a cockroach in real life before, and I am sure Timb would say that I didn´t do a very good job of remaining calm. He emerged from the bathroom, quite confused as to what the problem was, and proceeded to heroically squash all the cockroaches that he could find. I think there were only about 8 in total, but that was enough to make me sleep with one light on, very uneasily. The next morning we made the decision to switch hostels, to a cleaner, bug-free environment.
Before we left the park that day, we explored the second of three trails to the water falls, the upper trail. Another boardwalk followed along the upper portion of the falls, which spanned a large distance. The Garaganta Diablo was just the largest of the falls, there were many other smaller falls, following the cliff face. It was incredibly beautiful. The water flowing out over green, jungle rock faces made it a unique experience, and I was happy to have made the long journey just to see the falls.
It was an interesting feeling, standing on the edge of the country, it gave me a sense of our trip and how far we had travelled to arrive at this spot. Later that day, we gathered our bags and caught a bus to Buenos Aires. Like usual, we were moving onward to explore a new place and experience new things. How lucky we are...
Sunday, December 23, 2007
On the road in Argentina - San Pedro to Salta and onward
Formalities at the Argentinian border were long and arduous. Many people were crossing the border from buses and private vehicles, a long line of people wound its way out of the customs office into the glaring sun. We waited for almost an hour, with several people going in and out of the office infront of us with different forms. At long last our passports gained another stamp from the officials, and we were on our way into Argentina. We climbed further into the mountains, and then began to descend a long, winding road cut through a mountain valley. This was one of the most amazing roads I have ever been on. Timb longed to have his longboard to sail through the many hairpin bends. [Editor´s note: It was sweet!] We descended into the night, and arrived in the Salta bus terminal to a dark, rainy night.
The next day we awoke to find the rain still flowing vehemently. Despite Salta´s lovely architecture and leafy streets, we decided to leave that evening to escape the endless rain. We walked over to the bus station to purchase our tickets, and on the way picked up a following of stray dogs. We started with one, and then as we walked through the park, another one joined. It was funny, because we couldn´t get them to leave us alone. They just trailed after us until we went into the bus station, at which point we lost them. We bought our tickets to Iguazu, via Resistencia, and headed back into town to check out of our hostel.
We stowed our bags safely in the hostel, and set out to find a suitable cafe in which to spend the rainy afternoon. We walked along the pedestrian streets, bustling with activity, and found a nice cafe overlooking the main plaza. We spent a couple of hours here, enjoying the Argentinian cafe cortados, watching the foot traffic of the plaza out of the window. After a while, the rain let up a bit, and we decided to go out and explore the city a bit more. We discovered a free exhibit of pre-Columbian artifacts at one of the old buildings around the square. It was an interesting exhibit, in a darkened room with magnificent architectural details. We lingered there for a while, and then headed to find a internet cafe to do some photo downloading and trip planning.
Two hours later we were on an overnight bus bound for Resistencia, where we hoped to take a break for the day and catch another overnight bus to Iguazu. The rain flowed heavily as we pulled out of the bus station. We seemed to circle Salta, as we travelled between small towns picking up more passengers. At each bus terminal individuals selling food products to the travellers would call up the stairs of the bus, attempting to entice us into a sale. At one stop Timb and I purchased our first onboard cuisine, two carne empanadas, that I mention here because they were the best ones that we had on the trip thus far. We munched happily on them as the bus pulled away from the station and towards the highway.
The bus journey from Salta felt excruciatingly long. We seemed to stop in every little town along the way, winding through its streets to the bus terminal, and waiting with the interior lights blaring in your eyes as you tried to sleep. It was not one of our best bus journeys.We arrived in Resistencia quite exhausted, and decided to forgo our planned trip into the town and head straight on to Puerto Iguazu. We purchased our tickets, resupplied our snacks and beverages, and waited for our next bus to arrive.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
San Pedro de Atacama
San Pedro is a rather nice town despite it`s very touristy roots. The streets are small and dusty, with low adobe buildings, and large green trees in the plaza. We wandered the streets for a little while, poking around the market, and admiring the gigantic Christmas tree in the main plaza (for me a rather odd site in the middle of the desert, as I am used to white Christmases). We found a restaraunt for dinner, and enjoyed the set dinner menu of salad, dessert, and a damn good steak.
The next day we spent lazing around. It was my birthday, so we went out for a good breakfast and then spent some time at the internet cafe, so that I could get in touch with my family. Timb and I had a couple of gigantic empanadas for lunch, and played cards in the afternoon, as I attempted to get my tan back. For dinner we went out to a restaraunt with a fire pit and open air patio. We could see the stars as we ate. It was another great meal, though not a cheap one.
The following morning we initiated our budget plan, and after one last breakfast out, we moved to a less expensive room at our hostel, and went out to buy some groceries to cook the meals for the next couple of days. We had a siesta that afternoon, and then headed out to rent some bikes for a tour of La Valle de la Luna.
We were told that the best way to tour the Valle was to do the circuit, starting with a big uphill climb, but ending rather easily with downhill and flat sections for the most part. The beginning of the ride was fine, we stopped at the top and took some photos of the valley from the cliff viewpoints dotted along the road. When we crested the hill and began to descend the other side, trouble began. A head wind picked up, and as we pedalled vigourously as we descended the hill. It was actually faster to bike up the hill, we discovered than to continue down it. But we pressed on, and after about an hour of hard riding we came to a fork, with a field of land mines one way and the entrance to the Valle the other. We pressed on into the Valle, bu by this time we were quite exhausted. We stopped and took a few photos of the rock formations, and the red desert sands, but we had rather lost our enthusiasm for the trip. We biked through the Valle, forgoing the stop to climb the dune and watch the sunset, as we had to conserve our energy for the journey back to San Pedro. We pedalled our way through the rest of the Valle, and back into San Pedro, arriving quite exhausted. We dropped off our bikes and headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and fall into bed.