#6 - Rio and Cape Town

Hola,

Slowly but surely we are catching up on our blog! This installment takes us through Rio to Cape Town with beaches, drinking, food and laughs filling up most of the time.

Sadly we were too busy (drinking most likely) to take many photos but there are a few here to break up the dialogue.

Rio de Janeiro

We arrived in Rio in the late evening to a torrential downpour. Having limited our Brazil time to slightly less than a week we were a little wary of the weather but appreciative of prepaid cabs as we spent more than an hour in traffic from the airport. After finding the hostel in Ipanema we were directed to our “room” down the road, incredibly pleased at having been allocated a one bedroom apartment for our bargain (for Brazil) hostel rate. Drenched but incredibly hot we set off to start our food journey in Brazil so as to make the most of our time there.

Food and beverages
It wouldn´t be our blog without mentioning the food and drinks and the food in Rio deserves a spot in any bloggers entry.

Picanha
On our first steamy night in Rio (I am talking about the temperature for all of you out there with dirty minds) we set off to find a quick bite after a long day of travel.

To the surroundings of a hot night, lively atmosphere and happy crowds a strange tune floated into our heads... do do doo do do do-do... we found ourselves admiring the sizzling grills on the tables in one of the restaurants and decided to head in for some Brahma (the cerveza of choice in Brazil) and the famed meat dish Picanha.

A beer was very refreshing after 2 months drinking wine in Argentina. Picanha involves a hot grill coming to your table with finely sliced rare beef sizzling away. With eyes opened wide we started eating the very rare beef which we (especially Dave) thought was cooked to absolute perfection.

We didn´t realise that we had inadvertently done something wrong until the waiter returned a few minutes later with condiments ready to explain how to eat picaña and realised half of it was already gone. We did however consider the idea of ´wrong´ and continued eating the meat with as little more cooking as possible. Very full, we finished our dinner, still with the catchy do do doo do do do-do running through our heads.

Caipirinhas
It just wouldn´t be Brazil without drinking Caipirinhas and we did our best to sample as many as possible. They were all very delicious although Kate really liked the passionfruit one which isn´t very traditional but I think might have to be replicated with a bottle of cachaca and some passionfruits this summer in Manly.

The Churrasceria
For those who don´t know what a churrasceria is, it is basically an all you can eat meat restaurant where waiters carrying around meat offer you some of what they have depending on whether a little card at the table is turned to available or no thanks.

After having a very light breakfast and no lunch we eagerly sat down at the churrasceria which was a set price (more expensive for men than women) and were blown away by the amazingly fresh bread and buffet selection. Wary of the temptation to fill up before the ´good stuff´ came out we had only a little buffet and shared a couple of sausages and chicken.

It was a good thing we waited because not long after came some great rare beef and slow cooked beef ribs which are definitely in our top 5 food moments so far this trip. The Brazilian beef is quite salty but juicy and delicious and we ate our fair share before waiting for a second round of beef ribs and then rolling home.

Acai
Given the heat, it wasn´t surprising that Ipanema was full of juice stalls where you are served your juice in a glass while standing which saves waste but stops litter on the streets and beaches. While sipping on our Acai´s (a national drink of Brazil which is a blended berry served frozen at the juice stands), watching the people head to the beaches the familiar do do doo do do do-do entered our heads and we were glad to have found out that the restaurant of our very first picaña was where ´the girl from ipanema´ had been written.

While we didn´t quite see a beautiful woman sauntering to the beach everyday (or not that Kate noticed) we did get a chance to check out Rio´s beaches.

The Beaches
We awoke on our first morning to the sun shining and decided to hit the famed Brazilian beaches. We were perplexed (but slightly happy due to overindulgence in the food and alcohol department) to discover that the infamous portrayal of Brazilians with amazing bodies didn´t quite match up to what we saw on the beach. It took an afternoon beach volleyball game of locals to realise that it was mid week so the other less-than-perfect bodies on the beach had probably overindulged on their holidays too. While we watched the volleyball to the backdrop of an amazing sunset over Ipanema, Dave assured me that his interest in the volleyball was purely sporting!


Beach volleyball on Ipanema


Sunset over Ipanema

We were also surprised by the surf at Ipanema. Not only was the water extremely chilly (or very refreshing on a 30 degree day depending on which one of us you talk to), the currents and swell on Ipanema were very strong and potentially very dangerous. We walked over to Copacabana one day and the surf was the biggest either of us had seen (not on tv). There was only one brave soul who faced the surf and he was on a boogie board, although Dave pointed out that this was one time when a boogie boarder deserved the less childish title of a body boarder. Aside from the waves, Copacabana was a little bit like the gold coast on steroids so we were glad to have chosen Ipanema for our stay.

Being good tourists
We couldn´t have left Rio without a visit to the famous ´Cristo Redentor´(or as it was easier to remember the ´jesus statue´) that overlooks Rio. While not on the same pilgrimage to the statue as a lot of the hundreds of other tourists with the same idea, we certainly appreciated the stunning views of Rio that ´jesus´ looks over.


Cristo Redentor


Jesus´views (unfortunately a bit foggy that day)

Luckily for Kate there was a Havaiana shop just around the corner from the hostel. I´m not sure if they were actually cheap or we are just royally ripped off in Aus but I couldn´t go past a few pairs of ´half price´Havaianas (and come on when you wear a type of shoe 359 days a year shouldn´t you grab a few when it´s a bargain?).

With a loving fond farewell to my white Havaianas who more than earned their place of pride on my havaiana shelf, it was time to say good bye to Rio.

Farewell Brazil
The food, caipirinhas, landscape and Havaiana prices all more than exceeded our expectations and overall we found Ipanema (we can´t claim to know all of Rio) sassy, brash, tough and expensive (except for the Havaianas) but incredibly beautiful, fun and life loving.



Cape Town

From Brazil we headed to Cape Town to take the chance to restock supplies and have a couple of weeks of relaxation and restoration before the much anticipated wedding of Laura and Pete.

On clearing customs in Jo´burg we took the cautious Aussie approach and veered to the ´something to declare section´ where we were greeted by a large South African security man who asked us what it was we wanted to declare. As we tried to remember everything, listing off things that would be important in Aus such as wood, cakes and tea, the security guard stopped us and asked ´yes but have you got any cocaine?´. After a stupefied moment of shock we said no and luckily he laughed with us.

We had been to Cape Town in July 2009 which is also the South African winter and thought it was absolutely stunning despite Laura´s protestations that it was much better in the summer. Arriving mid summer it certainly lived up to Lau´s declarations.

We also had to laugh at how cautious we´d been of ´unsafe, dangerous´ Cape Town when all we felt this time was a feeling of familiarity and relaxation compared to many of the parts of South America we had been through. The familiarity of English speaking, left hand driving, bacon and egg eating Cape Town was a very welcome break.

However, the drinking, fun and catch up with the Jephcott family and Laura and Pete´s mates meant it wasn´t quite the two weeks relaxing on the beach we had been expecting.

Hermanus
For our first weekend we headed on a scenic drive up the coast to a place called Hermanus for family bonding. With beautiful ocean views, whale spotting and a stop at a penguin colony filling the 2.5 hour drive. On arrival the kids immediately ran to the supermarket to stock up on beer and wine while Chrissie and Will stayed behind to make some excellent Moscow Mules. I think this gives an indication of why all four girls have chosen beer loving husbands and it set a very bad/good precedent for the two weeks of drinking ahead


Penguins on the way to Hermanus

With resident chef Wes on board and a fantastic indoor braai (South African coal barbeque),which the boys spent two days working out how to replicate at home, we had a great catch up with some amazing meals and great cocktails (although if anyone is heading through Cape Town duty free we recommend not to buy any vodka as three bottles of two different brands turned solid when we put them in the freezer).


The inside Braai

The Cheetahs
On the way back to Cape Town we stopped in for a ´Cheetah experience´ at a cheetah rescue centre where we went in to a cage with four cheetah cubs and had a chance to pat two of them. It was a great experience but we were quite glad the handlers were in there too when a couple of the cubs became curious as to the strangers in their home. A big thanks to Wes for these photos!


Relaxing Cheetahs


Patting Cheetahs


Hope he´s just yawning

The Cheetahs
No, this is not an accidental editing error – a rugby starved Dave realised that the Cape Town super 14 team (the Stormers) were playing South African rivals (the Cheetahs) while we were in Cape Town and a quick email to Lau to find out about tickets turned into a lunch time bender followed by the rugby with 20 people.

Not only were we keen to see some live rugby after almost two years since a game, Newlands, the Cape Town stadium, is rated as a great stadium in a rugby mad country. With a lot less singing and a lot more suggestions to the team, the South African rugby fans almost rivalled the Argentine football fans in enthusiasm. Sadly one similarity was no beer allowed in the stands, however Newlands did provide a bar at half time and while the boys made up for no beer with Cane and Sodas after the game, Sophie and Kate did their best to catch up with shots (that story is best left there).

Not only getting to see live rugby, Dave was in sporting heaven with every super game, cricket from IPL to Aus/NZ games and Formula 1 being screened on tv. He was also in company that enjoyed any excuse to have a beer so there was lots of sport (I wonder if that´s where all the time went?).

Camps Bay
After a few days in Tamboerskloof we moved to some stunning apartments in Camps Bay. Not only was the regular view spectacular, we were lucky to be there on a day when the ´table cloth´ rolled over and on another day we were slightly panicked by a mountainous wave on the horizon which turned out to be an enormous, tsunami shaped cloud.

Eating and drinking
It goes without saying that we ate a lot of meat on this trip The bacon and eggs have already rated a mention and among other highlights were, Malaya laksa, droewors and biltong from a small boutique on the way home from Hermanus and a beachside seafood braai with ten courses. As you can imagine, this wasn´t extremely exciting for Kate so she made up with it with lots of Windhoeks (our beer of choice for the trip) and South African Pinotage. Wes´slow cooked ribs were without doubt the best meal of the trip and could be slightly dangerous for our health kick if we can convince him to replicate them when we head home.

None of this would have been the same without the great company which involved getting to know the van Zijls and culminated in a ´wine off´(Aussie v South African) two days before the wedding. With the families getting along so well, it became clearer and clearer why Laura and Pete are so suited and we weren´t too sure whether the evening out would have been more appropriately called a ´weird family off´´.

Wedding
Now we get to the real reason for being in Cape Town- Lau and Pete´s wedding!! The morning was a little grey and drizzly but we were holding out hope for a clear afternoon. Around 1 or 2 we headed to the venue, which is absolutely stunning with amazing views, and the wind was whipping up a freezing frenzy. Worried for the bride and bridesmaids we rushed out to get some pashminas for the reception.

As hoped, spending the money turned out to be unnecessary and there was a beautiful break in the weather when Laura arrived to a nervous (?) Pete. She looked absolutely stunning and I´m pretty sure Pete wanted to rush her off then and there but with some good giggles and lots of emotion they had a beautiful ceremony followed by a fun party of a reception with fantastic food and a to die for wedding cake.


The happy couple

If you are interested there are more photos on Monica´s (Lau´s photographer) blog (which look like they came out of a magazine) at http://www.monicadartphotography.com/blog/

Speaking of blogs, it´s time to end this one.

Next time will be Mexico which will hopefully bring us up to date

Adios Dave and Kate

Post #5 >>> Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires

Hola! Today we continue to fight back against our very overdue blog to cover our final adventures in Argentina .... the amazing natural wonders of Iguazu Falls before moving on to the big smoke, Buenos Aires.


Iguazu Falls

Our time was rapidly counting down in Argentina .. which was funny considering that we had already changed our flights twice to increase our time in the country from 4 weeks to 6 weeks! Given that our time was really running out we thought it would be wise to actually see the most famous sight in the country before we left ... Iguazu Falls!

Puerto Iguazu is a sleepy little town and pretty much only geared towards providing tourists with food, shelter and gimmicky souvenirs in between their trips to the waterfalls. The only thing to do here is head to the waterfalls, either from the Argentinean side or hopping the border to Brazil and looking at the waterfalls from there ... so here we go:

Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

Brazil Side

The Brazilian entry to the waterfalls had amazing views from the side and above. So we decided to firstly see them from here to get a perspective on things before we explored right up close to the waterfalls on the Argentinean side.

We ‘skipped’ the border to Brazil and entered the national park. In between watching silly tourists feeding the animals along the pathway (not smart), we saw some amazing views of the waterfalls and felt the immense power of the water when the platform weaved near the bottom of the ‘Devil’s Throat’. This is the most immense part of the waterfalls where an unbelievable quantity of water comes crashing down from multiple angles at once.

A friendly little critter eating some healthy natural food


Another critter with curious facial hair in front of the waterfalls



Kate and the falls




Tiny pathway leads right into the Devil´s throat
(Unfortunately no pictures from that walkway, way too much water!)

Argentina Side of the falls

After getting our perspective from the Brazil side, on our second day we explored the falls from the Argentinean side. This time the paths weaved around and through the falls, giving a far closer experience. We went even closer when we took a boat ride right up to the bottom of the falls ... the boat went WAAAY closer to the pounding water than we thought it would and the power of the spray was intense. Drenched to the bone, we then walked around to the top of the ‘Devil’s Throat’, which was even more amazing from the top. Words can’t describe it and our pictures hardly do it justice, but here they are anyway...

Couldn´t help but think about sitting in a boat here.
It doesn´t look too bad, but 50m around that corner is...




Kate and the Devil´s Throat


Dave (minus his beard!) with the Devil´s Throat

Anything apart from the waterfalls?

While the falls themselves were clearly the highlight of our time here, there were other points of note. Firstly, this was the point in time on the trip when Dave finally cracked and shaved off his 2.5 month old beard ... as he was starting to resemble Tom Hanks from Castaway. There were some experimental designs shaved into the beard before it all came away (resembling something between a leprechaun and a convict) ... however the photos will not be committed to the internet ... yet.

Secondly, we found the funniest little hostel in Puerto Iguazu which had the most laid back management we have ever seen ... they sat around playing playstation all day (if some of the world’s most amazing waterfalls weren’t around the corner, Dave would have owned them at FIFA 09). They also didn’t take a single detail from us during our entire stay (for example our names) and whenever we tried to pay them for the room we were met with ´tranquilo .. mas tarde´ (relax, later!). After months of passport photocopies, credit card guarantees and deposits for bath towels, this was a nice change of pace!!

Final Fling with Argentina´s amazing Buses

With a 20hr ride to Buenos Aires ahead of us, we decided to splurge and travel ¨first class¨ for our final bus ride. With movies, meals, wine, whiskey and a seat that belonged in a plane´s first-class cabin, we floated down to Buenos Aires, knowing that we were unlikely to ride on buses like this for the remainder of our trip!

Kate ´roughing it´ on the bus

Buenos Aires

We absolutely loved Buenos Aires. In fact, it was so amazing that we once again tested the patience of our AMAZING travel agent and delayed our stay in Argentina for the third time while we were here (up from the original 4 weeks to 7 weeks).

Buenos Aires feels like a beautiful mix between South America and Europe ... and has an amazing balance: It’s stylish but still grungy. A big Argentine spirit, but with influences from all over the world. World-class eating/drinking, but at an amazing value.

The Food

It appears that all of our clothes became decidedly smaller (especially around the waistlines) while we were in BA. We blame the laundromats ... however it might also have had something to do with the amazing food and wine.

The most difficult part about eating in Buenos Aires was simply choosing between the many amazing options each night. While we were loving South American food, we had been starved of other cultural foods during our recent travels ... not to mention the prior 12 months in Switzerland, where they were world leaders at adapting quickly to exciting new things from other cultures ;)

Firstly we (or more accurately, Dave) was craving some good Asian food ... which brought about some very satisfying trips to Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Indian restaurants in very quick time. The trips to the Malaysian and Indian restaurants unfortunately also showed us how much of our spice tolerance we had lost in the prior year ... we were chilli wimps!

During these trips to the Asian kitchens, we also found that BA was experimenting with Japanese/Peruvian fusion, where dishes were created using a combination of Japanese Sushi and Peruvian Ceviche techniques. Dave was extremely excited by this ... Kate a little less so.

Ceviche and a pisco sour ... awesome!

Kate was however excited by one experience. In a French restaurant (OK, we still miss Europe!), we ordered a chocolate combination platter for dessert, which had a white chocolate mousse with the most intense chocolate flavour we have ever tasted. Kate frequently talks about how much she wants to return to BA one day ... and Dave is pretty sure it’s mostly to do with the dessert from this one restaurant.

However at the end, despite all of the culturally diverse restaurants in the city, Parilla was still extremely well represented and it was playing a very unfair advantage. Each night, as we wandered the streets considering where to eat dinner, it was very difficult not to notice the smell of the Parilla smoke, combined with sizzling chorizo and steaks, wafting through the air at nearly every corner. With a few beers under one’s belt it was extremely difficult to refuse, and we were captured by some more amazing steak (matched with even more amazing Malbecs) on multiple occasions before we departed.

The Parilla at Don Julio in Palermo
(Photo from http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar ...
we were too busy eating to actually take our own photos)

Upon reflection, I think we’ve found the source of the clothing problem.

The Sights

In between eating and drinking, we actually found some time to do a little sightseeing! In Buenos Aires we wandered through the Recoleta cemetary, where famous Argentineans are laid to rest. Then, having seen the tomb of Evita Perón, we headed to see the Museo Evita, which was a far nicer way to learn about her life than watching a movie with Madonna in it.

Recoleta Cemetary


A boxer´s tomb in Recoleta Cemetary


The Duarte Family tomb,
final resting place of Evita Peron

Despite Kate being the Arts student, Dave was the one pushing to see the art in BA … dragging Kate to the amazing private collection of Maria Fortabat (an amazing woman herself, but with a mind-blowing collection including a portrait of her done by Andy Warhol) and the contemporary art museum (the MALBA).

The Fortabat Museum in Puerto Madero
(no cameras allowed inside, so no snaps of the art)

The Football

The art was nice. However nothing compared to the football! This was a big highlight for us, but not initially...

When we first came to town, our schedule only allowed us to see one of the two BA teams, the upper-class team of River Plate. We went with a tour group called ´Green Goal´ (which sounded a little bit too much like ´Gringo´ for us), sculled a few beers beforehand (no beer in the stadium!) and marvelled at the dancing/singing crowd. Unfortunately, Dave thought the team was a bunch of diving pansies so found it difficult to get behind the home side. Unfortunately, we were in the thick of the home supporters, so cheering for the opposition wasn´t an option either. Fortunately, Kate had a few beers under her belt, so was happy to dance and sing, without really caring about the game too much.

River Plate preparing to put on a diving exhibition


One of the reasons not to cheer against the home team
(note the shaving around the tattoo ... classy)

Fortunately, after we extended our stay in the city, we found out that we could see Boca Juniors (the working-class team, former home of Diego Maradona) at the famous ´La Bombanera´ stadium. This was simply amazing! Firstly, the stadium was alive with energy. The crowd sings from kickoff to the final whistle with so much passion. We were also able to considerably expand our Spanish vocabulary as a result of the comments directed at the opposite team (including from the 10 year old sitting behind us). The big plus was that this time, the team played real passionate football, more focused on getting the ball in the net than milking penalties. Dave was happy and Kate surprisingly made it through her second game of football in a week (once again, beer was a factor in making this happen).

Feeling far more comfortable in the Boca colours


Pictures can´t explain the energy in the stadium

Farewell Argentina

We came to Argentina with an ambitious plan to cover the country in 4 weeks. Even after stretching it to 7 weeks we have only scratched the surface. We found it extremely difficult to leave and cannot wait for the next opportunity to go back.

However our sadness was short lived, because our next destination after Buenos Aires was none other than Rio de Janeiro. However, this blog entry has already outstayed its welcome and we´ll cover Rio next time...

Hasta Luego!

Dave and Kate

#4 LONG OVERDUE! Argentina part 2 and Bolivia

Prologue:

Sucre, Bolivia >> We awoke to shouting and explosions on the street below our hotel room. After lying low for a little while the sound died down and it seemed safe enough to venture out and finally find some food. As we tiptoed down the street we could hear skirmishes 1-2 blocks away and were able to navigate around the chaos ... or so we thought.

Suddenly a shot from above took us completely by surprise. A boy, hardly a man, wielding a huge gun opened fire from a first-floor balcony. We were completely exposed and were both hit badly.

Fortunately the guns were super-soakers, the bombs were water-balloons, the explosions were fireworks and the shouting was accompanied by drums and dancing. It was Carnaval in Bolivia (no not Brazil) and it was a crazy party with tactical water warfare on every street corner.



Introduction ... so where the bloody hell are we?

Right now, we are kicking back on the beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. And yes, it´s been a LOOOONG time since our last blog update and plenty has happened since Mendoza, Argentina!!

Our only excuse for this radio silence is that we´ve simply been having way too much fun!!! Fortunately, we´ve kept track of our adventures by writing garbled thoughts on the back of beer-stained coasters in bars and we´ve now started the process of getting these adventures typed up into the blog.

Since our last installment we continued our travels in Argentina (Cordoba, Salta, Iguazu falls and back to Buenos Aires), with a side-trip to Bolivia (the amazing salt fields, desert landscapes and Sucre), then onto Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) before a ´minor´ detour to South Africa (Cape Town) for the AMAZING wedding of Laura (Kate´s sister) and Pete. From South Africa, we´ve turned up in Mexico to spend the final 2 months of our travels.

There´s no way we can cover all of that travel in one blog entry, so for this first overdue blog instalment we´ll cover our travels through northern Argentina and our Bolivian detour.


==================================================================

Cordoba, Argentina

Our long overdue blog recommences in Cordoba where our Italian connections (thanks Isabella!!) came in very handy as we were introduced to two fantastic locals (Mario and Rodolfo) who went well above and beyond the call of duty to show us the sights...

The tour

Literally a couple of days before we arrived in town, we checked our email to find a message from our friend Isabella who asked if we were going anywhere near Cordoba, where she had good friends living. We were so lucky to get this message, because Mario and Rodolfo were the most friendly and generous guys we have ever met. Despite the slow communication in our poor Spanish and their English, we had a great time with the two brothers who met us on our first day in Cordoba to give us a tour of the town.

Cordoba is a university town with a LOT of convents. There are also many beautiful churches which Dave and I now have photos in front of thanks to Mario. I had to bite my tongue on making a joke about where all the women were locked up when we were shown a women´s prison that was shut down a couple of years ago and coverted into a cultural centre. Right in the centre of town, the building was imaginably a lot prettier surrounded by mate-sipping students instead of high security walls.



around town


with our hosts Rodolfo and Mario

The asado

Cordoba was also the first place we had been in the same spot as a our Swiss friend Simon since Bariloche, so we caught up for an asado at his hostel. Despite being supermarket meat, the Argentinian backpacker in charge of the grill managed to cook the meat to perfection -Dave even rates his as the best cooked rib-cut he had in the whole trip. Although we were a little put off by the ´snack´of uncooked blood sausage as an appetiser it was a great opportunity to meet some interesting people.


The famed Asado (note the side coals)

Lost in translation

After hearing great things about Avatar the night before, we thought we would take some time out from Spanish and hit the movies. Unfortunately for us Avatar wasn´t available in English however Invictus was. After being a little thrown off by the interval (but appreciating the chance for a beer), we came across one of the most unfortunate ´lost in translation´ moments of our tour. In a key scene where Mandela is explaining that if the country didn´t unify the future would be ´very bleak indeed´, the Spanish subtitles informed us that the future would be very black. Not only were we slightly choking and looking around for the audience reaction, it made us wonder how many subtitled movies we have watched over the years that were dramatically off the mark.

Farewell Cordoba

After having had such a great, comprehensive tour from the locals, we decided to cut our Cordoba visit short but not before one last dinner and quick tour with Mario. Our Italian descended hosts took us to a great pizza place, followed by ice cream and a drive by of the football stadium (a perfect example of the European influence in Argentina). While a little sad to be leaving the next day we were happy to have made some new friends and excited for the adventures ahead.


Salta, Argentina

Another overnight bus ride found us in the birth place of Empañadas (or to be more accurate, Salteñas), Salta where we were to spend 3-4 days before heading off again.

We started touristy with a cable car trip up a mountain which was said to have a great view of Salta (it was the prospect of great views, not the incline that made us take the cable car instead of walk). We could be forgiven for calling it a mountain given that our highest peak is 2228 metres however, given the proximity to the Andes we also forgave the locals for laughing at the term mountain. The (almost obligatory) Jesus statue at the top overlooked a city a lot larger than we had expected and a cool beer and great views made the trip very worth while.


View from the top, Jesus looks over grand Salta

The mummies

The surrounding mountainous terrain as an important part of north-western Argentinian life was again emphasised with our trip to a local museum which housed three (only two were on show) mummies of sacrificed children which had been preserved in the extreme cold climates of the upper Andes. The mummies were preserved to the point of facial expression and hair colour and the museum was a great place to finally encounter some indigenous legend and tradition.


Preserved 500 year old discoveries from the Andes. Unfortunately no photos of the mummies were allowed

The peña

Our trusty source informed us that Salta was a great place to catch a folk music (or Peña) show, so we headed for a dinner and show experience which, while a little touristy, had a great mix of traditional costume and dance and local contemporary band members jamming (if you can call playing folk style music jamming). On the way home we learned for free as we watched a tango show through the window of an expensive restaurant.


The Peña shows - traditional and modern

The empañadas

Being in the birthplace of empañadas, it would have been a crime not to try some so on our last day we headed to the local taxi joint which housed at least 4 empañada shops. With our choice of a conservative mix of meat and chicken, baked and fried, the birthplace of empañadas more than exceeded expectations and our ´light lunch´quickly became a big meal.

Very full, we headed for the bus station...


The Bolivian Salt Tour

Before we started our trip we both happily agreed that we wouldn´t lock ourselves into any plans so that we could take unexpected opportunities as they arose.

In Salta, as we were planning a trip in the Northern Argentinian salt fields and the famous Quebrada de Humahuaca, we found out that our Swiss friend Simon was planning to take a 4WD trip from the Chile/Argentina border up into Bolivia to see the amazing salt fields there (apparently significantly bigger than Argentina´s). Sticking with our flexible-itinerary philosophy we decided to join him for this awesome tour and planned to come back to northern Argentina to see the Quebrada de Humahuaca when we were finished.

Luckily, as we embarked on the 12 hour bus ride to Chile to meet Simon our bus took us directly through the Quebrada de Humahuaca. The anti-malerial tablets we were taking at the time were said to cause strange-dreams and we definitely felt we were dreaming as we looked out onto the multi-coloured landscapes of the Quebrada. The minerals in the rocks turned the mountains into many shades of blue, red, yellow, green and purple .... some of the most amazing scenery we had seen



We eventually arrived in the cute little town of San Pedro (in northern Chile near the intersection of the Argentinian and Bolivian borders) to spend a night before taking off on the 4WD tour. As we checked in for the trip, our tour operator greeted us with the surprising news that due to the altitude of the trip (we would be heading up to 5000m), we should stay off the alcohol and red meat for the duration of the trip ... which was difficult after a few weeks in Argentina!!!

The next morning we joined up with 21 of our closest gringo friends for our exclusive ;) tour of the Bolivian landscape. While we laughed at this at first, our fellow travellers turned out to be amazing people and without these guys the trip simply wouldn´t have been the same.

As we arrived at the vehicles for the trip we felt strangely at home ... they were 80 series toyota landcruisers (the same family cars used by the jephcotts and rohans when we were teenagers). We visited a series of lakes that lived up to their colour based names (verde-green, blanco-white and colorado-red). Apparently the different minerals in each lake caused the intense colours which were so strikingly different in a short space. The landscape between the lakes was also amazing and our 5 man jeep, with 2 amazing dutch, Simon and ourselves often paused our lively conversation to ´appreciate´the amazing colours and rocks.


the trusty landy

The chilli high altitude weather was broken by a beautiful dip in a hot spring. Unfortunately we weren`t the only gringo tour to have this idea so it was quite crowded. While our tour was certainly on the tourist beat the views were not worth missing.

Night one saw us in purpose built lodgings where we had a chance to meet a few of the folks in the other landcruisers. Among the crowd were French chefs, Chilean rugby players, Dutch explorers, a couple of geezers and some friendly Czechs. After climbing 4400 metres during the day we were all pretty tired so didn´t spend a lot of time socialising.

Day 2 of the trip saw us revisit lake Colorado to have an up close look at the flamingos before continuing to crazy rocks which many of the group chose to climb like kids in a playground. We also stopped by some stinking sulpher geysers which was weird to see so close.






Amazing landscapes

Unfortunately, due to rain, we couldn´t stay in the much anticipated salt hotel and instead ended up in a small llama farming town . An enterprising young Chilean organised with the drivers to have lamb for dinner.

While waiting for dinner we set off to explore the town. We found a lookout tower that seemed like the perfect place to grab a beer. Simon went to get the beers where he found a 5 year old local boy who thought his 3 week old stubble was the funniest thing he had ever seen. You can imagine the kid´s delight at seeing Dave´s 2 month long beard -he kept laughing and pointing at Dave saying something that we can only guess was the local dialect for beard (we hope). Fortunately Dave managed to grab a snap of this (judge for yourself but I think Dave might be in the wrong business).


hahaha ...what is that on your face?

After two days at altitude surely we were fighting fit for red meat and alcohol?... or so we thought. After two beers our already friendly group were excitedly social, enjoying an amazing evening under a blanket of thousands and thousands of visible stars. Although there was some debate between us and the Chileans as to the location of the Southern Cross, the evening solidified the good times and friendships forming in our group.

Dave was happy to join a soccer game with a local boy and some of the other guys in the group but was slightly relieved when everyone, including the Chilean rugby players, were gasping for breath after only 5 minutes of soccer at 4500 metres (althought the local boy had plenty of energy).

Wearily the next morning we set out for the long awaited salt field. I cannot do it justice to describe it so will put some pictures below. We were lucky to have our group photographer, Walther along to help with perspecitve shots and capturing the vastness of the scene.


distance is impossible to judge


no perspective (thanks to Walther for the shots)


our great tour group


Sucre, Bolivia

After a (relatively) hectic schedule in the prior couple of weeks and a nerve-wracking bus ride through the spectacular (but extremely dodgy) mountain roads of Southern Bolivia, we decided to park our weary bones and our backlog of dirty laundry in the surprising city of Sucre.

For half the price of a shitty hostel in Argentina, we found a plush full-service hotel and set up camp. On the first couple of days we explored the beautiful white-washed streets of Bolivia (apparently council laws require all houses to be painted white), explored the indigenous art (Sucre draws in art from the surrounding indigenous Bolivian cities) and chatted with the super-friendly locals. While these may sound like noble tourist pursuits we do have a small confession ... on the first afternoon in Sucre we slumped into bed and turned on the tv to find some craptacular American TV shows (in English!) from the ´90s. After pushing ourselves to be good tourists for so long an afternoon in front of the box was truly a luxurious extravagance.


traditional weaving

After a few days, Carnaval was upon us. In Sucre, this consisted of music and dancing in the streets, but above all ... water warfare (see the intro to this blog). At first, it was locals only participating, however before long the gringos were allowed to join the fun and not long after that, we became the main targets in town! This was great fun after a few beers when you felt like a water-fight (and vendors were selling bags of pre-filled water-bombs on the side of the road) ... however after 3 days of water-bombs we were a little bit over it and going for a morning coffee without copping a soaking became a truly tactical mission!


carnaval chaos

One day, we evaded an onslaught by ducking into a ¨gringo-tastic¨ bar (according to the lonely planet) and found a friendly Irishman waiting for Ireland to play France in the 6 nations on the tv. Unfortunately the telecast was delayed for a couple of hours so we helped him wait over a few jugs of beer. Unfortunately the gallant greens were outdone by les bleus so we commiserated in true Irish fashion with a few more jugs. Suffice to say it was near impossible to dodge the water bombing on the way home after that much beer with our new irish friend.

With strong Irish-induced hangovers we bid farewell to friendly Sucre and flew to Santa-Cruz for a one-night stopover. We realised our luck in selecting Sucre as our destination during Carnaval when we found out that the locals here were armed with paintballs (seriously). Our cab got us to within one block of our hotel, but would not go the final block because he was worried for the safety of his car, which was reassuring. As the locals reached for their paintballs, we sprinted the block and dove into the lobby of our hotel, with the receptionists stunned that we had made it unscathed and unpainted.

With this action-packed finale, we then breathed a big (but very contented) sigh of relief as we bid farewell to Bolivia and boarded a plane (we´d had enough of Bolivian buses) back to Argentina.


The epic will continue...

If you´ve made it this far, well done!!! Our next (overdue) blog will take us back into Argentina to the spectacular waterfalls of Iguazu before we go back to the big smoke in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

Adios Amigos!

Dave and Kate