Ilha Grande

So after Charles left we decided to head for the last bit of beach before I'd fly out. We picked Ilha Grande, an island off the mainland with more than 100 secluded beaches on it- most only reachable by boat or hiking trail.

So we got on the insanely expensive bus to the town of Angra dos Reis, where we searched for a hidden ferry in the pouring rain. We finally found it with the help of a hot dog salesman, and with Philip and Susanna- two people we'd met on the bus- we set off for the island.

I hate rain when I'm travelling. With rain, you're screwed. Especially at the beach. We wanted to camp, but decided to go for a hostel seeing the flooded campsite next door. The next morning it was still raining a bit, but we went on a walk through the rainforest to a black sand beach, where I became black for old time sake, then we swam in a questionable smelling river, passed the old prisons and aqueduct, and ended up swimming some more in a stream-waterfall-rock pool thing.

That afternoon the retraced our steps with the two others in search of a waterfall that we never reached. But we didn't care, cuz we saw cool looking bamboo on the way. Back in town we ate amazing street cake and I can't remember what else we did that day.



The next day, and our last on the island, was, luckily, all sun. We went to the best beach on the island- and some say the most beautiful in Brazil- on foot, hiking through the thick forest and passing by 3 great beaches on the way. Our destination- Lopes Mendes beach was breathtaking- it was probly what Rio was like before the people arrived. It was almost the perfect beach. First of all, the sand squeaked. Already that gives it, like, 3,000 points.

Then the beach ran for at least a few kilometers, and was nice and thick too. It had big waves, but far enough so that you can ride them and they don't kill you. It has a beautiful backdrop of pristine Atlantic forest with hills jutting out of the water. It has no, I repeat, No human settlement. Not even a restaurant. It has hardly any tourists... it was great. The whole island is really well managed, with a good trail system and planned perfectly for sustainable tourism. We played in the waves, made sandcastles, relaxed on the sand, and I took a walk discovering an old blue and white Jesuit church and brightly colored jellyfish washed onto the shore.

We rushed back at 5:30 cuz it was a 3 hour hike back to our village and it was getting dark soon, but we made it with enough time to spare, stopping by at a little beach on the way to take a dip.

Riooooooooooooooooooo

We have arrived. Theres just something about this city... we don´t quite believe that we´ve made it this far. It seems to unrealistic that we´re in the Rio de Janeiro laying on Ipanema beach watching the sun set behind its curved hills while listening to the musical Portuguese of thousands of scantly-clad beachgoers.

But we are and we´re here and to me its the perfect ending to the perfect trip. Arriving at 10pm on Friday night we made our way to Leblon (fancy part of town next to the beach!) ready to do some couchsurfing. Well, apparently the guy had misunderstood us that thought there were 2 of us instead of 5. Yea... so he was really nice and let us sleep on his floor for that night anyways, and the next day we found ourselves a perfectly placed hostel in Lapa, the alternative center of Rio.


So now we´re living right in front of a huge white aqueduct with live music and dancing to the right and the left of our hostel. When we´re hungry we step outside and literally walk 2 meters and get ourselves some great street food (Grilled meat sticks or huge hot dogs with corn, raisins, eggs, chips and beans on top) or just cross the street for some caipirinhas that we can drink on our terrace overlooking the nightlife. So thats pretty much what we´ve been doing in the evenings here...

On our first day we went to the Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) for some spectacular views of Rio and its beaches. Its probably the weirdest placed city I´ve seen, I mean its a pretty stupid place to make a huge city cuz its dotted with steep hills jutting out of the ground and surrounded by curving bays everywhere, so the city is left hugging the contours of water and its hills. But this combination of unspoiled rainforest hills, deep blue water and a mass of buildings scattered throughout the area makes it a really amazing city.


The language is impossible to understand but we don´t care cuz its so nice to hear. Its also a bit weird to see people in black suits walking down the street next to others in tiny bikinis, plus, I don´t think I´ve ever seen such a diversity of people all in the same place. Its like if someone picked up the world and shook it and someone from every country landed in Brazil.

So after admiring the view until sunset we went out partying next door, and the next day we decided to relax on Ipanema beach. Being Sunday the beach was so crowded that you just saw a neverending patchwork of umbrellas and people until the sea spray impeded you from seeing any further. That night a street performer that we had met in Buenos Aires spotted us and invited us to a party of other street performer and circus people friends. So we walked up a huge hill and down a maze of pathways reminding me a bit of Hanoi to find this cool party full of people from all over the world.


The day after we visited the Morro Santa Teresa, died of heat and walked to the Christ statue overlooking the city. The views weren´t as nice as from the other hill but it was a nice walk through the rainforest. After that we went to the Uruguaiana market which was teeming with people, but lacked anything interesting to buy (Except for sugar cane juice!!). And again we hung around our area at night, watching some live music and talking to street sellers until late...

Today is Charles´ last day so we´re on our way to Copacabana beach before his plane leaves tonight.

Foz do Iguazu

I am now in Rio and can´t believe it... but first things first. Iguazu. Instead of hating long distance bus rides we´re now in love with them, so we were more than happy to book ourselves on another 21-hour trip towards Iguazu.

Already from the bus you could see a huge change in the landscape as everything for the last 8 hours was rainforest-green, which looked even more dramatic contrasted by the bright red soil everywhere. Iguazu was our first tropical destination since the jungles of Ecuador in September, so we welcomed the heat for about 30 seconds before waterfalls rivaling those of Iguazu started pouring out from our bodies. Oh well... I guess its better than frostbite.


So we found a great laid back hostel with a swimming pool and jumped right in after arriving, making pasta for dinner and relaxing outside in the evening. The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am to arrive at the waterfalls by 9:30 and start our tour.

These things are amazing. Already just arriving to them is impressive because you have to cross the 1km wide river on metal catwalks, and then all of a sudden this calm river falls down into nothingness as if the ground under it had just dissapeared. We couldn't even see the bottom because of all the mist. After seeing the biggest drops we continued on another tour of more falls the rest of the day, with the combination of pouring rain and waterfall mist drenching us completely. Well at least we weren´t sweating.


After oohing and aahing at more waterfalls and stomping around in the red mud we made it back home to our comforting pool and a night of caipirinhas. The next day we exited Argentina for the last time and made our way to Brazil, and, 25 hours later, we got off at the drab bus terminal of Rio de Janeiro.

Cordoba

Couchsurfing is da bomb. Its a website where people all over the world register to share their couch, bed or floor with travellers. We've just started using it in Buenos Aires, and its really given us another perspective to our travels. We felt so at home at these complete strangers' places and its let us do a lot of things (and save lots and lost of money) that we wouldnt otherwise have been able to do. Its amazing too how these people just decide to take strangers into their houses and lives without any apprehension... it kind of gives you hope for humanity.

Now we're staying in Cordoba, Argentina's 2nd largest city and once again we've had the best luck with couchsurfing, being hosted by Sofia, a 20 year old graphic design student in her amazing house with a Mediterranean garden and swimming pool!! We had a huge BBQ with all her family just after arriving and spent the afternoon laying by the pool and playing with her newborn puppies (the 4 fattest puppies in the universe).

She took us out to one of her friends' Bday parties that night and we danced until morning, then we got up at 2 that day and had a repeat of the previous one, laying by the pool, drinking mate and exchanging massages.

Life just shouldnt be this good. We've decided that it just can't get any better than this, so the only solution is to die. Yes, its drastic, but we see no other choice. And since the next 60 years are all gonna be downhill anyways...we might as well spare ourselves the wrinkles.

I've finally uploaded all my photos from Argentina, including our huge hike, the glaciers, Bariloche and bus rides. Click here to see them.

Buenos Aires

The past week has been pure bliss, with us taking a pause from travelling and settling down in the huge metropolis of Buenos Aires. It has felt like home thanks to our couchsurfing hosts that let us into their lives for a few days, giving us a place to stay and showing us around town.

We are now waiting for our midnight bus out of here, all of us sad to leave this city. In the past week we've seen a great ska-jazzish band, a drum concert, danced in the streets, played pinball until our muscles were sore, laid on a paradisiac lawn & swam on top of our building for hours on end, saw an amazing tango music show called "Mucha Mierda", met Roberto, a homeless guy with such a passion for life, hung out in parks, partied till sunrise, went to museum (singular) and just wandered around the streets.


I think its the first time we're all actually gonna miss a place, though we've all vowed to come back and live here some day. 18 days till my flight out, and I'm trying not to think about it, but its hard not to. We're moving into December and its the first time that the end has really been in sight. Next is the central town of Cordoba, then its off the the Iguazu falls and into Brazil for the last phase of the trip.

Potatoes

More random photos from our adventures in Puerto Montt and the Chilean lake region.

Loving our newly rented car

Joy riding

Hiking in H-something national park near Pucon.

Climbing the Volcano Villarica

Fisherman boat in Castro- Chiloé.

Back to Reality

We've just spent the last 3 days travelling from the end of the world to the 3rd biggest city in South America- Buenos Aires. The beginning of the trip was very eventful where upon catching our 5am bus out of Ushuaia we found out from a screaming bus driver that our travel agency had sold too many bus tickets, so me and nadja were relegated to a minivan for the first 3 hours.

We were already annoyed about not being told about that when 15 minutes into the ride we had more important things to worry about - our van driver was falling asleep. So the next hour was spent watching his weary eyes close and having my ever-more sweaty hand ready to grab the wheel. We`d told him several times but he kept on insisting he wasn't sleepy, only to slowly drift onto the gravel 5 minutes later... he even put on his sunglasses so we couldnt see his eyes.

A few more repeats of this and we forced him to pull over and told him either he leaves us there or I`d drive the rest of the way, cuz there was no way we'd continue with him. So for the last 60km I drove the minivan, with him sleeping in the passanger seat and 4 relieved Israelis and Nadja in the back. We were laughing the whole way at the ridiculousness of it all, only to be pissed when the manager of the bus company couldn't have cared less.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, with us getting stuck at the Chilean border for 3 hours cuz of a national border guard strike. From Rio Gallegos (still very south) to Puerto Madryn (Penguin Colony) we took the best bus of our lives, with fully reclinable seats and the whole downstairs of the bus just for us 3! We spent an hour jumping around all the seats before we finally settled down to watch the longest sunset of our lives.


In Puerto Madryn it took us forever to find a car to rent, with all the agencies being closed until 5pm. In the end we got ourselves a little shakey Clio and took off to a nondescript brick-housed Welsh colony where we had english tea with custard face tarts. That night we camped in the volunteer fireman's campgrounds with strong winds blowing our tarp off every so often.


The next day we got lost in stupid Trelew on our way to the biggest penguin colony outside Antarctica, with up to 500,000 penguins living there. It was amazing how close we could come to them. We came in the perfect season, when their babies are just being born and we got to see a few little black things waddle around under their mothers' stomachs. Its also weird that they picked this arid place to have their colony, with there being just rolling desert hills with little shrubs under which they make their nests.


There were penguins for as far as the eye could see- some coming close enough for us to touch them, although we resisted our urges. We were so drawn in by them that we forgot to check our watches and we ended up having to run back to our car and race (and I mean race) back the 230km to the town where we had our bus booked for 2pm. But after doing some rally in the dirt roads we made it back with some time to spare, only to find out that our bus was 1 hour late anyways.

21 hours later and we arrived in the HUGE terminal of Buenos Aires, finally reuniting with SM and Monica and spent the afternoon eating Asado (BBQ beef...mmMmm) and walking around parks and shops. We even met a street performer that we had met before in Lima!

Hitchiking to the End of the World

We decided that just going to the end of the world wasn't dramatic enough, so we chose to do it by hitchiking there in 7 different vehicles over 2 days, spending the night in an 18-wheel truck. We also did it cuz there were no buses there for the next 3 days.

We took a bus from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, the biggest city in the south of Chile, and from there a nice navy guy took us out of his way past the airport to the middle of nowhere and left us there to die. Apparently we could get rides easily there... and we did. Within 20 minutes of waiting a huge 18-wheeler pulls over and we jump aboard, beginning our trip to the southern most city inthe world- Ushuaia.


Our optitian-turned-truck driver was anything but stereotypical, having decided that routines were not for him he turned to driving trucks 11 years ago and just bought his huge new one 4 months ago. The truck cabin was amazing, with bouncy seats and even 2 beds in the back which we made use of when we got stuck at the ferry crossing for 3 hours, forcing us to spend the night inside. He even gave us our first taste of mate (typical Argentinean tea drink).

He let us off again in the middle of nowhere, and we got a ride with a scientist guy who analyzes gas in labs for 7 days and then gets 7 days off... lucky bastard. Again let off somewhere between 2 grass fields that extended until infinity with no signs of human presence we managed to flag down another 18-wheeler, this time transporting TV parts, complete with a tattoed and mulleted driver.


Apparently they deliver electronic parts all the way to the south of the country, assmble them there, and then truck them back up, cuz Tierra Del Fuego is a tax free zone... still seems like a waste to me though. Since Tierra Del Fuego isn't physically connected to the rest of Argentina everyone has to cross through Chile twice to get there, making them very angry, specially when Chile takes away all your apples. Grr.


After eating and relaxing at the border we found a meat-carrying truck driver with fuzzy blue seats to take us to Rio Grande, closer yet to our destination. From there a teacher took us even closer to the little village of Tolhous or something, which had an amazing bakery and chocolate shop, and then we stowed away on a muddy bus for the last 2 hours, finally reaching our destination of Ushuaia at 11pm, and for $7 instead of $60... Woohoo!

Torres del Paine

I've never done a multi-day hike before, so I didn't really know what to expect, nor did I have much time to expect anything. This national park is a hiker's dream, with trails passing between towering peaks and bright turquoise lakes, leading to glaciers and through wind-swept plains.

I've never seen so many different landscapes so close together, and this hike was really, I dunno... unreal.

We did the ´W´ hike, which is the one that everyone else does, with the first day hiking up to the Torres, these 4 needle point peaks and the trademark of the park, and camping in a little dirt site below. We were prepared, with our little gas cooker and nothing but pasta and soup meals for 4 days straight. Yum.

The next day we walked down along a blue lake and to the French valley, sitting between two mountains of jagged peaks, where we camped again near a river. We set off again after our morning oatmeal to the Gray lake and glacier, which, tho not as impressive as the Moreno one was still very cool. We ended up sleeping on a beach next to huge floating icebergs that night and the next morning was a race against the clock (and the rain) to catch our bus out of there at 6pm.

Well, we made it with plenty of time to spare, with lots of help from the wind that was pushing our backs the whole time. We even invented a new sport called savannah-trashbag-fly-kiting... we just have to work on the name some.

We returned to Puerto Natales, exhausted but happy, taking the next mornings bus (and a shower!) to Punta Arenas.

Patagonia

We have officially entered Patagonia. I'm not sure what attracts me so much to this word (meaning big feet, named after its natives' huge feet), but for me its a mystical place that I've dreamed of coming to since forever.

This 2000 km bus ride took us through the heart of it, leaving the mountains and lakes behind for flat shrublands that extend as far as the eye can see. The bus gods must be smiling on us because we got the best seats in the world, at the top front, with a great 180º view of the road stretching out before us.

The views went from this:

to 2000 km of this:

31 hours and 20 empanadas later we got off the bus at El Calafate, a small über touristy town near the impressive Moreno Glarier. This glacier is one of the only few advancing ones on earth, with its 60 meter high glacial wall moving 2 meters forward every day and regularly breaking off huge chunks of ice into the surrounding lake waters. We found a campsite where we got barked at all night by a neighbours dog, and waking up in the rain the next morning we weren't too enthusiastic about visiting this Glacier.

We decided to rent a car anyways, and as soon as we were on our way the sun came out and all was good again. We stared at the craggy glacier for 5 hours, being the last to leave after sunset and seeing various imposing blocks of ice crashing into the water, making huge waves. (Photos will be up soon...)

We then decided to do some wild camping in the park, and finding a hidden site we spent the night in below-freezing temperatures and died. But it was worth it, cuz the next morning we jumped into the car and drove back to the glacier for breakfast and some more oohing and aahing.

Finally returning the car that aftenoon, we decided to try our luck with hitchiking into Chile. We got lots of smiles and waves, but apparently everyone that drives in this town just goes round in circles all day. The bus arrived in Puerto Natales, Chile, that night and we found ourselves a cozy hostel (and showers!) to spend the night and prepare for our upcoming 5 day hike in Torres del Paine national park.

A little late

So I haven't uploaded my photos of the southern end of the world, but I will post some old photos that I haven't yet.


The trio posing in Bolivia's salt flats

Apparently we like jumping photos.

Flamingos in a 4000 meter high desert

The red lagoon in Bolivia

Hot springs at 6 am where our swimsuits froze solid

La Virgen in Santiago's Cerro San Cristobal

Bariloche

We love Argentina. Mostly because on this side of the Andes it doesn't rain all day every day.

After an eternity in Chile we crossed the Andes once more to the similar landscape of Bariloche- Argentina's lake region. The bus ride in was great, as usual, and at one point we had arid desert one one side of the bus and pine-treed lake surrounding mountains on the other. We liked the view so much that we did the bus trip twice- once to get to Bariloche and the 2nd to go hiking in the small town of Villa la Angostura, which some ways back towards Chile.

Well, instead of hiking a forested peninsula we spent 4 hours walking around a pond, climbing trees and whittling wood. SM intelligently decided to climb a tree lined with sap bubbles, popping all of them on her way up and ending up with sappy hair and jungle-woman fingers.

The next day we went to a beautiful lookout point on Cerro Campanero. We took a seggiovia up and spent the next windy few hours taking billions of photos of the scenery. Ironically I have none of them to upload on my blog... yesh...

On the last night we partied with our overly nice hostel people (they were either on drugs or Argentineans are just very cool), with tonnes of pizza and good wine we stayed up till early morning, something very smart when you have to get up early the next morning to travel 3000 km.

Well, we managed. That morning our group split for the first time, with SM and Monica yearning for big cities they left us for Buenos Aires, and Charles, Nadja and I trudged on to the southern end of the world.

More Photos

Us enjoying our brunch on the terrace in Valparaiso

Our car and our Cabaña in Chiloé. Our first bed after 6 days of camping. I've never appreaciated a bed so much in my life.

The Fjords of Chiloé

Nadja and SM tentfighting

The glorious pickup ride on one of the only sunny days we'd seen in the lake region.

For EVEN MORE photos go here: http://alexpio11.spaces.live.com/photos/

Photo Update

Sunset in Valparaiso, Chile

Sunset jumping

Nadja loving the volcano climb

Tractor in Chile's lake region, which is a mirror image of Switzerland or northern Europe

Nadja and Monica in her uncle's apartment overlooking the sea