Week 33 - Paraguay

Marina partying in Buenos Aires

Floats

Floats

We´re not tourists..

Marina´s entry into the parade

Buenos Tardes Amigos!

Wow what a week it has been and let me tell you I am glad to be back travelling with Marina! We will have a little different of a type of post this week so let me just briefly tell you about what we have been up to.

After a nightmarish 55 hour bus trip from Sucre, Bolivia to Asuncion, Paraguay (by the way, do not ever try this) I was reunited with my wife. The next day we jumped a bus to Encarnacion to partake in their Carnival celebrations. If you are unfamiliar with Carnival (you will hear it a lot over the next week) its the time when all South Americans turn into werewolves and go crazy... Well the latter is actually true. They are mad for Carnival and it is an outrageous festival all over south america kind of like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. In Encarnacion we enjoyed the parades which went very late into the night. In the town you will have people driving their cars with loud music and everyone throwing water balloons and spraying foam - sounds amazing huh, well actually, I´m keeping the details a bit quiet as the REAL carnival party is next week in Rio De Janeiro.

For a more civilised bit, we went on Saturday to visit the Jesuit Missionary ruins from the 16th century.

Whats next, well we spend next week in Paraguay and will then head to Brazil!

So now you get to hear from the lady herself, my lovely wife about what has happened when she had her passport stolen.... Dated February 22nd.

Hola,

You probably all think where I am and why I’m not traveling with Dan. So, the sad truth is among the things that were stolen from me in Buenos Aires was my passport. If I were an American or British citizen I would had got a new one in a week, but with Russian embassy things are not as simple. They told me that they will give a certificate that will allow me to go back to Russia and that they can give passports only to people who is permanently living in Argentina. That was not the answer that I wanted to here and after a long useless conversation... I started crying... Ok, ok we will make your passport here, but... It may take from 1 to 2.5 month.

In attempt to get my old passport back I asked the hostel how did the girl who stole my passport book the room. They said that it was through the website, so I asked for her email. And... she replied!!! I offered her money in exchange for the passport, but unfortunately it did not seem that she wanted to give it back. We were sanding lots of emails to each other and all she wanted just to get some more money from me, asking for PIN code for my card and then for money transfer via Western Union promising to send me my passport back as soon as she receives money. The last email I received after I got my new passport, she was asking for 1000$US, I wished her to get caught by the police and asked not to write me.

Dan planed this trip for a long time and I did not want to restrict him. Ultimately we changed our plans and stayed in Argentina longer then we wanted to. So, when he went to Chile I stayed in Mendoza and tried to learn some Spanish.

After Salta Dan made his way to Bolivia and I took the bus back to Buenos Aires hoping that my passport is ready. Hostel where I stayed was really nice and the night I got there I met some fantastic people from Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Israel))). We had A BBQ party on the roof and they all spoke English just because they wanted me to understand everything.

The next day I went to the embassy and... My passport was ready!!! I was so, so, so happy!!! That night we organized a tequila party until the sunrise!!! We had so much fun!!! And without having any rest I went to the Paraguayan embassy. The Russian expats in my embassy told me that if I want something to be done the same day I have to come early in the morning otherwise I will hear “mañana” – their favorite word. By 9am my visa was ready, and by 10am I got the letter from the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs, that missing entry stamp in my passport is not a problem. Firstly they just said that it is ok, but I insisted on the official letter with the stamp and signature.

I emailed Dan to say that I’m ready to leave!!! But as you all know he was in Bolivia on a tour, so, he asked me to wait a little bit in Buenos Aires and then meet him in Paraguay.

I cannot complain about it, I had a great time with my new friends. On Saturday we went to Tigre to the concert of a famous Argentinean singer. Tigre is a small weekend getaway town with a big market, little quiet islands and charming atmosphere. The concert was great and again we partied all night!

On Monday I had to say goodbye to everyone and was a bit sad, but we are going to meet again in Rio and Bogota!!!

So, the end of my story and my last battle in Argentina was crossing the border. I made the bus waited for 40 minutes!!! Why? The people on the border were looking for the entry stamp, police report and the letter was not enough!!! They asked me to pay the fine (100$US), but I refused then they said that they would not put the exit stamp at all!!! (By the way no one could speak English.) My point was that I needed the exit stamp and I’m not going to pay. After a long useless conversation I started crying and got the stamp within 2 minutes!!! Sometimes it is better to be weak.)))

That’s it. I am in Paraguay waiting for Dan)))

Week 32 - Bolivia

A family in typical Bolivian clothing

Lunch with the llamas!

High in the sky!

Salar De Uyuni - the world´s largest salt flat!

Having a beer in the mines!

Having just lit the dynamite! Boom!!!!!

Como Estas Amigos!!

Ok, I´m in Bolivia and where to begin... Firstly this is definitely my favourite country so far in South America! Bolivia is the poorest and the friendliest country so far on our travels through the southern continent. Bolivians are mostly indigenous people and thus its amazing to see. To elaborate, firstly they ALL chew coca leaves (well I´m yet to find one who doesn´t like them). Whats a coca leave you ask... Well its what they use to make cocaine, one of Bolivia´s biggest exports. Coca leaves are not what you might expect at first. They are legal in Bolivia and they do not produce any drug like symptom, other than maybe what caffeine provides. As you will have seen from the picture above, they are very colorfully dressed. The women´s clothing is every color in the rainbow and more! Most people in villages live in stone houses what are often packed with a mud/dung compound.

The scenery must be a top 10 in the world. Every drive I´ve had so far through Bolivia has been jaw-dropping! From deep red mountains to lush green valleys to strange rock formations, to giant volcanoes, to geysers to mineral lakes, they have it all and usually its all above 4000 meters (approx 13,000 feet). While you see all this grand viewing bliss, the landscape will be littered with llamas. If you haven´t seen a llama before, they are adorable. I want one! When you drive by they will pop their head up in a Homer Simpson way and look at you with the strangest grin. When they run they are so clumsy looking its hysterical.

Let me tell you about something that is a sad truth of Bolivia. You will read below about my mine tour in Potosi. Mining in Bolivia and especially Potosi is big business, but unfortunately the miners are exposed to conditions that we would know from the 1800´s. Potosi at one point had so much silver it bankrolled the Spanish Empire in the 1500´s, 1600´s & 1700´s. At that time they would use slaves that would spend up to six months at a time in the mine without coming out. As you would expect most of these people died in the mines. Not much has changed today. People are often working privately rather than for companies. However, the safety conditions are so dire, most (10,000 miners in Potosi) don´t live past 40 years of age. Most are dying of Silicosis of the lungs due to dusts, along with injuries. They mine for silver, tin, lead and zinc. Here is one that will blow your mind. In this very catholic country the miners worship the devil - who they call Tio. They believe that the devil owns the underworld that they are part of. Above ground they are devout catholics! They have even carved a statue of the devil who they provide offerings of alcohol (they drink 97% alcohol) and cigarettes.

So where have I been; Tupiza > San Antonio de Lipez > Huallajara > Uyuni >Potosi > Sucre

Tuesday - Crossing the boarder: Getting into Bolivia was a swift easy process and once I was on the bus to Tupiza, I quickly learned about the gorgeous Bolivian landscape. Once I settled in Tupiza, I did the normal thing when entering a country, get local currency - which in Tupiza could only be done at a bank using a cash advance due to the lack of ATMs. Next, I would get a local SIM phone card to use in my phone, then I would start to plan what to do. In this instance, I arranged a 4 day tour around the southwest of Bolivia finishing at the amazing salt flats.

Wednesday - 4450 meters in a day: The day before I was in Argentina slightly above sea level, so within 24 hours, I was at 4450 meters (14,000 feet). We drove by dozens of beautiful mountains and had lunch in a lush green llama field seen in picture 2.

Thursday - Giesers at 5200 meters: We started by viewing an old Spanish mining town, more like a ghost town, which only had remnants of the stone buildings. After getting stuck in the mud, we visited sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) lakes which are home to thousands of pink flamingos! If that wasn´t enough, we finished the day with a relaxing beer in a warm hot spings. Yes, I know this travelling gig is very rough :D

Friday - Volcano land: Fridays tour took us around multiple various volcanoes often around gorgeous green high altitude lakes. We also a beautiful red lake, which has hundreds if not thousands of flamingos just on this one lake. They are a bit timid and shy away from the camera.. We also were able to climb many of the strange rock formations as you will seen in picture 3. One very interesting part was visiting the stone towns home to sometimes as little as 250 people which always seem to be deserted, I´m not sure what the locals are up to...

Saturday - Getting our own bus: On the final day of our tour, we were up early again (530am) to head out. We soon arrived at the Salar de Uyuni which had about 6 inches of water due to it being Bolivia´s rainy season. We drove 15km (9 miles) across the lake to a salt hotel and had breakfast. The Salar is stunning, at most times, you will have difficulty finding the horizon! See picture 4. We road on the roof of the jeep for the way back admiring the natural wonder. Back in Uyuni town, our taxi driver fell through and we couldn´t find another to take us to Potosi, rather than waiting for 8 hours (the next bus time) we improvised. Somehow, we were able to hire a full 100 person bus for the four of us. Marco from Switzerland, Caroline from Brussels and Chad from Kansas were in the group and we had some hilarious times over the 4 day tour and onwards in Potosi. The ride from Uyuni to Potosi is out of this world, 1st class scenery and worth the trip to Bolivia just for the bus ride.

Sunday - Mine tour and Dynamite: I told you a bit about the mining conditions, well having spent two hours in the mine I now know mining is not my calling. The tour was one of the best of this entire trip. We learned all about the daily activities of miners and as the tour was led by an ex-miner, we learned why the do it even with the hazards. After we exited the mine, we were able to light dynamite which we freely bought in a miners shop. Surrounding the dynamite which was a compounds we poured ammonium nitrate in a bag and lit the fuse - see picture 6. At one point we put three sticks together and they would have blown up a car! The concussion from the 100 meter away (a football field) explosion pushed us slightly back! Back in Potosi the pre-Carnival celebrations were kicking off and we had numerous fights with the locals.. in a good way. You buy foam spray and water balloons and everywhere you turn is a fight and its not against the rules to foam un-armed families. They will just simply laugh at the crazy gringos... That night we ended up at a bar full of Bolivians partying. They were so hospitable buying our beer and only laughed when we foamed them and each other IN THE BAR!!

Monday - The richest city in North and South America: I travelled to Sucre with Chad and Caroline. Potosi was once the richest city in the Americas due to silver mining in Potosi. It is called the most beautiful city in Bolivia and I can see why! The town is lined with spanish-south american style white washed buildings. We saw quite a few gorgeous sites, such as an old monastery and churches. Later than night partying with Bolivians and having a great time at several bars.

So whats next, well today I am leaving for Asuncion Paraguay to meet Marina. So now that we have good news she said I can disclose this missing information I have kept secret. I did tell you that when in Buenos Aires a month ago she had several things stolen from her locker in a hostel. Well what happened is a professional thief checked into the hostel, posing as a backpacker and took quite a few of her things including her passport. Thank goodness the Russian embassy in BA bent the rules and allowed her to apply locally as she was treated as a local resident due to the length of our trip. We both departed Salta, her for BA to get the passport and me to Bolivia with the aim to meet as soon as possible. Today I will be leaving for the long 30-40 hour journey to Asuncion by bus (planes would not have been faster, crazy enough). So now we will be back in our usual travel mode and thankfully together. She couldn´t leave Argentina so why I only went to Chile for 6 days.

Until next time!

Hasta luego!

Week 31 - Argentina

Yummy!

Salud Green Bay!

Cafayate at a restaurant

Salud to Salta!


Que Tal! Buenos Tardes!

Well, I´m writing you for the last day of Argentina. Tomorrow the road takes me to Bolivia in search of gold.. no salt actually, but gold sounds much better.

Let me leave you with a few odd things about Argentina;

Siestas, well you may have seen the siesta culture before or possibly just in movies, but let me tell you - in Argentina they live by it. And let me say it is the most annoying thing. Just to explain, its 3pm and you want to buy something, but then realise that EVERY shop in the city (not small town) is closed. I´m talking about some of Argentina´s biggest cities. I can see the scenario now, a man complains to his friend about not making enough money and possibly having to close his shop; meanwhile its 4pm on Saturday and his shop is located in one of the main areas in the city. Then he goes back to his shop at 7pm after complaining about the lack of money to reopen it after he has slept all afternoon. Its crazy and I am sure this is happening all the time... I don´t think they need Warren Buffet to give them a class on business, my 12 year old niece Lauren can certainly teach them how to make more money!

Stop signs, or the lack there of. Argentina, just seems to work without them. In the busy intersections, they have stop lights, but any place we would have a stop sign in St. Louis they don´t have anything and it works. Strangely, once I read that St. Louis has the most or 2nd most stop signs in America.

Mobile Phones, well I´m not sure why this is, but Argentina is the 4th most expensive country in the world for mobile phones. In every country we have visited, I´ve bought a local sim card and learned pretty quickly which county has good or bad service. Argentina.. hmmm, I wouldn´t say bad, maybe a better way to describe it is possibly the WORST in the world! Mongolia makes Argentina look like Sudan! The coverage is very poor (I´m using their biggest provider, strangely called Movistar). In the rural areas there is no reception. If anyone tries to phone me from abroad, it hasn´t worked and nor can they text. When I came back from Chile all my credit was wiped off. Did I mention its the 4th most expensive country for mobile phones :O

So what have we been up to; Mendoza > Cafayate > Salta

Saturday - Argentinian Beef: I´ve probably already mentioned this, but it certainly needs to be highlighted again! Wow, they have excellent steaks in Argentina. We went to a restaurant and had an 800gram (nearly 2lbs) steak, wow! What a meal! (see the picture above).

Sunday - Superbowl party: Shockingly, we bumped into a bunch of Wisconsin born, Green Bay fans for the party that night in the Irish bar. The Superbowl may not be watched thoroughly by every country in the world, although we would like to believe it in America, but its certainly broadcasted everywhere, even in Mendoza, Argentina!

Monday - 25 hours of buses: yeah, travel in south america takes a while, this place isn´t like Europe and you can be in a new country in a few hours.

Tuesday - How to order a steak: We arrived in Cafayate on Tuesday evening after our LONG journey and were dying for some real food! The number one thing in Argentina is beef, I don´t mean the best thing for food - I mean the best thing period! The meat is incredible, however, they are not the best at cooking it. Argentine´s also say, that there are two types of service in Argentina, slow service, or no service at all! So if you want to get a good steak in Argentina, let me help you out. That is if you want a ¨real¨ steak :D Firstly about 60% of the time its over cooked, they don´t have the culture of even pink steaks, so you must ask for rare, yes I´m serious rare, then you will get a medium rare steak. Also, they season the steak with approximately 2 kilograms of salt, so a good phrase to learn is Sin Salt (no salt) - they will still put some anyway but its a small amount then. Let me tell you in the gorgeous town of Cafayate (their best wine area in my opinion) a good bottle of red and a perfectly cooked steak is like heaven after a 25 hour bus journey!

Wednesday - Rio Colorado and its crazy roosters: This day we went hike along the Rio Colorado (meaning Colorado river). The whole wine area of Cafayate is around 1700 meters (just over 5,000 feet) and it has gorgeous scenery. We packed a lunch and made our way around the river up in the mountains. Along they way, as we were followed by a very friendly stray dog, we saw dozens of mountain goats and some crazy roosters back towards the entrance. So what do I mean by crazy, well, this rooster who was just on someone´s farm was super friendly. It would chase after food we threw, just like a puppy dog. We even had it eating out of our hands, Marina loved it!

Thursday - Quebrada de Cafayate: Picture the Grand Canyon with its colored walls. This is kind of what you see at Quebrada de Cafayate. The minerals in the mountains have changed they gorgeous colours of sandstone red, emerald green and deep blue! Along with crazy formations that they call the Devil´s throat, the Amphitheatre, and the Mansions. We had the best tour of the South American trip so far. That night, for the 3rd night in a row, we ate steak! Pretty bad I know, but its oh so good!

Friday - Salta´s nightlife: Ok, I know on the last blog I said that Mendoza had a great night life, better than Buenos Aires. Well, Salta´s is even better! Not to mention that we are in a hostel that is just at the end of the bar street, kind of like my apartment in College. Again, there is a street of bars, clubs and restaurants that pack out on the weekends and even last night (Sunday). Its worth a trip to Salta just for the fun!

Saturday - A little culture: That night we went to a performance by a few members of the Salta symphony and listened to some excellent works by Braun consisting of violins, viola, and a chello. Once we were a wittle bit smarter we headed to Paseo Balcarce for a fun night. Partying with our friends Jen and Steve, we managed to lower the alcohol supplies of a few bars and I won´t say who...:D managed to drop a few glasses to the barman´s displeasure. And no Rob, it wasn´t me... :)

Sunday - Cerro San Bernardo: Feeling a bit rough having gone to bed at 6am the night before, we went to climb the local mountain and lookout point in Salta - Cerro San Bernardo. Needing a break from steak, which if we go out, is all I want to order, so we cooked in making a pretty decent Eggplant Parmesan, yum. Then we went out to Paseo Balcarce, but it wasn´t as crazy of a night and I was pleasantly surprised that the locals were out having a good time even though it was Sunday.

Monday - Zip Line in the San Lorenzo Nature Reserve: To start the day, we headed with Jen and Steve to San Lorenzo and did a short bit of hiking around and eventually made it to the zip line. One of the better ones and I would say this was a bit more crazy than in Hawaii last May. One because its South America and you just never know what is going to happen, but more so because it was very high and probably a good 600 meters with some decent speed. Tonight, Marina and I are off to have a nice romantic meal, well, you can guess what I´ll be ordering..Hmm, someone tips us that this place had the best steak of his life!

So whats next; Bolivia!!! Firstly the world famous Salt Flats.. Stay tuned for next week!

Adios amigos!

Dan and Marina

Week 30 - Chile

Big flag?

Who´s hungry?

The view from my hostel in Plaza de Armes

Sea Lions love to chill out in the Valparaiso harbor

Buenos Tardes Amigos! Que Tal!

Let me tell you about a week in Chile, a place famous for Pisco Sours (a very tasty egg-based alcoholic drink).

Chile is like Los Angeles, much of its a desert, everything is in Spanish, and its about 2500 miles long!

Firstly, we must understand how the people in Chile call themselves, maybe its just me, but I´ve always thought they are Chi-lay-ans, but apparently its Chile-ans.

What kind of music do they listen to in Chile... Well, surprisingly, Heavy Metal! I´m not joking you will see Megadeath, Metallica, and Iron Maiden t-shirts EVERYWHERE! Along with many of the bars playing the latest music from the 80´s and 90´s by the above bands. Now I must admit something, which isn´t a surprise for our St. Louis readers.... When I was 13, I loved these bands and listened religiously to Motley Crue, Metallica and Poison. So for me it was a bit of nostalgia from my youth. I must say it was pretty funny!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chileans are big partyers and they are very social and friendly. Seeing you are a foreigner, they will quickly strike up a conversation and invite you to hangout with them. They have certainly been the most hospitable in South America so far on this trip.

Just a piece of advice if you indeed decide to travel to this elongated country. Beware of the Gargantuan! No its not a mythical beast which lives in the mountains and weaves wicker baskets, its a humongous sandwich. Along with a small order of fries, this thing could feed the entire US Army in Afghanistan or maybe just that guy who is the hot dog eating champion! They love their sauces. On anything you order, hot dog (yes, they eat these things everywhere), chicken, beef sandwich, etc, you will possibly get gobs of guacamole, sour cream, amongst other things.

So what have I been up to; Santiago > Vina del Mar > Valparaiso > Santiago

Saturday - Pub Crawl #1: If you ever need a way to quickly meet people in a new city, do a pub crawl! Not only do you meet the fun people in your hostel by recruiting them to a pub crawl, but the people there are a great time. On top of that, we learned about the best places to go in Santiago. Bellavista is an excellent area for bars, restaurants and is ground zero for fun! This is where I learned about the dangerous Pisco Sour... They have this alcohol called Pisco and mix it with raw egg whites and a few other things, but its VERY good. Definitely a good way to start off the night.

Sunday - Parque Arauco: The gorgeous area of Los Condes has a beautiful mall, yes a mall. I know, what am I doing at a mall. Well its kind of a cool thing for Chileans to do on the weekend. Certainly worth checking out if your in town. Live Jazz outside. St. Louisins, think Party in the Plaza!

Monday - The beach: Vina del Mar is the place where Chileans go for their vacations. Despite the Humbolt current which brings freezing cold waters to Chile, they brave the temperatures and swam. Although I was a bit of a wimp and didn´t even go on the beach.

Tuesday - The Gargantuan: This was my chill day in Vina. Having been out quite a bit lately I watched Arsenal football and had my Gargantuan sandwich which pretty much put me out for the night.

Wednesday - Valparaiso´s elevators: Just a 15 minute bus ride from Vina is the town of Valaraiso. This place is built on a very steep hill, think San Francisco times 10! You can walk them, but instead, they build about 50 lifts which are now a world heritage site. With a few fellow backpackers we went out that night and to our surprise all the cities electricity went out for about 2 hours. Thankfully we were not in an elevator. With local stray dogs, mainly Fluffy, protecting us by walking us around, and barking at any stranger we managed very well. Also, finding a very funny underground party, being kindly welcomed by locals claiming to be in the mafia, although possibly just joking around with the gringos..

Thursday - Pub Crawl #2: Back in Santiago, I had one night to go before getting back to Mendoza, Argentina. What else is there to do, but a pub crawl! Besides, no I knew the people that ran it and they were a lot of fun! Bar > Bar > Bar > Bar > Bar > Floor.... Not, really, that last one is Hotel... :D

Friday - Yet another broken down bus: I was hoping to get back to Mendoza in time for us to go out and hit the town, but disaster happened. Well, not really, but the 4 hour wait was a bit annoying and killed Friday night. Thankfully I was back by 1:30am and Marina and I hung out with a fun Irish couple until later...

So now that I´m in Argentina, I´ll end the blog and start a new one when I have some cool stuff to tell you. On Monday we are heading to Salta in the north and will hit one of their most famous wine towns - Cafayate.

Hasta Luego Amigos!

Dan and Marina