This morning Cosmo and I breathe a heavy ambiguous sigh of relief (a testament to the fact that we've made it through South America without a scratch or scar to remember it by) and sadness (a painful realisation that we are now coming to the end of the first part of our trip on this beautiful continent). It's been wonderful and, apart from the relatively minor hiccup of missing out on the "life-changing" experience of Macchu Picchu, we feel completely satisfied with everything we've done. Having said that, while our thirst for the continent has been quenched temporarily, I have no doubt that we'll both be coming back for more very soon.
The past week has been dedicated entirely to the discovery of Peru, which has been much less challenging than Inca Trail travel agencies would have you believe. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Peru offers so much more than Macchu Picchu. While I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a good thing we missed out on the country's most popular tourist destination, it has given us a chance to look beyond the foreground and experience other parts of the country.
Lima is a hard city to capture in writing. Neither of us has fallen in love with it (and I have yet to meet somebody who has) but it does have its own charm, characterised less by monuments and beautiful buildings, and more by the buzz of its streets. The city is huge (geographically and size-wise) and the thing you notice immediately is that nobody stands still for longer than ten seconds. Taxis are everywhere, and if you linger then a conductor of a"collectivo" (the love child of a taxi and bus) will be ushering you inside before you can say "pisco sour". The organised chaos of the whole place makes the whole place feel somehow alive. In fact, I think Boris should organise a collective sobatical for everyone at TFL to spend a few weeks here - the idea of waiting ten minutes for a bus would be unintelligible to a resident of Lima.
So, after two days wallowing in the wake of Buenos Aires (we both missed it terribly), we found a morsel of energy and got on a bus to a place called Chiclayo, which acts as a launching pad for tourists wanting to see the historic monuments and museums in the surrounding area. For 30 soles (about six pounds fifty) we got a full day being carted around in a mini-van with a guide, hearing all about the different civilisations that had populated the area since 2000BC. While most of it was umm-ing and ahh-ing (the guide only spoke Spanish), some of it was fascinating. We spent about an hour climbing one of the old Mochica pyramids which dominate the skyline for miles.
After coming back to Lima we seemed to return back to a sort of stupour. We've seen various sites in the city (including a very boistrous museum about Peruvian military history in the setting of the capital's old fort - Cosmo and I got a bit too excited playing with the guns and got left behind by the group several times before a soldier ushered us forward). The hostel we're staying at is beautiful - a lovely little villa in Lima's "most pleasant" (apparently) district.
While we're both very sad to be leaving South America, we're also hungry to keep moving. We'll be in Mexico tonight and our actual plans are still in the making (really the only way to travel). We're staying with a family friend of Cosmo's, and we're very excited about being looked after by a local. While it's great meeting travellers and we're far from bored with our company so far, it'll be nice not having to begin every conversation with the universal travelling lines: "Where are you from?"; "How long have you been travelling for?"; "Where have you been?" etc.
Now I must leave and start packing so we don't miss our flight this afternoon. We fly at 2.30 to Panama and get a connection a few hours later to Mexico City. Loads of love to everyone from both of us.
Toodles. xxx
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Never send a teenager to do a traveller´s job
In our sleep habits at least, we´ve had rather an unapologetically adolescent week. The Buenos Aireans, we discovered the evening of our arrival, don´t waste quality darkness on sleep. The party-goers hibernate in a standby stupour until gone midnight and slowly but surely rear their bopping heads for a full (and I mean full) night of drum´n´bass, dancing and debauchery. I´m not ashamed to admit, therefore, that we have lived a life of very late nights our only experiences of a curious entity known to the layman as ´morning´ have been down to our insistence on staying up past sunrise in order to get a breakfast bagel when the first cafes begin to open.
Having a great time is all well and good, but these late nights and sleep-ins take their toll on one´s energy to do, well, anything. We have therefore been carefully rationing our time so as to preserve some drive to go sightseeing and experience the city which, believe it or not, is pretty lively during the daytime as well as the night. We´ve been to see various parts of the city, each one being individual in their own way but all sharing a common beauty as described in the previous post. The streets are so beautiful and the people are adorable to talk to, even when you´re accidentally shouting at them for a croissant at 7am because the ringing is still in your ears from the club you left less than half an hour before.
I must sound like such an English tourist, which is something to avoid like the plague in a city as rich as this. As I think I´ve said before, you can make whatever you want of travelling, and this flexibility is especially easy in a city which offers far more than you can ever hope to do in a matter of weeks. It´s important, therefore, to feel like you´re seeing the real city, and not just cushioning yourself in the lifestyle which can be found in just the same way at home. This week has been a lively mix between seeing new things and sticking to reassuring but unchallenging customs (i.e. clubbing with the english). I´d like to think the former has outweighed the latter.
There is something for everyone in Buenos Aires. The "gringo triangle" (Rio, Iguassu, B.A.) ends (or begins, I suppose, depending on which way you do it) here, and you bump into all sorts of travellers, most of whom are in very small groups or alone. We´ve met some really beautiful and interesting types, and it will be like leaving home all over again when we get on a bus to the airport tomorrow. Alas, the rose of constant travel bears the thorn of leaving so many lovely people and places behind. We have been tempted more times than we can count to delay delay delay and stay out here for a few more weeks, but the impulse to move on and see new things is still vastly superior in strength to the bonds formed over the last ten days. So, we shall say goodbye but not for good. A great thing about our trip - perhaps the best thing - is that we are learning about the world as a somelier discovers his wine. No doubt he hardly ever has a full glass and certainly never allows himself to get drunk from one sample alone. On the contrary, he tastes, spits out, remembers and returns to his favourite bottles when the time is right. Without meaning to, both Cosmo and I have already found ourselves making flimsy but earnest plans to return to the places we love the most (Rio is his shangri-la while I feel more attached to Buenos Aires), and we´ve met enough people to be fully assured that travel is by no means reserved for the young (not in years, at least).
I do apologise to loyal followers of this blog that the posts are so infrequent and so long. Seeing this site always makes me somewhat homesick as it reminds me of TFL´s bus service; you wait around all day and then an onslaught descends all at once. Still, I feel like there´s one can write with more meaning and depth if the material has been compiled over some significant period of time, so no complaining.
Lima next. The Inca Trail, sadly, has been cancelled. The mudslides of January still appear to be taking their toll on local infrastructure and the route is deemed too dangerous for dimwitted tourists to tread. We shall get on the plane, nonetheless, and find something to do. I have heard nothing pleasant about Lima, so I expect we shall get on a bus and head into the Andes as I hear it´s stunning.
God knows when we´ll be able to put pictures and videos up. I expect there´ll be time and means in Mexico as we´ll be staying in a home rather than a hostel. Meanwhile, sit tight and try to conjure up your own images.
Love to you all from both of us.
Louis and Cosmo x
Having a great time is all well and good, but these late nights and sleep-ins take their toll on one´s energy to do, well, anything. We have therefore been carefully rationing our time so as to preserve some drive to go sightseeing and experience the city which, believe it or not, is pretty lively during the daytime as well as the night. We´ve been to see various parts of the city, each one being individual in their own way but all sharing a common beauty as described in the previous post. The streets are so beautiful and the people are adorable to talk to, even when you´re accidentally shouting at them for a croissant at 7am because the ringing is still in your ears from the club you left less than half an hour before.
I must sound like such an English tourist, which is something to avoid like the plague in a city as rich as this. As I think I´ve said before, you can make whatever you want of travelling, and this flexibility is especially easy in a city which offers far more than you can ever hope to do in a matter of weeks. It´s important, therefore, to feel like you´re seeing the real city, and not just cushioning yourself in the lifestyle which can be found in just the same way at home. This week has been a lively mix between seeing new things and sticking to reassuring but unchallenging customs (i.e. clubbing with the english). I´d like to think the former has outweighed the latter.
There is something for everyone in Buenos Aires. The "gringo triangle" (Rio, Iguassu, B.A.) ends (or begins, I suppose, depending on which way you do it) here, and you bump into all sorts of travellers, most of whom are in very small groups or alone. We´ve met some really beautiful and interesting types, and it will be like leaving home all over again when we get on a bus to the airport tomorrow. Alas, the rose of constant travel bears the thorn of leaving so many lovely people and places behind. We have been tempted more times than we can count to delay delay delay and stay out here for a few more weeks, but the impulse to move on and see new things is still vastly superior in strength to the bonds formed over the last ten days. So, we shall say goodbye but not for good. A great thing about our trip - perhaps the best thing - is that we are learning about the world as a somelier discovers his wine. No doubt he hardly ever has a full glass and certainly never allows himself to get drunk from one sample alone. On the contrary, he tastes, spits out, remembers and returns to his favourite bottles when the time is right. Without meaning to, both Cosmo and I have already found ourselves making flimsy but earnest plans to return to the places we love the most (Rio is his shangri-la while I feel more attached to Buenos Aires), and we´ve met enough people to be fully assured that travel is by no means reserved for the young (not in years, at least).
I do apologise to loyal followers of this blog that the posts are so infrequent and so long. Seeing this site always makes me somewhat homesick as it reminds me of TFL´s bus service; you wait around all day and then an onslaught descends all at once. Still, I feel like there´s one can write with more meaning and depth if the material has been compiled over some significant period of time, so no complaining.
Lima next. The Inca Trail, sadly, has been cancelled. The mudslides of January still appear to be taking their toll on local infrastructure and the route is deemed too dangerous for dimwitted tourists to tread. We shall get on the plane, nonetheless, and find something to do. I have heard nothing pleasant about Lima, so I expect we shall get on a bus and head into the Andes as I hear it´s stunning.
God knows when we´ll be able to put pictures and videos up. I expect there´ll be time and means in Mexico as we´ll be staying in a home rather than a hostel. Meanwhile, sit tight and try to conjure up your own images.
Love to you all from both of us.
Louis and Cosmo x
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
On The Road
Louis here. Firstly I´d like to thank Cosmo for his brilliantly disguised yet undeniably implicit suggestion that I´m hogging the blogspace. To all those from Malta and across the pond, I do apologise and promise I will zealously strive towards a world of greater equality in this particular section of the blogosphere from now on. Having said that, there is a lot to talk about, so forgive me if I ramble. Tell you what; if you´re in a rush or just get bored of my writing then I´ll try to tailor this post to a scan-readable version using the invaluable feature of bold type.
Iguazu was not exactly what we expected it to be. There I was thinking it would be a perfect week of solitude to recover from the socially blazing streets of Rio de Janeiro, and we ended up drinking and meeting just as many, if not more, people in this little gateway between Brazil and Argentina (by the way, can somebody please correct me if I´m supposed to spell it "Brasil" - i still don´t really know). The town itself (on the Argentinian side, at least) is tiny and it would be very hard to scrape a night out in the centre. Completely contradicting this first impression, however, our hostel seemed to be jampacked full of the hustle and bustle of passing travellers from all over the place. We reckoned there were actually more people in the hostel than in the town - no, seriously. So anyway, with a pool, some snooker tables and a bar, there were plenty of good times to be had.
The other side of the otherwise shiny coin was that we did NOT spend any time ´digging into the roots´of anywhere. Iguazu is meant for travellers who pass through in a few days. You go; you see what there is to see while having a great time with others who are doing the same; you leave. So it was brilliant fun for a few days, but I´d beware of being tempted to spend too long there. After all, pools and bars exist elsewhere in the world.
Cosmo told you all about the Falls, so I´ll keep the description as light as I can, which should be quite easy because they inspire speechlessness. They really are incredible and a must for anyone travelling through the right-ish part of South America. Only advice to give is prepare to be amazed, prepare to get wet and if, like me, you turn into a little girl around spiders, prepare for a shock or two as well.
We´ve been bus-ing like four-wheeled vagabonds for the past week or so, and we´ve finally reached our destination in the form of one of the coolest-looking cities I´ve ever visited. This is hugely precipitous of me (having only been in the place for the best part of three hours) but Buenos Aires looks and feels absolutely incredible. The streets are lined with beautiful early modern architecture which give off a sort of well-preserved faded grandeur. At the same time, it feels a like a rich culture has grown from the roots of a once-golden city (did you know it was the ninth richest city in the world in 1910?!) and there´s a fabulous blend between a Manhattan-like grid layout with the chaos (i mean that in a good way) of a developing country. All meshed together, it means you get the beauty of an old powerhouse without the "museum" feel of a city that´s so attached to its roots that it´s stubbornly refuses to move away from them. It´s hard to describe, but after reading what I´ve read and seeing what I´ve seen, I can´t wait to spend the next ten days diving in head first.
So, here´s hoping that Buenos Aires is worth the 6 hours to Parati, 16 hours to Iguazu and 20 hours to the capital. The coaches here make National Express seem about as comfortable as bamboo torture, but they´re still coaches all the same. We´re in one piece, though, and we have yet to run out of funds, so we´re doing a hell of a lot better than I thought as I was biting my nails on the plane-ride to Rio.
I know I promised pictures and videos, but it turns out that this un-exploding PC we´ve been looking for is a sneaky bugger and has thus far avoided our attention. However, I promise we´ll keep looking and I know for a fact we´ll be in a real home (Hallelujah!) when we get to Mexico, so they´ll all be up by the end of March at the latest. Hold your breath!
Love to everyone from the Madman and the Englishman. I think I definitely drew the short straw in the nick name raffle. Sigh...
xx
Iguazu was not exactly what we expected it to be. There I was thinking it would be a perfect week of solitude to recover from the socially blazing streets of Rio de Janeiro, and we ended up drinking and meeting just as many, if not more, people in this little gateway between Brazil and Argentina (by the way, can somebody please correct me if I´m supposed to spell it "Brasil" - i still don´t really know). The town itself (on the Argentinian side, at least) is tiny and it would be very hard to scrape a night out in the centre. Completely contradicting this first impression, however, our hostel seemed to be jampacked full of the hustle and bustle of passing travellers from all over the place. We reckoned there were actually more people in the hostel than in the town - no, seriously. So anyway, with a pool, some snooker tables and a bar, there were plenty of good times to be had.
The other side of the otherwise shiny coin was that we did NOT spend any time ´digging into the roots´of anywhere. Iguazu is meant for travellers who pass through in a few days. You go; you see what there is to see while having a great time with others who are doing the same; you leave. So it was brilliant fun for a few days, but I´d beware of being tempted to spend too long there. After all, pools and bars exist elsewhere in the world.
Cosmo told you all about the Falls, so I´ll keep the description as light as I can, which should be quite easy because they inspire speechlessness. They really are incredible and a must for anyone travelling through the right-ish part of South America. Only advice to give is prepare to be amazed, prepare to get wet and if, like me, you turn into a little girl around spiders, prepare for a shock or two as well.
We´ve been bus-ing like four-wheeled vagabonds for the past week or so, and we´ve finally reached our destination in the form of one of the coolest-looking cities I´ve ever visited. This is hugely precipitous of me (having only been in the place for the best part of three hours) but Buenos Aires looks and feels absolutely incredible. The streets are lined with beautiful early modern architecture which give off a sort of well-preserved faded grandeur. At the same time, it feels a like a rich culture has grown from the roots of a once-golden city (did you know it was the ninth richest city in the world in 1910?!) and there´s a fabulous blend between a Manhattan-like grid layout with the chaos (i mean that in a good way) of a developing country. All meshed together, it means you get the beauty of an old powerhouse without the "museum" feel of a city that´s so attached to its roots that it´s stubbornly refuses to move away from them. It´s hard to describe, but after reading what I´ve read and seeing what I´ve seen, I can´t wait to spend the next ten days diving in head first.
So, here´s hoping that Buenos Aires is worth the 6 hours to Parati, 16 hours to Iguazu and 20 hours to the capital. The coaches here make National Express seem about as comfortable as bamboo torture, but they´re still coaches all the same. We´re in one piece, though, and we have yet to run out of funds, so we´re doing a hell of a lot better than I thought as I was biting my nails on the plane-ride to Rio.
I know I promised pictures and videos, but it turns out that this un-exploding PC we´ve been looking for is a sneaky bugger and has thus far avoided our attention. However, I promise we´ll keep looking and I know for a fact we´ll be in a real home (Hallelujah!) when we get to Mexico, so they´ll all be up by the end of March at the latest. Hold your breath!
Love to everyone from the Madman and the Englishman. I think I definitely drew the short straw in the nick name raffle. Sigh...
xx
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
just a quickie.....
hey y'all cosmo here. thought i should probably write something seeing as it's our blog and not louis' blog.
on our first night iguazu falls we just happened to chance upon some other westminster boys who had been 3 or 4 years ahead of us. i recognized one and introduced myself and it all took off from there. enjoyed 2 long nights of reminiscing and drinking caipirinas and presently suffered for it.
we saw the famous iguazu falls yesterday after hiking ( severly hungover) through the national park. was absolutely stunning. i'd never seen a proper waterfall before and when we arrived at garganta del diablo ( devil's throat- maaaaaaaassive) i was in awe. its actually quite scary watching a waterfall from the top because the water is moving so fast and in such a large quantity that you feel like you are about to fly off with it.
also enjoyed a jungle jeep ride which kept me constantly amused as louis shuddered or ducked under every spider's web that we came across. to be fair they were enormous but was funny all the same.
the best bit about yesterday was our boat ride. we started off zipping through mirror like water which quickly turned into some very rough rapids, and instead of slowing down the captain sped up!! heaps of fun. we then arrived at the bottom of some of the smaller falls (don't get me wrong they were still huge) and we all thought how great it be if we went underneath. the captain turned us around and we all gave a disappointed sigh only to find out he was taking us under an even bigger one around the corner. we got comepletly drenched and couldn't stop laughing. best fun i've had in months.
got some amazing pictures and so those will go up as soon as we find a computer that won't explode or eat my camera but for now its adieu and will post some more later.
to the family i love you loads and will call soon to give a more personalized update.
my tip of the day is: ïf you have a hangover, get pummeled by a waterfall. does miracles.¨
over and out!
on our first night iguazu falls we just happened to chance upon some other westminster boys who had been 3 or 4 years ahead of us. i recognized one and introduced myself and it all took off from there. enjoyed 2 long nights of reminiscing and drinking caipirinas and presently suffered for it.
we saw the famous iguazu falls yesterday after hiking ( severly hungover) through the national park. was absolutely stunning. i'd never seen a proper waterfall before and when we arrived at garganta del diablo ( devil's throat- maaaaaaaassive) i was in awe. its actually quite scary watching a waterfall from the top because the water is moving so fast and in such a large quantity that you feel like you are about to fly off with it.
also enjoyed a jungle jeep ride which kept me constantly amused as louis shuddered or ducked under every spider's web that we came across. to be fair they were enormous but was funny all the same.
the best bit about yesterday was our boat ride. we started off zipping through mirror like water which quickly turned into some very rough rapids, and instead of slowing down the captain sped up!! heaps of fun. we then arrived at the bottom of some of the smaller falls (don't get me wrong they were still huge) and we all thought how great it be if we went underneath. the captain turned us around and we all gave a disappointed sigh only to find out he was taking us under an even bigger one around the corner. we got comepletly drenched and couldn't stop laughing. best fun i've had in months.
got some amazing pictures and so those will go up as soon as we find a computer that won't explode or eat my camera but for now its adieu and will post some more later.
to the family i love you loads and will call soon to give a more personalized update.
my tip of the day is: ïf you have a hangover, get pummeled by a waterfall. does miracles.¨
over and out!
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