Argentina

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Monday the 15th of December 2003

Well we have arrived in Argentina and staying in a place in the northeast called Posades. We are spending lots of time in Internet cafes need I say more? We have decided to head to Buenos Aires ahead of schedule and will get the bus tonight. The seats go back 180 degrees and in a way I am looking forward to it as were in the 1st class bit of the bus and will hopefully be showered with food drinks and hand wipes and things. Fantastic! Well it’s so cheap here for us that you can get away with things like this. 20p for 1 hour Internet, 1 pound for lunch and drinks - this is even cheaper than Brazil. Great for us - not so great for Argentineans though.
We plan to stay in a nice hotel in Buenos Aires then head to the coast and perhaps Patagonia.

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Its a bit easier communicating now we´re in a Spanish speaking country but still mainly having to rely on stupid hand gestures, and exaggerated expressions. Learning the lingo though. First impressions of Argentina - football mad, steak loving, still cannot escape from ham and cheese sandwiches, (must be the Spanish influence?) people are friendly and stuff but we are craving the beach at the moment to relax for xmas. Bye bye Loopy lou x

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Saturday the 20th of December

Don´t cry for me Argentina! Well Here we are in Argentina and what a busy week it has been already.

We left Posadas on Monday and although the plan was to head North to Corrientes we had a last minute change of plan and decided to take a night bus to Buenos Aires for a bit of luxury and relaxation. This was greatly helped by the Peso still being quite weak and thus enabling us to book into a four star hotel. I have to be honest here and admit that apart from a quick walk around the centre we spent almost all day relaxing and watching cable. Before you all start tutting about the fact that we go all the way around the world and spend all day watching TV let me expalin my excuses. Sorry I mean reasons! Firstly we had not watched TV for three weeks and secondly we were both very tired after only catching a few hours sleep on the night bus, OK and also because Friends was on.

The following day was Wednesday and Lou´s birthday. Feeling refreshed after Tuesdays vegitating we decided to head out to do lots of shopping and general exploring before heading off for a nice dinner. We stayed in Buenos Aires on Thursday night as well and then yesterday we headed down the coast to Pinimar, where we are at the moment.

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I did like Buenos aires and I am quite glad that we have to head back there for our flight to Peru on the 7th of January. It was a very European feeling City and it reminded me of Madrid but just considerably larger. It is also full of shops, museums, parks and resturants so Lou and I will probably spend another few days there before flying out. I can assure you Ladies and Gentlemen that the fact the pubs close at 6.00am has nothing to do with this decision.

I am afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow for pictures and info on Pinamar as it is 8.15pm here and I have not eaten since breakfast so I am off for my dinner.

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Monday the 22nd of December 2003

Hi everyone and thanks for the birthday wishes. I had a good day spending Ruairi´s money and glaming myself up.

I have to report upon the great coach ride we had from Posadas to Buenos Aires as it was so luxurious. We had huge leather seats and there were only 3 a breath so lots of room. The journey was 13 hours so they served dinner, sweets, wine, champagne and we watched a film. Then bed time which was nice and we woke up to breakfast. I thought this deserved a mention as it only cost us 17 squid.

At the moment in Pinamar, beachy resort place for rich Argentinians and us! The beach is miles long, it is also so wide that the whole town is covered in sand. The waves are really fun, cold and refreshing and its windy so nice! We were going to rent a chalet for xmas so we could have the comforts of home and cook our selves a roast dinner but it was all too difficult trying to communicate what we wanted that we gave up and will move hotel for the xmas period to a plush one with a pool, table tennis, and spa. It should be relaxing and no cooking!

Talking of cooking - after living off cheese and ham we have finally found a really nice mexican restaurant and I imagine will go back there a fair few times. The Argentinian steaks really dont live up to the hype and the pizzas have no tomato sauce on them. However the beers are served for sharing in litre bottles (imagine the shear look of joy on Ruairi´s face) and the fresh juices are to die for. Oooh I forgot the ice creams. The Argentinians are really into their ices and every second shop seems to dish out the most delicious ice creams. I am having to strictly limit myself otherwise I would be in there every day. They even do koshar ices and diet ones. Its all about the ice cream!

We had an eventful day the other day but I will let Ruairi tell you about that. It involves, sand dunes and spiders but that is all I am giving away.

We have hired bicyles today and will cycle along the sandy beach road. This place really is full of really nice homes and think it is mainly a place for holiday homes. It is all cafes, restaurants, and bars but I am not complaining as we have some more challenging time ahead of us in Peru and Equador so sucking up the easy life as much as possible.

Hope all are well and gearing up for a lovely xmas.

Love Lou x

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Wednesday the 24th of December

Well here we are, Christmas Eve, and let me tell you folks that nothing says Christmas less than swimming in the Atlantic and sunbathing in 30 degree heat. Not that I am complaining but it really is quite a wierd feeling being on a beach on Christmas Eve. I am also really worried that Santa will not know where to deliver my presents.

Well we are still in Pinamar and still just chilling out and relaxing. Which after two weeks spent mainly on buses is really nice. Pinamar is a lovely little place which seems to exsist solely for Argentians, as we have only encountered one other couple from Blightly and they were about 60. Our days have mainly consisted of lying around on the beach and swimming.

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Having said that there was our little adventure on the Quad Bike. On our third day in Pinamar we decided (well I begged) to go and rent a Quad Bike to go exploring on. The Quad Bike place was about an hour and a half´s walk away so we decided to set off at about 11.30am to avoid the midday sun. When we arrived there were various bikes to rent so I obviously went straight for the biggest one, read into that what you wish. After a brief lesson, well by lesson I mean "sit there, press that to go and that to stop", we were off. Lou on the back and me driving expertly over the sand dunes. Then we spotted the forest and decided to head in there for a bit of zig zagging in and out of trees. After about ten minutes of this I decided to head back to the beach, as driving on the sand dunes was more fun. Well that and also because there were no trees on the beach to crash into. This is where it all started to go wrong. Instead of finding a nice gentle path back to the beach I decided to head towards a 40 foot sand dune. So with a quick shout of "hold on Lou" I was off at full pace towards the dune. As we hit the dune and proceded up it everything was going swimmingly but not for long. Half way up, the dune proved to steep and the bike could not get any further and instead turned back and rolled all the way back down and got stuck at the bottom in a bush. When I say stuck, I really mean stuck! This thing was going nowhere and it was now 1.00pm and the sun was blazing down. At this point I should have conceded defeat and walked back to get help, but obviously being male that was not going to happen. Instead I spent the next hour trying to get the bike out of the bush/dune. After an hour of doing this in the baking heat and the total sum of my achievments being the bike further in the bush and deeper in the sand, I admitted defeat. So with me covered in dirt, sweat, sand, oil, and on the verge of collapse we headed back. Let me just add that Lou was in considerably better shape than me, as she had spent most of the last hour sitting in the shade watching me wrestling with the bike. I always said she was the brains of the outfit! Anyway it all worked out OK in the end as we headed back and got the owners to pull us out.

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After all that excitement we decided to spend the following fews days just relaxing on the beach and we also went for peddle bikes instead. Although I am going to rent a Quad Bike again before we go, just this time I will try to remember that I´m not Evil Kaneval.

Well have a great Christmas Day everybody and please try to remember the true meaning of Christmas. BUYING RUAIRI PRESENTS!

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Sunday the 28th of December

Well hello everybody and bye bye Christmas. I have to say it passed by for us without us really noticing it.

Well this is just a really quick entry to let you all know that we have now left Pinamar. It was hard to say goodbye to the beach and even harder spending 12 hours yesterday on the worst bus we have so far encountered. It was filthy, the seats were lumpy and Lou informed me that the toilet was overflowing with vomit. So for any travellers heading to Argentina and reading this. For the love of god never use Rio Parana buses. Infact I would rather have walked here over broken glass, bare foot, carrying Lou, with puddles of salt and vineger to step in etc etc.

Where is here you ask, well here is Bahia Blanca. We did not arrive until 9.00pm last night and are just about to go exploring so I will have to let you know whether we like it later. We are off again tonight for another 10 hour bus journey down to Puerto Madryn, which is a small Town on the Atlantic Coast. Should be quite fun as they all speak Welsh there and also you can see whales and dolphins.

We are off to have a look around Bahia Blanca now so adios amigos.

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Tuesday the 30th of December

Well what a day we have had today! Sometimes when you are stuck on an overnight bus with no legroom, the driver smoking all night and playing sh*te music and generally getting little sleep, you start to wonder why you went away in the first place. Today was one of the reasons we went away.

Before I fill you in on todays adventures let me first tell you that we are currently in Puerto Madryn and also that along with Rio Parana, Don Otto is a bus company to avoid in Argentina.

We arrived in Puerto Madryn yesterday morning at around 9.00am and headed straight to the hotel to sleep for a few hours. Previously we have felt OK after night buses but Don Otto and his frankly rubbish bus company decided to change that. After a few hours sleep we headed out to explore Puerto Madryn. Already feeling quite tired Lou and I decided to walk up to the eco-centre which was an hour and halfs walk each way. I would love to say it was worth it but I cant for no other reason than it was closed. To be honest we should have known that, as all mueseums etc seem to be closed on Mondays over here. It it the same in London? Anyway after the bus journey and the walk it was an early dinner and bed as we needed to wake up at 6.00am the following morning for the Peninsula Valdes.

And that brings me on to today. Today we embarked on a 250 mile excursion around the Peninsula Valdes, which is the Peninsula to the North of Puerto Madryn. Despite the early start and the mileage involved, today has to rate up there as one of the best days of the trip so far. Puerto Madryn and the areas surronding are a wildlife haven, with animals such as Penguins, Seals, Orca Whales, Sea Lions and Ballena Whales, which are almost two buses in lenght. Unfortunately on arriving yesterday we discovered we had missed the Ballena Whale season by 2 weeks. Although slightly disapointed we decided to head off today to see what else we could find and boy did we find them.

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The Peninsula Valdes in a massive area which is a World Heritage Site and although landscape wise is baren, wildlife wise is spectacular. I wont go into to much detail as I will leave that for Lou but I can say that today we ecountered various Camels and large birds, Penguins, Seals and Sea Lions and we even caught a glimpse of an Orca (killer) Whale. I kept on thinking of you today Kathleen as you would have loved it. Anyway I will let Lou fill you in on what exactly we did today, adios for now.

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Wednesday the 31st of December

Arrahhhh its the end of the year. Happy New Year!

Well yes I have to agree with Ruairi yesterday we had a great day and hope 2004 is filled with many more great days. Our excursion took us to Penisnsula Valdes which made the crap bus rides worth it. Unsure of what exactly we would see and how close we would get to the promised mammels, we were more then happy to get stroking distance of pengunins as they sheltered from the harsh winds in their little sand caves, a stones throw from lardy, wobbely elephant seals (called this due to the large snout they delevlop), and even closer to sea lions as they vegitated on the sand for mating season. We also had the bonus of seeing a Orca whale swimming at a terrific speed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a really special day for us as neither Ruairi or I had ever seen these animals in the wild before. However for a Dutch guy we met the experience was not the same as he had previously visited the Galapagos Islands. Here he told us he encountered hundreds of sealions and was close enough to "boot them" if he wanted to! We however were impressed and took far too may pictures, Ruairi took around 70!

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It was great watching the seals swim in the ocean, hearing the baby seals squark, and seeing the large male Elephant seals competing for females. The penguins were incredibly friendly, however we did not pick up a penguin ha ha, however we fear an Orca may have done. We watched the orca swim into the creek where the pengins hang out. We patinetly waited for him to return however no such luck. They swim so fast that we must have missed him on his return.

Not only was it magical to see these animals, the landscape of this part of Patagonia is amazing. Yes it is barren and near dessert, but never has the sky predominated the scenary so much. There is not a tree, hill, building, nor mountain to obstuct the sky and when the sky is blue and filled with clouds it is a beautiful sight. Patagonia is the least populated area of Argentina with only one person per every two square kilometers. Its great as there is so much space and sky. Must get out there!

Bye bye, love Lou x

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Monday the 5th of January

Hello everybody hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year and I also hope you are all having fun back at work? Sorry that kind of smugness is uncalled for, I really should not rub your noses in the fact that you are all stuck in rainy London working while I am out relaxing in the sun, by a lake in the foothills of the Andes. Ooops looks like I did it again. Now that I have finished being smug and assuming that I have not pissed you all off so much that you have stopped reading, let me tell you what we have been up to.

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We are in Bariloche at present which is a wonderful and rather Alpine feeling little place. It is set next to a giant lake and is surronded by the Andes. We had another crap bus journey here which makes three in a row but we decided to avoid going to sleep on arrival and headed straight out to explore the town. After a short walk we found a sky lift that took you up a hill so decided to have a go at that. I found it great fun but Lou was not so keen, obviously I tried to calm her down by explaining that they dont break very often and even when they do the fall to your death will be quick and painless. I do not know why but my words did not have the soothing affects intended and so we took an alternative route down. This involved a sledge on wheels so was quite fun anyway. Well it was for Lou who zoomed ahead as my sledge kept on getting stuck and refusing to move. No everybody it was not because I was to fat for it, it was dodgy wheels!

Bariloche is quite a strange place as although it is in Argentina and all the people speak Spanish for some reason it was built to look and feel like a town on the Swiss Alps. All the buildings are wood cabins, there are chocolate factorys and shops everywhere (although Lou was not complaining) and all the resturants sell cheese fondues.

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The second day we rented some bikes and headed off to find a beach area on the lake. Obviously not before we cycled to the the giant cable car to ride up a 1400m mountain to get a view of Bariloche. Again Lou was quite scared. Again I tired to reasure her but even with me rocking the cable car backwards and forewards to prove how sterdy it was, she was still scared. Go figure? After the cable car fun we continued on and ended up cycling 8.5 miles out of town before we finally found somewhere to take a dip in the lake. I was actually quite surprised that there wasnt more people in the lake swimming but I soon realised why. Lou changed into her swimsuit ran into the lake into about 5 inches of water then after about 10 seconds she screamed it was freezing and then run straight back out. So instead of swimming we just sat there enjoying the views before cycling the 8.5 miles back to town.

Yesterday we decided to have a bit of a more relaxed day and headed out on a boat to explore some of the islands. The highlight of the day was probably all the Seagulls following the boat as we were able to hold out food and they would swoop down to grab it out of our hands. To quote Eric "when Seagulls follow the boat yawda yawda yawda," or what ever nonsense he said.

That leads us onto today and our last day in Bariloche as we have to get on a bus for Buenos Aires at 2.00pm. This should be our most fun journey yet and it is a full 19 hours of rest, relaxation, vomit filled toilets and children crying. There you go everybody now working in rainy old London does not sound to bad after all.

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Wednesday the 7th of January

Just a quick message to let you all know that we survived the 19 hour bus journey. Although in the end the journey took 22 hours as we had a flat tire and also workers had decided to picket and close all the roads to Buenos Aires. Which I found a great laugh but most of the other passengers did not seem to agree. Infact after being stuck at this picket line for two hours with people banging drums and burning tires, I was actually pretty disappointed that they let us through. Again I think I was alone in this though and Lou was quite pleased to be on the move again.

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Had a nice day in Buenos Aires yesterday, we walked down to Boca and had a look at all the colorful houses and the football stadium. On the way back we decided to walk along the docks but we had to make a u-turn when some Dockers told us that if we continued along the docks we would end up in the really rough area. He then went on to tell us that we would then be robbed, chased, knifed, shot, strangled, hit with sticks, savaged by wild dogs, kidnapped, eaten alive, poked, kicked and fed to a giant sea monster called Derek. I think he should try and get a job in the tourist office.

Well today is our last day in Argentina as we fly to Peru tonight. Again I will be sad to leave but I am really looking forward to Peru, as it should be a real culture shock. Argentina and especially Buenos Aires are very European in feel so I think Peru should be a real eye opener.

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