28 February 2009

February in Review: More Pictures

By clicking on the respective album pictures below, you should be taken to a small selection of exclusive pictures which I have taken during the month of February while traveling through Paraguay, Central & Northern Argentina, Western Peru and Northern Chile.


Paraguay	Central and North Argentina


West Peru	North Chile

Older monthly reviews:

January 2009: Southern Chile (Patagonia), Southern Argentina (Patagonia and Buenos Aires) and Uruguay
December 2008: Easter Island and Central Chile
November 2008: New Zealand
October 2008: Australia, Principality of Hutt
September 2008: Laos
August 2008: Cambodia, Bangkok
July 2008: China's East, Uzbekistan reloaded
June 2008: China's West, Central China
May 2008: Siberia, Gobi desert, Beijing/Pingyao/Xi'an
April 2008: Moscow, Uzbekistan

Labels: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru

posted by Reto at 22:50 0 Comments Links to this post

27 February 2009

Urban legends of San Pedro de Atacama

The arrival in San Pedro de Atacama was a bit of a "déjà vu". Which was not at all unpleasant. Somehow, this town reminded me of places in Central Asia. Happy times! Within minutes I fell in love with this small town. Obviously very touristic, it still seems to have preserved in large parts the original local charm as a very relaxed and chilled spot. The many comfortable hostels and restaurants lure tourists to stay an extra day or two before or after their Bolivian border crossing trip.

Moreover, there are numerous attractions around San Pedro de Atacama, such as the Geysers of El Tatio, the salt plains of Atacama, the Moon Valley and the ruins of Tulor - to name just a very few of them. Spending a week here and doing every day a different excursion is a sensible planning for many tourists.

A pleasant surprise in town is the lack of night bars and a de-facto curfew around midnight. This means that the usual hordes of drunken (put your favourite binge drinking nationality here) either avoid coming here or simply behave for once. This doesn't mean that having a good bottle of wine or drinking beers over dinner wouldn't be possible. But somehow no one really gets dead drunk, tries to piss in the streets or vomit in the dormitory of the hostel. All these annoyances that seem to be acceptable in other backpacker towns, haven't established here. It is actually amazing to see people from (put your favourite binge drinking nationality here) acting normal without their constant noise carpet of shouting and burping.

But then again, many excursions are timed for early sunrise. Which implies that a lot of trips leave at four o'clock in the mornings. Particularly, the trip to the El Tatio Geyser leaves on that time and puts tourists on an altitude of over 4'000 meters. Not exactly the place and time to have a hangover.

Since most of the tours were quite expensive, I hired a bicycle instead. Leaving town at half past seven in the morning, I went for the Moon Valley. This is the spot, where tour operators usually would bring tourists for sunsets. Cycling the 40km return in the early morning therefore meant not only to avoid the heat of the sun, but also avoiding the crowds. I literally had the whole valley to my own until ten o'clock, when the first tourists in their hired cars arrived.

On my return to town, I went to visit an archaeological site which represents a typical Atacama settlement, called the "Tulor Village". Located about 10km southeast of San Pedro de Atacama, this interesting site shows a series of interconnected circular structures. This historical village is one of the oldest sedentary archaeological places in the region. Since shifting sand dunes do cover most of the site, some visitors might find this attraction rather underwhelming. However, I do like everything being in a state of ruins. Obviously I did like that place, which was also a welcome break on the bicycle trip back to town from the Moon Valley.

Most tourists on their way out of San Pedro de Atacama continue to Uyuni in Bolivia. There are several dozen tour operators in town that offer basically the same programme for their three to four day trips. Many travelers' stories in town surround the subjects of drunk tour drivers, badly maintained vehicles, poor quality food and lodging. One (unverifiable) horror story (read: Urban legend) I have been told, was about a Dutch tourist being abandoned by the driver in the desert, because he constantly complained. He eventually got picked up by another tour group - at the expense of their seating quality. Oh yes, that's another thing to watch out: The total number of people being crammed into a four wheel drive for the trip.

Here's the trick of the trade (but most backpackers already know this one): Go to the tourist information office in San Pedro de Atacama and read the "complaints" folder there. Although most agencies are being named throughout the hundreds of these feedback pages from tourists, some of them stand out in either a very negative or very positive way. This is how I found out about two of the better tour companies. The rest of the organisation for booking the trip was bargaining for the best price.

In anticipation of the Bolivian infrastructure, I splurged a bit during my last day in San Pedro de Atacama. I went to a posh restaurant and had a Cesar's Salad, but got in return to use their WiFi hotspot. The rest of the day was filled with organizing items needed for the trip. I repacked my small day pack, got some serious strength sunblock and changed - before going to bed at night - all my Chilean pesos into Bolivian money.

Now I was ready for this exciting trip to the Andean high-plateau. But telling that story is an entire blog entry by itself. Therefore, come back soon to check out all the details about this - literally - breathtaking trip to almost 5'000 meters altitude.

Labels: Chile

posted by Reto at 22:47 0 Comments Links to this post

26 February 2009

Baywatching in Iquique

Iquique with a population of 200'000, is a beautiful coastal town in Northern Chile. In fact - according to the locals - the downtown Playa Cavancha is supposed to be the most beautiful beach in Chile.

Indeed, this sandy spot is scenic, with very long promenades, sunbathers and surfers. Arriving here is quite a scenic ride. Since the town is squeezed between the Pacific ocean and a 600m high mountain range, from where all roads arrive, there is a scenic view from the top of a winding road. This particular geographic setting also makes Iquique one of the Paragliders' top spots in South America.

Coming here from Arequipa (Peru) did require eight hour trip to the Peruvian border town of Tacna, from where a shared taxi took me for the 40km ride across the border to Chile, where I arrived in the town of Arica. There, I took another bus for the four hour ride to Iquique.

Having been sick since the arrival in Arequipa, I took this full day transport as a relaxation and recovering day. Which worked out fine, especially since the weather in Iquique was very hot. This was a welcome relief from the cold in the Peruvian mountains.

Interestingly, this northern part of Chile once belonged to Peru - with other parts further South belonging to Bolivia. During the "Saltpeter War", between 1879 and 1883, both Peru and Bolivia lost huge parts of their territories to Chile. Also called the "War of the Pacific" (not to be confused with the similarly named "Pacific War"), the resulting new territorial borders left Bolivia landlocked, having no more access to the sea.

Years earlier, the worlds largest reserves of saltpeter were found in this region. Being a key ingredient for explosives, it was foreseeable that Bolivia, Chile and Peru would disagree over the exploitation of these natural resources. Indigenous people haven't moved around these new border lines. Therefore, the towns of Arica and Iquique aren't reminding me of being typical Chilean settlements. Moreover, looking into the faces of the local people, I am being reminded more of Peruvian or Bolivian faces, than Chilean one's.

Being here and enjoying this town is rather surprising to me (and probably most of my readers). I consider beach towns to be nice places when I will turn 60 years old, being on a two week vacation. But on a round-the-world trip, such places are rather dull, boring and a simple waste of time.

However, recovering from a terrible cold, strolling along the beach, watching people and relaxing, did put the usefulness of such places in perspective. This was in fact the optimal stopover, before going into the high Andes in Bolivia. However, there is one thing that strikes me: All the South American beach cities I have seen so far, which is not a lot - to confess - lack a central "strip" or a pedestrian mall. There is simply never a place where you just can hang out in a cafes, sip a drink and savour the view over the sea - as I would expect. Also, Iquique features the well known monstrous four-lane beach road which runs for dozens of kilometers, slicing the beach from the town. This leaves practically no space for a small touristic commercial area. The only place to be is either right at the beach in the sand - or in the center of the town. Looking for a drink, some shade - or another bathroom than the sea - results in walking far distances.

Nevertheless, the stay in Iquique was very relaxing and my cold almost got completely away. And I finally felt ready for the famous desert trip from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) to Uyuni (Bolivia). But that's another story coming up shortly...

Labels: Chile

posted by Reto at 22:46 0 Comments Links to this post

24 February 2009

Being in bad shape among the nuns in Arequipa

The plan for Arequipa was to visit the "Canyon Country", which features the deepest canyons in the world. Located roughly 100km away from the city of Arequipa, the Cañon de Cotalinas is 3354m deep. Nearby Cañon de Colca is insignificantly "higher" at 3191m depth. Since my impending flight dates leave me with little time, I tried to book the canyon trip ahead - which failed. Arriving in the hostel in Arequipa, I was told that there was no booking and that the next tour available would leave in two days only. Moreover, it was raining miserably and cold temperatures prevailed. Most notably, I was sick - for the first time during my journey. Somehow, I managed to catch a heavy flu with fever.

During my journey I got used to accept things as they happened. I call this "destiny". Being sick while the weather was bad and a trip reservation had failed to materialize, was definitely a perfect match. Staying in bed for the day, after having visited the town for three hours, therefore didn't create any remorse. It was only then that I realized how lucky I have been so far during my trip as I never was sick before. Apart from some minor diarrhea, twice or so, I have been spared of major inconveniences. But I realized, that a lot of tourists in Peru are constantly sneezing and coughing. And when I spotted a Spanish tourist in the Internet cafe, wiping with her hands the snort from her nose, continuing to type again afterwards on the computer keyboard, it became obvious to me how I contracted the flu.

Named the "white city", Arequipa has indeed a lot buildings that come in volcanic stonework. The central plaza is very scenic and I am certain in good weather conditions, this town is a gem. Having a population of roughly 1 Million inhabitants, Arequipa is the second biggest city in Peru. The historic center became a UNESCO world heritage site in the year 2000.

One major sight, the Monasterio Santa Catalina, was a pleasant visit. This convent - the biggest in the world - is actually a small town (of 20'000 square meters) within the town of Arequipa. Founded in 1580, it first did house rich Spanish nuns who lived there in a very descent style. This citadel complex was off-limits for outside people until 1970. This is why this convent is still well preserved and gives a perfect insight about how life must have been there in the past centuries. It is a beautiful, meditative place with narrow streets, stairs and green plazas.

Traveling to and from Arequipa often means traveling on the Pan-American Highway. Although my journey already partly went along this road in Chile and Argentina, it was only here, that the road looked stereotypical "Pan-American" to me: Having long stretches of straight track through deserted land on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other side. The Pan-American Highway is considered the world's longest "motorable road". Although several routes claim to be the "Panamericana", the consensus is that the 48'000km long route network between Prudhoe Bay (USA) and Ushuaia (Argentina) is the de-facto "Superhighway". Contrary to common belief, it is not possible to drive entirely by road from the North American continent to the South American tip. A small swampland and forest separating Panama and Colombia leaves a 100km gap in the Pan-American highway system. Crossing that swamp - called the Darien Gap - still renders a road trip from North to South America an adventure.

Obviously, such a journey triggers quite some excitement for me and I am starting to think about a future travel along this road. So I might come back to Arequipa one day, in better shape.

Labels: Peru

posted by Reto at 22:43 0 Comments Links to this post

21 February 2009

Drawing a line in Nazca

Nazca and its alien spaceport - called the Nazca lines - was a fun experience. Not that I honestly would believe in the alien theory. But there are so many explanations as to why these lines exist, that I just randomly picked one that I liked most. Being a series of geoglyphs, the creation of the lines is believed to have happened between 200 BC and 700 AD. The lines represent a lot of different individual figures, such as hummingbirds, monkeys, fish, spiders and more. Some of other lines are simple geometric figures.

They are best visible from the air, although a small visitors tower outside of Nazca allows to view parts of the figures at a cheaper cost than an airplane ride. Being of shallow design, the lines were created by removing pebble stones from the ground - which then reveals the white colored earth underneath. Since the Nazca desert, where these lines are located, is one of the driest places on Earth, the temperature remains at a constant level all year round. There is no wind that would jeopardize the artistic work.

Nazca lines figures

Although the whole area is about 500 square kilometers big, most of the figures are smaller than I expected. Actually, the biggest figure is "only" around 250 meters large. But that implies, that tourist airplanes have to fly at a low altitude to permit better visibility. Never having flown on a small airplane in my entire life, shelling out 60 US dollars for a 35 minute flight over the Nazca lines was a no-brainer. Anywhere else in the world, this would cost me more, with less spectacular views.

What no-one tells prior to booking these sightseeing plane trips: They really, really have to fly quite low and they will turn in "S"-shaped curves around all of the figures along the route - to permit passengers sitting on both sides to get a good picture. This results in a feeling close to a roller-coaster ride. To me, this just added to the fun, but the Canadian guy sitting next to me was apparently not enjoying this. When I looked at him after a couple of minutes, I was startled to see his entire face and t-shirt soaking wet. He was sweating like I haven't seen anyone before. Coming back to the hostel, I met an Italian couple who also made the flight. Same there: The wife did not enjoy the ride at all. And he was also looking a bit shaky. Seems that I have a strong stomach or a naive trust in aerodynamics.

Nazca lines figures near the visitors tower and the Panamericana highway

Nazca lines figures near the visitors tower and the Panamericana highway

The exact reason to draw these figures in the desert remains a mystery. Which - obviously - makes me like this place even more. The most prominent theory comes from Maria Reiche, a German mathematician and archeologist who discovered the lines during her work as assistant. She dedicated her life trying to solve the mystery and published theories in the book The Mystery of the Desert. The profits of this book went into the preservation of the area, hiring guards. If the lines of Nazca are still visible for tourists today, it is in large parts due to the neverending efforts of Maria Reiche, who succeeded to convince the Peruvian government in protecting the desert from public access. In 1995, the area became a UNESCO world heritage site. No wonder, she is respected like a hero among the locals, who are - ten years after her death - are still preserving her work in a museum.

Religious motivation is the base theory of Maria Reiche. The Nazca people would draw images for the goods to see them in the sky. They were supposed to point to distant places and celestial bodies. Other archeologists concluded, that there wasn't evidence to support this theory. Another theory, of archeologist Johan Reinhard, interpretes the lines as being used as sacred paths leading to places where deities were worshiped. Another researcher found the patterns of the Nazca lines on ancient textiles wrapping the mummies of the Paracas culture. Some scientists speculate, that the lines altogether are an indication of Nazca-era hot air balloon capabilities, since the figures obviously can only be truly appreciated from the air.

Pharmacy store downtown Nazca

The best answer comes from Switzerland: Our famous "mad scientist", Erich von Daeniken, saw the larger drawings as signals for alien space ships. And the longer, wider lines were meant to be landing strips for these vessels. Apparently, Maria Reiche did make a comment to this theory, by outlining that the imagined runways were indeed clear of stones with a soft underlying ground. She is being quoted with the words "I'm afraid that the spacemen would have gotten stuck". But then again, we all love the outer-space theory, don't we?

As if the Swiss "scientists" didn't already stir enough possums in Nazca, I did draw some meaningless Nazca lines next to the parking lot of the airport. Hopefully, some archeologist will discover them in a couple of hundred years from now - and go absolutely mad by trying to figure out who made them and what their purpose would be. But then again, maybe that is the best explanation about how the original Nazca lines were created?

Standing in the shadow of the famous lines, the Nazca aqueducts are an equally interesting visit. Created about 1600 years ago by the same Nazca people, these aqueducts used ground water to irrigate the fields. 30 of these ancient structures are still working to form this clever water channeling, irrigation and storage system. Being for the most part underground - to prevent evaporation - "S"-shape curves in the channels slow down the flow to prevent erosion. The whole system needs only once per year maintenance by the local farmers. It is absolutely amazing to see such a massively ancient technology still in use.

Did I already mention that I liked this place a lot?

Labels: Peru

posted by Reto at 16:38 0 Comments Links to this post

18 February 2009

Sniffing other people's wet towels in Lima

Lima coastline in the barrio de Miraflores

After a four hour flight from Santiago de Chile, I arrived in the capital of Peru, Lima. This was a considerable change of culture. There is so much more of the good and the bad. More colors, churches and food variety. More traffic, pollution and crime.

As for the latter, local people avoid the city center after nightfall. At least, this is what some of the Peruvians I met, stressed to me. They genuinely seem to be concerned about the tourists safety and are very eager to share tips which areas to avoid at which times. As a visitor spending only little time in places, I never know whether I should trust such information or not. Most of the time, I have the feeling that the scares are media-generated and some people seem to actually boast about their place being the "crime capital". South-Americans seem to love the television documentary series, where camera crews follow police officers during patrols and other police activities. I can see these omnipresent shows anywhere in shops and restaurants. Sometimes, they are part of the regular news program. No wonder, that people from Lima fight over the title of the most dangerous place with people from Santiago de Chile, Mendoza and Buenos Aires. The heavy police force in downtown Lima would make me think, that the Peruvian capital wins this dubious award. But that can be a misleading indication and personally, I felt very safe when I visited the area.

On a more general note, Peru has over 2000 varieties of potatos. There's the all important scientific center for the potato (Centro Internacional de la Papa), based in Lima. Obviously, I was a bit excited to try new kinds of potatos. But so far I couldn't spot any "papas fritas" (French Fries) with a truly different taste. Probably I shouldn't have chosen McDonald's for this research.

Besides veggies, there are other star attractions in Lima. Notably there is the biggest collection of pre-columbian erotic ceramic, which is housed at the Museo Larco Herrera. There, a unique collection of over 40'000 ceramic pieces - most of them belonging to the Moche culture - show very expressive motifs about may aspects of life.

A lesser known Peruvian record was established by the bus company "Expreso Internacional Ormeño": They do serve the longest international overland journey, which starts in Venezuela and links Chile and Argentina by going through Ecuador and Peru. This bus route is 9'000 kilometers long. Well, I am quite adventurous - but somehow I did resist to try out this mammoth trip.

Downtown Lima

My hostel in Lima was located in the barrio of Miraflores, a safe and beautiful part of the capital city. Located near the beach, this area gets the most attention by tourists and locals. One thing that I kept noticing were the big green "S" stickers next to some concrete walls in many buildings. They denote the safe area, in case an earthquake occurs. Looking at the history of Lima, these safety precautions do seem to make sense. Founded in 1535 as La Ciudad de los Reyes (City of Kings), earthquakes flattened most buildings in 1687, 1746 and 1940.

Nevertheless, there are still remnants of the early building periods which are both colorful and photogenic. As most other cities on the South American continent, Lima also has to have a Plaza de Armas, with the usual suspects of infrastructure at its four sides: A Government palace, a cathedral, a municipality building and some local businesses. Well, maybe I am worn out to this kind of city planning, because there is rarely something unique or surprising. After having seen the n-th Plaza de Armas, I am definitely getting cynical about Spanish city layouts. Just arrive in any city in South America, pop out of the bus and ask for the directions to the Plaza de Armas. There's a 99% chance that one is there, with the above mentionned buildings at its side. This reminds me a bit of China, where the city layout are standardized as well.

To be fair, however, it is in the details where lies the difference - and this is where Lima shines. The Iglesia de San Francisco is a wonderful piece of colonial architecture. Its underground catacombs has over 25'000 real human skeletons that were buried between the 16th and 19th centuries. The bones are arranged in artistic patterns. Since the church also contains a library with oversized books and spiral staircases, this place probably appeals also a lot to Harry Potter fans.

Miraflores

Besides sightseeing, I used Lima as a base to get things done: Trip research, Internet and laundry. Especially I wanted to have my bath towel washed.

There is nothing that I hate so much these days as my bath towel. It stinks after only using it once. It even stinks when it's dry. I know, it has to suffer a lot, because most of the times, I have to pack it moist, because a lot of transportation happens just after the morning shower. Clever readers will point out that I should shower in the evenings instead - giving my poor little towle much needed time to dry. Nah! I wouldn't dare sleeping in some of the beds with a clean body. A good morning shower gets rid of most bed bugs and other little beasts. But that leaves me with a wet towel. And although I try to hang it as soon as possible somewhere during transport or upon arrival in a new hostel, my little towel still has that mildew, musty smell. I hate that smell, I hate my towel.

Moreover, nobody can really explain, why any of my t-shirts seem to cope better with humidity than my towel. My t-shirts can get wet from rain or sweat and they don't complain back to me by stinking mildew. Let's face it: Bath towels are supposed to absorb water without stink. So why doesn't mine absorb? I went so mad one day, that I wandered around the dormitory sniffing at other backpacker's towels hanging over their beds. Which was a revelation: Their towels also stink. Especially the super absorbing hi-tech microfiber towels. I couldn't establish a clear ranking, but I think my stinky little towel isn't that smelly after all. But the other people in the dorm now think that I am weirdo who is hooked on towel sniffing. I could live with that stigma - if only my towel didn't stink.

Labels: Peru

posted by Reto at 03:41 0 Comments Links to this post

15 February 2009

Traveling ignorant through Mendoza

Tataaaa! This is - according to Blogspot - my 100th posting. Can't believe that I wrote so much in less than a year.

The journey from Salta to Mendoza was quite uneventful - except for the fact that I traveled on a first class bus. The hostel in which I stayed was one of the places no one really writes home about. Neither bad nor good. But since a few people arrived there who were traveling the same route - on a regular bus - I knew quite a few of them. We visited downtown Mendoza and various beautiful parks around town.

Temperatures were absolutely breathtaking. Literally. The 40+ degrees Celsius were taking a toll on us backpackers and we crawled from shady ice cream stands to other shady ice cream stands. Founded in 1561, the city of Mendoza now has almost one million inhabitants for the metropolitan area and one of the biggest city parks I have seen in Argentina. Called "Parque General San Martin", this area features football stadiums, a lake, zoo and a University campus. Moreover, there is an amphitheatre and a scenic lookout, both located on the hill "Cerro de la Gloria" at the northern edge of the park.

Although the city is charming with lots of avenues plenty of trees and cafes, there wouldn't be that many tourists here, if it wasn't for two major reasons: One is the strategic location on the scenic highway crossing the Andes from Santiago (Chile). There are people flying in from Buenos Aires (although that highway would continue there), only to take this scenic bus ride to Chile. The windy road - especially on the Chilean side - is simply spectacular. And I am saying this as Swiss who is used to this kind of mountain passes - but back home they seem to be on a much smaller scale.

The second reason to come and visit Mendoza is "Aconcaqua". This is a mountain peak in the Andes range, which actually is the highest mountain in the Southern hemisphere - as well as the highest mountain outside Asia. Although having an incredible altitude of 6,962 meters, Aconcagua is - in mountaineering terms - a technically easy mountain and a lot of casual (but fit) hikers book trips to go there.

However, such a trip requires at least one week. This is partly due to the fact of acclimatization time needed to avoid altitude sickness. As I had little time left, climbing the Aconcagua was nowhere near on the list of things to do. This might be a topic for an upcoming journey, where I might choose to climb mountains above 6000 meters altitude - or something similarly random. For the moment, I kept low profile and stayed in Mendoza.

A Korean guy mentioned that he booked the overnight bus from Mendoza to Chile to save on a hostel night. A Dutch guy nodded stating that he was also taking the night bus, because there was nothing to see on this trip. As he knew everything much better than the rest of us - including the owners of the hostel - I left both of the guys in their belief, that the highway to Santiago de Chile was boring. Funnily enough, some of the other people in the round actually had made that trip and would not even try to comment on the two guy's erroneous plans. All this while I almost peed in my pants of sheer excitement in anticipation of the trip over the Andes.

On the last day of my stay in Mendoza, the other backpackers wished me a very nice and scenic trip during breakfast. While the Korean and Dutch guy got themselves comfortable on the hostel sofa to wait twelve hours for their night bus, I left. The trip definitely is scenic (Did I mention this before already?). The border crossing was done at an altitude of 3200 meters. Immigration into Chile was thorough, because - for some unknown reason to me - Chile does not allow any fruit, meat and dairy products into their country. All bags were unloaded and checked, which took about 90 minutes in total.

Obviously there were some cheaters like the Canadian lady who argued and tried to bargain with the customs agents - because she had a bag full of the forbidden food items. She complained that the bus agency hadn't informed her before the trip about this import restriction. But then again, before entering the customs building, there are life-size posters. Among other items, a 1 meter high picture of an orange is crossed out. Together with an English language label. Despite her ignorance, she had to pay the fine.

A well known proverb says that "A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion." Well, the Canadian lady, the Dutch and Korean guys did certainly not follow public opinions. Nevertheless, they were ignorants. This is why I like a Syrian proverb much better: "An ignorant person is simply an enemy to himself."

Labels: Argentina

posted by Reto at 20:50 2 Comments Links to this post

12 February 2009

Fighting the water in Salta

Arriving in Salta, coming from Resistencia, where I almost got stuck, because the quality of life was so great, rain was greeting my bus pulling into the city's main terminal. Readers of this blog won't be really surprised that I did not stay in Resistencia and moved on instead. Because there is still so much more to explore and discover on this great continent. But I might go back to Resistencia one day.

Salta is one of the key backpacker towns, where a lot of travelers choose to set base to explore the neighboring towns of San Salvador de Juyuny, Cafayate and Cachi. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't really on my side. Moreover, visiting most of these places would involve booking tours - which was beyond my budget. Therefore, the planned stay for a week in Salta, quickly washed away into a small two night stopover where I simply would visit the downtown area.

Actually, this weather pattern is a first introduction into what is going be the challenge for the next leg of my trip, when I will be traveling even further North. It is rain season in Peru and Bolivia. This will also influence the way I'll be doing the "loop" from Lima through Peru and Bolivia. Starting in Lima, then going counter-clockwise through the North of Chile, Bolivia and ending the trip at the historical site of Machu Picchu (Peru) is an unusual itinerary. But traveling this way, I do hope to circumvent most of the rain season.

In Salta, the tourist atmosphere is very relaxed. Visiting the architecture of the historic buildings is definitely worth the trip. This town looks more "South American" (according to my European stereotypical expectations) than any other place I have visited so far on this continent. Salta is probably also a good introduction into what I will get to see further North in Peru and Bolivia.

One of the other main reasons for me to come here, was the scenic "Tren de las Nubes" (Train of the clouds), which is supposed to be one of the most breathtaking and scenic train rides in the world. But then again, rain season meant that the track is currently being closed. On offer was a tour by bus which would follow some of the stretches of the railway line. This wasn't really what I'd call a spectacular and scenic ride - therefore I did choose to pass on that one. I was quite disappointed, but I am the only one to blame for lack of proper planning and timing of the visit.

Nevertheless, the town of Salta had quite spectacular views, namely the "Cerro San Bernardo", where I could test the strengths of my camera's zoom lens. A lot of activity was also going on at the "Plaza of 9th July". There, I found a vegetarian restaurant. Whew! I was now really looking for this kind of food, since I was fed up a bit by the constant overdose of meat in Argentinean meals. I started to almost have to throw up when smelling the faint odor of cooked meat evaporating from various kitchen windows. Yes, the overdose of meat is that serious! I was starting to live out of fruit and yogurt bought at supermarkets - substituting most of the daily meals. And I became a regular visitor to "McDonalds", where I would enjoy the variety of salad dish coming at a descent price. Probably, the pressure of eating meat all the time was one of the reasons, why I did not want to stay in Resistencia, too.

So I left rainy Salta after two nights only, on a long bus trip to Mendoza. Tickets on the regular bus ("semi-cama") were sold out and so I booked - for the first time - a first class bus ("cama"), which would leave five minutes later than the regular bus. While all the backpackers would leave with the regular bus, I was walking up to the posh vehicle bearing the huge signs which marked it as "Ejecutivo" and "Primera Classa". Standing in a crowd of nicely dressed, elderly American tourists with my Rucksack, I did hope that no one from the nearby "Backpacker bus" would spot me. Or - if they would - that we never would see again. I was so embarrassed. Service on my bus was not worth the exorbitant price. On top of that, the air conditioning in the ceiling above my seat was pissing water during the whole trip. Which I had to fix myself, using napkins and cushions from the seat, because the car attendant wasn't keen on getting his hands dirty to fix this little detail.

Well, Murphy's law predicts that I would bump into the other backpackers again - which I did. Me riding first class on this trip was one of the discussion subjects at the hostel in Mendoza. But that's another story coming up in my next blog entry.

Labels: Argentina

posted by Reto at 19:27 0 Comments Links to this post

09 February 2009

Resistencia, part 1

The town of Resistencia in Argentina was a nice treat after a long trip coming from Acunción, Paraguay. Located in the Chaco province, this city is known as "Ciudad de las Esculturas" (sculptures city). Founded in 1878, it is known since the 1960's as open-air museum featuring more than 500 sculptures and murals around town. Moreover, since 1988, there are symposiums, in which artists from all over the world compete, after the competition their statues add to the rich diversity of culture - virtually at every street corner. The idea of this initiative was launched about 40 years ago by a local professor and theater activist, Aldo Boglietti, who had the idea to embellish the rapidly growing city with art works.

Somehow, Resistencia hit me immediately with such a comfort and feeling at home, that I couldn't stop thinking about how it would be to live here 365 days per year. This actually never had happened to me before. Considering myself grown up enough, I do know that a town which looks like paradise during holidays, doesn't necessarily have enough quality for everyday's life. Since Resistencia is not a typical tourist spot, I felt much more inclined to think about living here. Yes, it is by far the nicest town I have seen in Argentina. People are wonderful and so nice. There is virtually nothing bad that I could possibly tell from here. And then, there was this Argentinean farmer, who would drive me around and show me the city. Just because he had time and because he was curious to speak with a foreigner. He helped me in finding a cheap, clean residencia, smack downtown Resistencia. Awesome.

Yes, again I complain about my Spanish skills. Because I feel guilty and my knowledge of the language is way too basic. Being around Ignacio, my gaucho host, I picked up a few more basic words during the few days I stayed. But then again, Francisco, another friendly Argentinean bloke whom I met back in Buenos Aires gave me also good Spanish tips. He was giggling, when I pronounced the "Avenida Lavalle" with a French intonation. He tought me the proper pronunciation for the double-L, which is "sh". "Lavalle" therefore sounds very close to the French term "La vache", by pronouncing an extra "e" at the end. If you don't speak French: pronounce it as "lawashe". That is actually easy to remember - thus being in the know, each time I see this street name, I do think of cows.

The fact, that I am still focusing on learning Russian while travelling through South America, doesn't help me at all to improve my Spanish language skills. But that choice for the next language has been made a few months ago and I stick with that decision.

Finally, I got introduced by Ignacio to the whole variety of Argentine cuisine. Their version of the barbecue, called Asado, was the standard meal, we would eat at least once a day. Although I tasted the intestines (Chinchulines) and kidneys (Riñones), he quickly understood that I largely prefer the standard sausage and steak type of food. Eating with an Argentinean family was definitely a welcome change from the fast food I had enjoyed so far, which mainly consits of meat fillets with egg on bread (Milanesas) or pizzas.

As for breakfast, the croissants (Medialunas) and other pastry are simply called Facturas. It was only now, that I started to realize, that whenever I ordered coffee and "Dulces" (which I believed to be the Spanish term for pastry) - and the waiter would confirm my order with "Facturas?" - he would not actually want to bring me the bill. Since my usual mix-up with Italian would lead me to think of the term "factura" being just another term for the bill, I was confused why waiters were so eager to get the money at breakfast time. As you see, every now and then, I finally clean up my weird (bogus?) Spanish with the help of a local. But I wonder how on Earth I made it so far on this continent without properly speaking the local language.

Being in the enormous region of Gran Chaco, a region which contains the Chaco province, the nature and the views consist mostly of grassland and thorny forests. So there is not much variety, which certainly contributes to the fact that not many visitors are to be found in Resistencia. But then again, this town is a major cross road between Northwest and the Central / South of Argentina. Which makes it very accessible and a good stop over for a couple of nights and to break a long bus trip into shorter journeys.

Actually, here in Argentina and in Chile, I have seen the most comfortable buses for my entire life. Buses in Europe cannot compete with that standard and are nowhere near that exclusive comfort found here in the South of South America. Some of the coaches come with only three seats per row, looking suspiciously similar to business class seats on airplanes. Even if there are four seats, there is heaps of legroom and large leg-rests. Sometimes, meals are being served as well. And almost all of the buses show decent, recent movies. To my surprise, the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", shown on the bus from Asunción, was actually dubbed in Russian (!) with Spanish subtitles. Which worked out perfectly for me, since I knew about 30% of story from the plot, understood 50% of the Spanish subtitles and another 20% from the Russian dialogues. I definitely have to work harder on that Russian language.

But then again, I am seriously tempted to stop my journey and settle in Resistencia. Therefore, the unfolding blog story in my next posting will not really be much of a surprise to my keen readers.

Labels: Argentina

posted by Reto at 13:36 1 Comments Links to this post

06 February 2009

Checking out Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción

Coming from Puerto Iguazù in Argentina, I did choose to cross Paraguay to go to the West of Argentina. This is by no means the shortest route, although it looks like being shorter on the map. The border crossings eat up valuable time and changing buses cannot compete - even with the best connections - with the direct services running from Puerto Iguazù to the West of Argentina. But hey, I get another immigration stamp in my passport. And since many tourists avoid traveling to Paraguay, it spurred my curiosity.

Several Internet references about Paraguay sound scary. It is the second poorest nation on the South American continent, with an unemployment rate of over 15%. About a third of the population are considered to be poor. The country is suffering from its landlocked position, which has made it a transit hub for illegal drugs in the past. Changes in the weather, fluctuations in world prices for agricultural and oil products still create shocks for this informal economy. The government sector is inefficient, the banking sector is weak, overall extensive corruption prevails and a very slow pace of reforms undermine any effort in bringing the country up to the same economic level as its Southern neighbors. On the plus side, there are extensive hydroelectricity resources and a great agricultural potential and a consolidating democratic system.

That does sound really bad. Add to this the extensive warnings in travel advisories about muggings and robberies in Asunción, this country was begging me to go for a reality check. So, I entered Paraguay in Ciudad del Este, which is connected by a bridge to the town Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil - where my Argentinean bus was transiting through. Immediately upon arrival on Paraguayan soil, the environment changed completely: Very busy streets, hundreds of shops - rubbish, broken down streets and poverty everywhere. Although I haven't been for some time on the African continent, parts of Ciudad del Este strongly reminded me of Douala, Kinshasa, Libreville, Monrovia, Bamako or any other typical African city I've been to. This Paraguayan town even came with the same sort of very greedy cab drivers. To cut a long story short, I made it on the bus to the capital city, Ascunción - after a couple of bus ticket resellers almost knocked each other off in their sales fight for me.

Arriving in the capital at around 10pm, I was undecided about how long I would want to stay in town and did choose a hotel near the bus terminal for convenience. Drum-rolls, please! The award for the first cockroach hotel on my round-the-world journey goes to... Ascunción. We're not talking about the occasional cockroach lying dead in a corner or walking casually by as I go to sleep. That's pretty common in many places and nothing to write home about. But in this small room (I guess, prison cells back home are bigger than this room), I managed to kill four cockroaches before I went to sleep.

And I found two dead ones when I woke up in the morning. Which leaves me wondering how many were wandering over my bed as I slept. Which I did actually quite comfortable - in my clothes. Because the room and the shower probably hadn't seen house keeping since the building was erected. But I won't really argue, since at US$ 5 per night - in a central location, this was a steal which made me cope with such minor inconveniences as not having water in the bathroom.

Looking at some other lodging options early next morning, I decided not to waste more time in finding a better accommodation. Instead, I bought an outward bus ticket to Argentina for that night. Which allowed me to spend a full day sightseeing Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (actually the correct, full name of this city). As I drove downtown, the bus changed endlessly between shantytowns and business districts, until it reached the Centro. There, I went directly to the Lopez Presidential Palace, where I was greeted by several dozens of soldiers and policemen. As it was shortly before nine o'clock in the morning, they were busy waving traffic through, ensuring that the president would not get stuck in a traffic jam while being driven to his office. Another task of the uniformed men was to prevent me taking any pictures of the presidential palace. For security reasons, as they said.

The presidential caravan of SUV's driving by with flashing dome and head lights was spanking new. The whole scene looked a bit like out of the television series "24". There I sat on the small wall, taking pictures of the sea instead of the palace in the middle of loud sirens. And I saw, to my surprise, a small shanty settlement of - maybe - 20 tin roofed houses just 50 meters across the presidential office (you can actually see a bit of it on Google Maps). That's where the reference books I read definitely don't exaggerate: The gap between rich and poor is very visible in this capital.

Walking from the presidents palace to the new Congress building, I spotted a small historical place in front of its entrance. There are, among trees and statues, two big canons - probably from the 17th century. Surprisingly, they are not facing the sea, but inland - pointing both directly, at a slightly right angle towards the Congress building.

Having visited Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción for less than 24 hours (and Paraguay for a bit more than 36 hours) does not really entitle me to judge this city or the country. I still struggle personally whether I would come back one day, if I had time or money. It is neither a clear yes nor a clear no. Because I am feeling that the countryside is much different and most probably worth the extra effort of visiting. Nevertheless, just when I thought that leaving the country would be as easy as any of the other border crossings I have seen so far in South America, I did learn a different lesson: Argentinean immigration was very thorough, but efficient.

Arriving at Argentinean customs, a dozen doubledecker buses were lining up. One by one, all passengers had to leave the bus to proceed at immigration control. Once their passports or ID cards processed, they would have to wait until the bus in front of them would get clearance to cross the border. That clearance is only given to an empty bus. So all the luggage has to be unloaded and carried by the passengers through X-ray machines. It's a well orchestrated procedure, where customs officers and bus drivers know their duties and work hand in hand. Another reality check fulfilled: Paraguay still seems to have a problem with illicit drugs. Other than that, I cannot explain such a strict border control, that took us about 90 minutes in all. Which was definitely not a bad thing for me personally: This was the first time, I almost missed my bus in Ascunción and I had not eaten and was quite thirsty. But my priority was to catch the bus - which left the instant I boarded. Being for 90 minutes at the border, this would allow me to buy food, drinks and change back Guaraní, the Paraguayan money, from the various street vendors passing through the crowd. Perfect!

A couple of hours later, I arrived absolutely relaxed in the town of Resistencia in Argentina. Without prearranged booking and onward transportation. But that is yet another story to come.

Labels: Paraguay

posted by Reto at 01:21 1 Comments Links to this post

03 February 2009

Paying the price at the falls of Iguazu

The spectacular waterfalls of Iguazu are located on the border between Argentina and Brazil. The nearest town on the Argentinean side, Puerto Iguazú, has a population of around 30'000 people. Its counterpart in Brazil bears the name of Foz do Iguaçu and is roughly ten times bigger. Since a visit to the falls usually involves seeing the falls from both countries, a number of border crossings is necessary. Setting my base camp at a strategic location involved some advance research, since I planned to continue my trip by going to Paraguay - which also has a border in the area.

The question at hand, about which side of the waterfalls would be more attractive, is being answered by almost all people in a very diplomatic way: The Brazilian side gives a panoramic overview, whereas the Argentinean side allows to step up closer to the various falls. Officially, no one prefers either side. But let me cut the crap: The Argentinean side is massively better. There, is was kept busy for a full day exploring various smaller and larger treks around the falls. A lot of times, I found myself being absolutely surprised and amazed at the new twists of angles in seeing the waterfalls. This is the side to do if you really just have time for one country.

Although the whole area in both countries is very touristic, this was alright with me. Coming from the solitude of rural Uruguay, the bustling atmosphere was a welcome change. Puerto Iguazú had the perfect size to make it a base for the whole stay in this tri-state area. Prices are cheaper than in Foz do Iguaçu. Moreover, getting from and to the transportation is definitely easier in a smaller town.

Although recommended by many (female) backpackers, I did not stay at the "best hostel in Argentina", which belongs to the "Hostelling International" (HI-hostel) chain. Resort-style, it is located five kilometers away from Puerto Iguazú, features pool, bar and restaurants. After having been hung up the phone by the HI-hostel's receptionist, telling me "We don't accept any phone bookings and we are fully booked. Click.", I quickly found another hostel. Located downtown, it also had a nice courtyard, pool and a bar. And it was much cheaper. Actually, I should thank the unfriendly receptionist, since staying in the town of Puerto Iguazu was not only much more comfortable, I also ran - by sheer coincidence - into Brice, a French traveller. We last met in Beijing (China) about eight months ago. Obviously, we spent quite some time exchanging stories over some beers and (very bad quality) vodka.

By staying a total of three days, I had enough time to visit the whole of the Iguazu waterfall system, which consists of 275 falls along almost 3 kilometers of the same named river (except for 900 meters, where no water runs over the cliff edge). The water flow rate peaks at 1'500 m³/s with a height of the falls that peaks at 82 meters for the highest ones. Contrary to common belief, there seems to be no record entry for these falls.

The Iguazu falls are nowhere near the highest (record: Angel Falls, Venezuela at 979 metres total height), widest (Victoria Falls, Zambia & Zimbabwe at 1680 meters width) nor do they have the most water flow (record: Boyoma Falls, Congo at 17'000 m³/s). However, the Iguazu falls are among the most scenic ones I have encountered.

After seeing the impressive Argentinean side, where the catwalks are located very near on the top and at the bottom of some falls, I went to see the Brazilian side. Well, I already mentioned how I felt about that side of the falls. In Brazil, there is essentially one long catwalk along the upper rim of the river, where I did take endless series of panoramic pictures from the falls. Towards the end of the walk, some sort of catwalk over the falls provides the most scenic view. Although being a very good spot to take pictures, I found it somehow to be less impressive than what I had seen the day before on the Argentinean side. I guess, it boils down to the sequence in visiting the falls: I should have done them the other way around by starting in Brazil.

Entrance fees are high on the agenda in most discussions among travellers: Brazil charges 35 Arg.Pesos (10 US$), while Argentina charges 60 Arg.Pesos (17.5 US$) after a 50% price increase for many sites throughout the country as per 1.1.2009. Visiting both sides of the falls therefore puts a serious dent in any backpacker's budget.

Coming at 4 Arg.Pesos for locals, the entrance fee for tourists (15 times as much)feels a bit like a slap in the face. And the salary statistics for IT workers in Argentina doesn't really explain this gap. Then again, taking only the statistics from my particular working area is a bit subjective. Anyhow, the entrance fee for tourists to the Iguazu falls could be as five times as high and there would be probably still be a few backpackers that would make it there. Because it is definitely a major scenic spot in South America, not to be missed.

Advertising: Access to Europe's widest falls, the Rhinefalls near Schaffhausen, is free. Gratis. Zero Francs. Costa nada. This price is the same for all visitors, independent of their nationality, race, religion or sexual preferences. By applying the reciprocally charge for certain nationals, this would still yield to zero Francs (at 15 times zero Franc).

Labels: Argentina, Brazil

posted by Reto at 01:20 1 Comments Links to this post

01 February 2009

The gaucho's of Rivera, Tacuarembó and Salto

The city of Rivera straddles on the border between Uruguay and Brazil. This leads to a quite unique border crossing which I haven't seen so far on my trip. The center of town has two immigration offices, one for Brazil and one for Uruguay. But they are separated by 20 street blocks. Leaving Uruguay means that you "stamp out" the passport in one part of town and then go (by foot, bus or taxi) to the other part of the town for the Brazilian immigration procedure. I therefore wonder, if wandering tourists are technically considered illegal aliens in this bustling no-man's land full of shops, entertainment and hotels. The great blog entry here is a much more detailed description of the town and border crossing process. A last minute decision made me stay in Uruguay. Rivera was having a constant sound level of police sirens and burglary systems honking through town. A bit apprehensive about entering Brazil, because of my lack of Portuguese language skills and the expensive prices, I went for the easy way out: Turn south to Tacuarembó in Uruguay.

However, this change of itinerary was also a bit anticipated, since I wanted to go to the Iguacu falls in a couple of days. Located between Argentina and Brazil, I preferred to arrive at the Argentinean side, since there is the much better base to go to see the falls.

So I was as quickly out of the town as I arrived - on my way to the gaucho capital of Tacuarembó. The road was absolutely spectacular, with one of the strangest sunsets I have ever seen: Due to the rainy weather, the colours were mixed in various shades of grey and orange high in the sky, while there was a milky white pattern near the horizon, where the clouds were less dense.

My bus arrived at around eight o'clock in the evening, during a time the tourist office was closed. But very helpful staff at the bus company counters directed me to the "controller", which is actually the lady announcing various bus arrivals and departures in the terminal. She was very helpful and actually had a small book with various guest house addresses. She called one of them (Pension Bertiz, Ituzaingó 211, ph. 2-3324) and handed me the phone to sort out the price (about 8US$) and options (shared bathroom, fan, no television). The place was clean, the rooms are located courtyard-style in the back of a busy street near the center plaza.

The world famous tango singer, Carlos Gardel, was born in this town. Not that I am a great fan of tango, or that birthplaces of famous people do matter for me. But in the case of Carlos Gardel, the ongoing dispute between countries fighting for being the birthplace is fierce. France, Argentina and Uruguay are in the competition. Depending on which source you read, Tacuarembó in Uruguay is the most likely birth place (Lonely Planet), Toulouse in France is the most likely birth place for Wikipedia while the singer himself claimed to be born "at the age of two" in Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, the original records of Carlos Gardel (from 1913 to 1935) are actually part of the UNESCO's "Memory of the World Programme" - an initiative calling upon the preservation of valuable archive holdings all over the world. (As a side note: The absence of items from my home country, Switzerland, in the list of historical archive holdings is a bit of a bugger)

Although, Tacuarembó has a population of over 50'000 people, the place feels smaller. I was absolutely gobsmacked, how many real gauchos (not the ones posing for souvenir shots) are roaming the streets of this town. But then again, there is an obvious influx from the rural area around Tacuarembó - I did spot most gauchos, while sitting in a cafe opposite the entrance to the governmental veterinary services. They also come to town in search for entertainment, after several days or weeks of herding cattle and other farming tasks. Some of these guys were lodging at the same pension as I was and they fitted the melancholic stereotype: Being very "down-to-earth", honest and silent, they can be violently loud and proud when somebody says something wrong.

My Spanish skills do improve a bit, but I still make a lot of errors at the silly end of the scale of stupidity. To plan ahead my stay in Iguacu, I went to a pizzeria downtown reading the Lonely Planet's self-proclaimed "backpacker's bible" - or: "South America on a shoestring" guidebook. (Yes, I did not throw it away, yet). The waitress, very interested in talking to a stranger, asked me - spotting my thick book - "son de la iglesia?" ("Are you from a church"). Sure, this book is written in English ("Ingles"), stupid you - I thought and therefore nodded an uninterested "Si" ("Yes") back at her. She seemed to be a keen churchgoer, because she now was even more interested in having a conversation with me. She started to throw various names at me, asking if I knew these "Padres" ("Priests"). This is where I started to realize my error ("Iglesia" vs. "Ingles") and tried to correct it by telling her "El libro está en Inglés" ("The book is in English"). She had this pityful smile in which I could read: Sure my stupid son, you read the bible in English. And she continued to chatter with me about having to visit the local church and meet up with the current priest. Awmygod, now I was in deep trouble. But there is one word, I learned very quickly in South America, which I used as a reply: "Mañana" ("Tomorrow"). After finishing the meal, I left Tacuarembó later that day like a cheater.

Buses in South America - especially in Uruguay - are also dubbing as postal services to deliver letters and parcels. So, the relatively small drive between Tacuarembò and Salto took nearly six hours and I arrived after sunset. I quickly found a cheap and clean crash pad (Hotel Tia, somewhere downtown, 10 US$ single with shower and telly) and went for dinner. Although the small bit of downtown I saw was quite nice, I decided to leave next day. Having prepared for the Iguacu falls, I was eager to move on to that spot. The fact, that it was raining quite hard, contributed to this decision.

Uruguay is definitely worth another visit. Next time, I´d like to do it by car, because there were so many interesting sites and views in the back country, where the buses didn't stop. And I definitely enjoyed the people of this country. How will one of South America's top tourist destinations, the Iguacu falls, measure up to this? You will be quite surprised about my findings when you will be reading the next blog entry in a couple of days.

Labels: Uruguay

posted by Reto at 01:07 1 Comments Links to this post

Roaming Reto

February in Review: More Pictures

Urban legends of San Pedro de Atacama

Baywatching in Iquique

Being in bad shape among the nuns in Arequipa

Drawing a line in Nazca

Sniffing other people's wet towels in Lima

Traveling ignorant through Mendoza

Fighting the water in Salta

Resistencia, part 1

Checking out Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción

Paying the price at the falls of Iguazu

The gaucho's of Rivera, Tacuarembó and Salto