Backpacking

Getting close to the end of our travelling around however things are still enjoyable. Had a enjoyable bus trip from Mendosa to Bariloche, travelling semi cama class where the seats lie back at about 45 degrees and there is a leg section that comes back from the seat in fron, to the front of your seat. The seats are quite wide and allow you to lie on your side although you are not flat - still managed to get a few hours sleep. Woke in the morning to find the weather changing and it is becoming a lot windier and colder, and as we continued south it really changed. It really started pouring just as we started travelling in the mountain region so although we saw some of the scenery we didnt get the distane view. Arrived in Bariloche to find it raining really heavy and 6 degrees and after Mendoza it was a bit of a change where it was 35 degrees. arrived at the hotel that had been booked for us by the hostel in Mendosa to find that they had no record of our booking and they were full. So off to another hotel that they found and it was a real dump but as it was pouring rain, and freezing cold we elected to stay there for one night and look again in the morning. Changed our minds and looked for hostels in the town, and found one right on the edge of the lake, for the same price as the dump so moved. The new room was on the top floor, 9th, and we had great views over the lake to the mountain ranges on the other side of the lake.
Got the bus the next day up to the local mountain area where there are some mountain walks, and met up with two alaskans who were there to do some mountain climbing. When we got to the mountain it was pouring with rain and again freezing so we had lunch and went back down again. The girl is the base camp manager at Mt MCKinley in Alaska which is one of the worlds best climbing area, and he goes up there ice climbing. The girl told some pretty amazing stories of the life up there and dangers that she has been exposed to by the climbers trying to get off the mountain when they want not when they can. She said that every year someone dies on the mountain during the climbing season which is only for three months or so. she actually lives in a tent, on the glacier, and manages the arrival of the planes bringing up the climbers, and mans the radio for the climbers 24 hours a day. The next day we got the local bus out into the National Park, and then walked around to the other side of the park and got another bus back. The scenery was pretty amazing with incredible mountain ranges right alongside the walk trail, and deep gorges - it again was ok weather wise just sprinkling and just as cold as previous days. Had lunch at one of the lookout areas and met up with an aussie girl from Orange who was returning to australia after working in london - surprising the people you meet in the strangest places. On the way back we stopped at the oldest, and poshiest, hotel in Argentina and had a coffee. Before we could get in the security guard had to ring and see if it was OK for us because we didnt have a booking. We mixed in very well with the other patrons with all their best clothes and us in our walking clothes. Couldnt guess what the price was but it would have been pretty high considering the hotel ambience, position, and appearance.
Bariloche was another one of those special places that we have been to, you can see the german influence with the design of the buildings and even in the name of buildings and restaurants, and in the name of food at the restaurants. Lots of really good steak, great chocolate, more chocolate, and more great steak. In a restaurant a 300 gram steak would cost around A$3.00 - not bad. Although we arrived for the first two days with rain and really cold, the last few were really great with no rain, although still cold with maximum temperatures of around 9 degrees and it seemed to stay like that all day.
The next day the weather had changed for the better so we got the bus up to the mountain and climbed up to a place called refugio Freye, a climbers and mountainering hut at 1700m. We went up there as the alaskans had gone up there the day before to do some climbing, and a couple that we met in Mendoza that we met up with again in Bariloche had done the walk and said it was really good. It was a four hour walk up from around 760m to 1700m, around the mountain ranges, through very pretty forrest, and then up through the tree line and across snow to the refugio. The refugio is in a pretty place surrounded by steep scraggy rocky faces right outside the door. The weather was also very kind to us with blue skies and just a gently but very cold wind blowing. The refugio is an alpine hut where the climbersand hikers can stay at all year round and there is a caretaker who does cooking etc if needed for a small cost. Whilst we were having lunch, pasta and sauce and two coffees each A$7, we watched the guys on the rock face climbing and it was amazing to watch them moving up these rock faces that seemed to be really smooth. As we started our walk back down we were ccompanied by 4 dogs that seem to have made the national park their home. They seemed to be strays as there are no homes around the place but they were all in pretty good condition. They were really friendly and ran around you all the way down, then out into the bush and then back again. After walking for around two hours down, we met two blokes walking up the mountain so the dogs turned around and took off with them. Both of us ended up with sore shins after the walk down, but it was a really great adventure.
Next day saw us leaving Bariloche on the bus and boat trip across the alps to Puerto Varas in Chile. Again we were lucky with the weather and woke to find clear skies and no rain forecast. After a nervous start as we didnt get picked up by the bus at the time we were told, and trying to communicate with the night porter at the hotel, but when we got on the bus it soon transpired that everyone was told that they were getting picked up at the same time. Anyway after that we had a really enjoyable journey across the alps with great weather the whole way. Teamed up with another couple or ages, who it turns out are doing a trip to the Antarctic around the 15th December on a smaller type trip and they are doing kyaking down there. They live at Clareville on Pittwtaer / he is starting a new job when he goes back as the general manager for LJHooker in New Zealand. Also met another American couple, climbers, who knew of the girl at the base camp as he is a climber and had been there last climbing season, small world eh! Again we had terrific views of the snow capped mountains and volcanoes in the area, travelling across crystal clear lakes, deep gorges, thick vegetaion, and windy rough roads. Stopped for lunch at a place called Puella, where we had a three hour stop, so both of us did another canopy ride - this one was around 1.5k long, with 7 platforms between the various runs. This was different to the other canopy that we did, as this one was through the forrest, across gorges and above running mountain streams - all pretty exciting. In Puerto Varas now and looking to see where we go next. Take care all luv us.

Well still in Buenos Aires to start. Had a nice birthday tea for dibble (thanks for all the cards) at a local restaurant that they call a bar b que restaurant. We had a table right at the front window so had a good view of the world going buy and of a bloke out the ront who was touting for business for the restaurant - I think I found Tiko's twin a dead ringer. Had a nice meal, a couple of bottles of red and then a wobble home - luckily it wasn't too far. The area we are staying in close to the city, in an antique and arty area and is pretty nice with lots of intereting buildings. Walked along the waterfront, which has the university situated there, and lots of restaurants but it hasn't been over commercialised. Got a taxi out to a suburb called La Boca, the home of Maradona the soccer star - the area is an arty area and all the buildings have been painted bright colours and manequins hanging out of windows and doors and off balconies. Its not a big area, lots of restaurants, artists, and they have tango dancing out the front of the restaurants and in the street. Had a walk around the main city streets of Buenos Aires, lots and lots of people but no dramas, we walked down the main mall that goes for about 10 blocks but couldn't go all the way because of another protest at the law courts - we seem to find all the fun.

Todays Pennies birthday - and she also thanks all for the cards and e.mails. Had a late morning, omelette for breaky and then a walk to the boat terminal to book our boat to Colonia to get caught up in a bomb scare there. Met a couple of aussie's who were on the way to watch the soccer in Uruguay so ended up having lunch wih them on the river side of the buildings. After beig allowed back into the ticket office, had another walk through the city - lots of looks but didn't buy anyhing. There is just too much to buy but we don't have the room to carry things around or another month or so. Had dinner for Pens birthday in a restaurant overlooking a little plaza, we both had shazlick - chicken, beef and vegies - very nice - a bottle of red and then home. One of the strange things of Buenos Aires is the amount of dog poop that is all over the place - you have to keep an eye out where you are walking.

The ferry to Colonia left at 11.30am and we had to get there by 10.30, however we ended up there early and just as well we did, as it was a saturday there were heaps of people getting the ferry to Uruguay for the weekend. Customs and Immigration was slow, but continued to slowly move. The boat is very flash - we had to got first class as the cheap classes had all been booked out - why they need first class for a 1 hour boat trip is a bit strange. The boat is a very big cat and takes cars as well. On arrival had a little walk to our hostel.

Colonia is a great little place - it was an old smugglers port in the 1800's, and there is still an old world feel about it - itis like Port Fairy in Victoria for anyone who has been there. Lots of tree lined streets, lots of very old vehicles parked around the place. Not sure if they have been abandoned or they have put them there for effect, although we did see some driving around and one restaurant had tables in the back seat section of a couple of cars. feel very safe here, and contented could stay longer. Lots and lots of motor bikes, and people everywhere including whilst they are riding the motorbikes sipping mate^ tea. Had 3 interesting days in Colonia and today got the bus to Carmelo which is just to the west of Colonia still in Uruguay. We caught the local bus, which was very comfortable, and which stopped along the way picking up passengers. It must have been the time for the schoolkids to either go home or to school and we picked up heaps of them and they were all very polite and the bus driver was talking and joking to them all. The counrty side was farming with heaps of cattle, horses, and crops - quite flatish with rolling hills and very green countryside.

Carmelo is a lot smaller town, not a lot to do it is more just a stopover point. Will stay here tomorrow and then get the 0400 hrs ferry to Tigre, then Buenos Aires, and then ann overnight bus to Mendoza which is back on the western side of Argentina.

Talk to you from there.

So for those that are still with us our journy continues.

Well still in Salta to start with. For tea we went for a walk around the city trying to find a cheese shop that we were given directions to from the staff in the hotel - no luck. We went to this restaurant for tea and they had the local dish advertised on special for 19 pesos (A$6.00) for the two of us so we took it. The meal came out amd it was this huge amount of meat on a bar b que hot plate -not sure what all the meat was but it had kidneys, liver, something that looked like bar b qued tripe, ribs, something else which Penny thinks was tongue, some really tender steak, blood sausages ( which we didn't eat) overall it was really nice and the meat was eally great - we didn't get sick from it which was also a bonus.
The next day we took the sky lift to a hill overlooking the town of Salta and had lunch up there - all pretty nice. Tried to download photo's with no luck. Booked trip onwards. Had beer and nibbles in the main plaza watching the world go by.

Slept in the next day as it was our last day in Salta and we had a long bus trip in front of us. Had lunch in town and took the bread they give out with every meal and bought some meat on the way back to the hostel so we had something to eat on the bus trip.
Got on the bus in Salta to Resistancia, and very quickly realised that we had booked the wrong bus as it was stopping at every bus top along the way picking up people - still managed to get a few hours sleep along the way. Arrived in Resistencia around 0530 am and were dropped off in the street outside the bus terminal. Got a taxi into town and found an early opening restaurant and had breakfast. walked to the tourist office around 0730am and after talking to them decided to head off to Pasadas as we didn't feel too bad after the bus trip and we could save a day. We had pre booked accommodation in Posadas via the net, and got there about 5.30pm. Accommodation was in an old building, although we had our own room self contained it was very basic and was in need of a lot of maintenance - the kitchen was that bad that we could not cook or eat there. Had dinner in town at a flash restaurant - penny had hawaiin steak, and dib steak with mushrooms and potato. Steak was terrific and it still only cost us A$10 for both. There was no-one in the restaurant when we got there but when we left it was packed - they eat late over here.

Not too good the next day - gout struck dib!!! had a slow walk up to the main plaza and late breaky in the main plaza street and watched the world go by. The local school kids put on a drum,dancing display, not sure what it was all about but they were having fun anyway. Had a wait at the bus terminal for our bus to Puerto Iguazo, and whilst waiting had some empanada - wrong move. about half hour into the bus trip the stomach cramps started, and we also realised that we had picked the wrong bus as it ws stopping at every bus stop picking up people. There were people sitting on the floor, standing up and there was no room at all. In addition the toilet on the bus didn't work so couldn't be used. The only benefit from the bus being a local bus was that it stopped regularly so we were able to use the toilets at all the bus stops. The trip was only 260 klms but took us 6 hours of misery. Finally arrived at Puerto Iguazu and got to the hostel we had booked around 7.30pm - got directions from the tourist bureau and they got us lost and then a young guy that we asked took us to where we were meant to go. Hostel was pretty good.

Had a arest day with a short wander around the local town. Nice quiet town - found bank - organised bus trip onwards. For tea had a local dish - lumps of meat on a great big sword that is stuck into wood on the end of your table - you slice the meat off the sword onto your plate - all very nice.

Were driven into the Argentina side of the Iguazu falls by the owner of the hostel we were staying in. Had an open army style truck trip thru the jungle, then a jet boat ride jup the river to the falls thru the rapids, then into the spray under the falls - everyone got totally wet and it was all great fun. back onto land with everyone dripping wet but no'one really cared as everyone was in the same boat - luckily dib didn't notice the wet clothes competition that was going on all around him. we then had a walk along the top of the falls right t the point where the falls tumble over the edge. Really quite spectular and incredibly noisy. Had a steak in town that we shared and some mashed spuds - had tea with an american from texas who had done a lot of work in queensland working on cattle stations - surprising who you meet around the place.

The next day we went to the brazillian side of the falls, and realised that we had wasted our money on our visas as they were not even needed and on the brazillian side they didn't evenn look at our passports. Went to a bird aviary before the falls and that was very interesting with birds from all over the world. The falls on the Brazillian side of the falls are diffferent from the Argentine side but just as amazing - you seem to be able to see them from different perspective as you are looking at them rather than down on them. Back at the hostel met a guy from Scarborough (perth) who gave us some tips for buenos aires.

Had a really nice trip overnight from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires in a pretty amazing bus - fully lay back seats with wine served with dinner. Not sure why but we had a large amounts of stops and being searched by the Police on the way - they didn't seem to find anything or take anyone off so not sure what it was about. The trip was around 16 hours long and managed to get a few hours sleep. arrived in Buenos Aires to find that the accommodation that we had booked had been double booked - a bit of a drama but we finally ended up in a really nice apartment that has its own kitchen that we are able to cok breaky's and tea in so that has been really nice.

Thats it - we are in Buenos aires and will report in due course. Its OK if anyone wants to corespond with us as we don't mind reading any mail - any mail will do!!! please someone talk to us..

Left copabana with Phil and Jackie on the bus to La Paz, a trip of 5 hours. The trip was for a long time around the shores of Lake Titicaca but we were high up in the mountain ranges and had had snow capped mountains most of the way down to La Paz. Half way down we had to get off the bus and travel across the lake on a little launch whilst the bus went over on its own barge. The trip was through the country and ok, lots of little villages, and in some areas it looked like the area was the holiday house area for the rich people from la paz, and there were also some picnic areas. close to la paz we came across road blockages, where women who have been unable to get propane gas blocked off the main access road into la paz by sitting acorss the road with their gas bottles. we had to go around the blockages through narrow little streets about 4 times and we achieved this until we got close to the main city where they had blocked the main access road into the city and there was no-where to go around them. The assistant driver got out and with some traffic management and some brute force he got us around7through the blockage and then it was a smooth downhill rapid descent into la paz. la paz is a pretty big city, pretty drab, lots of noise, traffic and people. Got dropped off at the bus terminal and then had to try and find somewhere to stay - got some pretty basic directions to the hostel area and on the way came across some people who had been on the walk with us - finally decided to go to the hostel where the young couple we had met previously and who were in la paz and after some juggling pedestrians, traffic and hills found the hostel and stayed there for two days. On arrival we found that the train we were going to take to Uyuni was not running due to a strike by the train drivers and luckily the yound couple had reserved us on a seat on the next bus to uyuni with them. without that we would have had to stay in la paz for another few days until the next bus and there is not much to see in the city. Had a day of walking around trying to buy all your presents and have sent two packages back - not sure when they will arrive. The one day in la paz was enough and after two nights there and two days, we left at 11.00pm on an overnight trip to uyuni. the bus was pretty comfortable and the seats lay back so you could stretch out a bit and there was a reasonable amount of leg room. Had reasonable tar road for a few hours and then onto a jarring corrugated road for the rest of the trip, across a couple of running streams, across washaways in creeks, stopping for freight trains in the middle of nowhere we made it into Uyuni around 7.30am. overall not a bad trip and we did get some sleep - me with the help of a sleeping tablet. Penny had a heater outlet right at her feet which became a bit uncomfortable until we were able to get the heater turned off.
Uyuni is a little town on the edge of the salt lake area and is the main point of departure for all the trips across the salt lakes. we are staying in a little hostel for US$10 per night. not much in the town at all apart from the tourist operators who hassle you all the time for a tour and the best pizas we have had the resturant is run by a yanke who meet a local in the states and move here,he diffently has the monopoly. we have booked our trip and head off tomorrow (tuesday) morning get to San Pedro in chile on thursday aftrnoon. San Pedro is another little place and we will stay there until we head off to Salta in Argentina. We are doing the trip with the young couple (kristy and adam) and just the four of us with a driver and cook and in a landcruiser. We have changed our travel route due to road blocks on the bolivian Argentina border.
Next installment the Lagos de sal and Ataccama Dessert.

Left Cusco by bus, as the trains were all full owing to the landslide and people not being able to get to machupichu. The girls at the B&B gave us a nice farewell with lots of cuddles and then off on the bus to Puno. Double decker tourist bus for a 8 hours to puno and stopping every couple of hours for the normal tourist things to see. By this stage we have seen all the musuems, cathederals etc and just walked around the main plaza's whilst they had their tours. The trip cost around US$8 each so it is pretty good value including lunch.
arrived in Puno early evening and as we had bookied accommodation there got picked up from the bus terminal. Hostel was pretty good with nice hot shower and it was near the town centre and restaurants. There is not a lot to see or do in Puno and it is a pretty drab place. We did a trip out to the floating islands which was the only reason that we stopped there - it was a half day tour and you visit three islands. The islands are built up of rotted reeds that have matted together over the years and the people have been living on them for centuries. Unfortunately it is now over commercialised and really wasn't that good - each island is like a movie set all set out how it should be but the people don't actually live there anymore they live on houses on the islands nearby but is was still interesting how they used the totora reeds. The next day it was off to copacabana that is Bolivia so a boarder crosssing is involved. Again a nice tourist bus and we were lucky to be sitting at the front of the bus upstairs and met a couple from Avalon and we have been with them for a couple of days now. The boarder crossing was uneventful - you leave the bus on one side and then walk across no-mans land to the Bolivian customs and get your passport stamped and then another walk to the bus.

Copacabana is set right on the edge of lake titicaca, and we got accommodation at the Mirador hostal right on the lakes edge US$10 per night with great views over the lake. Had a day off the first day just walking around the town which is quite nice, and we had beautiful sunshine - something that we haven't had for a long time. We went out to Isle de Sol with Jackie and Phil fromm Avalon, and got dropped off on the north end - we then had a 9k walk along the ridge of the island at 4,000m to the southern end where we stayed in a great B&B right on top of the ridge looking down and over the lake.
Our room was right at the front of the house ovderlookking the view. We splurged out this night with a few beers and a meal in the hostel. For our accommodation, 3 bottles of beer, 1 bottle of wine, and our dinner and breakfast it cost about US$24 not bad eh! it was a family runn B&B and they lived in the house and they were really helpful and friendly. The island reminded us off rotto but a bit higher with lots of shelered bays and nice clear blue water. The next day we got a local boat back to the mainland and we walked 17k back to copacabana through villages and along the lakes edge - it was a bit longer than we planned but we made it and it was a nice walk through the countryside. Today we leave for La Paz again by bus and a 3 hour or so trip with Jacki and Phil so the next report will be either from there or after we do our next adventure depending on timing. Met another interesting couple on the island and again at tea last night - he is an Itilian 37 years old who has been living in Cape town for 12 years and sold his restauraant and has now been travelling for 5 years all over the world living off his savings. He has teamed up with an canadian/trinadad girl for the past 2 years and they have een to some pretty amazing remote areas. They are trying to get me into doing yoga as they both do it and she is a teacher -they did training in India for 12 months.
catch you all - us