The Travelling Miles Incredibility Awards - South America

While I've got some down-time here in Melbourne now I'm jobhunting and sorting my life out, I thought a bit of a reflection of my three months in South America was in order.

I loved my time there, and I can't put my finger on the best bit, so let's try for best bits. 

I can only comment on where I've been, so the following delightfully TMI Awards will be allocated to Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, and cities/places within. 

Best cities: 

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

The sun, the sand, the parties. I miss it already. 

2. Valparaíso, Chile. 

A vivid graffiti-infused seaside culture bomb. 

3. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Sexy tango dens mixed with European-style glamour. 

Worst cities: 

1. Uyuni, Bolivia. 

The only reason to go is the salt flats. 

2. Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. 

The only reason to go is to get the passport stamp. 

3. Lima, Peru. 

The only reason to go is to leave. 

Most impressive natural wonders: 

1. Iguassu Falls, Argentina-Brazil border. 

Unforgettable sights at every turn. The Devil's Throat is unmissable. 

2. The Amazon Rainforest, Peru (for me). 

A wonderland of natural beauty, calm waters and life as you've never seen it. 

3. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. 

A pure, surreal landscape dotted with glowing mirages. 

Most impressive manmade wonders: 

1. Machu Picchu, Peru. 

Not original, but nothing else beats it for me. 

2. Rio Carnival Samba Parade, Sambodromo, Brazil. 

The most colourful, insane night of my life. Stay til sunrise to get the most out of it. 

3. Humberstone, Iquique, Chile. 

A deserted mining town now half-reclaimed by the world's driest desert. 

Best beach: 

Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Hands down the best. Watch sunset from the rocks - absolutely gorgeous. 

Best mountain scenery: 

Bolivia. 

The volcanic colours were fantastic, against a backdrop of pure blue sky. 

Best landscape: 

Valle de la Luna, San Pedro, Chile. 

Watch sunset over the smoking volcanoes and watch the yellows turn to reds and purples over the pockmarked desert valley. 

Best sunrise: 

Machu Picchu, Peru. 

It's an unconventional sunrise, but the shafts of golden light illuminating the city on the mountaintop was a sight to behold. 

Best sunset: 

Middle of freakin' nowhere, Bolivia. 

I don't need to add anything to this photo. 

Easiest Spanish to understand: 

Peru. And everyone loves the Colombian accent. That's where I'm going to study it, in my dreams. 

Hardest Spanish to understand: 

Chile. Like, seriously. 

Most welcoming people: 

Chile. Like, seriously. 

Least welcoming people: 

It's a toss-up between Peru and Bolivia, which I think is linked to the poverty levels. 

Safest country: 

Chile. But still watch your stuff. 

Least safe country: 

Peru. I felt unsafe in Peru more than any other place. Just exercise caution. 

Easiest country to get around: 

Peru. Extensive bus network, and you can book online with ease if necessary. 

Hardest country to get around: 

Brazil. Foreigners can't book buses online, and also the country is massive, but that's not Brazil's fault. 

Places that most deserve a re-visit: 

1. Argentina. I want to explore so much more of that beautiful country, especially Patagonia in the south. 

2. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. What can I say? I fell in love with that place. 

And 3. The whole damn continent.

#TMIawards #TMI

Don't Cry For Me

See how much thought I put into these witty titles!? I treat you guys so well.

So yes! I have left Argentina. I finished my stay there with an amazing Argentine steak last night. A guy I met in Iguazu and I went to a place called Desnivel, at Defensa 855. It was absolutely the best steak I have ever tasted. So I did the tango, and I did the steak. I did Buenos Aires.

Today was a very long day, starting at 6am getting up to go to Buenos Aires airport, and then a flight to Santiago, and then a connection up to Lima, Peru. But the second flight was delayed by three hours! We got into the plane and then a group of technical looking men with moustaches got on and we all had to get off. Technically making this the second day in a week I've been to three countries in one day. Boom. 

For European readers of this blog, you might be interested to know that the interior of the faulty plane was EasyJet. Their branding was all over the shop. I chuckled to myself amid the devastated sobs as we filed back to the departure lounge.

I flew with Sky Airline, and they were fine. We got food at least. And if you ignore the plane change. They kind of are the budget airline for South America, minus the budget. My flight cost me just over 300 pounds, and that was the cheapest I found the Buenos Aires to Lima route. This continent is not as cheap as you think! But long bus journeys are the norm, and South American citizens get cheaper rates on airfares, so they probably make a lot of their money from foreigners. 

Eventually I got to Lima! Which is kind of gross. Or at least the parts I drove through in the taxi. Get a taxi! Lonely Planet recommended Taxi Green, which is right there when you come out of the Arrivals hall. It was expensive (60 soles) but worth it for the peace of mind. 

My hostel is gorgeous. I can't fault it so far. It's in a converted mansion opposite an art museum, and is called 1900 Backpackers. The road is very loud outside, but I'm exhausted. I think I'll sleep anyway. 

As an aside, people cannot drive here. It's insane. It's not exactly filling me with confidence for getting up to Cusco in the Andes when I emerge Tarzan-like from the Amazon next week... 

Oh! We flew over the Andes. Holy Moley they are beautiful. And they just rise up out of the Chilean plains so suddenly. I'm looking forward to going to Santiago properly to take a closer look. 

Anyway. This post is kind of frantic so now, on the one-month anniversary of my leaving the UK, I'm going to sleep! Buenos noches and all that jazz. 

It Takes Two in Buenos Aires

Tonight I did something I've been looking forward to since I planned to come to Buenos Aires - a tango class!

It was at Confitería Ideal, on Suipacha, which Lonely Planet says is one of the tango meccas of BA. It happens to be about 10 minutes' walk from my hostel so I went round. You don't have to book, and it only costs AR$60 for a 90-minute lesson. Seriously can't complain! 

The building was absolutely gorgeous. And the hall we had the lesson in was incredibly grand, with red, black and gold pillars, tables and ornaments. The pillars culminated in an impressive roof with a patterned atrium. You could almost smell the tango. 

In the lesson we went through the basics and learned a basic routine. We also learned to "show intention through your chest". My chest has never had such intent, I can tell you now. 

The teacher was great. She was passionate and intense, and only spoke Spanish, so when I danced with her she stared into my eyes and occasionally uttered commands and a few gratifying 'Muy bien's. There was an official translator too, so although I understood quite a bit of what she was saying, and picked up some new dance-related vocabulary, it was helpful to have him there. 

I left feeling oddly confident, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So did Nik, a guy I met in Iguazú, as he was keen to do a class too. Now I can appreciate the tango I see around the city a bit more. And seriously, the tango is everywhere. I was worried that I might miss out so I booked tickets to see a professional performance at Café Tortoni. And then stumbled across dancing at the park, outside a restaurant, in a souvenir shop... But I'm still glad I got to do the whole red curtain and stage thing at the Café. Definitely go to La Boca and see tango at Caminito. The atmosphere's fantastic. But go during the day, and give yourself time to leave La Boca before dusk. 

So to sum up, if you're in Buenos Aires and looking for a good, and cheap, tango lesson, Confitería Ideal is... ideal. 

I've got one day left in this lovely city, and then I fly to Peru. Milena left last night to explore other parts of Argentina. But we'll meet again in Cusco for my 25th birthday, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm really enjoying Argentina. It's a really funky, cool country. I might try to hop across the Andes (casual) from Santiago and visit Mendoza if I have time at the end of my South American travels... 

Iguassu Falls

I know I`ve already raved about the Falls on my previous post, but today we went back to them, this time to the Argentinian side. And oh my god it`s even better than the Brazilian side.

While I would still recommend doing both (same as everyone), the Argentinian side is fit to bursting with stuff to do, including boat trips and easily accessible walks. And the walks don`t last 9km like one on the Brazilian side.

We did all of the walks (being three) and also got a combined ticket for two of the three boat trips. We went for the Aventura Nautica and Paseo Ecológico for AR$300. The other boat trip available was the Gran Aventura, but that takes about 80 minutes. Who has time for that.

The first one we went on the 20-minute Aventura Nautica, which takes you right up to the Falls in two places, and gets everyone in the boat soaking wet. You do get a waterproof bag to put your things in, and I changed into my swimming shorts (I was wearing them under my shorts) and flip flops because I`d heard how wet you get. And you`re literally as wet as if you`ve jumped into the river. But it`s so worth it. The views from the very bottom are incredible (when you can see through the spray) and it`s exhilerating to bounce your way up the rapids towards the cataracts and see them so close up.

We finished the day with the Paseo Ecológico, which was a relaxing boat ride along the forested waterways on top of the Falls. That was a really nice thing to finish with as it`s very calming and you get to see some wildlife along the way.

But right before we did that, we did the actual best part of the entire thing. Seeing the Devil`s Throat from the Brazilian side was fantastic, seeing it from the Argentinian is mind-blowing. You get so close to it you feel like you could be hovering over the semi-circle of pouring water, spraying mist and thundering noise. There`s an omnipresent rainbow here as well, which makes it all the more impressive.

This, for me, was the absolute do-not-miss of all of the Falls. In fact, I think it`s the most impressive natural thing I`ve seen in my life. The world will have to do very well to top it. You do get very wet from the spray coming up, but you don`t care because the sight is amazing. Milena`s review is: "IT`S SUPER AMAZING". That says it all.

We are slightly disappointed though, because we found out while we were here that you can do moonlight visits to the Falls for the five nights surrounding the full moon. Which starts tomorrow! So close...

But tomorrow we`re getting on the overnight bus to Buenos Aires (another 20 hours on a bus, how delicious...) but we paid for `cama` (bed) which looks a lot more comfortable than the Convencional we had coming here from Sao Paulo. Very much looking forward to Buenos Aires, I`ve heard very good things about it so let`s see.

Three Countries, One Day

Being at Iguassu Falls gives you the opportunity to visit all three countries that meet here at 'Tres Fronteras' - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. 

Yesterday Milena and I went to the Brazilian side of the Falls, and they are breathtaking. Such an amazing sight. As we rounded the corner of the forest trail and caught our first sight I couldn't help but stop and point. I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open. What a loser. But it was a view I'd wanted to see since I was a child, and it was worth the wait. And the 15 hours on the bus to get here. 

We did the whole trail, crescendoing with the awe-inspiring, and soaking, Devil's Throat. There are platforms that go right to the lip and look down over the pouring water. And the best part was the rainbow stretching across the canyon at the foot of the falling water. Absolutely beautiful. 

We are going to the Argentinian side of the Falls tomorrow to do a boat trip and do the other activities on that side. But today we decided to stay dry and go to Paraguay for the afternoon. Casual. 

We took the bus from Puerto Iguazú, Argentina to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay this afternoon, and found that the bus went back through Brazil to get there. Although we didn't have to stop at the Brazilian border, so we just got our Argentinian exit stamps and Paraguayan ones. 

Ciudad del Este seems to be an electronics and shopping mecca for people from all the surrounding countries. As soon as you're through the border you're confronted with markets, department stores and street-sellers peddling everything from handbags to iPhones. It reminded me of Akihabara in Tokyo. And I actually found an iPhone 5S for the equivalent of £108. I was so tempted. But no, if something was wrong with it, I'd never get that money back. So I refrained. 

The interesting thing was that, being on the triple border, most places took a variety of currency. The place we had lunch asked if we wanted to pay for it in Uruguayan Guarani, Brazilian Real, Argentinian Pesos or US dollars. Spoilt for choice! 

The ATMs also give you the option to withdraw US dollars, which is very handy, as you can exchange dollars on the black market in Argentina for a much more favourable rate than the official rate. The current official rate is 7 pesos to the dollar, whereas you can get 13 pesos by talking to the "right" people. 

Leaving Paraguay, we had to wait over an hour at the border for the bus back to Argentina (via Brazil of course) so that was a bit of a grind, but we got back eventually, our passports even more overflowing with exit and entry stamps. 

It was interesting that Ciudad del Este was the first place I've been to in the last three weeks that I've actually felt was a developing country. Everywhere else in Brazil and Argentina could have easily been Spain or Italy. I need to get used to it though, I imagine Peru to be quite similar. But I'll find that out in just over a week!