Greetings friends, first Argentina by the numbers. As you will recall we entered Argentina on October 23, and left a few days ago on November 15. We were in the country for a total of 23 days, and withdrew $2144. We left with a mere $27, most of which was in Chilean and American currency, and we had entered Argentina with about $217. In total we spent $101.91 per day on average. Obviously, this makes Argentina the most expensive country of our trip so far. Some of this seemed justified, Argentina is a fairly modern country with all the high-tech amenities we are used to, however they are having some severe economic difficulties. There are strict currency restrictions preventing locals from changing their pesos into dollars. This has lead to a parallel market which gives a 30% markup in the value of the dollar. For someone traveling to Argentina from their home country it would make much more sense to bring dollars or Euros, or whatever other currency and then change it on the street in Argentina and get a much better rate. Given our style of travel, it did not make sense to carry around thousands of dollars through a dozen countries in anticipation of our arrival, so we really just had the chilean pesos when we crossed the border, where we got the black market rate (which is called bludolar in Argentina) but otherwise we used the ATM and got the official rate. Additionally, Argentina has been experiencing 20+% inflation over the past few years, so it looks like it will only get more expensive, especially as they limit currency transactions, although from what I read it looks like another default/currency devaluation may be in the near future, so as always, check the news before you visit.
Last thursday we said goodbye to our friend Paula and got on the boat from Buenos Aires to Colonia. We opted for the Colonia Express boat which was slightly cheaper than the competition. After undergoing the usual immigration formalities, and getting two more passport stamps, we settled into a cheap hotel in Colonia. Colonia is a very small town with a lot of colonial history both from Portugal and Spain. It is also a major tourist destination for day and weekend trippers from Buenos Aires. Many restaurants and businesses accept Argentine pesos, but the rate is even worse than the bludolar rate. On Thursday we went up to the top of the local lighthouse, and also ate an Uruguayan specialty, chivito. Chivito is served in two varieties, on a plate or on bread. We opted for chivito for two on a plate. Basically we got a plate covered with french fries, with some salad and potato salad on the side. On top of the french fries were two steaks. On top of the steaks were slices of ham, stacked on the ham were slices of cheese, on top of the cheese were fried eggs, topped off with slices of bacon. Obviously this is a very heart healthy meal. On Friday we went to a few different musuems. There are 9 small musuems around town that are part of a single ticket, so we bought that ticket and went to three of them. We also checked out the aquarium and an old naval musuems. All of the musuems are quite small, but there is an entire whale body that had washed up on the shore a long time ago, as well as some exhibits about the indigenous people of the area. Friday was another culinary experience. I ate gramajo which is a mixture of french fries, ham, cheese, onions, and peas in stir fry form. Saturday we took the bus to Montevideo, where the central bus terminal is also located in a giant mall, so after shopping for a bit and grabbing lunch we came to Pocitos (a beach neighborhood) and found a place to stay. As some of you know our parents are coming to visit us in a few days, so we have been given strict instructions to become experts of Montevideo before they arrive. We have already found the beach, and also found a delicious artisan ice creamery. We have also tested the local Uruguayan beers, so far they have a very good porter, more to come on that front later. Today we will be exploring more of the city, we will report back later.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Buenos Aires
Greetings from Buenos Aires! Since we last spoke we have had a great time touring around Bs As. On Saturday night there was a city-wide event known as Noche de los Museos, or night of the musuems. No folks, it's not like that Ben Stiller movie, none of the exhibits came to life, but basically most of the musuems in the city are free from 8:00 at night until 3:00 the next morning. It is a really neat idea, although in practice it seems like the city was a little overwhelmed by the turnout. We originally were going to go to the zoo, but the line was about ten blocks long, so we figured we would go to the planetarium instead. The planetarium also had a very long line, but it seemed to be done in groups since the tour started with a video. After visiting the planetarium, and finishing up around midnight we decided to grab some comida arabe and call it a night. Saturday morning, before resting up for our trip to the musuems, we went to a seaside neighborhood called La Boca. La Boca is a very touristy area selling artesania and other interesting handmade items. There are also a lot of touristy restaurants, you can get your picture taken with a tango dancer, etc. After wandering around for a little bit, we had seen pretty much all there was to see, so we had another adventure on the bus getting home. In Buenos Aires, the buses have an electronic payment system where locals swipe their card and money is taken from their account, however for travelers, you must pay the fare. The buses are only equipped with machines that accept coins, and rather inconveniently there is a coin shortage in this country. Luckily we barely had enough metal in our pockets to cover the ride home.
On Sunday we ventured to the Casa Rosada (pink house) similar to the American White House, although the president doesn't actually live there. We also went to the San Telmo neighborhood where they have a street fair. Again, we saw a lot of artesania and standard tourist merchandise, although there were some interesting antique shops as well as vendors selling bills and coins from Argentina's prior currencies. Monday we went back to the Casa Rosada and took a tour, as well as walked to the Congress building. Yesterday we walked to a very nice neighborhood called Recoleta, which is also home to a cemetary for many of the cities wealthy and elite. Many past presidents and generals are buried there, and we recognized many of the names as they are also names of streets, neighborhoods, and towns that we have seen in our travels. We also passed by Evita's crypt.
This morning we went to the local zoo. Although not quite as elaborate as the zoo in Cali, it housed a great deal of animals. Also, they have brought in some of the rabbit/kangaroo rodents that we saw in Patagonia and they are hopping all around the zoo. Tonight we are planning to watch some tango, and then tomorrow morning we have to be up bright and early to catch the ferry to Uruguay! See you in Colonia!!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Cordoba to Buenos Aires
Hello dear readers! We've had a fun and relaxed few days, so let me bring you up to date!
Tuesday, we headed back to the art museums that had been closed the day before. We started at the Museo de Bellas Artes Emilio Carrafa, which features several modern art installations. Some were very interesting, including a photography exhibit of gun owners in Switzerland and another featuring the winners or a national young artist competition. We then headed to thw Palacio Ferrerya which featured more traditonal classic art as well as an exhibit of art featuring some atrocities from the dictatorship. Some other couch surfers came to stay with our host, so we spent the afternoon talking to them and sharing our various adventures. Wednesday, we were quite lazy, enjoying the heat, and had another delicious pancho (hot dog) for lunch. That night, we boarded our bus to Buenos Aires.
Here in BsAs (prounounced bees-ayz), we are staying with our friend Paula, whom I know from Los Angeles who is now studying for her masters. She lives in the very hip neighborhood of Palermo. Of course, we were quite tired from our night journey and spent most of the day resting, though we did venture out to explore the neighborhood cafes and had lunch. Last night, there was a large protest downtown, but it was peaceful we heard. The forecast for today was rain, but when we woke up in the morning the sky was clear, so we decided to head out of doors until the rain arrived. We wandered through the Jardin Botanico and then went to the Museo Evita, about the famous Eva Perón. When we exited the museum, the sky had turned dark and it was quite windy. We weren't too far from home, so we thought we could get home quickly, but the rain was quicker. It started POURING! We were soaked from head to toe by the time we got home! Matt ran quickly across the street to buy some empanadas and sandwiches for lunch, then we dried off and have enjoyed the rest of the day indoors. It's still raining, so we'll just stay in for the night and continue our adventures tomorrow!
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Córdoba!
Greetings from Córdoba! We left Puerto Madryn last Thursday and grabbed a night bus to Córdoba, arriving a little late on Friday morning. We had made plans to stay with a fellow couchsurfer here, and called him when we arrived. We still hadn´t yet purchased a SIM card for Argentina, so while we were in the locutorio we inquired in that regard. We decided to pick up a $5 SIM card (a little over $1 US) so that we could communicate while we are here. Carlos, whom we met on couchsurfing, picked us up and took us to his apartment before he went back to work. We relaxed for a little bit, then made plans to meet up with our friend Paula, who is a university student here in Córdoba. We wandered around the city a bit until we met her and then she gave us a walking/driving tour of the city. We saw many important buildings, as well as the University City. There are a lot of universities and colleges here and the city has a very youthful feel to it. It is also significantly warmer than the last few places we have been. We have even had to use the air conditioning, a welcome change from the snowy Ushuaia.
On Saturday we explored the city some more and in the early afternoon we decided to escape the heat by watching a movie. We saw the new 007 movie and I think it´s fair to say that we were the only people not reading the subtitles judging by when we laughed and when the rest of the audience laughed. We went out to dinner with Carlos and a few of his friends and tried some interesting new empanadas. On Sunday we took the bus up to the Sierras around Córdoba. In the Sierras there are a lot of quaint little towns and villages and it seems like a weekend/summer getaway for a lot of the city dwellers. We hiked around for a little bit and eventually settled down on a ¨beach¨for a few hours. This beach is actually the bank of a river, and there were plenty of hippies hanging out with their juggling, guitar-playing, substance-smoking selves. After a quick lunch at the Argentina standard lunchtime of about 4:00 PM we grabbed a bus back to town.
Yesterday we made the superhuman effort of waking up early so that we could go see a few musuems in town. We went to the Cabildo, a municipal building sort of like city hall which has a musuem and then ventured to a few other musuems in the city only to discover that they are closed on Mondays! We had no other choice but to eat. We found a nice little cafe in the square and I had a few medialunas (croissants) and Sarah had some cold cuts. We came back to Carlos´apartment for a brief siesta, then took our books to the park for an afternoon of reading. On the way we decided to get a pancho, which is Argentine Spanish for hot dog. As you might expect, a hot dog here is nothing like a hot dog in America. My hot dog came with olives, onions, cheese, chimichurri sauce, a ¨rain¨of french fries, and chopped up tomatoes and onions. Sarah was less adventurous with her hot dogging, but redeemed herself with a trip to the ice cream truck next door. It was so hot in the park that after reading for a little bit we decided to go to a little cafe and have a beer to cool off. Today we are going to try to get to the musuems again, and tomorrow we head off to Buenos Aires!
On Saturday we explored the city some more and in the early afternoon we decided to escape the heat by watching a movie. We saw the new 007 movie and I think it´s fair to say that we were the only people not reading the subtitles judging by when we laughed and when the rest of the audience laughed. We went out to dinner with Carlos and a few of his friends and tried some interesting new empanadas. On Sunday we took the bus up to the Sierras around Córdoba. In the Sierras there are a lot of quaint little towns and villages and it seems like a weekend/summer getaway for a lot of the city dwellers. We hiked around for a little bit and eventually settled down on a ¨beach¨for a few hours. This beach is actually the bank of a river, and there were plenty of hippies hanging out with their juggling, guitar-playing, substance-smoking selves. After a quick lunch at the Argentina standard lunchtime of about 4:00 PM we grabbed a bus back to town.
Yesterday we made the superhuman effort of waking up early so that we could go see a few musuems in town. We went to the Cabildo, a municipal building sort of like city hall which has a musuem and then ventured to a few other musuems in the city only to discover that they are closed on Mondays! We had no other choice but to eat. We found a nice little cafe in the square and I had a few medialunas (croissants) and Sarah had some cold cuts. We came back to Carlos´apartment for a brief siesta, then took our books to the park for an afternoon of reading. On the way we decided to get a pancho, which is Argentine Spanish for hot dog. As you might expect, a hot dog here is nothing like a hot dog in America. My hot dog came with olives, onions, cheese, chimichurri sauce, a ¨rain¨of french fries, and chopped up tomatoes and onions. Sarah was less adventurous with her hot dogging, but redeemed herself with a trip to the ice cream truck next door. It was so hot in the park that after reading for a little bit we decided to go to a little cafe and have a beer to cool off. Today we are going to try to get to the musuems again, and tomorrow we head off to Buenos Aires!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Last Day in Ushuaia to Puerto Madryn
Hello from Puerto Madryn. Since we last wrote we spent our last day in Ushuaia going to the Presidio which is now a musuem. It was originally a Spanish fort, and later housed a prison. There is an entire wing devoted to some of the old ships with very accurate models and a great deal of old maps from the first explorers.
This guy was hanging out outside of the musuem.
Here we have a map of Patagonia.
This was one of my favorites, note the "island" of California.
As this building used to be a prison, there were several exhibits about famous prisoners, how they were treated, their crimes, etc. At the time there was only a small village in Ushuaia, and some of the prisoners' families would come and live nearby. One wing of the prison is left completely as it was originally, and it was quite cold inside.
This guy was convicted of poisoning and killing his family and trying to cover it up in order to inherit a lot of real estate.
There were very few escape attempts from this prison. Those who did manage to escape were often found dead nearby, or trying to steal food from local villagers. It is said that some escapees even voluntarily returned to the prison as conditions outside were too harsh. As you can see, the guards were very serious.
After visiting the musuem and prison, Sarah was a little spooked by the prison-iness of it all. We decided to calm down by eating some cordero fueguino, or Fuegian lamb. This is basically traditional lamb grilled over an open fire. We also had some smoked lamb prosciutto beforehand. All was quite delicious. Afterwards we picked up some snacks for the bus ride the next day from Sarah´s personal shop.
Saturday we woke up bright and early to catch a 5:00 AM bus from Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos. This was a relatively short 12 hour trip through some gorgeous countryside. It snowed during the first few hours of the trip, but that didn´t stop the driver from screaming around high mountain passes with nothing but snowy cliff face below. Upon arrival in Rio Gallegos, we bought a ticket on to Puerto Madryn and had about an hour to kill in the bus terminal. They were kind enough to provide free wi-fi in the bus terminal while we waited. We then got on the bus at 6:00 PM headed for Puerto Madryn. 18 hours later, at about noon, we arrived. After a combined 30 hours on buses, we decided to relax a little bit. Also it was a Sunday, so much of the city was closed. Monday we did our usual city wander to orient ourselves, and we also checked out a few travel agencies since there is a lot of wildlife to go see nearby. We compared prices at a few agencies to what our hostel was offering and decided to go with our hostel yesterday to Peninsula Valdez. This was an all day excursion and we saw all kinds of animals.
Penguins swimming.
A dead whale being eaten by other local wildlife.
Here is a whale waving at us.
Taking a breath of fresh air.
No whalewatching trip would be complete without this view.
A little whale mating party.
A curious penguin.
Elephant seals and sea lions.
A really neat green Patagonian lizard.
There is the possibility of seeing orcas and poisonous snakes, however we did not come across either of those. We eventually came home last night and decided to try our hand at cooking some Argentine beef. Not surprisingly it was extremely delicious. I don´t even know what cut it was, we basically just got whatever the guy before us had ordered from the butcher. Needless to say, we now understand why Argentina is so famous for its meat. Today we were planning to take a walk down the beach. Supposedly there is more wildlife about 4 km down the road, however it is looking pretty cloudy right now, so we may change our plans. Tomorrow we head to Cordoba as the adventure continues. Happy Halloween everybody!!
This guy was hanging out outside of the musuem.
Here we have a map of Patagonia.
This was one of my favorites, note the "island" of California.
As this building used to be a prison, there were several exhibits about famous prisoners, how they were treated, their crimes, etc. At the time there was only a small village in Ushuaia, and some of the prisoners' families would come and live nearby. One wing of the prison is left completely as it was originally, and it was quite cold inside.
This guy was convicted of poisoning and killing his family and trying to cover it up in order to inherit a lot of real estate.
There were very few escape attempts from this prison. Those who did manage to escape were often found dead nearby, or trying to steal food from local villagers. It is said that some escapees even voluntarily returned to the prison as conditions outside were too harsh. As you can see, the guards were very serious.
After visiting the musuem and prison, Sarah was a little spooked by the prison-iness of it all. We decided to calm down by eating some cordero fueguino, or Fuegian lamb. This is basically traditional lamb grilled over an open fire. We also had some smoked lamb prosciutto beforehand. All was quite delicious. Afterwards we picked up some snacks for the bus ride the next day from Sarah´s personal shop.
Saturday we woke up bright and early to catch a 5:00 AM bus from Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos. This was a relatively short 12 hour trip through some gorgeous countryside. It snowed during the first few hours of the trip, but that didn´t stop the driver from screaming around high mountain passes with nothing but snowy cliff face below. Upon arrival in Rio Gallegos, we bought a ticket on to Puerto Madryn and had about an hour to kill in the bus terminal. They were kind enough to provide free wi-fi in the bus terminal while we waited. We then got on the bus at 6:00 PM headed for Puerto Madryn. 18 hours later, at about noon, we arrived. After a combined 30 hours on buses, we decided to relax a little bit. Also it was a Sunday, so much of the city was closed. Monday we did our usual city wander to orient ourselves, and we also checked out a few travel agencies since there is a lot of wildlife to go see nearby. We compared prices at a few agencies to what our hostel was offering and decided to go with our hostel yesterday to Peninsula Valdez. This was an all day excursion and we saw all kinds of animals.
Penguins swimming.
A dead whale being eaten by other local wildlife.
Here is a whale waving at us.
Taking a breath of fresh air.
No whalewatching trip would be complete without this view.
A little whale mating party.
A curious penguin.
Elephant seals and sea lions.
A really neat green Patagonian lizard.
There is the possibility of seeing orcas and poisonous snakes, however we did not come across either of those. We eventually came home last night and decided to try our hand at cooking some Argentine beef. Not surprisingly it was extremely delicious. I don´t even know what cut it was, we basically just got whatever the guy before us had ordered from the butcher. Needless to say, we now understand why Argentina is so famous for its meat. Today we were planning to take a walk down the beach. Supposedly there is more wildlife about 4 km down the road, however it is looking pretty cloudy right now, so we may change our plans. Tomorrow we head to Cordoba as the adventure continues. Happy Halloween everybody!!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Punta Arenas to Ushuaia!!!!! (and Chile by the numbers)
We are in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world!
First, we must catch you up. After we last wrote, we went to Seno Otway near Punta Arenas to visit the penguins. This area is protected by law and the penguins come every year to breed and hatch their young. You can visit either in the morning or in the afternoon because the penguins are out hunting during the day. We got to watch them come back from the water, dry off, and then penguin-walk to their little caves.
The view from Seno Otway
Penguins drying off
Penguins at the starting line, racing to get to the best cave
This fellow came by to say hello
Being a penguin is very tiring, I think this guy is yawning
We also saw some rabbit-like creatures on our way out
After our trip to the penguins on Sunday, we took it easy on Monday. We went back to the restaurant we had eaten seafood at and decided to test their meat selection. Turned out it was also quite delicious. A steak with two fried eggs on top is an excellent meal at all hours of the day. We also wandered about town for an hour or two, stopped by a few stores just in case we would find any necessary supplies for Ushuaia. Everything was really expensive, so we decided to stick with what we had. The next day we got on a bus at 9:00 AM and headed for Ushuaia.
After a few hours, we had to get off the bus and the bus drove onto a ferry along with other waiting vehicles, we also got on board, and crossed onto the island that is Tierra del Fuego.
The ferry is pretty full
Sarah is the king of the world!!
We got back on the bus, drove off the ferry, and continued on our way. Eventually we crossed the border into Argentina, and had a slight mishap on the unpaved section of the road. We got a flat tire, and had to switch buses to another bus from the same company going to Rio Grande. They apparently didn´t have a spare on our bus, and wanted to keep the weight down as it followed us to Rio Grande where they repaired the tire. After about 45 minutes we got back onto our original bus and continued to Ushuaia, arriving at about 8:00 PM.
Yesterday we got up and ate our hostel-provided breakfast and finished just as it started snowing. We had originally planned to hike up the nearby glacier, however with it snowing, we decided to take it easy. Luckily it stopped snowing about an hour later and we changed our minds and decided to climb it anyways. It is about 7 km outside of town, up a hill, then there is a chairlift and a small hike from the chairlift. We decided to take a taxi to the base of the chairlift, which is closed due to maintenance anyways, and hike up from there. After about an hour we got to the top, just as it started snowing again!
Here is Sarah on the way up
The Glaciar Martial
Sarah, the chairlift, and Ushuaia down below
So here we are in Ushuaia, at the bottom of the world, just in time for the one year anniversary of our departure tomorrow. We are still considering taking a last minute cruise to Antarctica if we can get a rock bottom deal, but that is proving to be difficult. In the meantime, we will spend a few more days here checking out the musuems and the old Spanish fort.
Now for some sobering numbers from Chile. By far Chile was the most expensive country we have visited up to this point. That said, the quality of life is much higher, it is a very modern country and you end up paying more for that. We also did a lot of tourist activities which only added to the overall cost. We left Chile on the 23rd of October after entering on the 2nd, spending 21 days in the country. We entered with $86 and withdrew $2053 while inside the country. It got interesting when we changed money into Argentinian Pesos, the official rate is about 4.7 pesos to the US dollar, however the black market rate is closer to 6. We also got the black market rate when changing from Chilean pesos. So we ended up leaving the country with about $217 using the official rate, which we will unfortunately get from local ATMs. Our total spend in Chile was thus $1922. That gives us a daily spend of $91.52! Someday we will have to go back when we have a larger budget and can eat nothing but delicious shellfish all day.
First, we must catch you up. After we last wrote, we went to Seno Otway near Punta Arenas to visit the penguins. This area is protected by law and the penguins come every year to breed and hatch their young. You can visit either in the morning or in the afternoon because the penguins are out hunting during the day. We got to watch them come back from the water, dry off, and then penguin-walk to their little caves.
The view from Seno Otway
Penguins drying off
Penguins at the starting line, racing to get to the best cave
This fellow came by to say hello
Being a penguin is very tiring, I think this guy is yawning
We also saw some rabbit-like creatures on our way out
After our trip to the penguins on Sunday, we took it easy on Monday. We went back to the restaurant we had eaten seafood at and decided to test their meat selection. Turned out it was also quite delicious. A steak with two fried eggs on top is an excellent meal at all hours of the day. We also wandered about town for an hour or two, stopped by a few stores just in case we would find any necessary supplies for Ushuaia. Everything was really expensive, so we decided to stick with what we had. The next day we got on a bus at 9:00 AM and headed for Ushuaia.
After a few hours, we had to get off the bus and the bus drove onto a ferry along with other waiting vehicles, we also got on board, and crossed onto the island that is Tierra del Fuego.
The ferry is pretty full
Sarah is the king of the world!!
We got back on the bus, drove off the ferry, and continued on our way. Eventually we crossed the border into Argentina, and had a slight mishap on the unpaved section of the road. We got a flat tire, and had to switch buses to another bus from the same company going to Rio Grande. They apparently didn´t have a spare on our bus, and wanted to keep the weight down as it followed us to Rio Grande where they repaired the tire. After about 45 minutes we got back onto our original bus and continued to Ushuaia, arriving at about 8:00 PM.
Yesterday we got up and ate our hostel-provided breakfast and finished just as it started snowing. We had originally planned to hike up the nearby glacier, however with it snowing, we decided to take it easy. Luckily it stopped snowing about an hour later and we changed our minds and decided to climb it anyways. It is about 7 km outside of town, up a hill, then there is a chairlift and a small hike from the chairlift. We decided to take a taxi to the base of the chairlift, which is closed due to maintenance anyways, and hike up from there. After about an hour we got to the top, just as it started snowing again!
Here is Sarah on the way up
The Glaciar Martial
Sarah, the chairlift, and Ushuaia down below
So here we are in Ushuaia, at the bottom of the world, just in time for the one year anniversary of our departure tomorrow. We are still considering taking a last minute cruise to Antarctica if we can get a rock bottom deal, but that is proving to be difficult. In the meantime, we will spend a few more days here checking out the musuems and the old Spanish fort.
Now for some sobering numbers from Chile. By far Chile was the most expensive country we have visited up to this point. That said, the quality of life is much higher, it is a very modern country and you end up paying more for that. We also did a lot of tourist activities which only added to the overall cost. We left Chile on the 23rd of October after entering on the 2nd, spending 21 days in the country. We entered with $86 and withdrew $2053 while inside the country. It got interesting when we changed money into Argentinian Pesos, the official rate is about 4.7 pesos to the US dollar, however the black market rate is closer to 6. We also got the black market rate when changing from Chilean pesos. So we ended up leaving the country with about $217 using the official rate, which we will unfortunately get from local ATMs. Our total spend in Chile was thus $1922. That gives us a daily spend of $91.52! Someday we will have to go back when we have a larger budget and can eat nothing but delicious shellfish all day.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Valdivia to Punta Arenas
Hello dear readers, have I a tale to tell you!
Tuesday in Valdivia we ventured forth to see old Spanish forts that protected the sweet waters of the city. There were originally 17 or so that protected the entry to the river, but time and earthquakes have claimed all but three.
We entered the Castilla de Niebla and were greeted by a tour guide dressed in pirates clothing. He told us about the construction of the fort and, more importantly, how the allegedly unbeatable system used by the Spanish was defeated by Chilean and Argentinean revolutionary forces, thanks to the help of a Scotish pirate! After this hearty adventure, we helped ourselves to another lunch of delicously fresh fish.
Wednesday morning, it was time to depart and we took a short, 4 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt. From there, we discovered that the next bus to Punta Arenas was not to leave until the following day, so we bought tickets, found a hotel, and wandered about the city. Puerto Montt is a growing port city that does have a very nice, newer side of town including a pier and shopping mall where we enjoyed a lunch of "Doggis" hot dogs! We loaded up on snacks for our upcoming 32 hour bus ride, like apples, chips, bread, cookies... You know, health food! The following morning, our bus left at 11 am and made a few short stops in the first hour, but then we got really going. We crossed the border into Argentina around 4 pm and entered through a national park that had stunning mountain views and snow on the ground! We stopped for a short dinner of empanadas then hit the road again. The bus showed a bunch of cheesy movies, dubbed in spanish, of course. Luckily, the bus was not very full and most people were able to take two seats to themselves to stretch out (a little) and sleep, but honestly, it isn't a very restful sleep. The next morning, we were on a very flat and windy region of Argentina where we saw huge flocks of sheep and even ostrich until we crossed the border back into Chile in the early afternoon. The roads were clear the whole way and the border crossings very quick, so we arrived a few hours ahead of schedule. We walked around until we found an accomodating hostal, then explored the city. Our hostal has a kitchen, so we decided to cook our own dinner. Apparently, there is a kind of local turkey that is very affordable here, so we bought two giant legs and some veggies and rice to make a sort of Jambalaya that was delish! As you may imagine, we slept pretty solidly that night, after the poor sleep on the bus and an afternoon around town.
Today, we explored the town further and booked our excursion to the penguin colony for tomorrow. Matt is very excited about the penguins! We also booked our tickets to Ushuaia for Tuesday, since the busses don't go there every day. For lunch, we headed to a restaurant specializing in local cuisine. As it is very Cold in these parts, Matt ordered a Paila Marina, or seafood soup, to warm him up. I had to try the Centolla, or king crab, as it is reputed to be extra delicious here. I ordered the Chupe de Centolla, which I was told would be like a "pastel" or pastry, so I was expecting crab cakes. What came was a bowl of a mixture similar to crab cakes, but baked, not fried, and topped woth some large pieces of crab and a boiled egg. It was, simply, amazing. And very rich. I think we can safely say that we have eaten more sesfood, especially shell fish, in the lsst two weeks than we have in the last 5-10 years! And all so fresh, so delicious, and affordable! After lunch, we wandered down to the Staight of Magellen which is the "beach". As it is 50 degrees farenheit and extremely windy, we just took pictures and did not go in!
It is such an exciting time! Our one year travel-versary is coming up and how fitting that we should be in Ushuaia to celebrate! Of course, the reward for all this cold weather will be to return north to Buenos Aires and eventually Rio de Janeiro, to warm up again! That's all for now, dear readers, so be well and look forward to many penguin pictures soon!
Tuesday in Valdivia we ventured forth to see old Spanish forts that protected the sweet waters of the city. There were originally 17 or so that protected the entry to the river, but time and earthquakes have claimed all but three.
We entered the Castilla de Niebla and were greeted by a tour guide dressed in pirates clothing. He told us about the construction of the fort and, more importantly, how the allegedly unbeatable system used by the Spanish was defeated by Chilean and Argentinean revolutionary forces, thanks to the help of a Scotish pirate! After this hearty adventure, we helped ourselves to another lunch of delicously fresh fish.
Wednesday morning, it was time to depart and we took a short, 4 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt. From there, we discovered that the next bus to Punta Arenas was not to leave until the following day, so we bought tickets, found a hotel, and wandered about the city. Puerto Montt is a growing port city that does have a very nice, newer side of town including a pier and shopping mall where we enjoyed a lunch of "Doggis" hot dogs! We loaded up on snacks for our upcoming 32 hour bus ride, like apples, chips, bread, cookies... You know, health food! The following morning, our bus left at 11 am and made a few short stops in the first hour, but then we got really going. We crossed the border into Argentina around 4 pm and entered through a national park that had stunning mountain views and snow on the ground! We stopped for a short dinner of empanadas then hit the road again. The bus showed a bunch of cheesy movies, dubbed in spanish, of course. Luckily, the bus was not very full and most people were able to take two seats to themselves to stretch out (a little) and sleep, but honestly, it isn't a very restful sleep. The next morning, we were on a very flat and windy region of Argentina where we saw huge flocks of sheep and even ostrich until we crossed the border back into Chile in the early afternoon. The roads were clear the whole way and the border crossings very quick, so we arrived a few hours ahead of schedule. We walked around until we found an accomodating hostal, then explored the city. Our hostal has a kitchen, so we decided to cook our own dinner. Apparently, there is a kind of local turkey that is very affordable here, so we bought two giant legs and some veggies and rice to make a sort of Jambalaya that was delish! As you may imagine, we slept pretty solidly that night, after the poor sleep on the bus and an afternoon around town.
Today, we explored the town further and booked our excursion to the penguin colony for tomorrow. Matt is very excited about the penguins! We also booked our tickets to Ushuaia for Tuesday, since the busses don't go there every day. For lunch, we headed to a restaurant specializing in local cuisine. As it is very Cold in these parts, Matt ordered a Paila Marina, or seafood soup, to warm him up. I had to try the Centolla, or king crab, as it is reputed to be extra delicious here. I ordered the Chupe de Centolla, which I was told would be like a "pastel" or pastry, so I was expecting crab cakes. What came was a bowl of a mixture similar to crab cakes, but baked, not fried, and topped woth some large pieces of crab and a boiled egg. It was, simply, amazing. And very rich. I think we can safely say that we have eaten more sesfood, especially shell fish, in the lsst two weeks than we have in the last 5-10 years! And all so fresh, so delicious, and affordable! After lunch, we wandered down to the Staight of Magellen which is the "beach". As it is 50 degrees farenheit and extremely windy, we just took pictures and did not go in!
It is such an exciting time! Our one year travel-versary is coming up and how fitting that we should be in Ushuaia to celebrate! Of course, the reward for all this cold weather will be to return north to Buenos Aires and eventually Rio de Janeiro, to warm up again! That's all for now, dear readers, so be well and look forward to many penguin pictures soon!
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