So I met Naresh randomly at the bus stop and we got the Andesmar bus over to Mendoza. The journey seemed pretty standard and I had opted for the night bus to save on time. The midnight-early morning border crossing in the middle of the Andes was interesting but pretty straightforward. Arrived in Mendoza and went to Internacional Hostel (one of the HI chain) it was comfortable and I met some cool people there including the manager Ivan and Simon from Netherlands and spent some fun nights in the cosy bar (complete with wood burner). Mendoza, best known for it´s velvety Malbec, lies in the shadow of the Andes on the Argentinian side (North west) and is the heart of the winelands! Therefore, so I was told, a winery tour was compulsory!
We went on the organised hostel wine tour and to be honest it was pretty lame... ok it was cheap but you really didn´t get to taste too much and it felt a bit structured. The following day a group of us went out to Maipu on the bus (take note... you need the exact change in coins!) and went to see Mr Hugo for his cheap ($30 peso a day) bike hire! This was fantastic, we got several glasses of vino tinto before even clapping our eyes on the bikes, and then rather foggy eyed clambered on (amazingly, to working brakes) we chose our first winery destination on the provided map. First stop: Trapiche, and the largest exporter of wines in the region. The vinyard was housed in a beautiful renovated building complete with the old train tracks outside used for transporting the wine to Buenos Aires back in the day. After a full tour we sampled blanco (torrentes) tinto (syrah) and their reserve (petit verdot).
Next stop: Tempus Albus, and my favourite wine of the day! Here we had lunch and a selection of their suggested wines to taste, the best (and best of the day) being the Pleno Reserve. We drank and ate on the beautiful balcony overlooking the vines and andes in the distance. A short wobble across the road, was the smallest vinyard of the day Vina el Cerno - with only 11 staff it had an intimate feel as we sat amongst the grape vines to drain our last glass of the day. Back the hostel, an organised BBQ and general party night... great until the tequilla came out and ruined me!
Next stop, Buenos Aires and (hopefully) eventual spanish fluency!
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Valparaiso
Valparaiso was a cool place. After a recommendation from a friend we decided to stay at Angel hostel (Calle Cumming)- nice place, friendly staff (Rodriguez and Marco) and very helpful. We arrived at the bus station and got on a bus that seemed like a school bus with loads of kids and a clown standing at the front complete with facepaints and baggy trousers... he showed us the way (ended up being the wrong way) to our hostel.
Went to a really nice restaurant where we spent about 30 minutes trying to decide what everything on the menu meant whilst consuming lots of vino tinto (red wine) and agregamon (bread and accompaniments). Then we went to a really nice bar called Sale de Arts Ritual with lots of mosaics (including a mosaic manequin) and great art work plus tasty sangria style drink with fruits in it.
Next day for Becky´s birthday we went to Vina del Mar on the metro. Had fish of the day at an authentic fishing eatery called San Pedros. walked around a bit, had a beer with the cutest puppy in a red jumper called ´Titan´and then wandered along the seafront to watch the sunset with a cake and cocktail at plush bar Enjoy the Mar. That night we went to an indie club called Mascara with Marco where I practiced my drunken spanish (better than sober actually).
On the final day I explored Valpo... the Ascensores (elavators) take the sting out of the multiple climbs up the hills to catch a glimpse of the ocean below the multicoloured houses - all beautifully painted in pastels of green, yellow, blue etc and adorned with the most amazing and unique grafitti art. Cerro (hill) Conception andAllegare were the best and I paused for a moment at the bottom of Almte Montte street to watch the local arts and have a coffee.
Next to Santiago and the long bus ride to Mendoza (10 hours)...
Went to a really nice restaurant where we spent about 30 minutes trying to decide what everything on the menu meant whilst consuming lots of vino tinto (red wine) and agregamon (bread and accompaniments). Then we went to a really nice bar called Sale de Arts Ritual with lots of mosaics (including a mosaic manequin) and great art work plus tasty sangria style drink with fruits in it.
Next day for Becky´s birthday we went to Vina del Mar on the metro. Had fish of the day at an authentic fishing eatery called San Pedros. walked around a bit, had a beer with the cutest puppy in a red jumper called ´Titan´and then wandered along the seafront to watch the sunset with a cake and cocktail at plush bar Enjoy the Mar. That night we went to an indie club called Mascara with Marco where I practiced my drunken spanish (better than sober actually).
On the final day I explored Valpo... the Ascensores (elavators) take the sting out of the multiple climbs up the hills to catch a glimpse of the ocean below the multicoloured houses - all beautifully painted in pastels of green, yellow, blue etc and adorned with the most amazing and unique grafitti art. Cerro (hill) Conception andAllegare were the best and I paused for a moment at the bottom of Almte Montte street to watch the local arts and have a coffee.
Next to Santiago and the long bus ride to Mendoza (10 hours)...
Santiago de Chile
Well I arrived to Santiago de Chile airport with very little español at my fingertips and somehow managed to get through the airport (which still reflected damage from the massive earthquake that hit at the town of Conception 270 miles south of Santiago). I arrived at the Andes Hostel (monjitas street, Bellas Artes) http://www.andeshostel.com/ a really nice place with a cute little bar super comfy beds, friendly staff and good location in bellas Artes... plus a really adorable roof terrace where you could drink beer and look out over the city... and constantly playing a really great radio station http://www.horizonte.cl/. I met some awesome people here and had a really great time. We headed to a good bar called Bar Constitution several nights, good place for reasonably priced drinks (especially Pisco sours) and meeting other travellers and locals. It was nice and discreet, just a simple grey door and blackboard outside with the name on (we really had to look for this place but it was worth it!) on Calle Constitution. It is open til gone 4am...
Went up the Cristbal to see the virgin mary statue at the top overlooking the city via the funicular trip up. Also went to see Pablo Naruda´s third house ´Choscana´ in Bellavista, a really interesting place taking themes from boats, the sea, various fruits and hidden meanings in pieces of art work. He designed and constructed the house as a gettaway for him and his lover (then to be third wife!) Mathilda so it reflects a lot of their relationship together. On my third day I visited the Bellas Artes museam (ok... worth a lok in if you are passing) and the really fantastic museo chileano de arte precolumbia http://www.precolombino.cl/es/index.php that contained lots of interesting precolumbian artefacts from throughout South America - including some huge wooden statue carvings and mummies using pre-egyptian embalming techniques (basically, removing the inards and stuffing the body with twigs and leaves).
There are a lot of dogs roaming the streets here, the strange thing is most of them lok like pedigrees so I´m not sure whether some have owners or not... anyway despite previously deciding against a rabies shot I befriended a lovely black labrodor style dog whom I called Óxo´. He was a loyal friend and followed us back to the hostel... maybe in the hope of some food.
Foodwise, Chile is good (cheaper than NZ and OZ thats for sure!) and the food consisted of lots of lomos (beef steak sandwiches) with loads of Palta (avacado) and Mayonesa piled on it.... plus I was introduced to wonderful empanadas - basically the pasties of South America... hot pastries filled with veg, cheese and ´carne´(meat) varying in quality and price but generally a cheap filling option. In my last few days I met up with Tom and Rich who I´d travelled with in Australia, plus their two new friends Becky and Britney. The five of us decided to hot foot it to Valparaiso for a look around.
Went up the Cristbal to see the virgin mary statue at the top overlooking the city via the funicular trip up. Also went to see Pablo Naruda´s third house ´Choscana´ in Bellavista, a really interesting place taking themes from boats, the sea, various fruits and hidden meanings in pieces of art work. He designed and constructed the house as a gettaway for him and his lover (then to be third wife!) Mathilda so it reflects a lot of their relationship together. On my third day I visited the Bellas Artes museam (ok... worth a lok in if you are passing) and the really fantastic museo chileano de arte precolumbia http://www.precolombino.cl/es/index.php that contained lots of interesting precolumbian artefacts from throughout South America - including some huge wooden statue carvings and mummies using pre-egyptian embalming techniques (basically, removing the inards and stuffing the body with twigs and leaves).
There are a lot of dogs roaming the streets here, the strange thing is most of them lok like pedigrees so I´m not sure whether some have owners or not... anyway despite previously deciding against a rabies shot I befriended a lovely black labrodor style dog whom I called Óxo´. He was a loyal friend and followed us back to the hostel... maybe in the hope of some food.
Foodwise, Chile is good (cheaper than NZ and OZ thats for sure!) and the food consisted of lots of lomos (beef steak sandwiches) with loads of Palta (avacado) and Mayonesa piled on it.... plus I was introduced to wonderful empanadas - basically the pasties of South America... hot pastries filled with veg, cheese and ´carne´(meat) varying in quality and price but generally a cheap filling option. In my last few days I met up with Tom and Rich who I´d travelled with in Australia, plus their two new friends Becky and Britney. The five of us decided to hot foot it to Valparaiso for a look around.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Trekking in Northern Thailand
So, it's been while since the last post and I have almost finished my stint in Asia:
From BKK I headed up to Chiang mai on the night train - this was an interesting experience! Second class sleepers are not a great way to spend the night on your own as they just convert the chair into your bed in the corridor which people walk past. Thankfully all the local people on the train were really frioendly and I met a really nice lady called Ann who used to teach here 30 years ago and heard a lot aboiut her interesting life here - and surviving both maleria and dengue fever twice!
Arrived in chiang mai feeling a little disorientated and got a tuk tuk to Julie's guesthouse - really nice little hostel. Met Yasmin, John and RaHim here originally then Adam. Sopent the day catching up with myself mostly then in the evening went out with them for dinner - met Tori, Emma, Matt and Kim. Tori and Matt were from Lancaster too as was Kim so we all bonded straight away over our mutual love (?) of North West england. Went to the night market then a random club before making way back to the hostel.
Got up early the next day and hired bikes with Yasmin and John. We went to a couple of temples out of town at Wat Son Dork and Wat Umong. The second was set in beautiful forest with underground tunnels. We spent quite some time here. Everywhere there were interesting notes and phrases pinned to trees. There was also a big lake with turtles and massive catfish in it! Came back and I went off to my cooking class - my teacher Liu was very welcoming. We had a tour of the herb gardens seeing hioly basil, mouse shit (yes really) chilli, thai ginger and eggplant etc. After this we had a tour of the market and got some ingredients then came back for the class. I made thai green curry (including the paste)vegetable spring rolls, tom yum soup and pad thai chicken. Really enjoyed the class and Liu gave me a lift home at the end of the evening. That night went to 'full moon party' on the river side with some people from the hostel but didn't stay long as trekking next day.
Trekk: guide was Woody, interesting guy, very charismatic. Met Ros and Dan from UK, Claire and Ed, Jamie-Lee and Matt, Anton, Justin, Jane and Rodney and it was a really great group of people. Went first on an elephant trekk then walked for about 4 hours up and up and up into the junlge. We saw banana trees, looked down across the whole valley, crossed mountain streams and waterfalls, it was beautiful. We reached the top in time to see the sunset across the valley. The hilltribe village at the top were part of the Red Lahu tribe and welcomed us amongst them. Woody and one of the tribal elders made our food for us - thai green curry. We ate together in the bamboo hut, played several drinking games with some locals whilst the local kids sat by playing rock, paper, scissors. Sat outside around a glowing campfire, looking out at the moon and stars through the tree tops - beautiful.
Next day got up early, eggs on toast for breakfast then set off trekking again. Downhill, not to physically tiring but took a lot of manoevering to get down without faling! Stopped at a few waterfalls to swim and take in the views. Stayed the night at the waterfall camp where we had a campfire, ate thai red curry sat around the campfire chatting and playing drinking games it was a great night with the dogs and three little puppies sitting by us and so silent amongst the trees.
PAI: After Chiang Mai I headed to a little place called Pai with Emma, Matt and Tori up in the mountains about 3 hours north west of chiang mai towards the northern burmese border. The drive in itself was just amazing through the mountains winding around roads with a sheer drop on either side of you. Arrived in town and realised it was the king's birthday so extremely busy! Got accomodation at Twin Hut lodges down on the riverside. Went out for some street food and a few drinks to Jikko bar where we took over the music system. Over the next few days we explored the town and took in the views before setting off on the minibus from hell to Laos via the Friendship Bridge...
From BKK I headed up to Chiang mai on the night train - this was an interesting experience! Second class sleepers are not a great way to spend the night on your own as they just convert the chair into your bed in the corridor which people walk past. Thankfully all the local people on the train were really frioendly and I met a really nice lady called Ann who used to teach here 30 years ago and heard a lot aboiut her interesting life here - and surviving both maleria and dengue fever twice!
Arrived in chiang mai feeling a little disorientated and got a tuk tuk to Julie's guesthouse - really nice little hostel. Met Yasmin, John and RaHim here originally then Adam. Sopent the day catching up with myself mostly then in the evening went out with them for dinner - met Tori, Emma, Matt and Kim. Tori and Matt were from Lancaster too as was Kim so we all bonded straight away over our mutual love (?) of North West england. Went to the night market then a random club before making way back to the hostel.
Got up early the next day and hired bikes with Yasmin and John. We went to a couple of temples out of town at Wat Son Dork and Wat Umong. The second was set in beautiful forest with underground tunnels. We spent quite some time here. Everywhere there were interesting notes and phrases pinned to trees. There was also a big lake with turtles and massive catfish in it! Came back and I went off to my cooking class - my teacher Liu was very welcoming. We had a tour of the herb gardens seeing hioly basil, mouse shit (yes really) chilli, thai ginger and eggplant etc. After this we had a tour of the market and got some ingredients then came back for the class. I made thai green curry (including the paste)vegetable spring rolls, tom yum soup and pad thai chicken. Really enjoyed the class and Liu gave me a lift home at the end of the evening. That night went to 'full moon party' on the river side with some people from the hostel but didn't stay long as trekking next day.
Trekk: guide was Woody, interesting guy, very charismatic. Met Ros and Dan from UK, Claire and Ed, Jamie-Lee and Matt, Anton, Justin, Jane and Rodney and it was a really great group of people. Went first on an elephant trekk then walked for about 4 hours up and up and up into the junlge. We saw banana trees, looked down across the whole valley, crossed mountain streams and waterfalls, it was beautiful. We reached the top in time to see the sunset across the valley. The hilltribe village at the top were part of the Red Lahu tribe and welcomed us amongst them. Woody and one of the tribal elders made our food for us - thai green curry. We ate together in the bamboo hut, played several drinking games with some locals whilst the local kids sat by playing rock, paper, scissors. Sat outside around a glowing campfire, looking out at the moon and stars through the tree tops - beautiful.
Next day got up early, eggs on toast for breakfast then set off trekking again. Downhill, not to physically tiring but took a lot of manoevering to get down without faling! Stopped at a few waterfalls to swim and take in the views. Stayed the night at the waterfall camp where we had a campfire, ate thai red curry sat around the campfire chatting and playing drinking games it was a great night with the dogs and three little puppies sitting by us and so silent amongst the trees.
PAI: After Chiang Mai I headed to a little place called Pai with Emma, Matt and Tori up in the mountains about 3 hours north west of chiang mai towards the northern burmese border. The drive in itself was just amazing through the mountains winding around roads with a sheer drop on either side of you. Arrived in town and realised it was the king's birthday so extremely busy! Got accomodation at Twin Hut lodges down on the riverside. Went out for some street food and a few drinks to Jikko bar where we took over the music system. Over the next few days we explored the town and took in the views before setting off on the minibus from hell to Laos via the Friendship Bridge...
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