Random Remarcs

Imagine a scene in the Old West. The Iron Horse has just deposited its load of passengers at some dust ridden town along the frontier. As it pulls away you see the greenhorn, or tenderfoot, standing in the middle of an empty street looking around in bemusement as he tries to orientate himself to this new location. Nothing looks the same; everyone is dressed differently and the houses are certainly not a patch on what he encountered in New York. In fact, there is only one building: the train station... So he stands there in bemusement, surrounded by his ornate luggage watching the decidedly un-ornate country folk walking by and ignoring him. Now, instead of the train, imagine an Andesmar coach, and rather than just a single tenderfoot, picture about thirty gringo backpackers, all with the ... read more

When I first decided to travel round the world for a year or so, one of my greatest concerns was how I would manage to get around South America when I didn't really speak the language. The idea of doing it all on my own, and the risk of ending up in the wrong location, or even the wrong country, was a little concerning. So, I booked a three week trip though Patagonia with a tour company known as Tucan, thinking that easing into the solo trips might be a good idea. Of course, after I arrived in Argentina I went off and explored Iguazu and Mendoza by myself, so I was feeling a lot more confident in my abilities to find my way around South America by the time I flew south to Ushuaia to ... read more

Last time I reported in I had just left a hostel and was on my way to the Terminal de Omnibus (hey, I think it sounds a lot better than plain old bus station) so I could board my bus and make a 16 hour journey north to Iguazu falls. For those who have been wondering if this is really a true version of events; after all, so far I haven't gotten ridiculously drunk and ended up: on a pub crawl with the local underbelly mob (a la Galway); in hospital (a la waterpolo presentation nights); or in a strip club (a la a certain grandmother's wake), all I can say is that I'm working on it... If you are like me, you consider yousrelf reasonably well clued about the world and its sites. It turns ... read more

Ok, I can't promise that that will be my last bad pun for the year. In all honesty, given the paucity of my sense of humour, anyone reading this blog should be glad of a few bad puns here and there. (Of course, this being Marc's blog, and with the title Random Remarcs, I feel that I should make note of the fact that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is actually Columbian and I'm currently at least half a continent from his birth nation. Despite the fact that I love his novels, I'll try and refrain from any more Gabe comments...I reserve my right to change this if, in the middle of some pandemic, I do happen to meet my significant other. Ferries may also need to be involved. :-) ) A couple of points; think of them ... read more