Before my flight to Madrid, I meet Oscar in the airport in Buenos Aires. He lives in Madrid and offered to show me around the city. Cool! I have a local to show me around. This trip is getting better all the time. Hostel I'm finally in Europe! Mind you, I get here very early in the morning and need to wait outside my hostel (Hostel One) for an hour because no one is answering the door bell. Good thing it's not very cold or I would be freezing my butt off. Guess, I shouldn't have came to Europe at the [View Full Entry]

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Hostel Here I am again in Buenos Aries. This time around I decide to stay at America del Sur Hostel. It's a great place. It looks and feels like a hotel, but has all the warmth and fun of a hostel. The staff are amazing. They go out of their way to get to know all the guests. The hostel also offers Asado (Argentinian BBQ) every night. It just cost $50 Argentinian Pesos. The Asado includes all the meat and salad you can eat plus one large bottle of beer, wine, or soft drink. That's a lot of food, but well [View Full Entry]

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Bariloche is at the top of Patagonia. The region reminds me of the forests around British Columbia. I meet Ray at my hostel, Pudu. The hostel is owned by an Irish couple and an Argentinian guy. There is a bar in the hostel and happy hour is between 6pm - 9pm. Ray and I go hiking and then biking around Bariloche. I post on Facebook that I'm in Bariloche and Shauna sends me a message saying that she and Peter are in Bariloche as well. I meet up with both of them and we head out for dinner at a restaurant [View Full Entry]

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Mendoza is in the wine making region of Argentina. One of the big things to do in Mendoza is to take a wine tasting tour on a bike. Hmmmmm...drunk people on bikes. I don't know if that's such a good idea. Side note: Argentina keeps their best wines in the country and exports all the rest. I head out to rent bikes with Sarah and Laurent. We rent our bikes from Mr. Hugo's and only cost each of us $10 USD for the day. So, what do you get for $10 USD? You get a free map of the wineries, a [View Full Entry]

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Alta Gracia's claim to fame is that Ernesto "Che" Guevara grew up there during part of his childhood. The house that he grew up in was turned into a museum. Walking around the house, I learn that Che was a very good friend of Fidel Castro. Castro actually visted the house in 2006. Coincidentally, Hugo Chávez decided to make a visit to the house on the same day and at the same time as Castro. Coincidence? I think not. [View Full Entry]

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I never intended to stop in Cordoba. I wanted to go straight from Iguazu Falls to Mendoza, but the bus ride would take 36 hours. At least the bus to Cordoba is only 20 hours. From Cordoba to Mendoza, the bus ride is only eight hours. I didn't find Cordoba to be a very interesting city. The city has seven universities, essentially a university town. The night life is really good though. I guess having all those university students isn't a bad thing. Skydiving There isn't much to see in this city, so I decide to go skydiving. I don't tell [View Full Entry]

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I take a taxi to the Hostel-Inn on the Argentian side of the Iguazu Falls. This hostel is one of the few hostel worth staying at on the Argentian side. It's outside the town, but on the way towards the Iguazu National Park. Iguazu National Park There are more things to do on the Argentinian side of the falls. There are many trails that put you very close to the waterfalls. You can also go on a boat ride that puts [View Full Entry]

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I'm heading off to Iguaçu Falls (Brazilian side). I'm only spending one night on the Brazilian side as everyone tells me you only need 4 hours to see everything on that side. I share a cab with Kas (my new friend) to the bus station and we part ways there as he is on an earlier bus to Iguaçu. Another night sleeping on the bus. Oh well, at least I get to save a night's stay in a hostel. I arrive at the hostel, check in, take a shower and start heading to the Iguaçu National Park. As I'm leaving the [View Full Entry]

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I arrive in Florinopolis (or Floripa as the locals call it) at 8:30 am. At least this bus ride was much better than my bus ride up to Cusco (see my Cusco Entry). That was the ride from hell. It's very hot in Floripa, so, I decide to take a taxi to my hostel, Casa Brasil. The hostel is a small, family run hostel. The staff are really nice people. They tell me that two of the beaches are only half an hours walk or a 10 minute bus ride from the hostel. I de [View Full Entry]

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I spent two weeks in Paulina, Brazil. Yes, yes, I know it 's not Rio de Janerio or Sao Paulo, but I spent the time at my friend's, Angelica, house. Angelica was kind enough to put up with me for two weeks. I wasn't a handful or demanding at all...well I don't think I was. In any case, I'm really glad that she let me stay at her place and that she took time off work to show me around. You're the best Meg! (don't ask, I'm not going to explain) Clubbing Although the big Carnival parties are in Rio and [View Full Entry]

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