Back in NZ now after three months in South America. I have found it nearly impossible to leave Buenos Aires after I started getting comfortable there, taking Spanish lessons, making new friends and dancing every night. My plans to visit the Iguazu Falls and Patagonia were postponed and postponed until it was no longer possible. I did manage to take a day trip to Tigre last Sunday though, on the first sunny day after days of cloud and rain. Meeting someone at 9am at the Retiro station was a huge mission, since I had only gone to bed at 4:30am. The [View Full Entry]

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This place makes me want to cry. I got sick of getting out piddly amounts of money at a time, so went in person to various banks to try to withdraw more. The usual response was to try a different ATM or to contact my bank or Visa, which I did. ASB bank told me to go in person to a bank to ask Visa for a cash advance, the banks in Argentina asked me to contact Visa, and Visa asked me to contact my bank at home. I went to the Visa building in person after trying to call without [View Full Entry]

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It is now 3am, I have just gone to our local milonga* (after a prolonged homeward journey described below as cultural experience number 3) and discovered it closed. The others have gone to another milonga further afield, but I can't be bothered heading out again. (For those of you interested in tango, Palermo is the place to be for young people dancing more experimental tango. San Telmo, where I am staying at the moment, is more traditional.) I haven't finished doing my Spanish homework for tomorrow yet, nor practised nearly enough for my next tango lesson, but I just have an [View Full Entry]

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Am now back in Argentina and have already spent a night out dancing (those high heels really feel high if you haven't been wearing them for a while!). It's back to the comfort of being able to unpack properly, but also back to no coca tea (the yerba mate isn't bad though), only orange juice (as opposed to papaya, pineapple, strawberry, etc.), and lots of time wasting trying to get hold of money. Today was very frustrating for me, because I walked 6 blocks to the ATM, only to discover that all the machines at two different banks were either not [View Full Entry]

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Because of the earthquake near Pisco a couple of months ago, our itinerary was changed to have an extra day in Nazca. When we discovered that our hotel in Nazca was not in town (a taxi into town costs 4-5 soles), we were pretty angry, especially since we could have easily spent an extra night in the big towns of Arequipa (where we were coming from) or Lima (where we were going to). It didn't make sense for us to have an extra day in a backwater village, and we concluded that GAP Adventures made that decision without consulting us because [View Full Entry]

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Just in case you were wondering, I am still vegetarian and did not eat the guinea pig in the picture. The others say it tastes a bit like chicken though, except with very little meat. I have had plenty of traditional dishes to try myself. In Cusco, I had rocoto relleno (filled hot pepper) for the first time. It was delicious, and the meal was particularly great because the restaurants in San Blas, the suburb where we stayed, also gave us free pisco sours and garlic bread... My first encounter with rocoto was actually back when I was in Potosí by [View Full Entry]

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After visiting Machu Picchu, we flew to Arequipa, the second biggest city in Peru (after Lima). We arrived at night, so couldn't really look around, but it had a big city feel straight away, with massive shopping malls and fast food chains. Early the next day, we took a bus into the Colca Canyon. It was a bumpy ride, but we were rewarded with a beautiful hotel with an excellent buffet dinner, and could relax at hot pools in the next town. The morning after, we got up at 5am so we could make it nice and early to the Condor [View Full Entry]

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For lots of people, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is the number one reason for going to South America. I guess it was an amazing journey, and the Inca site is absolutely fascinating, but somehow, for me, it wasn't the spiritual experience that I had heard about. It was fun, but it wasn't life changing. Maybe it was because we just kept walking and didn't pause to think about why we were there. I didn't regret finishing earlier than planned though---a shower and a hotel room was most welcome after two nights in tents. The first day was the [View Full Entry]

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Went home after my last post and my roommate was not there, although it was already 11:30pm. Packed my bags for the Inca Trail and finally went to sleep. Woke at 4am to find her still not there. Got very worried and went to reception, where I was told she was probably at some party. I did not believe this as I didn't think my roommate was that kind of person, and she had never stayed out so late before, but I returned to bed anyway, fully expecting to have to raise some kind of alarm in the morning. It turns [View Full Entry]

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Last day in Cusco today. Am feeling pretty sick (sore throat and coughing), so cancelled the rafting trip I had signed up for and went to a bunch of museums instead. The ones you can visit which come with the Tourist Ticket are all very small and not too well looked after, except maybe for the one at Qoricancha, which showed some deformed sculls---apparently it was a sign of prestige to have an elongated head. The Inca Museum which you had to pay for separately for was really good though. There were some people weaving in the courtyard, in addition to [View Full Entry]

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