Blogs from South America - page 5195

Mendoza was a really cool place.... therw was nice big parks, central plazas where people would try ´hang out´and great location for the Andes. The people we met there too were all really great! After a long drive through the night, we arrived at Mendoza at about 7am in the morning to be greeted by loads of people trying to persuade us to go to their hostel. We ignored them all and set off to a place we had read about in the LP (Lonely Planet for non-travellers ;)) Anyway again the guide book failed us, as the hostel we choose was kind of dirty and grotty (or maybe it was just our room), but we only found out after we had booked one night because we were so tired from the journey. Later in the ... read more

Voyage jusqu'à San Juan et premier réel désert argentin! cool.. jusqu'a ce que l'autobus tombe en panne et reste sur place au milieu de nul part pendant 10 heures.. résultat, je n'ai pas pu aller directement à San Agustin et je fut obligé de dormir à San Juan. Mais voilà que l'auberge est merveilleuse et il y a une excursion jusqu'a la Valle de la Luna disponible à partir de San Juan, en plus il y a un party le soir même car c'est l'anniversaire d'un des employés. Vraiment cool comme soirée j'ai rencontré plein de gens et même une future archéologue qui aime autant que moi le lithique! cependant le temps passe vite et j'ai passé une nuit blanche puisque je devais partir à 5 heure du matin pour la valle de la Luna (250 ... read more

I wrote a long entry for today that I will update as soon as I make it to a cafe with wireless... until then... here´s my highlight: Jess and I put together her room´s TV with a broken cable and our room´s wonderful cable with a broken TV and created one funcional television! We watched dancing toothbrush commercials, a spanish cooking show and part of Law and Order, en español. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing night after a long day. And few things are greater than Spanish commercials for erotic tips that can be sent to your cell phone to spice up your sex life! ... read more

Endlich mal wieder ein Lebenszeichen von uns! :-) Also wir sind vor ueber einer Woche noch gut von Tacna nach Arequipa gekommen. Gegen 19:00 Uhr und ca. 7 h Busfahrt sind wir dort angekommen. Wir sind mit Cruz del Sur gefahren und dort wird Sicherheit gross geschrieben. Nach dem Einsteigen wird naemlich jeder mit einer Videokamera gefilmt. Warum genau wissen wir nicht, koennen es nur vermuten. In Arequipa angekommen haben wir uns mit unseren Busbekanntschaften Madlen (Schweiz) und Spencer (Kanada) ein Taxi bis zum Hostal Tumi de Oro geteilt und dort ein sehr schoenes und riesiges Zimmer bezogen. Am naechsten Tag haben wir dann mehrere Reisebueros besucht und unsere nachsten Ausfluege geplant. Joe und Spencer hatten beschlossen, den Ampato (6310 m) zu besteigen. (Dazu schreibt Joe dann extra etwas.) Da ich nicht in einem der Basislager ... read more

22 Mayo - Isla Amantani I am in a magical place, an island in Lake Titicaca. This island was entirely terraced by the Incas and is inhabited by a simple people. We just got back from a hike to one of the main hills called Pachatata, or Father Earth. The sunset was beautiful and serene. We enjoyed Andean donuts and Muna Mate for one Sole, the equivalent of about $0.30. This place has an ambience, an aura about it that is very soothing. And the ruins at the top of Pachatata, coupled with the view, has a noticeable energy to it. The most amazing thing, or at least one of the most amazing things, is that we are staying with a native family for the night. We are living their life for a day. It is ... read more