Bright Lights, Big City!

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I spent about an hour and a half the other night writing an epic blog of brilliant wit and razor sharp insight, which was crammed full of worldly knowledge and life-affirming anecdotes. Or at least it seemed so at the time. In retrospect I was a bit pissed, so it´s probably all for the best that my computer somehow managed to lose my drunken ravings.

Suffice to say it probably included some ill-willed barbs at the sulky folk of Panama City (cheer up you bi-continent spanning miserablists!), and some very nice things about Argentinians (who are all quite lovely, but admittedly tend to have some mullet issues).

Following my last entry I can confirm that the Panama Canal is big and impressive (big ship goes through very slightly bigger canal). I´m sure the canal folks are breathing a collective sigh of relief at my endorsement after all this time, as they´ve been pestering me. Nat was particularly impressed, revealing an slightly nerdy almost-was-a-civil engineering student side to her nature that I´ve not seen before.

Leaving Panama we took a dull flight to Cordoba in Argentina. Cordoba is a nice university town north of here (but unfortunately 10 hours away by bus - we´ll have to get used to that now we´ve left tiny little Central America). The only real experiences we had here worth mentioning was a near death experience with the worst cab driver we´ve had yet (imagine been driven in a Formula 1 car by a crazed monkey on amphetamines and you´re close), and a hotel room compete with a cockroach the size of a dog the size of a horse (the size of a big horse). Ba-dum!

Things to avoid in Cordoba: Pension Florida (unless you´re a giant-bug obsessed zoologist).
Things to seek out: Restaurant Mandarina... mmm.

We´re now in Buenos Aires, which is really quite a cool town I have to say. I wasn't quite prepared for how big it was going to be, or quite how European. We´re feeling quite back in our element mooching round a big city, and are having to fight consumerist urges! We´ve also been able to hook up with our Aussie mate Nev from Mexico, seen some live music, poetry, museums and so forth. It's almost like being back in London.

We have met one total nutter however, who has been quite good value for money. An Alaskan building spending the winter months in a warmer climate, he´s putting together a potentially palme-d'or winning digital documentary on the rear ends of Argentinian ladies for his friends back home (where the men outnumber the ladies something cronic). We both had our doubts as to the moral standing of this piece of filmography, but after a couple of glasses of wine Natalie´s seemed to vanish, and she became his official talent spotter...

While I´m in a bullet point frame of mind, for those of you about to set out on a travelling trip, and want to, y´know fit in, you might find the following unwritten rules of Hostel Chic useful:

- Try not to look impressed by anything... in fact, try adopting an air of total boredom. The better the spot, the more bored you should look.
- Appear relaxed, to the point of being comatose. Pass out if you must, but drool does not look good on anyone.
- Avoid leaving the hostel if possible, as there are less opportunities to look relaxed (point 1) and comatose (point 2).
- Points 1 to 3 are useless anyway, as you should have gone 3 years ago, when it was good.

Anyway, from here on in it´s ciao to civilization, and buenos dias to excitement. We´re heading to the very bottom of the continent, where right now columns of Magellanic Penguins, Orcas, Whales, and the deadly Antarctic Komodo Dragons are sharpening their knives and forks and licking their lips expectantly.

The next few weeks promise to be rocking, if slightly colder than we´re used to, but unfortunately it´s going to take 20 hours in a stinking bus to get there!

Happy Valentines Day to All!
Si xx

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Photos

Freaking big ship enters Miraflores lock
like, freaking massive. Sadly I'd left my tape measure in the hotel, but I reckon it was half a mile long.

Little train thingamebobs pull ship through lock
Si would like you to know that the arty overexposure is so it looks like the faded photos in your old geography textbook

Cordoba
has nice buildings. This is some form of a church, but sadly the name escapes me

They call it the City of the Dead
(only in Spanish). And you can see why - narrow roads lined with crypts and huge, ornate graves (it even has road signs).

El Obelisco
Buenos Aires landmark