Blogs from South America - page 5379

Yo ho ho me harties, I am in Piriapolis, just west of Punta del Este, and trying to recover. You see a couple hours into the ride from Atlantidad I discovered some pain in my shoulders and back. For me this is normal but this pain seem to be coming from my skin. Pull down my shirt and what do I see? Blisters! Lots of them. All across my shoulders, big ones little ones, some about to burst some just getting started. MMMMmmm. Well couldn´t do anything about it so I just put on a long sleeve tshirt in the 90+deg temps and rode on. I made it up the coast to Piriapolis and decided to stay at a campsite. It is just so perfectly picturesque here, that I really wanted to stay. That and the ... read more

Well I now know why it is a bad idea to buy a sandwich from a street vendor in peru. It was very good but I paid for it for a few days and it took a dose of cipro to fix. This weekend was very cool. It was my last weekend with everyone from the spanish school so we all went rafting on the Urambama river. we had a two hour bus ride out to the river. we stopped a couple of times along the way in some very cool little towns. after we arrived at the river we had a saftey briefing then set off. I will say the river is no Kicking Horse but it was still alot of fun. we teamed up in groups of six. there was only 2 guys in ... read more

I had imagined "the end of the world" totally differently. Especially when an elderly english couple on the plane ridiculed me a little for not getting off in Punta Arenas and instead flying on to Ushuaia (WHAAAAAT the ..... are you going THERE for????) I wasn´t quite sure what to expect...and maybe because of that I was rather pleasantly surprised. The flight into Ushuaia was definately one of the best flights ever. The weather was perfect and we spent 3 hours cruising high over the Andes. The view was spectacular; High mountains, glaciers, rugged peaks, perfectly shaped volcanoes and lots of lakes were below us. Then, desert! For hundreds of miles! (What a surpise I thought - hm...guess I hadn´t done my homework and knew nothing about Argentinas Pampa). After 3 wonderful hours the descent into ... read more

As fas as being on the tourist trail is concerned, Cuzco is right up there. The discovery of Machu Picchu some hundred years before turned what was once a relative backwater into something of a tourist hotspot. It was with some cynisism therefore that we travelled to Cuzco - but how could you possibly visit Peru without seeing Machu Picchu? For those that don't know what all the fuss is about, Machu Picchu is the most complete Inca city discovered, perched atop a mountain in the a most innaccessible region of Peru. The location itself is incredible enough, let alone the incredibly well preserved ruins that sit precariously in the clouds. Our arrival in Cuzco went according to plan, avoiding the many touts by virtue of a prior reservation secured (including a sizable discount - low ... read more

Early start to catch the plane (yes, I know, the 4th in almost as many days, but I didn´t fly anywhere yesterday), and the sun has come out to say farewell. Stunning blue sky, with just a few clouds clinging onto the mountains. No first class ticket this time, just regular economy - never be the same again. Fortunately it´s only a 30 min flight, to Rio Gallago, home to the current Argentinian president. This is where we enter into Patagonia proper. Vast open spaces, with absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see. The Andes way over in the West remove any moisture from the air, and only break the wind for a short time, so the wind blows across the empty space, drying the land, no trees able to grow and provide shelter. ... read more