Blogs from South America - page 5381

Quito to Cuenca... read more

We finally left Patagonia and felt like we were starting on the next stage of our adventure. And it shall be called the "Hot City" stage. Mendoza was a pleasant enough city, but most importantly we were in beds again. After spending half of our time in Patagonia camping we were saying goodbye to our tent, and hello to space and new clothes. That was the plan anyhow, but the Argentinian post office had other ideas. We tried to post the tent in Bariloche first, and after a mere hour of queing were told that we couldn't post it on that day; only packages of less than 2kgs were allowed. We checked when we could post and if it was the same for the whole country and were assured it was possible the next day. Our ... read more

Hello all, Well first of all I would like to say goodbye to a wonderful friend of mine, Cindy Arrens, who recently passed from a long but well fought battle with cancer. She will be missed by everyone who was fortunate enought to have met her, myself being, in no way, an exception to that. Goodbye Cindy, we will all miss you very much. As for me I have finally left Quito for good after a sad goodbye with the friends from my hostel. It sure was a great month but it is good to be on the road again. I am travelling with a British friend, Tessa, although our plans have changed a little bit. Right now I am in Banos, a touristy little town about an hour from Rio Bamba (my original destination) to ... read more

I´ve made it. I still feel a little numb, like this is all happening in a dream, or at least happening to someone else. Shed the inevitable tears as I said good bye to my Mum and sister at the departures gate, and again speaking to Andy as I neared the Boarding gate, and then yet again when I read the lovely cards that my family had sent with me. Not bad going really. Now the jet lag is kicking in, but I´m determined to stay awake until after supper. I arrived in Madrid with only 40mins to transfer, as we spent at least an hour on the plane sitting outside the terminal at Heathrow! The flights were ok, although the entertainment (Oliver Twist and Zorro), and the food ( Iberia specials of tinned cold mushrooms, ... read more

One of the great urban gems in the world is undoubtedly the Buenos Aires of today. It’s a city of over 10 million people that boasts some of the best fashion, night life, beef and soccer traditions in the world along with a mix of the problems facing South America. The city of Buenos Aires is clearly the cosmopolitan capital of South America and contains a well-educated “porteno” (local BA people) population that don’t let normal hours constrain their days and nights. As my first destination, I was excited and wasn’t quite sure what to expect.. but it’s a place I’ve quickly plugged into and could easily reside at some point. I spent my first few days and weeks here getting acquainted with the city, taking long walks, stopping for coffees, practicing Spanish, trying to learn ... read more