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Hello again
Our trip started out quite univentfully with a 4 hour wait in the Chilean PDI (Policia de Investigaciones) to have our visas OKed to leave the country. We arrived at the bus station in Santiago to find out we were about a week late on our visas and couldn´t be sold a bus ticket out of the country. So we missed our original morning bus and had to catch a bus at 3:30 in the afternoon that arrived in Mendoza, Argentina at 10pm. We had only planned to spend about 10 minutes in Mendoza looking for another bus to BsAs but we were informed that when we got there we would be SOL until the next day. However this was not so! We arrived in Mendoza at 9:57 and were told a bus was leaving at 10 so Bree sprinted to the ticket stand while I lugged both of our giant bags to the bus to tell them to wait. Great start to the trip.
We arrived in Buenos Aires and settled in our hostel which came highly reccomended. It was a monsterous hostel which was very clean but the people who stayed there were not exactly friendly. We spent a few days exploring BsAs which is an absolutely beautiful city. We ate the best steak we have ever had at a place called La Cabrera (which served free champaigne while you wait for your table) and took in some tango street performances and even had a lesson ourselves. All in all a very awesome city which I would love to spend more time in. I think this annecdote describes the difference between Buenos Aires and Santiago pretty well: in Santiago we were trying to get some vaccinations for traveling and after spending about a week researching and calling hospitals we were told we would first need a doctor`s referal which would cost us 30,000 pesos ($60) and then we would have to go to the Clinica and buy the injection which would cost us another 30,000 pesos. In Buenos Aires we walked to the center for Fiebre de Amarillo (yellow fever), handed our passports, waited 5 minutes, and then recieved the vaccination for free. We also met a very nice dude who was traveling the world playing violin in an orchestra. He told us to check out a free show they were having at one of the monuments in the city and then look for him backstage. We got to the show and there were probably 1 million people in the streets here to see them for free as apparently his conductor is world renowned and the orchestra is incredibly talented. We managed to spot our friend on stage but had no chance of trying to find him afterwards through the mobs of people.
After BsAs we went north on a 19 hour bus ride to Puerto Iguazu on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Parque Nacional de Iguazu is one of the most beautiful places I`ve ever been. The waterfalls there are incredible and even though it is crowded with tourists it is extremely peaceful. You will have to wait for some photos because it`s amazing. We ended up traveling with a few people we had met in Buenos Aires and had a very relaxing few days there.
Now we are here in Salta, Argentina in the Northwestern part of Argentina after a 23 hour bus ride. Originally we had planned to spend only a few days here and then take off through Chile up to Peru but plans have changed. The surrounding areas here in Salta are allegedly incredible and very much worth our visit. We have been traveling with some friends we met in Buenos Aires who are on the same path as us for now. Together we all decided that the best way to visit the whole area, which is pretty huge, is to rent a car and spend the week trekking around the whole area. ROOOOOOAAADDDD TRRRRIIIIPPPPPPP!! So we are heading, for those with maps, from Salta - Cachi - Cafayate - Talapampa - San Antonion de Los Cobres - JuJuy - Humahuaca - Salta. Lots of driving through dirt roads and deserts and salt flats and mountains and all sorts of beautiful terrain. We also are saving ourselves probably $1000 by renting a car and doing it ourselves. So we are heading out now and I`ll update again when I get back.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Boston by Bus
Hello All.
Life here in Santiago became very routine and part of my routine became not updating my blog.
Lots has happened since I last wrote on here nearly 5 months ago and we have had a lot of fun. Bree and I traveled to the south of Chile to a town called Pucon where we went to some amazing hot springs and did some horseback riding. Bree´s parents visited for a week and we visited some vineyards. Bree and her parents also went to a very nice spa and resort a little ways north of santiago. We have been snowboarding and skiing in the mountains here. Some awesome waist high powder in 10,000 ft mountains. My mom came to visit and we went up to the Atacama desert in the north of Chile. We visited some crazy landscapes and hiked Volcan Lascar.
However none of that is what this post is about. This post is about the adventures that are to come. Bree and I have decided that, rather than continue working, we instead are going to use the money we have made to travel home. By Bus. We are starting are trip by heading into Buenos Aires where we will spend a few days. After BA we will head north to Iguazu falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Given the high reciprocity fees for entering Brazil and Bolivia we are skirting the borders and heading into northwestern Argentina to Salta. From Salta we travel back into Northern Chile and up to Peru.
In Peru we go to lake Titicaca and then Cuzco and Machu Picchu. After the holy land we travel west to Lima. From Lima our plans get a little more relaxed and we may head to some beaches on the border of Peru and Ecuador or we may just travel straight to Ecuador. Maybe we will skip Ecuador all together and head right to Bogota, Colombia. It all depends on how we are feeling and how our wallets are feeling.
Either way we will be heading to Bogota at some point. Now before I continue I would like to say that Colombia is very safe for travelers. 15 years ago this may not have been the case but now it is very safe. This is especially true in the areas we will be visiting. Colombia is trying to improve it´s tourism and loves travelers. The drug wars are confined to the border of Colombia and Brasil where we aren´t going. So before everyone says "Oh No Not Colombia!!" know that everyone who travels to Colombia these days says it´s the best country in the world, the people are outrageously friendly, and it´s safe.
From Bogota we travel to the Carribean coast to a city called Cartagena. Cartagena is an old beautiful carribean port. We will spend some time traveling around the northern shore of Colombia and then we will take a boat from Cartagena to Panama. We take a sailboat and spend a week traveling to some islands and spearfishing and snorkeling until we get to Colon Panama.
We will immediately leave Colon and travel to Panama City. From Panama city we go to an area called Bocas del Torre near the border of Costa Rica. Bocas del Torre are a series of islands on the carribean coast of Panama. Somewhere around this time Bree´s friend Sarah may fly down and meet us. Whether it is in Costa Rica or Panama or at all we aren´t sure yet. At Bocas del Torre we will hop around to some small islands and then go to Costa Rica.
Costa Rica may be the end of our trip but if we manage to save some money we hopefully will have some time to explore Costa Rica. If everything goes really well we will be able to continue on to Honduras, Nicoragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. Maybe even Mexico but that is not very likely. If we can continue heading north for as long as possible until we leave the southern regions of Mexico it would be great to then fly home.
Who knows how far we will get or what we will end up doing. This is a very rough itinerary and we probably will have some changes. The idea of this journey is that we can do whatever we want. It´s an adventure. If we decide we want to do something different or we find anything exciting we´ll go ahead and change our plans.
Since we are traveling without laptops we may or may not be able to update with photos along the way but we will try to find a way. When we get home (in October? November? September?)we´ll get all of the photos put together in a nice looooong presentation to bore everyone to death.
So we leave in the morning and the next post will be from Buenos Aires!
Life here in Santiago became very routine and part of my routine became not updating my blog.
Lots has happened since I last wrote on here nearly 5 months ago and we have had a lot of fun. Bree and I traveled to the south of Chile to a town called Pucon where we went to some amazing hot springs and did some horseback riding. Bree´s parents visited for a week and we visited some vineyards. Bree and her parents also went to a very nice spa and resort a little ways north of santiago. We have been snowboarding and skiing in the mountains here. Some awesome waist high powder in 10,000 ft mountains. My mom came to visit and we went up to the Atacama desert in the north of Chile. We visited some crazy landscapes and hiked Volcan Lascar.
However none of that is what this post is about. This post is about the adventures that are to come. Bree and I have decided that, rather than continue working, we instead are going to use the money we have made to travel home. By Bus. We are starting are trip by heading into Buenos Aires where we will spend a few days. After BA we will head north to Iguazu falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Given the high reciprocity fees for entering Brazil and Bolivia we are skirting the borders and heading into northwestern Argentina to Salta. From Salta we travel back into Northern Chile and up to Peru.
In Peru we go to lake Titicaca and then Cuzco and Machu Picchu. After the holy land we travel west to Lima. From Lima our plans get a little more relaxed and we may head to some beaches on the border of Peru and Ecuador or we may just travel straight to Ecuador. Maybe we will skip Ecuador all together and head right to Bogota, Colombia. It all depends on how we are feeling and how our wallets are feeling.
Either way we will be heading to Bogota at some point. Now before I continue I would like to say that Colombia is very safe for travelers. 15 years ago this may not have been the case but now it is very safe. This is especially true in the areas we will be visiting. Colombia is trying to improve it´s tourism and loves travelers. The drug wars are confined to the border of Colombia and Brasil where we aren´t going. So before everyone says "Oh No Not Colombia!!" know that everyone who travels to Colombia these days says it´s the best country in the world, the people are outrageously friendly, and it´s safe.
From Bogota we travel to the Carribean coast to a city called Cartagena. Cartagena is an old beautiful carribean port. We will spend some time traveling around the northern shore of Colombia and then we will take a boat from Cartagena to Panama. We take a sailboat and spend a week traveling to some islands and spearfishing and snorkeling until we get to Colon Panama.
We will immediately leave Colon and travel to Panama City. From Panama city we go to an area called Bocas del Torre near the border of Costa Rica. Bocas del Torre are a series of islands on the carribean coast of Panama. Somewhere around this time Bree´s friend Sarah may fly down and meet us. Whether it is in Costa Rica or Panama or at all we aren´t sure yet. At Bocas del Torre we will hop around to some small islands and then go to Costa Rica.
Costa Rica may be the end of our trip but if we manage to save some money we hopefully will have some time to explore Costa Rica. If everything goes really well we will be able to continue on to Honduras, Nicoragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. Maybe even Mexico but that is not very likely. If we can continue heading north for as long as possible until we leave the southern regions of Mexico it would be great to then fly home.
Who knows how far we will get or what we will end up doing. This is a very rough itinerary and we probably will have some changes. The idea of this journey is that we can do whatever we want. It´s an adventure. If we decide we want to do something different or we find anything exciting we´ll go ahead and change our plans.
Since we are traveling without laptops we may or may not be able to update with photos along the way but we will try to find a way. When we get home (in October? November? September?)we´ll get all of the photos put together in a nice looooong presentation to bore everyone to death.
So we leave in the morning and the next post will be from Buenos Aires!
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