Location: Mendoza, Western Argentina
In which we go to Paraguay, gorge ourselves on steak, visit more vineyards, and cycle 50km across a desert in the middle of the day.
After Iguacu we hopped on a bus and went to Ascuncion in Paraguay. On the way we had to pass through the border town of Ciudad del Este, a known as the supermarket of South America, for the mass of electronic stores, and shops selling just about everything else.
We asked a few people, at the hotel and a travel agency, what we should see or do in PAraguay, and they all said that there really is not much to do. And these are the people in the tourist industry! For one day we took a tour around some of the villages surrounding the capital, seeing a few churches and the farms that abound throughout the countryside. The following morning we had a city tour of Ascuncion. Again, as we have seen elsewhere, they have slum areas very near to the heart of the city. In this case right next to the presidential building. Paraguay was interesting to a point, but I`m not sure I would recommend a visit there.
From Ascuncion it was only about 5 hours to Resistencia in Northern Argentina. This involved a fairly intense time at the border crossing. It took ages to process everyone off all the buses passing that way, which meant a lot of waiting around. There were a lot of unsavoury types just hanging around, offering to help with bags etc. The Paraguayan boder chap who dealt with our passports warned us to be extremely careful as there were lots of Argentinian thieves about. He may have been being unfair to assume they were all Argentinian, but it made for a nervous time, not helped by the fact that the immigration officials kept our everyone`s passports to be handed back by the driver. I`m never keen on letting mine out of my sight.
On the road into Argentina from the border we were greeted by a massive road sign proclaiming that the Malvinas are Argentinian. Every town we have been to has a street called Malvinas Argentinas and we`ve spotted one chap on a bus with bracelet saying the same thing (although he was probably too young to have been born in ´82). On checking the Americas section of BBC news one of the top stories is of a kid on a killing spree in a school in the south of the country, and the name of the school? Islas Malvinas. So it seems like this is still a sore point, unless these are all hangovers from the days of the Military dictatorship who invaded the Falklands.
The people we have met to date have probably been the most friendly and helpful we have encountered anywhere, which makes it much more pleasant travelling around, and there certainly isn`t the edge that we felt in Rio, which is a big plus!
Resistencia was a sleepy town with not much going on. We had thought about visiting the Chaco region but the transport was limited and virtually nothing was open over the weekend so we just left after a day of slobbing around trying to find somewhere open to eat.
So off to Salta. This put us not far from where we were a couple of months ago, just south of the Unyuni salt flats and a east of San Pedro de Atacama. But we`ve covered a lot of ground since then. Salta is a large city, but the centre has the feel of a smaller place, with a very pretty central square. We had been waiting for Argentina to get hold of some good steak and abottle of red wine. We were not disappointed here. It was a long overnight bus trip to get to Salta, so the first day was just taken up with strolling about and taking a well deserved siesta.
Cachi
Salta was really just a start point to get to Cachi, even though it was itself pleasant enough. Cachi is a very small town of about 7,000 people. They take their siesta time very seriously here too, which is something I could get used to. The countryside shows multi-coloured strata, with reds and pinks layered with yellows and dark grey-green. Lots of candelabra cacti everywhere, it is classic desert scenery. You almost expect to turn the corner and see Wily Coyote with a box of Acme dynamite. We had a very enjoyable walk to a nearby town, Cachi Adentro, about 20km there and back. Every step we were accompanied by a dog from the point where we started. A friendly little chap, who was always ready to wait for us when we had a water break, or over lunch. He looked like a cross between a golden labrador and a dachshund, so had legs that appeared to be ridiculously short for it.
Cachi was very relaxing, quiet and just what was need for a few days. Unfortunately the links between Cachi and Cafayate are very limited and it was slightly easier to get a 4.5hr bus back to Salta and take another 4.5hr bus the following day to Cafayate.
Cafayate is also a small town, also with a picturesque square, perfect for an early evening beer, whilst waiting until a suitably late hour to go off for dinner. Here people seem to go out at about 10pm, which can be difficult for us! Expecially if we had got up at 6am for an early bus. Restaurants only seem to start getting full just as we are asking for the bill.
The scenery here is also incredible, one of the most beautiful places we have been. The micro climate is suited to grapes and there is a flourishing, albeit very small scale, wine industry. One of the vineyards we visited was a family affair, with 3 hectares producing about 20,000 bottles a year.
We had bicycles for 2 days and the first was spent touring from vineyard to vineyard sampling as we went. Very similar to a great day we had in Sonoma Valley a couple of years ago, though the backdrop was more akin to the mountains you can find at Franchoek, South Africa. A more enjoyable day than that we spent touring a vineyard in Chile, since here we didn`t have to spend ages on public transport there and back, though cycling up a long steady incline on dirt tracks got a bit tiring. Both here and in Chile they are very pruod of the fact that they do not add sugar during fermentation, as some Europeans need to, and that they do not spray their vines with any chemicals, as most Europeans need to. The Chileans at Concho y Toro were also very proud of the fact that they have not been blighted by the root disease that affected the rest of the world, and they helped to re-stock French vineyards.
The second day we took an bus 50km back up the same road that we had arrived on by bus. Here the geography is red canyons, with veins of yellow and beige strata. Strange rock formations resulting from the passage of time. It is very beautiful indeed. It is a bit like Utah, but without the fat people or the Mormons.
The road back follows a wide river bed that had a mere trickle flowing through it now. Sadly we were going in the opposite direction to the water, which meant a fairly steady but gentle incline uphill for a lot of the way back. We finally set off about 10.30am, just when it was starting to warm up nicely. Again, cacti dotted both sides of the road, with some scrubby brush that was green near to the river banks. But none of this provided much shade. By the time we found somewhere to stop for lunch it was pretty hot, high 20s, and the fierce sun made it seem much worse. This is not a bike ride I would choose to do in Summer when the temperature reaches 40-45 Celsius. We nearly had a water shortage at the end, despite taking 2 litres each, and had to cut back a little on the drinking in the last 10km, but there was no crisis and it was a very enjoyable, though very tiring day. The next 2 litre bottle of water was empty within about 10 minutes of getting out of the shop door.
We hadn`t slept too well for a few days due to barking dogs and a Saturday night party next door, so were already quite tired. And what is the best way to get over such a tiring day in the heat and sun? Get up at 5am for a 6 hour bus journey, then rest in a park for a few hours before another 12 hours overnight to Mendoza. We currently in between the park and the bus to Mendoza, so the worst it yet to come....
In May 2004 Phillippa and I resigned from our jobs to set off on a year long grand tour. This will be updated sporadically and will serve as a permanent record of what should be an extremely memorable year. Of course, it also keeps us in touch with those of you back in the UK, and enables you to follow our progress.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Brazil
Location: Ascunsion, Paraguay
Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand... Plus the Iguacu falls.
From Santiago we flew over to Rio de Janeiro, which is a fair way away and as far removed from the cold of the Andes as you can get. Daytime temperatures are mid to high 20s, sometimes low 30s and bikini and flipflops is the regulation uniform. But I´ve stuck to my shorts and T-shirt for now. It is all so casual that it is a bit surreal to start with. Blokes in just speedos (the 70´s retro ones are very "this season") out walking the dog, often even without flipflops, which is a risk given the amount of dogsh*t on the pavements.
As for the girls on the beaches, well it´s not like Margate here.
The Favelas
Brazil, and in particular Rio and Sao Paulo, are infamous for the favelas, slum shanty-towns that circle the cities. It is possible to go on an organised tour (and probably not advisable to just pitch up and wander around). So we went. Very interesting. There are about 600 favelas around Rio, of which abut 200 have electricity and other utilities. The houses are perched on top of each other now, with less space to build around they are building up. Most of the buildings and infrastructure, such as exists, is of a reasonable standard, since many of the locals work in civil engineering or as electricians in Rio.
Apparently it is safe for tourists to visit. The local drug baron, who has almost absolute power over the "town", does not allow any crime to be perpetrated in his territory. The punishments are usually severe. He has an interest in keeping the place safe. a) so that the other locals can go about their lives not in fear, hence he has their support, b) if it is not safe then the middle class users will not come to the favela to buy their drugs. So there may be trouble that overspills in Rio, but the favelas are safe and relatively free from crime. Much like parts of Sicily I imagine.
In the last 6 months there has been an escalation of violence between two adjacent and large favelas, with a battle for territory and control of the drugs trade. This war, and it is a war, includes nighttime invasions and fights using weapons that are more deadly than those available to the police, bazookas among them. Huge amounts of profits go on maintaining market share, much like Unilever or Nestlé really, but here that involves substantial bribes and big defense budgets.
As with many places in South America the divisions between rich and poor are substantial. The 2 favelas that we saw did not seem quite as run down as the slums we saw on the outskirts of Lima, but it did make for fairly grim viewing.
Another film recommendation: City of God, about the Rio favelas and drug barons fighting turf wars, but set in the 1970s. Not one for the faint of heart. (And for those of you who have not yet seen Touching The Void, why not?)
We went to a museum of naif art, ie art that looks like it has been drawn by talentless children. This is a style that is now being taught to kids in the favelas so that they may have another option rather than the grim set of choices that face most of them. But I wouldn`t buy it to hang on my walls at home.
We met up with a friend of a friend and had a very enjoyable evening out with him and his wife, indulging in a few caipirinhas in a part of town that we would not otherwise have gone to. We also got a few tips of places to go etc which was helpful. Unfortunately the following evening we had another spot of bother.
More Problems
My Dad was working here in 1978 for while and was pickpocketed on Copacabana beach. Like father like son, I got mugged in Copacabana too! Though rather than having a bird take off all her clothes to prove she didn´t have any stolen goods on her, we had 2 spaced out kids (probably about 10 & 14): the older one, with eyes like saucers, knew enough English to say he had a gun. I´m not sure he did, but it´s not really worth the risk.
First the little one asked for a handout then his mate appeared and grabbed my shirt before asking for cash, so, after initially refusing, I gave him a bit but he said he wanted it all. So he got it all. In the words of our Peruvian kidnappers, we collaborated with them! He only got about £20-25, so not worth a whole day in the cop shop for a police report for insurance. I´m a bit annoyed and irritated more than anything. At such times a bit of expertise in martial arts would be immensely satisfying. It was on a reasonably busy road just one block away from the beach, at about 8pm. There were a few people around but nobody did anything. Just as well we made a point of never carrying wallets or much of value when out and about.
The following afternoon, whilst on our way from the bus to another part of town we were warned by a benevolent local chap that a gang of kids were following us, and this was in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon. We had already noticed them in the square we passed through, but hadn´t recently looked over our shoulders. So we ducked out into a cinema were we saw Farenheit 911, which we had planned to see later that day anyway.
We were just starting to quite like Rio, but all this has soured it slightly.
So this all left us with a poor impression of Rio, we needed a change of scene and headed down the coast to Ilha Grande, a big island on the costa verde, about 2.5 hrs south of Rio then a 2hr ferry ride. A few days of reading, on a golden beach, with emerald green water and a forest that stretches from the beach up the hillsides. Very relaxing and a well earned rest after being busy for quite a few weeks now and after the hustle, bustle and hassle of Rio. The only problem was that we have now nearly run out of books and need to find another book exchange! Sitting on the beach in the evening enjoying some wonderful seafood is very relaxing.
We then headed back to Rio for a couple of days, one of the reasons being was to go to a football match in the Maracana stadium. Built to be the largest stadium in the world for the 1950 World Cup (which they lost to Uruguay), it did hold about 180,000 before they reduced the capacity for FIFA and it is now just 105,000. We saw Flamengo v Fluminese, one of the biggest games in domestic football featuring 2 of the biggest teams in Rio, a bit like a a north London derby. It is known as “FluFla”, and unfortunately Fla lost. I saw unfortunately since we we sitting in with the die-hard Flamengo fans. Although there were probably only 40-50,000 fans it was incredibly noisy. (I was a bit surprised that a Sunday afternon game between two such big clubs did not attract a bigger crowd, but they made up in passion what they lacked in numbers). I had a Flamengo cap back in 1978, so I could almost legitamately claim to be a Fla fan. Certainly a highlight for me of our time in Rio, Wembley may have claimed in 1996 that football was “coming home” but perhaps it´s spiritual home is really here in Brazil.
The match itself was quite a languid, lazy, latin affair. But there certainly weren`t any players with a skill level comparable to that of Carlton Palmer on show.
Watching people playing football on the beach, on the multitude of pitches in the parks, so can see why they tend to produce players with much higher levels of skill. Whilst we were running round the park, booting the ball on a full sized pitch, playing 4-a-side (learning about the long ball game), our Brazilian counterparts were busy developping close control by playing beach foot-volleyball. Same rules as beach volleyball, 2-a-side, but all done without hands.
Also during our second trip to Rio, after the beaches, we went up the Corcovado, the Christ The Redeemer statue that overlooks the city. It is the iconic representation of Rio, famous the world over. The views from the top are impressive, allegedly better than from the Sugar Loaf (which we didn`t go up), since from the Corcovado you can see the whole city around you. Coriocas (the people of Rio) say that the statue welcomes visitors with open arms, as the city does. Well, we did meet a lot of very friendly and helpful people, who were happy to tolerate our efforts to communicate in Spanish not Portuguese. However, we also we greeted by a few people who had slightly less friendly intentions.
After the football we had a 22hr bus ride to Foz do Iguacu, and it was a fairly crappy bus too. But on arrival, after minimal sleep and rest, we headed off to the Brazilian side of the Iguacu falls. The following day we went to the Argentinian side. The Brazilian side does has some large scale panoramic views, but on the Argentinian side you can get to walk on catwalks right over the top of some of the bigger falls. There are, apparently, about 270 waterfalls here, stretching for about 4.5km. It is very hard to describe just how impressive it all is, and should be on any tourist´s itinerary. We took some photos, though did succumb to what we call "Sydney Harbour Bridge Syndrome", whereby you plan not to take any more photos but end up taking at least another 10 because there always seems to be a view more deserving of a photo. There really is not much that can be said about the Iguacu falls, you have to see it to believe it, and it has certainly gone straight into our top 5 for the last 4 months.
The noticable thing about Rio and Brazil (aside from the costs which are all much higher than anywhere we have been so far) is that the food here is quite good, as a general rule. In the Andean countries you could find good food occasionally at a price, but at the cheaper end it was all deep fried XYZ + chips. Here they have nice vegetables and salads, fresh produce. And most importantly great fruit juices, many of which you cannot find in the UK and some fruits for which there isn´t even an English name. Açaí is a firm favourite and luckily can be found in the ubiquitous juice bars. In an effort to try to more unusual fruits we gambled a bit on the extensive menu list. My first pick turned out to be nothing more exotic than strawberry, which was fine. But I wasn`t to be put off trying to find something less ordinary. The choise is either to have the juice with a little water (if it is particularly thick by itself) or with milk. For my next choice I picked another unknown word. Unfortunately I received a pint of beetroot juice! it could have been worse, it could have had milk in it.
They also have restaurants where you pay by weight, with extensive cake options for pudding which rather increases the risk of reversing the accumulated benefits of having spent the first 3 months on small rations whilst doing lots of exercise. Churrascorias are a popular eating option here. A salad buffet with waiters coming round the tables with huge skewers of huge lumps of barbecued meat, to be carved at the table. Fantastic quality and a very large selection of cuts of meat.
So Brazil was a mixed bag. We could have really liked Rio, but ended up not seeing as much as we would have liked since it felt a little unsafe. The waterfalls are stunning, (but much better from the Argentinian side). We never intended to spend much time in Brazil, a huge country that could easily absorb all of our 12 months, but a small taster was interesting. We also never planned to go to Paraguay, and here we are.
Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand... Plus the Iguacu falls.
From Santiago we flew over to Rio de Janeiro, which is a fair way away and as far removed from the cold of the Andes as you can get. Daytime temperatures are mid to high 20s, sometimes low 30s and bikini and flipflops is the regulation uniform. But I´ve stuck to my shorts and T-shirt for now. It is all so casual that it is a bit surreal to start with. Blokes in just speedos (the 70´s retro ones are very "this season") out walking the dog, often even without flipflops, which is a risk given the amount of dogsh*t on the pavements.
As for the girls on the beaches, well it´s not like Margate here.
The Favelas
Brazil, and in particular Rio and Sao Paulo, are infamous for the favelas, slum shanty-towns that circle the cities. It is possible to go on an organised tour (and probably not advisable to just pitch up and wander around). So we went. Very interesting. There are about 600 favelas around Rio, of which abut 200 have electricity and other utilities. The houses are perched on top of each other now, with less space to build around they are building up. Most of the buildings and infrastructure, such as exists, is of a reasonable standard, since many of the locals work in civil engineering or as electricians in Rio.
Apparently it is safe for tourists to visit. The local drug baron, who has almost absolute power over the "town", does not allow any crime to be perpetrated in his territory. The punishments are usually severe. He has an interest in keeping the place safe. a) so that the other locals can go about their lives not in fear, hence he has their support, b) if it is not safe then the middle class users will not come to the favela to buy their drugs. So there may be trouble that overspills in Rio, but the favelas are safe and relatively free from crime. Much like parts of Sicily I imagine.
In the last 6 months there has been an escalation of violence between two adjacent and large favelas, with a battle for territory and control of the drugs trade. This war, and it is a war, includes nighttime invasions and fights using weapons that are more deadly than those available to the police, bazookas among them. Huge amounts of profits go on maintaining market share, much like Unilever or Nestlé really, but here that involves substantial bribes and big defense budgets.
As with many places in South America the divisions between rich and poor are substantial. The 2 favelas that we saw did not seem quite as run down as the slums we saw on the outskirts of Lima, but it did make for fairly grim viewing.
Another film recommendation: City of God, about the Rio favelas and drug barons fighting turf wars, but set in the 1970s. Not one for the faint of heart. (And for those of you who have not yet seen Touching The Void, why not?)
We went to a museum of naif art, ie art that looks like it has been drawn by talentless children. This is a style that is now being taught to kids in the favelas so that they may have another option rather than the grim set of choices that face most of them. But I wouldn`t buy it to hang on my walls at home.
We met up with a friend of a friend and had a very enjoyable evening out with him and his wife, indulging in a few caipirinhas in a part of town that we would not otherwise have gone to. We also got a few tips of places to go etc which was helpful. Unfortunately the following evening we had another spot of bother.
More Problems
My Dad was working here in 1978 for while and was pickpocketed on Copacabana beach. Like father like son, I got mugged in Copacabana too! Though rather than having a bird take off all her clothes to prove she didn´t have any stolen goods on her, we had 2 spaced out kids (probably about 10 & 14): the older one, with eyes like saucers, knew enough English to say he had a gun. I´m not sure he did, but it´s not really worth the risk.
First the little one asked for a handout then his mate appeared and grabbed my shirt before asking for cash, so, after initially refusing, I gave him a bit but he said he wanted it all. So he got it all. In the words of our Peruvian kidnappers, we collaborated with them! He only got about £20-25, so not worth a whole day in the cop shop for a police report for insurance. I´m a bit annoyed and irritated more than anything. At such times a bit of expertise in martial arts would be immensely satisfying. It was on a reasonably busy road just one block away from the beach, at about 8pm. There were a few people around but nobody did anything. Just as well we made a point of never carrying wallets or much of value when out and about.
The following afternoon, whilst on our way from the bus to another part of town we were warned by a benevolent local chap that a gang of kids were following us, and this was in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon. We had already noticed them in the square we passed through, but hadn´t recently looked over our shoulders. So we ducked out into a cinema were we saw Farenheit 911, which we had planned to see later that day anyway.
We were just starting to quite like Rio, but all this has soured it slightly.
So this all left us with a poor impression of Rio, we needed a change of scene and headed down the coast to Ilha Grande, a big island on the costa verde, about 2.5 hrs south of Rio then a 2hr ferry ride. A few days of reading, on a golden beach, with emerald green water and a forest that stretches from the beach up the hillsides. Very relaxing and a well earned rest after being busy for quite a few weeks now and after the hustle, bustle and hassle of Rio. The only problem was that we have now nearly run out of books and need to find another book exchange! Sitting on the beach in the evening enjoying some wonderful seafood is very relaxing.
We then headed back to Rio for a couple of days, one of the reasons being was to go to a football match in the Maracana stadium. Built to be the largest stadium in the world for the 1950 World Cup (which they lost to Uruguay), it did hold about 180,000 before they reduced the capacity for FIFA and it is now just 105,000. We saw Flamengo v Fluminese, one of the biggest games in domestic football featuring 2 of the biggest teams in Rio, a bit like a a north London derby. It is known as “FluFla”, and unfortunately Fla lost. I saw unfortunately since we we sitting in with the die-hard Flamengo fans. Although there were probably only 40-50,000 fans it was incredibly noisy. (I was a bit surprised that a Sunday afternon game between two such big clubs did not attract a bigger crowd, but they made up in passion what they lacked in numbers). I had a Flamengo cap back in 1978, so I could almost legitamately claim to be a Fla fan. Certainly a highlight for me of our time in Rio, Wembley may have claimed in 1996 that football was “coming home” but perhaps it´s spiritual home is really here in Brazil.
The match itself was quite a languid, lazy, latin affair. But there certainly weren`t any players with a skill level comparable to that of Carlton Palmer on show.
Watching people playing football on the beach, on the multitude of pitches in the parks, so can see why they tend to produce players with much higher levels of skill. Whilst we were running round the park, booting the ball on a full sized pitch, playing 4-a-side (learning about the long ball game), our Brazilian counterparts were busy developping close control by playing beach foot-volleyball. Same rules as beach volleyball, 2-a-side, but all done without hands.
Also during our second trip to Rio, after the beaches, we went up the Corcovado, the Christ The Redeemer statue that overlooks the city. It is the iconic representation of Rio, famous the world over. The views from the top are impressive, allegedly better than from the Sugar Loaf (which we didn`t go up), since from the Corcovado you can see the whole city around you. Coriocas (the people of Rio) say that the statue welcomes visitors with open arms, as the city does. Well, we did meet a lot of very friendly and helpful people, who were happy to tolerate our efforts to communicate in Spanish not Portuguese. However, we also we greeted by a few people who had slightly less friendly intentions.
After the football we had a 22hr bus ride to Foz do Iguacu, and it was a fairly crappy bus too. But on arrival, after minimal sleep and rest, we headed off to the Brazilian side of the Iguacu falls. The following day we went to the Argentinian side. The Brazilian side does has some large scale panoramic views, but on the Argentinian side you can get to walk on catwalks right over the top of some of the bigger falls. There are, apparently, about 270 waterfalls here, stretching for about 4.5km. It is very hard to describe just how impressive it all is, and should be on any tourist´s itinerary. We took some photos, though did succumb to what we call "Sydney Harbour Bridge Syndrome", whereby you plan not to take any more photos but end up taking at least another 10 because there always seems to be a view more deserving of a photo. There really is not much that can be said about the Iguacu falls, you have to see it to believe it, and it has certainly gone straight into our top 5 for the last 4 months.
The noticable thing about Rio and Brazil (aside from the costs which are all much higher than anywhere we have been so far) is that the food here is quite good, as a general rule. In the Andean countries you could find good food occasionally at a price, but at the cheaper end it was all deep fried XYZ + chips. Here they have nice vegetables and salads, fresh produce. And most importantly great fruit juices, many of which you cannot find in the UK and some fruits for which there isn´t even an English name. Açaí is a firm favourite and luckily can be found in the ubiquitous juice bars. In an effort to try to more unusual fruits we gambled a bit on the extensive menu list. My first pick turned out to be nothing more exotic than strawberry, which was fine. But I wasn`t to be put off trying to find something less ordinary. The choise is either to have the juice with a little water (if it is particularly thick by itself) or with milk. For my next choice I picked another unknown word. Unfortunately I received a pint of beetroot juice! it could have been worse, it could have had milk in it.
They also have restaurants where you pay by weight, with extensive cake options for pudding which rather increases the risk of reversing the accumulated benefits of having spent the first 3 months on small rations whilst doing lots of exercise. Churrascorias are a popular eating option here. A salad buffet with waiters coming round the tables with huge skewers of huge lumps of barbecued meat, to be carved at the table. Fantastic quality and a very large selection of cuts of meat.
So Brazil was a mixed bag. We could have really liked Rio, but ended up not seeing as much as we would have liked since it felt a little unsafe. The waterfalls are stunning, (but much better from the Argentinian side). We never intended to spend much time in Brazil, a huge country that could easily absorb all of our 12 months, but a small taster was interesting. We also never planned to go to Paraguay, and here we are.
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