Mikael and Hina's Travel Stories

Friday, 18 August 2006

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

What?? It's here already. How can this possibly be? Today is the absolute last day of our round-the-world travels. We are in Rio trying to come to terms with reality. It doesn't seem so long ago that we were planning the trip and booking the tickets. Back then, Rio seemed so far off in the future. We can't believe how fast it's all gone by.

Rio lives up to our expectations as a very pretty, warm and pleasant place to visit. We could probably imagine living here (a condo by the beach front of Ipanema would be nice), but the the safety in this place feels like it is down there together with Phnom Penh and Manila, which we both visited earlier. Having spent four months in Latin America we've learnt to be careful without being paranoid. But it doesn't help when you have locals telling you not to carry ANY valuables, always watch your back, not travel by local buses (huh?).... The income distrubution here is shockingly biased and it's disturbing to see such extreme poverty side by side with wealth comparable to the West.

Last week or so was spent visiting the Iguazu falls, first from the Argentinian side at Puerto Iguazu and then from the Brazilian one. The falls are rather dry at the moment, so not as spectacular as we expected. But it was easy to imagine that they must be fabulous when running on all cylinders. At the moment, it was really only the main portion, the "Devil's Throat" that was anything worth seeing, and that we found impressive.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time in the area since we had problems sorting out Hina's visa for Brazil. The people working at the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires weren't exactly the nicest, nor were there the most efficient and needed several days to issue a visa. Since we wanted to visit Colonia in Uruguay as a day trip from Buenos Aires, we couldn't part with the passport. So we opted to get the visa arranged at the consulate in Puerto Iguazo (near the Brazilian border) instead. Over the phone this office had claimed that they could issue the visa in a few hours. Turned out they had a funny perception of time, or lied, or a little bit of both. We spent four days in Puerto Igauzu working things out. Brazil is the only country were we have faced such hassles in obtaining a visa, incredibly annoying.

So we had a lot of time on our hands. Mikael didn't require a visa for any of the neighbouring countries, so he went on a short excursion into Paraguay and visited the Itaipu dam with the world's largest hydro power plant attached. Meeting virtually all of Paraguay's electricity needs and about 25% of Brazil's, a country with 180 million people, it is quite a beast and an amazing site to visit...if you're a utilities geek that is.

Now in Rio, we're spending our final day sleeping and taking it easy since we went out last night. Clubs here are extremely expensive, second only to London we think. Not particularily impressed by the nightlife but then we only went out on a Thursday and were quite clueless about what nightspots to hit. HAVE to come back for Carnival.

Taking a flight tomorrow back to London.

Thursday, 10 August 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Our last day in Buenos Aires, this fantastic city where we have ended up spending a week. We have explored all the different neighbourhoods, watched tango performances and dined on delicious bargain steaks. We did a little excursion in the form of a day trip to the cute town of Colonia del Sacramento, on the Uruguayan side of Rio de la Plata. Boarding a flight to Puerto Iguazu this afternoon, the gateway to the Argentinean side of the Iguazu falls.

Our last couple of weeks in Bolivia were quite eventful. From Copacabana we travelled to the de-facto capital of La Paz (Sucre is still technically the capital). At almost 4,000 meters it is the world's highest capital, but we were kind of used to the altitude at this stage and weren't too much out of breath whilst walking its steep streets. The most fascinating part of the city was probably the witches' market were you could buy llama foetuses and other useful products that are supposed to reward you with abundant good health.

From La Paz, we made our way to the town of Uyuni to explore the famous Salar de Uyuni (salt plains). Getting to Uyuni was an adventure in itself. At one point we desperately needed to get on an overnight train that was already full. For some reason, we decided to hang around the ticket booth, and literally two minutes before the train left, two local men came up and auctioned off their tickets and we were the lucky buyers! The three day Salar de Uyuni jeep safari showed us one of the most surreal landscapes of our travels -- mile after mile of sheer white salt desert, sudden island outcrops of 20 metre high cacti, hot geysers and fabulous coloured lagoons with bright pink flamingoes. Most of the sights were between 4,000 and 5,000 meters so it was pretty darn cold. A truly fantastic experience nevertheless.

From Uyuni, we headed to La Paz, where we contemplated which way we should go in order to get to the town of Coroico, down in the lowlands of a valley not too far from La Paz. The capital and Coroico are connected by a narrow, steep road dropping from an alpline pass near La Paz of almost 5,000 meters, ending in a the jungle town before Coroico at below 1,500 meters. It has been dubbed "The world's most dangerous road" because it sees the most fatalities annually (over 100 on average). We had read that the high fatality rate was mainly owing to the crazy drivers and the intense traffic rather than the nature of the road per se, but when actually travelling it, we concluded it is probably a combination of all bad things. Crazy drivers (and mountain bikers), dangerous twists, turns and landslides.

A lot of people opt to go down the road by mountain bike, visit the village of Corocio and travel back the same road by bus. Being eager to do some more trekking, we instead set out on the three day Choro trek in a separate valley from the road. It is an old Inca trail but different from its more famous, Peruvian equivalent. It is still in use by the locals for transporting goods to and from remote villages and there were hardly any tourists. We were a bit unlucky with the weather, but the views were spectacular at some points and it was a quite interesting experience to start walking in alpine climate and to end up in hot and humid rainforest a couple of days later. The descent was quite punishing on our knees though.

From Coroico, we took the bus back to La Paz from were we flew to Buenos Aires via numerous stopovers in Chile.

Saturday, 22 July 2006

Location: Copacabana, Bolivia

Ok, maybe we were a bit harsh about the town of Cuzco in our last posting. We have had a bit of time to stop feeling so pissed off about the Machu Picchu hassles, and have a bit more perspective. Cuzco is actually quite charming, and has some nice architecture. The Plaza de Armas is picturesque and in the end, we did find a great local hangout that wasn't severely overpriced. But still, we don't feel any need to go back anytime soon.

Overnight bus to Puno, gateway to the Peruvian side of famous Lake Titicaca. However, we made a last minute decision to cross over to Bolivia as we had heard rave reviews about Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) which is in the Bolivian part of the lake.

A quick stopover in Copacabana, the closest town on the mainland, to stock up on some hiking essentials (i.e. chocolates). We opted not to take the boat straight to Isla del Sol but instead undertook a 5 hour hike through amazing lakeside landscapes that brought us to the edge of the mainland peninsula and within 1 km of the Island. From there, it was a short boat ride to the southern side of the Island. The lake itself is a stunning turquoise blue-green and the Cordillera Real mountains in the background are striking. Add to that llamas and sheep grazing by the lakeside, and indigineous people gathering reeds for making boats (a local craft), it is all painfully beautiful.

The next day was spent hiking through Isla del Sol to its northern tip. The never-ending expanse of water, the brilliant white sandy beaches and beautiful coves sometimes had us thinking that we were on some tropical island, until the snowy peaks in the background would remind us otherwise. We explored some pre-Inca ruins on the northern edge and then made our way back to catch a return boat to Copacabana.

Thursday, 20 July 2006

Location: Cuzco, Peru

In Cuzco in Southern Peru waiting for a bus that will take us to Puno and Lake Titicaca. Three major events since the last posting:

The trekking in the Cordillera Blancas in the Central Andes was fabulous! We ended up with a terrific guide that made our experience complete. Beautiful alpine trek with passes reaching heights of up to 5,000 meters. Yes, we were out of breath at points, but it was well worth it. Hina's first high altitude trekking experience was complete with a bout of mountain sickness that had her throwing up for a whole night.

Travelled south from Huaraz with a quick stop in the town of Ica from where we visited the oasis of Huacachina. Felt a bit weird to go from cold alpine peaks to hot sand dunes within a couple of days, but such are the contrasts here. In Huacachina we went on an exhilarating ride on a sand buggy that drove us through the desert. We also tried sand boarding. Kind of like snowboarding but with sand instead of snow. A bit lame but quite fun.

We continued to Cuzco and the incredibly hyped site of Machu Picchu. This is a highlight for many visitors to South America. For us it turned out little more than ticking a requisite box. The city of Cuzco is drab, full of touts and touristy, overpriced restaurants. The site of Machu Picchu of course is beautiful and fascinating, but it's crowded and the hassle of getting there takes away most of the fun. The way to do it, if anyone is planning to visit, is to play it like a tourist and tow the line. Be prepared to pay through your nose, book six months in advance and set out on the Inka Trail, probably the world's most regulated hiking trial. The trail ought to be nice, you meet folks along the way and you get to Machu Picchu in the morning before the crowds. Alternatively, book a visit in advance with an expensive tour agency who will set it all up for you so that you don't have to think for yourself. Then try to ignore the commercialism and the crowds and take Machu Picchu for what it is, an amazing historical site that is getting the crowds it probably deserves. You're just not supposed to visit it independently.

Tuesday, 11 July 2006

Location: Huaraz, Peru

We ended up spending a week and a half on the fabulous Galapagos Islands. Eight days on a cruise, which is really the only way you can visit the most interesting islands, since independent travel without a guide (for good reason) is not permited. Then a few days with day trips from Puerto Ayora, the main settlement on the islands, and some diving for Mikael.

We won't write too much about the islands but will let the pictures speak for themselves once we've uploaded them. But among the amazing creatures we encountered, the playful sea lions were the ones that won our hearts. This, despite a sea lion puppy biting Mikael's foot on the last day. We also had staring competitions with enormous tortoises and iguanas, swam with sea turtles, penguins and hammerhead sharks, got up close to rare nesting birds, and witnessed a bull shark killing a sea lion right in front of our eyes. The last was an event that even our experienced guide had not seen previously. The water quickly filled with blood, and then the dead sea lion was somehow washed up to shore by the strong waves. The three meter shark circled around for ages, waiting for the dead body to float out where it could reach it. Incredible!

After Galapagos we travelled rather swiftly south through Ecuador and into Northern Peru. The main attraction on the way being a train ride from Riobamba in Ecuador down the "Devil's Nose". We had to ride on the roof of the train for a good six hours, the train derailed twice and had to be put back on track using a giant shoe horn, but the views were spectacular!

After a few hellish bus rides through the rather depressing deserts of northern Peru, we are now back in the highlands in the village of Huaraz in central Peru. We've spent some time getting used to the altitude (the village is at 3,091 meters and the road here took us over passes above 4,000m) and are now heading out for a four day trek in the mountains. This being our first trek in the Andes and with the altitude reaching almost 5,000 meters at some points, we decided it would not be a wise idea to go alone. Therefore we've signed up to go with a guide. Of course, the guide also comes with a horseman and a set of donkeys that will carry our stuff, so it should be a walk in the park really.

Saturday, 24 June 2006

Location: Quito, Ecuador

New continent! Our third day in Ecuador. We´re taking our time to get familiar with the continent, jump between the two hemispheres and get used to the high altitude (Quito is at 2,600m). It´s pretty cold in the mornings and we are suffering from "cottonmouth" -- dry mouth and lips. So far we´ve only visited Mitad del Mundo, a monument that stands on the equator, which is just a few kilometers from Quito, and the indigionous market in Otavalo where we stocked up on woolen clothes.

Our last week in Central America was quite eventful. On Isla de Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua we climbed to the top of the active volcano Concepcion. With a height of 1,600m, starting pretty much at sea level, it was an excruciatingly dificult climb. The latter half of the climb was on slippery gravel and falling rocks. It took us eleven hours to climb the top and get down, but we were very proud to have made it. Now we´re well prepared for the trekking in South America. Although Hina has sworn to stay away from climbing for a while.

From Isla de Ometepe, we took an overnight boat across the lake to the town of San Carlos. It might just have been the most uncomfortable overnight journey so far on this trip. We didn´t manage to grab a sofa and had no hammock to put up, so we just had to spend the night on the hard floor, great!

From San Carlos we went by boat down the Rio San Juan to an old Spanish fort called El Castillo. The town surrounding the fort was pretty and we loved the place. At night, we indulged in some crocodile spotting. Now, we weren´t actually prepared that "spotting" actually meant that the guide would capture the beasts with his bare hands and haul them into the boat, but anyway, that´s what he did. They were pretty small anyway, only a meter or so, but still a bit too close for comfort.

We crossed the border to Costa Rica by boat not too far from San Carlos. Coming from the less developed parts of Central America, entering Costa Rica was a little bit like getting to Thailand from Myanmar or Laos. Starbucks, big cars, nice houses and sometimes unbearable hordes of tourists, including the American "under 21 not allowed to drink in the states" crowd. Costa Rica is justly touristy though, it has some beautiful sights and fantastic national parks. We visited La Forutuna and the lava spitting volcano of Arenal, and beauiful Monteverde with fantastic birds and wildlife.

Next stop: Galapagos!

Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Location: Rivas, Nicaragua

We have now been in lovely Nicaragua for over a week. People are friendly as usual and there are loads of things to do. Our first four days we spent in the colonial gem of Granada. The city has more charm than Antigua in Guatemala, we thought, and slightly less tourists. From Granada we did day excursions to the nearby artisan town of Masaya and the crystal clear crater lake Apoyo.

We then decided that we wanted to see some of the Caribbean. We never really went to any of the beaches in Belize, and since then we have been travelling either in the mountains or on the Pacific side. Therefore, we booked ourself plane tickets to the Corn Islands off the coast of isolated Bluefields. We spent three days on the islands, sunbathing, diving, snorkling and fishing until we got so sick of the sand fleas that we decided to go back.

We are currently in Rivas in southern Nicaragua, waiting for a boat that will take us to Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by the convergence of two mighty volcanoes as they erupted. It sits in the lake of Nicaragua.

Sunday, 04 June 2006

Location: Tegucigalpa, Honduras

We chose to stick to the faster but less traveled Pacific coast on our way south. After visiting picturesque but touristy former capital of Antigua in Guatemala, we traveled through tiny El Salvador, making stops for some trekking in beautiful El Impossible national park, some big waves in the surfing Mecca of La Libertad and some small mountain villages and former guerilla strongholds in the mountains of the southern part of the country.

El Salvador lacks obvious tourist attractions and we met very few other travelers in the country. Among the numerous wars in Central America, the civil war of El Salvador was probably one of the bloodiest and the people seem much divided still. FMLN, the former guerilla turned political communist party, possesses a lot of power and is widely supported. Despite this, El Salvador felt more forward looking, less violent and safer than neighboring Guatemala, which seems a bit stuck in the mud with all its problems.

We are currently in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, but will only spend a few days in this country before heading to Nicaragua. We will miss out on the most famous sights of Honduras, the ruins of Copan and the Bay Islands since they are all a bit out of the way for us. "Tegu" is by far the most modern city we have been to so far in Central America, although it certainly has the same chaos component and the pollution as other big cities in the region. We like the place very much but don’t know if it is representative for the rest of Honduras.