Saturday 26th April
Potosi was for years one of the richest towns in South America due to its vast silver mines. As such it has a rich heritage of colonial buildings, and the downtown is UNESCO listed for this reason. There is only one thing, this was built on the back of 8 million dead in the mines.
I'll just say it again, because it is pretty shocking, 8 million people have died in these mines in the 400 years they have been open. Most of them were natives or african slaves. But even until recently the deaths were still around 1 a week.
So with the most dangerous mines in the world on your doorstep, what else could we do except go down them. Only 7 of the 17 went, I think a few were expecting to see pretty horrific conditions. And while they were bad, nothing a westerner would put up with, they weren't as bad as I had been excpecting. But then we were going to be in the safe levels which are near the top, at 4250 metres, the new high point for the trip.
The trip to the mine actually starts with a trip to the market. This is so you can buy presents for the miners you meet on the trip, biscuts, cigarettes, coca leaf (to suppress hunger and allow them to work longer), and dynamite. Yep we bought dynamite, and ammonia nitrate , because dynamite on its own is not powerful enough. It was all pretty cheap too. And we bought a great big pumpkin, which wasn't that cheap. And I think we can guess what happened next to the pumpkin.
Yep it was blown up on some wasteland before we went down the mine. It was cool, but unforunately the shockwave seemed to jam my camera, so I wasn't able to take it on the mine (the seond time my camera has failed me on important occasions).
Being in the mine itself was pretty much what I expected, really like being in a cave with some climbing, crawling, watching out for holes, and so on. And our guide did give us a history, although she didn't really deal with the 8 million dead. There didn't seem to be a shrine or anything for them (or at least none that we were taken to). Which I think is a bit wrong, when 8 million people (or even 8000) die in any other place, they get memorials.
After the mine tour I just went back to the hotel, showered (it was very dirty in the mine, even with coveralls on) and then had a quick look around the buildings of Potosi. I didn't really think much of them, and if thats what it takes to get a UNESCO listing, you have to wonder how more places don't have them.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Don't drink on a long drive
Friday April 25th
Today was another of our long truck journeys, this time from Unuyi to Potosi. When I say long, I do mean time, rather than distance. This was only a 180 km journey, yet it was scheduled to take us 8 hours. Still that was quite short, so because of that we acually left at the reasonable hour of nine. As usual we fell behind, this time mostly because of extra road works on the 'road', which if continued will mean that one day this may actually resemble a road. A lot of the time we were on river beds.
The truck journeys themsleves are fairly boring things. The scenery is OK, but generally quite similair to what went half an hour before, so we don't sit there looking out the window. Instead people play music, read, watch their MP4 players, play PSPs, or drink.
Yep, we have fallen into a slight habit of beginning drinking when it looks like we are an hour or so away from the destination. But today all we had was a local vodka, which tasted rank. I still drank at least a 1/4 of the bottle. All would have been fine, except the bus then took one diversion too many, and broke a spring. Everyone got out, and a few people used the opportunity to take a leak. I was confident that we were only half an hour from the end and I would be able to hold off.
OK, you all guessed whats coming next, having to get the truck to make an emergeny stop so I could take a pee. All I can say in my defense is that the rest of the gits on the truck did start talking about the NASA lady who drove from Texas to Florida using a nappy, specifically to make me need to go. I will have revenge.
Despite all that I was still able to go out for a nice meal when we got to Potosi, and have a few more beers (unlike some others). This is the highest altitude we sleep at on this trip, 4050 meters, and despite the warnings about drinking at altitude, I have been drinking enough water to ensure so far no hangovers.
Today was another of our long truck journeys, this time from Unuyi to Potosi. When I say long, I do mean time, rather than distance. This was only a 180 km journey, yet it was scheduled to take us 8 hours. Still that was quite short, so because of that we acually left at the reasonable hour of nine. As usual we fell behind, this time mostly because of extra road works on the 'road', which if continued will mean that one day this may actually resemble a road. A lot of the time we were on river beds.
The truck journeys themsleves are fairly boring things. The scenery is OK, but generally quite similair to what went half an hour before, so we don't sit there looking out the window. Instead people play music, read, watch their MP4 players, play PSPs, or drink.
Yep, we have fallen into a slight habit of beginning drinking when it looks like we are an hour or so away from the destination. But today all we had was a local vodka, which tasted rank. I still drank at least a 1/4 of the bottle. All would have been fine, except the bus then took one diversion too many, and broke a spring. Everyone got out, and a few people used the opportunity to take a leak. I was confident that we were only half an hour from the end and I would be able to hold off.
OK, you all guessed whats coming next, having to get the truck to make an emergeny stop so I could take a pee. All I can say in my defense is that the rest of the gits on the truck did start talking about the NASA lady who drove from Texas to Florida using a nappy, specifically to make me need to go. I will have revenge.
Despite all that I was still able to go out for a nice meal when we got to Potosi, and have a few more beers (unlike some others). This is the highest altitude we sleep at on this trip, 4050 meters, and despite the warnings about drinking at altitude, I have been drinking enough water to ensure so far no hangovers.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Wheres the salt
Thursday 24th April
There is only one reason to come to Unuyi, and it is not to see the train cemetary (thanks Lonely Planet). It is to see the salt flats. These are the largest slat deposits in the world, and are something to see. It is basically a large white plain that stretches as far as the horizon.
Before we got out there on our tour we actually had a small amount of free time in the town. So I had a quick look around after breakfast (again quite good thanks to the American influence). There was a market with everything for sale and it turned out we were practically staying on an army base - we could see all the soldiers drilling - but there was little else to see. Although I missed out on the sight of the women in the market eating directly out of a goats head, which one of the girls saw and nearly threw up.
Anyway then we went out to the salt flats. First we saw the processing factory which is pretty much a sweat shop, followed by the mines, which are just guys pouring water on the salt rock to soften it, before shovelling it up. Then we drove 80km to the island in the middle of the salt where we had lunch (yes there were pass the salt jokes) and did a bit of exploring for the day.
Everyone else also tried to take those false perpective pictures with various props to make it look like they were drinking giant bottles of wine etc. These are supposed to work because the scenery is so uniform, but you could do it in a white room. I didn´t see the point, so took pictures of the people taking the pictures, a sort of behind the scenes look at special effects.
After that we visited a hotel made out of salt, which isn´t as exciting as it sounds (although it sold Twix bars which was exciting) and then we took some sunset photos while it got cold again. Then it was back to our hotel where it was time for more pizza. And a cake and card for Colin our driver, as it was his birthday.
There is only one reason to come to Unuyi, and it is not to see the train cemetary (thanks Lonely Planet). It is to see the salt flats. These are the largest slat deposits in the world, and are something to see. It is basically a large white plain that stretches as far as the horizon.
Before we got out there on our tour we actually had a small amount of free time in the town. So I had a quick look around after breakfast (again quite good thanks to the American influence). There was a market with everything for sale and it turned out we were practically staying on an army base - we could see all the soldiers drilling - but there was little else to see. Although I missed out on the sight of the women in the market eating directly out of a goats head, which one of the girls saw and nearly threw up.
Anyway then we went out to the salt flats. First we saw the processing factory which is pretty much a sweat shop, followed by the mines, which are just guys pouring water on the salt rock to soften it, before shovelling it up. Then we drove 80km to the island in the middle of the salt where we had lunch (yes there were pass the salt jokes) and did a bit of exploring for the day.
Everyone else also tried to take those false perpective pictures with various props to make it look like they were drinking giant bottles of wine etc. These are supposed to work because the scenery is so uniform, but you could do it in a white room. I didn´t see the point, so took pictures of the people taking the pictures, a sort of behind the scenes look at special effects.
After that we visited a hotel made out of salt, which isn´t as exciting as it sounds (although it sold Twix bars which was exciting) and then we took some sunset photos while it got cold again. Then it was back to our hotel where it was time for more pizza. And a cake and card for Colin our driver, as it was his birthday.
Pizza with altitude
Wednesday April 23rd
Today was another long day on the bus. We only had 200k to do, but the roads out here are so bad, and our trucks suspension so non-existent, that it was scheduled to take 8hrs. Anyway it might have, but there we were trundling around a corner when the road pretty much disappeared. They were workign on it, but we had to park up for about half an hour to wait for it to be fixed. And from then on we seemed to be behind time. Again we set a new height record for the trip, over 4100 metres. We seem to be doing this the right way, each day setting a new height record before descending to a lower level to sleep.
So to make the journey appear faster we cracked open the drink. Specifically my Vodka, which I had bought for camping to keep up with the wine drinkers, as the amount of beer I would have required would have been a bit too much for the truck to carry.
The last two hours of the journey did go faster than the rest, and before we knew it we were in Unuyi. This town made Tupiza look like a metropolis, and as we arrived I rememered that I had the theme for "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" on my Archos. So I cranked up the volume and played it as we drove up the dusty streets. Everyone cracked up laughing.
This levity helped us as it turned out to be pretty cold. This was our highest nighttime spot so far, at 3600 (Tupiza had been only 2950) so it did get quite cold. We went to visit a train graveyard (it doesn't sound very exciting, and it wasn't) and then went back to our hotel. Our hotel is owned by an American guy, Chris, and we had been told that he does the best pizza in South America.
With a build up like that we expected it to be a little disappointing, but it may well be the truth. We all ordered way too much pizza, and I ate too much, but as we swapped over pieces I did get to taste some really great tastes, including llama pizza, which other than being a bit chewy, wasn't too bad.
By the way I didn´t come up with my blog title myself, it is the slogan of the restaurant.
Today was another long day on the bus. We only had 200k to do, but the roads out here are so bad, and our trucks suspension so non-existent, that it was scheduled to take 8hrs. Anyway it might have, but there we were trundling around a corner when the road pretty much disappeared. They were workign on it, but we had to park up for about half an hour to wait for it to be fixed. And from then on we seemed to be behind time. Again we set a new height record for the trip, over 4100 metres. We seem to be doing this the right way, each day setting a new height record before descending to a lower level to sleep.
So to make the journey appear faster we cracked open the drink. Specifically my Vodka, which I had bought for camping to keep up with the wine drinkers, as the amount of beer I would have required would have been a bit too much for the truck to carry.
The last two hours of the journey did go faster than the rest, and before we knew it we were in Unuyi. This town made Tupiza look like a metropolis, and as we arrived I rememered that I had the theme for "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" on my Archos. So I cranked up the volume and played it as we drove up the dusty streets. Everyone cracked up laughing.
This levity helped us as it turned out to be pretty cold. This was our highest nighttime spot so far, at 3600 (Tupiza had been only 2950) so it did get quite cold. We went to visit a train graveyard (it doesn't sound very exciting, and it wasn't) and then went back to our hotel. Our hotel is owned by an American guy, Chris, and we had been told that he does the best pizza in South America.
With a build up like that we expected it to be a little disappointing, but it may well be the truth. We all ordered way too much pizza, and I ate too much, but as we swapped over pieces I did get to taste some really great tastes, including llama pizza, which other than being a bit chewy, wasn't too bad.
By the way I didn´t come up with my blog title myself, it is the slogan of the restaurant.
The wild west
Tuesday 22nd April
This place Tupiza, is sort of like the wild west. And in fact it is near the location where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fought it out with the Bolivian army.
Anyway all I did today was wander around the town in the morning, before having lunch with a couple of the others on the trip. Then we were off on a tour in a jeep to see some of the local scenery. And as I said it was like something out of a wild west movie. Lots of red canyon walls, cactus and so on. And cowboys.
Well to be honest some of the cowboys were others or our group who had chosen to do the trip on horseback instead of jeep. Us in the jeep did however get to drive up to our new highpoint of the tour, 3800 metres. Well I say drive up, in fairness we did have to climb the last 50 metres. So there was some puffing, especially as we raced up. Probably the first time I've felt the altitude, although all the puffing may be because I am just unfit. On the trip we have a saying, it must be the altitude. It is a great way of blaming almost anything on the height we are at.
In the evening, after dinner, we watched a film at our hostel (with crisps, no popcorn could be located). The film, you guessed it, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
This place Tupiza, is sort of like the wild west. And in fact it is near the location where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fought it out with the Bolivian army.
Anyway all I did today was wander around the town in the morning, before having lunch with a couple of the others on the trip. Then we were off on a tour in a jeep to see some of the local scenery. And as I said it was like something out of a wild west movie. Lots of red canyon walls, cactus and so on. And cowboys.
Well to be honest some of the cowboys were others or our group who had chosen to do the trip on horseback instead of jeep. Us in the jeep did however get to drive up to our new highpoint of the tour, 3800 metres. Well I say drive up, in fairness we did have to climb the last 50 metres. So there was some puffing, especially as we raced up. Probably the first time I've felt the altitude, although all the puffing may be because I am just unfit. On the trip we have a saying, it must be the altitude. It is a great way of blaming almost anything on the height we are at.
In the evening, after dinner, we watched a film at our hostel (with crisps, no popcorn could be located). The film, you guessed it, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Bolivia or bust
Monday 21st April
Today we left the rural north of Argentina and headed for Bolivia. It promised to be a long day, our tour notes promised a 12 hour day, but it has consistently been underestimating the time we spend in the truck.
The trip out of Argentina was OK, a bit slow in some places, but we kept climbing steadily to 3750 meters. Unlike all our other climbs, this one wasn´t on a winding road up the side of a hill, but a long straight climb. So we didn't really notice that we had reached the high point of the trip so far.
Although we were slightly behind schedule when we got to the border, it was here that it all went wrong. We were delayed for 2 hours by typical South American officaldom. The people who let us into Argentina made a mistake in the paperwork, and so we suffered.
All this meant that by the time we got into Bolivia it was nearly dark, and we had to tackle the tough Bolivian roads in the dark. This wasn't as bad as my journey into Cambodia, but it wasn't far off. It took another 4 hours to travel the last 80 km to our destination, Tupiza, meaning it was a 15 hour journey by the time we arrived at our hostel (at 9pm - yes we left at 6am). All we had time for was a run to a local restaurant for dinner and then to bed.
Today we left the rural north of Argentina and headed for Bolivia. It promised to be a long day, our tour notes promised a 12 hour day, but it has consistently been underestimating the time we spend in the truck.
The trip out of Argentina was OK, a bit slow in some places, but we kept climbing steadily to 3750 meters. Unlike all our other climbs, this one wasn´t on a winding road up the side of a hill, but a long straight climb. So we didn't really notice that we had reached the high point of the trip so far.
Although we were slightly behind schedule when we got to the border, it was here that it all went wrong. We were delayed for 2 hours by typical South American officaldom. The people who let us into Argentina made a mistake in the paperwork, and so we suffered.
All this meant that by the time we got into Bolivia it was nearly dark, and we had to tackle the tough Bolivian roads in the dark. This wasn't as bad as my journey into Cambodia, but it wasn't far off. It took another 4 hours to travel the last 80 km to our destination, Tupiza, meaning it was a 15 hour journey by the time we arrived at our hostel (at 9pm - yes we left at 6am). All we had time for was a run to a local restaurant for dinner and then to bed.
Zippidy do dah
Sunday April 20th
Today we all went up Salta canyon to go white water rafting and/or zip lining (also called canopy - although this was nowhere near the tree tops). It was a bit of a trek out to the site to do the zip lines and rafting, which was up quite a distance from the town.
As I had been rafting recently in New Zealand, I went for zip lining only, which was 9 zip lines, over about 3k of zip lines, some of which were up to 100 meters above the canyon. Those of us only doing zip lines had to do a trek up a mountain side to get to the first one which was not too much for those who had done the canyoning two days ago, but was a bit tricky for others. This go us to our first zip line, where after a briefing and demonstration we had our first go. It wasn´t anyway scary, in fact it felt a lot safer attached to the line than it had on the climb up. The equipment looked OK and I guess the fact that the place was run by a German guy helped put my mind at ease.
The zip lines themsleves were cool. After the first one, our second was one of the longest of the day, over a 100 metre drop to the river below. And then we worked our way back down the canyon, ending in 3 more 500 metre long cross canyon lines. It took about 3 hours, because there were 12 of us, and each zip did take a while, and obviously only one person could go at a time. But it was an enjoyable time, as we were all able to take photos of each other.
Afterwards we rejoined the rafters, and had a massive BBQ again, with loads more meat. Then the rafters went off to do their 4 zip lines, and some of us stayed and drank beer while wathcing them. For some reason they had a lot more errors, people getting stranded in the middle, than the first group, so we were rightly entertained.
And after all that it was back to camp for hamburgers, prepared by my cooking team. We made two each, and to be honest I was dubious that they would be eaten considering the amount of meat at the lunch. But amazingly every burger was eaten. And then we retired to our last night of camping.
Today we all went up Salta canyon to go white water rafting and/or zip lining (also called canopy - although this was nowhere near the tree tops). It was a bit of a trek out to the site to do the zip lines and rafting, which was up quite a distance from the town.
As I had been rafting recently in New Zealand, I went for zip lining only, which was 9 zip lines, over about 3k of zip lines, some of which were up to 100 meters above the canyon. Those of us only doing zip lines had to do a trek up a mountain side to get to the first one which was not too much for those who had done the canyoning two days ago, but was a bit tricky for others. This go us to our first zip line, where after a briefing and demonstration we had our first go. It wasn´t anyway scary, in fact it felt a lot safer attached to the line than it had on the climb up. The equipment looked OK and I guess the fact that the place was run by a German guy helped put my mind at ease.
The zip lines themsleves were cool. After the first one, our second was one of the longest of the day, over a 100 metre drop to the river below. And then we worked our way back down the canyon, ending in 3 more 500 metre long cross canyon lines. It took about 3 hours, because there were 12 of us, and each zip did take a while, and obviously only one person could go at a time. But it was an enjoyable time, as we were all able to take photos of each other.
Afterwards we rejoined the rafters, and had a massive BBQ again, with loads more meat. Then the rafters went off to do their 4 zip lines, and some of us stayed and drank beer while wathcing them. For some reason they had a lot more errors, people getting stranded in the middle, than the first group, so we were rightly entertained.
And after all that it was back to camp for hamburgers, prepared by my cooking team. We made two each, and to be honest I was dubious that they would be eaten considering the amount of meat at the lunch. But amazingly every burger was eaten. And then we retired to our last night of camping.
Salta of the Earth
Saturday April 19th
Today we moved on to Salta. This was a much shorter trip, although we still were up quite early for it. We started off through the Cafayette Canyon, which was very picturesque, but it was too early for most of us on the truck to appreciate it. We did get to Salta in time for lunch (after the traditional tour of the town while we tried to find the camp site), and we were able to set up our tents in the daylight, which is always good.
Some people were going horse riding, but I'm not really into that, so the rest of us went into the town of Salta. Salta is a much biger city than the others we have been in, so it required taxis from the edge of town rather than walking. Still once we got in there was a fair amount of walking around looking at the architecture. Like all South American cities the central plaza seemed to be the only place awake during siesta time, so we all headed up to yet another cable car going up to a hill overlooking the city. It passed the time, but I am beginning to get fed up with this cable car up the hill thing, its about the 6th I've done on this trip.
The city was more alive when we came down so we all went our separate ways to shop, before heading back out for another of our camping meals (which are pretty good considering we are cooking for 19 on only 4 gas rings).
Today we moved on to Salta. This was a much shorter trip, although we still were up quite early for it. We started off through the Cafayette Canyon, which was very picturesque, but it was too early for most of us on the truck to appreciate it. We did get to Salta in time for lunch (after the traditional tour of the town while we tried to find the camp site), and we were able to set up our tents in the daylight, which is always good.
Some people were going horse riding, but I'm not really into that, so the rest of us went into the town of Salta. Salta is a much biger city than the others we have been in, so it required taxis from the edge of town rather than walking. Still once we got in there was a fair amount of walking around looking at the architecture. Like all South American cities the central plaza seemed to be the only place awake during siesta time, so we all headed up to yet another cable car going up to a hill overlooking the city. It passed the time, but I am beginning to get fed up with this cable car up the hill thing, its about the 6th I've done on this trip.
The city was more alive when we came down so we all went our separate ways to shop, before heading back out for another of our camping meals (which are pretty good considering we are cooking for 19 on only 4 gas rings).
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Up the canyon
Friday 18th April
Today a group of us hired bikes and cycled out to the mouth of a canyon to trek to see waterfalls. When we got there the guide offered to take us on the difficult route up, so instead of a nice leisurely walk up to the waterfalls along the top of a ridge, we went into the canyon and climbed right up the canyon along the course of the river. We saw loads of waterfalls, and had to do some pretty tricky climbing, without any equipment. It was pretty cool. In the evening the whole group went to one of those Argentinan barbeques where the meat never ends.
Today a group of us hired bikes and cycled out to the mouth of a canyon to trek to see waterfalls. When we got there the guide offered to take us on the difficult route up, so instead of a nice leisurely walk up to the waterfalls along the top of a ridge, we went into the canyon and climbed right up the canyon along the course of the river. We saw loads of waterfalls, and had to do some pretty tricky climbing, without any equipment. It was pretty cool. In the evening the whole group went to one of those Argentinan barbeques where the meat never ends.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Trip to Cafayate
Thursday April 17th
Well most of this day was spent on a trip to a little town called Cafayte, which was our destination for the next two nights. Not much else to report. Well except for the fact that a group of us found the shop that sells wine flavoured ice cream. I had the local white, Torrentes. I´ve got to say its the best wine I´ve tasted, so from now on I am drinking all my wine in ice cream form.
Well most of this day was spent on a trip to a little town called Cafayte, which was our destination for the next two nights. Not much else to report. Well except for the fact that a group of us found the shop that sells wine flavoured ice cream. I had the local white, Torrentes. I´ve got to say its the best wine I´ve tasted, so from now on I am drinking all my wine in ice cream form.
Strange rock formations
Wednesday 16th April
The tour we missed out on was for strange rock formations in Lunar Valley, but we also had one in our desert park of bizarre rock formations. I think we would have been bored with both. Anyway we saw them, then moved on halfway to our next destination, stopping in a dodgy camp site, although it was better than the roadside which it had looked like it might have to be. We had to stop there anyway, because the truck which we were on had just lost its wing mirror, sheared off by a truck coming the other direction. All we can hope is that he was as hurt as we were.
The tour we missed out on was for strange rock formations in Lunar Valley, but we also had one in our desert park of bizarre rock formations. I think we would have been bored with both. Anyway we saw them, then moved on halfway to our next destination, stopping in a dodgy camp site, although it was better than the roadside which it had looked like it might have to be. We had to stop there anyway, because the truck which we were on had just lost its wing mirror, sheared off by a truck coming the other direction. All we can hope is that he was as hurt as we were.
Heuston we have a problem
Tuesday 15th April
Today we were supposed to be going to Lunar Valley, in a local national park. But it turns out it closes earlier in winter, and we are now in winter. So we missed out. We ended up camping in another national park, a desert at about 1250 meters, and it was pretty cold.
Today we were supposed to be going to Lunar Valley, in a local national park. But it turns out it closes earlier in winter, and we are now in winter. So we missed out. We ended up camping in another national park, a desert at about 1250 meters, and it was pretty cold.
Oops
Monday 14th April
Today was a wine tasting tour of Mendoza. I´m not a big fan of wine, but the fod was good. But I discovered I lost my ATM card in the last 24 hours, and so had to cancel it. all that hassle meant I missed out on going to the Irish pub in Mendoza, breaking my don´t pass an Irish pub rule. That upset me more than the ATM card.
Today was a wine tasting tour of Mendoza. I´m not a big fan of wine, but the fod was good. But I discovered I lost my ATM card in the last 24 hours, and so had to cancel it. all that hassle meant I missed out on going to the Irish pub in Mendoza, breaking my don´t pass an Irish pub rule. That upset me more than the ATM card.
Mendoza
Sunday 13th April
Today was a free day in Mendoza. I spent it watching football, and walking around the town. Most of the rest cycled.
Today was a free day in Mendoza. I spent it watching football, and walking around the town. Most of the rest cycled.
Over the Andes
Saturday 12th April
Today I got introduced to the truck that will take us to LaPaz. We went from Santiago in Chile to Mendoza in Argentina. It was a pretty spectacular jopurney. We got as high as 3140 metres, and it was cold. But it seemed warm enough when we got down the other side.
Today I got introduced to the truck that will take us to LaPaz. We went from Santiago in Chile to Mendoza in Argentina. It was a pretty spectacular jopurney. We got as high as 3140 metres, and it was cold. But it seemed warm enough when we got down the other side.
Santiago Free Day
Friday April 11th
The first day of the trip is a free day around Santiago. I have had enough of those, so I used the time to talk to some of the new crew. Because of a miscommunication on the company web site I thought I´d be out of Santiago today, so I was actually able to meet up with Clare and Paul who had arrived in Santiago earlier that day. We had a nice dinner and went to another Irish bar before I rejoined the group.
The first day of the trip is a free day around Santiago. I have had enough of those, so I used the time to talk to some of the new crew. Because of a miscommunication on the company web site I thought I´d be out of Santiago today, so I was actually able to meet up with Clare and Paul who had arrived in Santiago earlier that day. We had a nice dinner and went to another Irish bar before I rejoined the group.
Meet the team
Thursday April 10th
To those who don´t know I have joined a tour group travelling around South America. As such I have less free time to do the blog. Also, at this point in time, we are in the middle of 6 days of camping in Northern Argentina, so internet access is pretty limited. So I am going to do as I did before, one line descriptions of that day.
Today I did the final few things I needed to do in Santiago, and then it was off to meet the people with whom I will be travelling to LaPaz. First impressions, they seem like a big bunch of Aussie piss heads, I think I´ll fit in OK.
To those who don´t know I have joined a tour group travelling around South America. As such I have less free time to do the blog. Also, at this point in time, we are in the middle of 6 days of camping in Northern Argentina, so internet access is pretty limited. So I am going to do as I did before, one line descriptions of that day.
Today I did the final few things I needed to do in Santiago, and then it was off to meet the people with whom I will be travelling to LaPaz. First impressions, they seem like a big bunch of Aussie piss heads, I think I´ll fit in OK.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Putting my Spanish to the test
Wednesday April 9th
I woke up with a hangover of sorts. On 3 pints I can only assume I was more dehydrated than I thought, even though I had bought water on the way home. I knocked back the remains of my water and it all seemed to clear up very quickly.
Anyway today I had to get ready for my upcoming trip. I had signed on to an organised tour through Argentina and Bolivia leaving at the end of the week, mostly because I wanted someone else to organise buses and hotels for a while. But it does have a bit of camping, so I needed a few extra supplies. And because I remembered the cold from the Tongariro crossing, I needed gloves and a scarf.
But the most challenging thing of all for my fledgling Spanish was going to be getting a haircut. But actually it turned out to be pretty easy. As I was walking through one mall, on my way to the hairdressing mall (I kid you not - there is a mall here with about 60 shops, and 50 of them are hairdressers), I passed by a hairdressers. The guy in the door said something, which I guess was do you want a haircut, or maybe you need a haircut (I didn't think it was that bad looking). So once I'd figured out afeitar dos (2 shave) it seemed to work out. Of course it still frightens me when I see that amount of hair come off, or to be precise the little amount left. I'm still not used to my hair that short.
My spanish still hasn´t really progressed to a point where I could talk to the barber though. Again I got out I was from Ireland, and that was about it.
I then went to get the rest of my bits and pieces, and then again with the football. Its a handy way of breaking up the day, having a sort of siesta. This time there was no belly dancing in the hallways, just yoga.
I decided I wanted a pizza for dinner, so went to a pizza place in town. The pizzza here are a bit strange, the meat on them tends to cover the entire pizza so you can't actually see the base. As I was concerned at my lack of vegtables I took a veggie pizza option. Actually I took one without olives, it just happened to be a veggie one. When it arrived, there were olives on it. I wasn´t too happy, its probably the most disappointing meal I have had since I got here.
I then decided to do some net that evening, so I headed back to the area near my hotel (there is no net access in the centre of town after 9, you have to head out to the suburbs). There was a nice pedestrianised street I´d seen but not gone down, so I headed for that. I noticed there were a lot of leaflets littered on the ground as I got there, I think they were calling for free education, but didn't really pay attention. So I walked round the corner onto the street...
... and straight into a big politcal protest by what looked like students. It was quite loud, so I decided it probably wasn't the best place to suft the net (or have an ice cream - my other task for the night). I turned off the street with the protest and ran straight into the riot police. In fairness they weren't tooled up, in fact they were just standing around smoking, but they were there in case things got out of hand.
So I decided even finding a net cafe on another street might be a bit of a problem, and I just headed back to the hotel to watch TV. I don't think there was any trouble, but the Lonely Planet did say one thing about Chile is that they are a placid people, yet protest marches can spring from nowhere and get quite agitated. I thought that was some sort of weird stereotype, but it seems to be true.
I woke up with a hangover of sorts. On 3 pints I can only assume I was more dehydrated than I thought, even though I had bought water on the way home. I knocked back the remains of my water and it all seemed to clear up very quickly.
Anyway today I had to get ready for my upcoming trip. I had signed on to an organised tour through Argentina and Bolivia leaving at the end of the week, mostly because I wanted someone else to organise buses and hotels for a while. But it does have a bit of camping, so I needed a few extra supplies. And because I remembered the cold from the Tongariro crossing, I needed gloves and a scarf.
But the most challenging thing of all for my fledgling Spanish was going to be getting a haircut. But actually it turned out to be pretty easy. As I was walking through one mall, on my way to the hairdressing mall (I kid you not - there is a mall here with about 60 shops, and 50 of them are hairdressers), I passed by a hairdressers. The guy in the door said something, which I guess was do you want a haircut, or maybe you need a haircut (I didn't think it was that bad looking). So once I'd figured out afeitar dos (2 shave) it seemed to work out. Of course it still frightens me when I see that amount of hair come off, or to be precise the little amount left. I'm still not used to my hair that short.
My spanish still hasn´t really progressed to a point where I could talk to the barber though. Again I got out I was from Ireland, and that was about it.
I then went to get the rest of my bits and pieces, and then again with the football. Its a handy way of breaking up the day, having a sort of siesta. This time there was no belly dancing in the hallways, just yoga.
I decided I wanted a pizza for dinner, so went to a pizza place in town. The pizzza here are a bit strange, the meat on them tends to cover the entire pizza so you can't actually see the base. As I was concerned at my lack of vegtables I took a veggie pizza option. Actually I took one without olives, it just happened to be a veggie one. When it arrived, there were olives on it. I wasn´t too happy, its probably the most disappointing meal I have had since I got here.
I then decided to do some net that evening, so I headed back to the area near my hotel (there is no net access in the centre of town after 9, you have to head out to the suburbs). There was a nice pedestrianised street I´d seen but not gone down, so I headed for that. I noticed there were a lot of leaflets littered on the ground as I got there, I think they were calling for free education, but didn't really pay attention. So I walked round the corner onto the street...
... and straight into a big politcal protest by what looked like students. It was quite loud, so I decided it probably wasn't the best place to suft the net (or have an ice cream - my other task for the night). I turned off the street with the protest and ran straight into the riot police. In fairness they weren't tooled up, in fact they were just standing around smoking, but they were there in case things got out of hand.
So I decided even finding a net cafe on another street might be a bit of a problem, and I just headed back to the hotel to watch TV. I don't think there was any trouble, but the Lonely Planet did say one thing about Chile is that they are a placid people, yet protest marches can spring from nowhere and get quite agitated. I thought that was some sort of weird stereotype, but it seems to be true.
A walk in the park
Tuesday 8th April
Today I went to Parque O'Higgins. Its one of a few places with Irish names, and in fact in this case the park is named after Bernardo O´Higgins who liberated Chile from Spain and was its second president. There is a lot named after him, inclusing the main street in Santiago.
The park itself turned out to be a nice enough place, but the various museums it housed, insects, fish, and the most bizzarre, hats, all turned out to be the usual not very good museums that I should have come to expect. There was a spaceship parked in the park though, well actually its just the dome of a big concert venue. But it looked pretty cool.
When I got back to the hotel after lunch, just in time to watch some Champions League action, I was greated by the strangest sight, 5 bellydancers dancing in the hall outside my room. I have no idea what it was all about, some sort of keep fit thing I guess, but it was strange, and loud. But it stopped before the first goal so I could hear the local commentator go mad with his goooooooooooooal clebrations. Actually you should hear how excited they get over corners.
That evening I went to the suburb of Bellavista for dinner. The restaurants there are definitely better quality, but you are paying for it. There were also a few different cuisine options, even a that restaurant. I went to a spainish restaurant, mostly because the waiter at the door seemed to recognised me as a English speaker so tried his sales pitch in English. Because I was on my own and it wasn't that busy I then proceded to get his life story. And he had a friend living in Dublin (don´t they all).
Afterwards I spotted the Dublin bar (maybe thats where the waiters friend lives) so the rules say I had to go in. This had to be the least Irish, Irish pub ever. There was no crap on the walls like all the others, and in fact other than the name and some green neon lights, I couldn´t really see what mafe it Irish. Of course the lack of crap on the wall probably means it is more like a pub I would want to drink in in Ireland than most Irish bars.
Had a couple of pints there and then walked back to the hotel. Even though I only had 3 pints, including the 1 with dinner, I felt a bit more drunk than I should have been with that much drink. Not sure why, hope its not the altitude because Santiago is not very high compared to where I am going to be over the next few weeks.
Today I went to Parque O'Higgins. Its one of a few places with Irish names, and in fact in this case the park is named after Bernardo O´Higgins who liberated Chile from Spain and was its second president. There is a lot named after him, inclusing the main street in Santiago.
The park itself turned out to be a nice enough place, but the various museums it housed, insects, fish, and the most bizzarre, hats, all turned out to be the usual not very good museums that I should have come to expect. There was a spaceship parked in the park though, well actually its just the dome of a big concert venue. But it looked pretty cool.
When I got back to the hotel after lunch, just in time to watch some Champions League action, I was greated by the strangest sight, 5 bellydancers dancing in the hall outside my room. I have no idea what it was all about, some sort of keep fit thing I guess, but it was strange, and loud. But it stopped before the first goal so I could hear the local commentator go mad with his goooooooooooooal clebrations. Actually you should hear how excited they get over corners.
That evening I went to the suburb of Bellavista for dinner. The restaurants there are definitely better quality, but you are paying for it. There were also a few different cuisine options, even a that restaurant. I went to a spainish restaurant, mostly because the waiter at the door seemed to recognised me as a English speaker so tried his sales pitch in English. Because I was on my own and it wasn't that busy I then proceded to get his life story. And he had a friend living in Dublin (don´t they all).
Afterwards I spotted the Dublin bar (maybe thats where the waiters friend lives) so the rules say I had to go in. This had to be the least Irish, Irish pub ever. There was no crap on the walls like all the others, and in fact other than the name and some green neon lights, I couldn´t really see what mafe it Irish. Of course the lack of crap on the wall probably means it is more like a pub I would want to drink in in Ireland than most Irish bars.
Had a couple of pints there and then walked back to the hotel. Even though I only had 3 pints, including the 1 with dinner, I felt a bit more drunk than I should have been with that much drink. Not sure why, hope its not the altitude because Santiago is not very high compared to where I am going to be over the next few weeks.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Back to Santiago
Monday 7th April
Today I headed back to Santiago. To be honest it was mainly like Friday in reverse, wandered around Valpo for a bit, got a bus, wandered around Santiago for a bit.
So instead of all that here are some random things I have noticed in Chile
Why does the metro stop so early? A lot of people only seem to come out at about 10 or 11 (when I am heading back to the hotel) but the metro stops at about 10:30. It can make it a bit tricky to go out for a meal in somewhere nice like Provedencia if you are staying in the centre of the city.
Where is all the fruit/veg on the menu? You can order vegetarian options, or get a salad, but the main courses seem to consist entirely of meat, chips, and egg or cheese.
This ones for Clare. Watch out for the red sauce bottles. They aren´t always ketchup (sometimes salsa)
Given the amount of fast food eaten here I now know why there are so many pharamacies. Its for all the diabetes and cholesterol tests that they offer. Although a lot of Chileans are quite slim (especially the females) there are signs of the beginnings of an obesity crisis. Welcome to the Western wold Chile.
What is with all the pregnant women showing they bumps. I don´t think it is because they cannot afford to buy maternity wear. It seems to be a fashion statement to wear a teeshirt that wouldn´t fit you even if you weren´t pregnant.
Today I headed back to Santiago. To be honest it was mainly like Friday in reverse, wandered around Valpo for a bit, got a bus, wandered around Santiago for a bit.
So instead of all that here are some random things I have noticed in Chile
Why does the metro stop so early? A lot of people only seem to come out at about 10 or 11 (when I am heading back to the hotel) but the metro stops at about 10:30. It can make it a bit tricky to go out for a meal in somewhere nice like Provedencia if you are staying in the centre of the city.
Where is all the fruit/veg on the menu? You can order vegetarian options, or get a salad, but the main courses seem to consist entirely of meat, chips, and egg or cheese.
This ones for Clare. Watch out for the red sauce bottles. They aren´t always ketchup (sometimes salsa)
Given the amount of fast food eaten here I now know why there are so many pharamacies. Its for all the diabetes and cholesterol tests that they offer. Although a lot of Chileans are quite slim (especially the females) there are signs of the beginnings of an obesity crisis. Welcome to the Western wold Chile.
What is with all the pregnant women showing they bumps. I don´t think it is because they cannot afford to buy maternity wear. It seems to be a fashion statement to wear a teeshirt that wouldn´t fit you even if you weren´t pregnant.
TV Sunday
Sunday 6th April
After doing the Tiger Caves steps, or the Tongariro Crossing, I woke up the next mornings expecting to feel sore legs, but feeling fine. Showing how steep Valparaiso is, I woke up a bit sore this morning. I got up early to watch a Manchester United match on TV (against Middlesboro) which I was pretty sure the ad on Tv said would be on live, but instead I got Saracens v Ospreys in the Heiniken Cup. I guess the Fox Sports schedule is set in Argentina. I did get delayed coverage of the ManU match, but by then I had been texted the scores from home.
My plan today was to go to Vina Del Mar, a few kilometers away. It is a beach resort, and is connected by a metro train ssytem to Valparaiso. Well they call it a metro, but with the frequency being one train every 18 minutes its about as metro as the DART. I was going there because being a Sunday a lot of things are closed in Chile, and I felt it was better to hang around a beach resort with nothing to do than a port.
But when I got tot he station they informed me that I could only go on the train by a prepaid ticket, and it would cost me about 5 times what one trip would cost just to ge the card. So I didn´t bother going. I knew I could get a bus, but I figured that by the time I figured out which bus to get and got there on the slower bus system, the one place I wanted to go, another museum, would be closed (it closed at 2 on Sundays). So I decided to hang around Valparaiso.
Actually the Sunday shut down wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. A number of the shop chains were open, and about half the bars and restaurants. So it was fairly easy to get a dinner. Internet places were also open, but in the end I decided to go back to the hotel and watch some films on TV. TV is quite watchable here, there seems to always be a CSI or Law and Order (or most other current shows, List, Housewives, ER etc) on that is subtitled (and they are very up to date - generally a week or two old.), and about half the films are subtitled rather than dubbed. Sometimes they are shown in both ways, I saw a bit of Anger Management subtitled on Friday, and it was dubbed today. I actually hadn't seen the films Doom or Flightplan before, so I watched them. There was also some other rubbish comedies on. In other words this Sunday was actually like one at home, watching TV.
I did pop out in the evening to get a softdrink and it was noticeable that there were fewer people on the streets. There was a bit of an edge to the town, judging by the shirts, it had something to do with a football match.
One other thing, in the evening here it gets quite chilly (pun intended). Although the days warm up, if there is a fog as there was on Saturday morning, it is also cold. It was amazing to think that we are on 33 degrees South of the equator, and on Saturday until about 1pm, I had to wear a jumper, as if I was in some town in the West of Ireland.
After doing the Tiger Caves steps, or the Tongariro Crossing, I woke up the next mornings expecting to feel sore legs, but feeling fine. Showing how steep Valparaiso is, I woke up a bit sore this morning. I got up early to watch a Manchester United match on TV (against Middlesboro) which I was pretty sure the ad on Tv said would be on live, but instead I got Saracens v Ospreys in the Heiniken Cup. I guess the Fox Sports schedule is set in Argentina. I did get delayed coverage of the ManU match, but by then I had been texted the scores from home.
My plan today was to go to Vina Del Mar, a few kilometers away. It is a beach resort, and is connected by a metro train ssytem to Valparaiso. Well they call it a metro, but with the frequency being one train every 18 minutes its about as metro as the DART. I was going there because being a Sunday a lot of things are closed in Chile, and I felt it was better to hang around a beach resort with nothing to do than a port.
But when I got tot he station they informed me that I could only go on the train by a prepaid ticket, and it would cost me about 5 times what one trip would cost just to ge the card. So I didn´t bother going. I knew I could get a bus, but I figured that by the time I figured out which bus to get and got there on the slower bus system, the one place I wanted to go, another museum, would be closed (it closed at 2 on Sundays). So I decided to hang around Valparaiso.
Actually the Sunday shut down wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. A number of the shop chains were open, and about half the bars and restaurants. So it was fairly easy to get a dinner. Internet places were also open, but in the end I decided to go back to the hotel and watch some films on TV. TV is quite watchable here, there seems to always be a CSI or Law and Order (or most other current shows, List, Housewives, ER etc) on that is subtitled (and they are very up to date - generally a week or two old.), and about half the films are subtitled rather than dubbed. Sometimes they are shown in both ways, I saw a bit of Anger Management subtitled on Friday, and it was dubbed today. I actually hadn't seen the films Doom or Flightplan before, so I watched them. There was also some other rubbish comedies on. In other words this Sunday was actually like one at home, watching TV.
I did pop out in the evening to get a softdrink and it was noticeable that there were fewer people on the streets. There was a bit of an edge to the town, judging by the shirts, it had something to do with a football match.
One other thing, in the evening here it gets quite chilly (pun intended). Although the days warm up, if there is a fog as there was on Saturday morning, it is also cold. It was amazing to think that we are on 33 degrees South of the equator, and on Saturday until about 1pm, I had to wear a jumper, as if I was in some town in the West of Ireland.
Valparaiso
Saturday 5th April
Today was look around Valparaiso day. Its quite an unusual city with a strange layout. Most of the commercial centre is along 3 roads running parallel to the coast, but not the coast road itself which is pretty run down - but then the coast itself is just a port, no beaches or anything. The rest of the town, including the hotel I am staying in, is up the hillsides running away from the port. And of course these hillsides are not uniform in height and shape, so two places can look quite close on the map, but require a long walk to get from one to another.
This is the second hotel that I've stayed in that is up a steep road from the coast, the first being in Wellington, and while this may not be as steep, it is longer, and in the end higher, than that place, and there is no car this time, so it is a bitch to walk to.
Anyway the Lonely Planet says there isn´t much more to do in Valparaiso than walk around and look at all the buildings, and they weren´t far wrong. You can also go up (and down I guess) the ascensors, which are yet more funicular railways (for never having been on one before this is now my fourth in a month). The ones in Valparaiso are pretty old, creaky and not that long. The steps they bypass are generally not that difficult to tackle, maybe only 200 or so. The first one I wnt to go on was the oldest, and it was out of service for maintenance, so I has to walk up anyway.
The item at the top of the first ascensor was a museum on the site of Chile´s first observatory. But when I got there it was closed, and there didn´t seem to be a notice why. So down I went and up a different ascensor this time to another museum. For some reason all the museums tend to be at the top of ascensors. Anyway this time this one was closed for rennovations. So I walked down into the town through a neighbourhood with a few restaurants which I might go to later that evening, and then went for lunch.
Just after lunch as I was walking along, what did I spot but a bar called Los Irlandes. Yep the Irish bar, so not being able to pass one, I had to pop in for a single cerveza. Refreshed I decided to give up on the hills for the moment and walk the length of the town instead. It was a normal Saturday afternoon I´d say, loads of people out doing shopping, and bringing the kids to the parks. I walked along until I got to the Congress building, back by the bus station where I came in.
Although the capital of Chile is Santiago, Pinochet, in one of his last acts, decided to move the parliament to Valparaiso, to a site of a former home (I´m guessing someone got rich from land purchases here). So the Congress building, which is a pretty modern building, stands here, although there is talk of moving it back to Santiago.
I walked back from here along the sea front, which isn´t very inspiring, you can´t even see the water, and then headed up the third and final ascensor to another museum. However this one turned out to be a bit of a swindle. What it really was is a load of graffiti on a load of walls (well technically they are some sort of protected murals but they aren´t even that old) . Somehow it gets called a museum. Museums in Chile haven´t really been that great, but this was the let down of the week.
I continued walking up the hill from this to get to the final museum on the tour, one of Pablo Nuruda´s houses. Again this was a let down. But it was on the same level as my hotel, so I was able to walk back without having to go down and up again. Although the road wound around so much I'm not sure if it was quicker.
That evening I went out for dinner. I had intended to go to one of the nicer restaurants in one of the residential suburbs, but instead I stayed down in the city centre and went to another diner style place. This time I had another of the Chilean specialities, the Barros Luco. All it is is a steak sandwich. It was very nice, but all 3 chilean speciality meals I have had so far have been fast food options. Its not the most diverse cuisine in the world. (Well there is Congar Eel stew, but I ain´t having that).
The best thing about the meal was that there was a local footie match on and watching the local crowds reactions was pretty funny, especially the waiters who were more interested in the footie than serving. One of the teams, called Everton, were wearing jersey´s in the same colours as Tipperary, which probably explains why I thought I saw someone in one earlier that day. But Everton didn´t win, the others did, and thats who the waiters were up for.
Today was look around Valparaiso day. Its quite an unusual city with a strange layout. Most of the commercial centre is along 3 roads running parallel to the coast, but not the coast road itself which is pretty run down - but then the coast itself is just a port, no beaches or anything. The rest of the town, including the hotel I am staying in, is up the hillsides running away from the port. And of course these hillsides are not uniform in height and shape, so two places can look quite close on the map, but require a long walk to get from one to another.
This is the second hotel that I've stayed in that is up a steep road from the coast, the first being in Wellington, and while this may not be as steep, it is longer, and in the end higher, than that place, and there is no car this time, so it is a bitch to walk to.
Anyway the Lonely Planet says there isn´t much more to do in Valparaiso than walk around and look at all the buildings, and they weren´t far wrong. You can also go up (and down I guess) the ascensors, which are yet more funicular railways (for never having been on one before this is now my fourth in a month). The ones in Valparaiso are pretty old, creaky and not that long. The steps they bypass are generally not that difficult to tackle, maybe only 200 or so. The first one I wnt to go on was the oldest, and it was out of service for maintenance, so I has to walk up anyway.
The item at the top of the first ascensor was a museum on the site of Chile´s first observatory. But when I got there it was closed, and there didn´t seem to be a notice why. So down I went and up a different ascensor this time to another museum. For some reason all the museums tend to be at the top of ascensors. Anyway this time this one was closed for rennovations. So I walked down into the town through a neighbourhood with a few restaurants which I might go to later that evening, and then went for lunch.
Just after lunch as I was walking along, what did I spot but a bar called Los Irlandes. Yep the Irish bar, so not being able to pass one, I had to pop in for a single cerveza. Refreshed I decided to give up on the hills for the moment and walk the length of the town instead. It was a normal Saturday afternoon I´d say, loads of people out doing shopping, and bringing the kids to the parks. I walked along until I got to the Congress building, back by the bus station where I came in.
Although the capital of Chile is Santiago, Pinochet, in one of his last acts, decided to move the parliament to Valparaiso, to a site of a former home (I´m guessing someone got rich from land purchases here). So the Congress building, which is a pretty modern building, stands here, although there is talk of moving it back to Santiago.
I walked back from here along the sea front, which isn´t very inspiring, you can´t even see the water, and then headed up the third and final ascensor to another museum. However this one turned out to be a bit of a swindle. What it really was is a load of graffiti on a load of walls (well technically they are some sort of protected murals but they aren´t even that old) . Somehow it gets called a museum. Museums in Chile haven´t really been that great, but this was the let down of the week.
I continued walking up the hill from this to get to the final museum on the tour, one of Pablo Nuruda´s houses. Again this was a let down. But it was on the same level as my hotel, so I was able to walk back without having to go down and up again. Although the road wound around so much I'm not sure if it was quicker.
That evening I went out for dinner. I had intended to go to one of the nicer restaurants in one of the residential suburbs, but instead I stayed down in the city centre and went to another diner style place. This time I had another of the Chilean specialities, the Barros Luco. All it is is a steak sandwich. It was very nice, but all 3 chilean speciality meals I have had so far have been fast food options. Its not the most diverse cuisine in the world. (Well there is Congar Eel stew, but I ain´t having that).
The best thing about the meal was that there was a local footie match on and watching the local crowds reactions was pretty funny, especially the waiters who were more interested in the footie than serving. One of the teams, called Everton, were wearing jersey´s in the same colours as Tipperary, which probably explains why I thought I saw someone in one earlier that day. But Everton didn´t win, the others did, and thats who the waiters were up for.
Eating a poor mans dish
Friday 4th April
Today I was relocating to Valparaiso for the weekend. It sounds like a nice thing, relocate to the seaside for the weekend, but time will tell whether this is a good idea or not.
As it doesn´t take long to get there, I decided to do another Santiago sight before I went. So off I went to Santa Lucia, another park on a hill in the centre of Santiago. Its a bit like having Stephens Green where the centre of the green is 100 metres above the rest of the streets. Its not as high as the other one, and doesn´t have a train to the top, altough there is a lift part way. But I decided to do all the stairs.
Before I got to the park entrance I was approached by some local scam artists. Its the usual patter now, how long are you here (how gullible are you?), where are you from, and then the link is formed. In this case by an amazing coincidence the guys father had been in Ireland for 21 years as an exile from Pinochet. While there were some if I thought I actually met one I´d be buying lotto tickets.
Anyway him, and his mate who turned up, making me a bit nervous, wanted to know about how expensive our education system was, as theirs is very dear they claimed (and in fact their scam was supposedly to raise funds for education), and also what we thought of Pinochet in Ireland. I wasn´t getting into any political discussions about dictators (altough I could have compared Bertie to Pinochet like I did in Thailand) so I moved the conversation onto some tourist advice, and then, and I must be getting weak, gave them a couple of dollars.
After that it was up the hill, once I had signed in. They make everyone sign in, and give their ID or passport numbers. No idea why. The hill itself is a strange place, part fort, part church, and part romantic hangout for all the young folk in Santiago. The Lonely Planet warned you would be stepping around courting couples and they weren´t joking. The views from the top were quite poor, I think the smog was worse today than the other day. Its not too bad at ground level, but it is when you want to look at distant things. The Andes were almost invisible today.
After that it was off to the bus station to get the bus to Valparaiso. They run every 15 minutes so its not difficult to get one. However you do need to get to the right terminal. For some reason I took down the wrong terminal address so went to a different one first. Luckily they aren´t too far apart, so it only cost me about 40 minutes, and a dollar for the extra metro trip.
The trip to Valpo was fairly straight forward, it is only 80k away and connected by motorway so the bus flew along at 100k. We know this because there is an in cabin speedometer, I guess to stop the drivers from going too fast, and the passengers from complaining he isn´t going fast enough. The buses were very modern and comfortable, and unlike in SE Asia, we didn´t wait to fill up, we left on time half empty.
Once in Valpo I got a taxi to the hotel. Which was just as well because it was up a very steep hill. There is no way I´d want to walk it with my pack on my back (it was hard enough later with only my daypack and a bottle of water). Interestingly the 4.2 k taxi journey cost more at $10 than the bus journey, which was only $7. I´m not 100% sure if it was the shortest route the driver could have taken.
That evening I went for a walk around the town. Its more like what I was expecting from a South American city, more life to it, but that may just be an unusual feature of Santiago centre. I found a place for a very goos local sepciality meal, a pobre (poor mans) dish. Which actually sounds a lot more special than it is, all pobre means is that you get a big pile of chips and two fried eggs with your meat. But it was still very nice, and provided the energy required for the big climb back to the hotel.
Today I was relocating to Valparaiso for the weekend. It sounds like a nice thing, relocate to the seaside for the weekend, but time will tell whether this is a good idea or not.
As it doesn´t take long to get there, I decided to do another Santiago sight before I went. So off I went to Santa Lucia, another park on a hill in the centre of Santiago. Its a bit like having Stephens Green where the centre of the green is 100 metres above the rest of the streets. Its not as high as the other one, and doesn´t have a train to the top, altough there is a lift part way. But I decided to do all the stairs.
Before I got to the park entrance I was approached by some local scam artists. Its the usual patter now, how long are you here (how gullible are you?), where are you from, and then the link is formed. In this case by an amazing coincidence the guys father had been in Ireland for 21 years as an exile from Pinochet. While there were some if I thought I actually met one I´d be buying lotto tickets.
Anyway him, and his mate who turned up, making me a bit nervous, wanted to know about how expensive our education system was, as theirs is very dear they claimed (and in fact their scam was supposedly to raise funds for education), and also what we thought of Pinochet in Ireland. I wasn´t getting into any political discussions about dictators (altough I could have compared Bertie to Pinochet like I did in Thailand) so I moved the conversation onto some tourist advice, and then, and I must be getting weak, gave them a couple of dollars.
After that it was up the hill, once I had signed in. They make everyone sign in, and give their ID or passport numbers. No idea why. The hill itself is a strange place, part fort, part church, and part romantic hangout for all the young folk in Santiago. The Lonely Planet warned you would be stepping around courting couples and they weren´t joking. The views from the top were quite poor, I think the smog was worse today than the other day. Its not too bad at ground level, but it is when you want to look at distant things. The Andes were almost invisible today.
After that it was off to the bus station to get the bus to Valparaiso. They run every 15 minutes so its not difficult to get one. However you do need to get to the right terminal. For some reason I took down the wrong terminal address so went to a different one first. Luckily they aren´t too far apart, so it only cost me about 40 minutes, and a dollar for the extra metro trip.
The trip to Valpo was fairly straight forward, it is only 80k away and connected by motorway so the bus flew along at 100k. We know this because there is an in cabin speedometer, I guess to stop the drivers from going too fast, and the passengers from complaining he isn´t going fast enough. The buses were very modern and comfortable, and unlike in SE Asia, we didn´t wait to fill up, we left on time half empty.
Once in Valpo I got a taxi to the hotel. Which was just as well because it was up a very steep hill. There is no way I´d want to walk it with my pack on my back (it was hard enough later with only my daypack and a bottle of water). Interestingly the 4.2 k taxi journey cost more at $10 than the bus journey, which was only $7. I´m not 100% sure if it was the shortest route the driver could have taken.
That evening I went for a walk around the town. Its more like what I was expecting from a South American city, more life to it, but that may just be an unusual feature of Santiago centre. I found a place for a very goos local sepciality meal, a pobre (poor mans) dish. Which actually sounds a lot more special than it is, all pobre means is that you get a big pile of chips and two fried eggs with your meat. But it was still very nice, and provided the energy required for the big climb back to the hotel.
Suburban Santiago
Thursday 3rd April
I decided to see what the suburbs looked like, especially the big two that the Lonley Planet glossed over (it is the LP for South America, the Chile one gave a little more detail). I went to Los Condes, using the very efficient metro service. I say efficient because I was never more than 1 minute waiting, and loads of people were using it. And the directions, especially for transfering from one line to another, were very clear.
However it doesn´t go all the way to the Los Condes part of town, although from the maps the system is always being extended. But for now it was about a 20 minute walk to the main big shopping centre in Los Condes from the end of the line. I could have gone looking for the free shuttle bus, but I think I came out the wrong entrance. Anyway it was a nice walk. The area is a bit like the IFSC, or maybe all the new apartments around Dundrum, on steroids. The buildings are all a fair bit taller. But they are the buildings we should have, and not just because of their height. They look good, and from the descriptions on the for sale signs, the apartments are all a lot bigger than the ones we get at home, up to 4 bedrooms, big balconies and so on. The Chileans have learnt how to build apartments from the European continent, pity we didn´t.
Anyway the shopping centre was a direct match for anything we have at home. And it did contain some of the same names as well, Sony Centre, Addidas, Laura Ashley, names I hadn´t seen in the city centre the previous day. There are still a load of local shops, but it does feel more familiar.
After that I went back to Providencia, an older suburb. Because it is older the buildings are not as high rise, and I guess they are more pricey. Because of this it has a lot of nice restaurants and pubs, including an Irish pub. Naturally I had to stop and have a beer instead of passing on by. A pity I had eaten in the food court of the shopping centre because the food looked good in the Irish pub.
However neither of the suburbs had gotten me closer to my real goal, a sleeping bag. Now I could have brought one, and carried it for 10 weeks (and inevitably lost it), or I could have bought one in New Zealand, but they seemed quite expensive there, so I took a gamble and left it until Chile. The gamble looked like failing, as it was looking hard to find, and Lonely Planet informed me that camping gear can be quite pricey in Chile. But I had one place left to go, Paris. This is a big department store chain, a sort of Dunnes I guess, which has a big store on the main street. So I went there and they did have camping gear listed on their menu at the front, on the 6th floor of 11.
However when I got up there I nearly missed the camping section it was so small (I guess it could be seasonal) but luckily there were sleeping bags (in fact that is all there was). And they did cost a lot, I think it was 6 euro. For some reason I had to pay by card, not cash, so I think the charges on the transaction will cost more than the bag itself. If it lasts me the 6 or 7 nights I´m going to need it here, it will be the bargain of the trip.
In the evening I went to the suburb that was closest to where I was staying, Brasil. It had looked dead enough when I passed by it the previous day, but just a the centre closes down at dusk, it was only beginning to open at 7pm. I found a bar that served me a giant tortilla. It was the size of a large pizza and twice as deep as a normal deep pan. I couldn´t finish it all, which is unusual for me. The place was nicely packed with local girls, who are generally quite good looking, although they all were smoking in this place. Of course I did pick a table in the smoking zone.
Showing how much better the suburbs were, I also found an internet cafe that was open until midnight, so I was able to blog away, and organise my trip to Valparaiso.
I decided to see what the suburbs looked like, especially the big two that the Lonley Planet glossed over (it is the LP for South America, the Chile one gave a little more detail). I went to Los Condes, using the very efficient metro service. I say efficient because I was never more than 1 minute waiting, and loads of people were using it. And the directions, especially for transfering from one line to another, were very clear.
However it doesn´t go all the way to the Los Condes part of town, although from the maps the system is always being extended. But for now it was about a 20 minute walk to the main big shopping centre in Los Condes from the end of the line. I could have gone looking for the free shuttle bus, but I think I came out the wrong entrance. Anyway it was a nice walk. The area is a bit like the IFSC, or maybe all the new apartments around Dundrum, on steroids. The buildings are all a fair bit taller. But they are the buildings we should have, and not just because of their height. They look good, and from the descriptions on the for sale signs, the apartments are all a lot bigger than the ones we get at home, up to 4 bedrooms, big balconies and so on. The Chileans have learnt how to build apartments from the European continent, pity we didn´t.
Anyway the shopping centre was a direct match for anything we have at home. And it did contain some of the same names as well, Sony Centre, Addidas, Laura Ashley, names I hadn´t seen in the city centre the previous day. There are still a load of local shops, but it does feel more familiar.
After that I went back to Providencia, an older suburb. Because it is older the buildings are not as high rise, and I guess they are more pricey. Because of this it has a lot of nice restaurants and pubs, including an Irish pub. Naturally I had to stop and have a beer instead of passing on by. A pity I had eaten in the food court of the shopping centre because the food looked good in the Irish pub.
However neither of the suburbs had gotten me closer to my real goal, a sleeping bag. Now I could have brought one, and carried it for 10 weeks (and inevitably lost it), or I could have bought one in New Zealand, but they seemed quite expensive there, so I took a gamble and left it until Chile. The gamble looked like failing, as it was looking hard to find, and Lonely Planet informed me that camping gear can be quite pricey in Chile. But I had one place left to go, Paris. This is a big department store chain, a sort of Dunnes I guess, which has a big store on the main street. So I went there and they did have camping gear listed on their menu at the front, on the 6th floor of 11.
However when I got up there I nearly missed the camping section it was so small (I guess it could be seasonal) but luckily there were sleeping bags (in fact that is all there was). And they did cost a lot, I think it was 6 euro. For some reason I had to pay by card, not cash, so I think the charges on the transaction will cost more than the bag itself. If it lasts me the 6 or 7 nights I´m going to need it here, it will be the bargain of the trip.
In the evening I went to the suburb that was closest to where I was staying, Brasil. It had looked dead enough when I passed by it the previous day, but just a the centre closes down at dusk, it was only beginning to open at 7pm. I found a bar that served me a giant tortilla. It was the size of a large pizza and twice as deep as a normal deep pan. I couldn´t finish it all, which is unusual for me. The place was nicely packed with local girls, who are generally quite good looking, although they all were smoking in this place. Of course I did pick a table in the smoking zone.
Showing how much better the suburbs were, I also found an internet cafe that was open until midnight, so I was able to blog away, and organise my trip to Valparaiso.
In the daylight
Wednesday 2nd April
I got up and went out after a very disappointing breakfast (apparently they don't really got for breakfast over here, which is disappointing for those like me who like to abuse the buffet, and yet you pay extra for this poor choice).
I walked towards the centre of the city and discovered that it was only 5 blocks away from the hotel. It seemed a bit more alive in the daylight. It also seems a lot more modern. I guess the lack of lighting last night made it look older, but I guess having the big tall towers with low lighting is good for the environment so fair play to Santiago for that. Also I realised that the dodgy areas I saw last night were in fact not run down towers, but new ones under construction.
Anway I walked to the main square, Plaza de Armas, and then around the various pedestrianised shopping streets that branch off it. I wouldn't say that Santiago Centre is a great shopping experience, but it seems like you can get most things there. Interestingly none of the main brand name shops seem to have a presence, although the fast food outlets do. Although the free map I got at the airport had about 20 starbucks marked on it, and I never saw one, so I guess they've gone again. The international banks seem to have some presence as well, judging by some bank logos (Banc Edwards logo looks a lot like Citibanks). From a product point of view some brands are present, some aren't. There is no problem getting Cokes or Sony but I haven't seen some food brands that are everywhere else. And there is defintiely no problem getting Pharmacy stuff, there seem to be more Chemists than any other type of shop. Either a lot of things are prescribed here, or its an indication of what we will end up like if we ever deregulate pharmacies.
I headed back to the Plaza to look at some of the historic buildings that border it. Here my lack of Spanish was first shown up. As I was sitting there deciding on whether or not to go into a museum, a guy came up and tried to strike up a conversation. I think i got out my name was Gavin and I was Irish, before the conversation stalled.
I headed off to do a touristy thing, get the funicular to San Cristobal. This is a hill overlooking Santiago. In Ireland it would be called a mountain, but compared to the Andes, which can just about be seen through the smog, this is only a dot. This is the site of a big shrine, and a statue of Mary, where the Pope said mass in 1984. So its kind of like the Papal Cross, except without the empty cider bottles.
And it is a few hundred metres above the city and it gives a good overview of the sprawl that is Santiago, and if there was no smog the mountains beyond. I was helped by a friendly information guide, who spoke some English, and explained that Santiago was in fact 3 different cities, Santiago, Provendcia, and Las Condes, all of which are joined together. The Lonely Planet neglected to mention this which is why its map covers totally different areas to the free maps the tourist board gives out.
The other good thing about this was I did get to hear some English speakers again, as there was a tour bus of Americans around. As it was approaching siesta time, I headed back to the hotel, where conveniently the football was on again (Arsenal v Pool), so I watched that. Although when Chelsea went 1 up in the second match (on delay) I decided that it was time to get out again, I didn't want to waste the whole afternoon. So I headed to an internet cafe, where I discovered that they had lost, and I had missed it. I'd have enjoyed seeing the two goals go in against them.
I looked around the centre of the city for dinner, but there wasn't much choice. There were many places open, but if you discount the big chains like McDs and KFC, there wasn't much choice. Almost all the local cafes serve big meat things like bugers and hot dogs covered in all sorts of sauces. (OK there are a few veggie places and so on, but with having been in a veggie place already this week, thanks Paul, I couldn't take another one). I could have gone to my own hotel which for some reason (being the owner) serves only Indian food.
After dinner all the local internet cafes shut down, and I couldn't find a decent bar (or any bar) so I ended up back at the hotel watching some rubbish film on TV.
I need to pay more attention to the Lonely Planet, which altough doesn't mention Provencida, does mention that all the action in the evenings is out in the suburbs.
I got up and went out after a very disappointing breakfast (apparently they don't really got for breakfast over here, which is disappointing for those like me who like to abuse the buffet, and yet you pay extra for this poor choice).
I walked towards the centre of the city and discovered that it was only 5 blocks away from the hotel. It seemed a bit more alive in the daylight. It also seems a lot more modern. I guess the lack of lighting last night made it look older, but I guess having the big tall towers with low lighting is good for the environment so fair play to Santiago for that. Also I realised that the dodgy areas I saw last night were in fact not run down towers, but new ones under construction.
Anway I walked to the main square, Plaza de Armas, and then around the various pedestrianised shopping streets that branch off it. I wouldn't say that Santiago Centre is a great shopping experience, but it seems like you can get most things there. Interestingly none of the main brand name shops seem to have a presence, although the fast food outlets do. Although the free map I got at the airport had about 20 starbucks marked on it, and I never saw one, so I guess they've gone again. The international banks seem to have some presence as well, judging by some bank logos (Banc Edwards logo looks a lot like Citibanks). From a product point of view some brands are present, some aren't. There is no problem getting Cokes or Sony but I haven't seen some food brands that are everywhere else. And there is defintiely no problem getting Pharmacy stuff, there seem to be more Chemists than any other type of shop. Either a lot of things are prescribed here, or its an indication of what we will end up like if we ever deregulate pharmacies.
I headed back to the Plaza to look at some of the historic buildings that border it. Here my lack of Spanish was first shown up. As I was sitting there deciding on whether or not to go into a museum, a guy came up and tried to strike up a conversation. I think i got out my name was Gavin and I was Irish, before the conversation stalled.
I headed off to do a touristy thing, get the funicular to San Cristobal. This is a hill overlooking Santiago. In Ireland it would be called a mountain, but compared to the Andes, which can just about be seen through the smog, this is only a dot. This is the site of a big shrine, and a statue of Mary, where the Pope said mass in 1984. So its kind of like the Papal Cross, except without the empty cider bottles.
And it is a few hundred metres above the city and it gives a good overview of the sprawl that is Santiago, and if there was no smog the mountains beyond. I was helped by a friendly information guide, who spoke some English, and explained that Santiago was in fact 3 different cities, Santiago, Provendcia, and Las Condes, all of which are joined together. The Lonely Planet neglected to mention this which is why its map covers totally different areas to the free maps the tourist board gives out.
The other good thing about this was I did get to hear some English speakers again, as there was a tour bus of Americans around. As it was approaching siesta time, I headed back to the hotel, where conveniently the football was on again (Arsenal v Pool), so I watched that. Although when Chelsea went 1 up in the second match (on delay) I decided that it was time to get out again, I didn't want to waste the whole afternoon. So I headed to an internet cafe, where I discovered that they had lost, and I had missed it. I'd have enjoyed seeing the two goals go in against them.
I looked around the centre of the city for dinner, but there wasn't much choice. There were many places open, but if you discount the big chains like McDs and KFC, there wasn't much choice. Almost all the local cafes serve big meat things like bugers and hot dogs covered in all sorts of sauces. (OK there are a few veggie places and so on, but with having been in a veggie place already this week, thanks Paul, I couldn't take another one). I could have gone to my own hotel which for some reason (being the owner) serves only Indian food.
After dinner all the local internet cafes shut down, and I couldn't find a decent bar (or any bar) so I ended up back at the hotel watching some rubbish film on TV.
I need to pay more attention to the Lonely Planet, which altough doesn't mention Provencida, does mention that all the action in the evenings is out in the suburbs.
April Fools Day - Part 2
Tuesday April 1st
... which is 1am Santiago time, so the whole day started again (using my rule of resetting my watch as soon as I get on the plane, which seems a bit stupid this time). This is defintiely a real April Fools Trick I played on myself when booking this months ago.
The flight itself was fine, except for the extreme turbulence we flew into for about an hour just after take off. There was all sorts of lightening outside and everything. The turbulence wasn{t too bad but it did have some knock on effects, it managed to kill my personal entertainment console, which meant I did get a bit bored later in the flight (I had packed most of my books away). It also delayed the serving of the dinner, as the aircrew couldn't even walk around, and this had the knock on effect of delaying and shortening the sleep period, which messed up my jet lag prevention plan.
So I was a bit bleary eyed when we arrived in Santiago. Still its like every other international airport so I got through OK. Better than the US, Aus, Canadian and Mexican passengers, all of whom have to pay an entry fee as retaliation for chilean citizens having to pay for visas to those countries. But they like us in the EU so we get in for free.
I got a taxi to the hotel, and checked in. The room had ESPN so I was just in time to watch Man Uniteds good performance in Rome. Then the other match came on and I fell asleep. This was a mistake as I had wanted to go out and see a bit of the city in the daylight. It was nearly dark when I woke, and of course my sleeping patterns were now well and truely messed up. I popped out for a quick bite to eat and I can't say the city impressed me much. It looked a bit run down. Having said that I did only go as far as the first place I could find, a sort of local KFC, before returning to the hotel.
... which is 1am Santiago time, so the whole day started again (using my rule of resetting my watch as soon as I get on the plane, which seems a bit stupid this time). This is defintiely a real April Fools Trick I played on myself when booking this months ago.
The flight itself was fine, except for the extreme turbulence we flew into for about an hour just after take off. There was all sorts of lightening outside and everything. The turbulence wasn{t too bad but it did have some knock on effects, it managed to kill my personal entertainment console, which meant I did get a bit bored later in the flight (I had packed most of my books away). It also delayed the serving of the dinner, as the aircrew couldn't even walk around, and this had the knock on effect of delaying and shortening the sleep period, which messed up my jet lag prevention plan.
So I was a bit bleary eyed when we arrived in Santiago. Still its like every other international airport so I got through OK. Better than the US, Aus, Canadian and Mexican passengers, all of whom have to pay an entry fee as retaliation for chilean citizens having to pay for visas to those countries. But they like us in the EU so we get in for free.
I got a taxi to the hotel, and checked in. The room had ESPN so I was just in time to watch Man Uniteds good performance in Rome. Then the other match came on and I fell asleep. This was a mistake as I had wanted to go out and see a bit of the city in the daylight. It was nearly dark when I woke, and of course my sleeping patterns were now well and truely messed up. I popped out for a quick bite to eat and I can't say the city impressed me much. It looked a bit run down. Having said that I did only go as far as the first place I could find, a sort of local KFC, before returning to the hotel.
April Fools Day - Part 1
Tuesday April 1st
You may have noticed that I have skipped over a number of entries. This is because there are people reading this who will be in Santiago soon (my sister Clare and her boyfriend Paul), and this information may be of help to them. I'll eventually get around to writing the NZ stuff from my notes. But my days in Chile actually start in New Zealand due to the International Date Line.
We got up and out of our motel. Clare and Paul were going to stay with friends so we were all out, but they were able to leave their bags in the motel, so I was the only one who had to lump around his backpack in the city centre. There wasn't much we could do with such encumberments, so we had a late breakfast, the a quick look around some shops, and then we went to Father Ted's pub for a final NZ beer (wasn't last nights one a final beer). The beer was called a Father Ted's lager, but it tasted suspiciously like the Export Gold lager that was on the other tap, and which I'd had in other pubs. After that it was a goodbye to the kids and I was off to the airport.
We had had some confusion about my flight time. My electronic invoice had a different time on it to my paper one, and my paper one was actually more recent. But it differed from Clare's time for her flight, which was the same flight number. They only differed by an hour so I decided to get out to the airport in time for the earlier of the two. The hour bit should have been the clue though, it was all a Daylight Savings Time mess, and in fact the last times sent to me were correct , and so were all the others. The time when the electronic information was sent out was correct, because the DST changes were moved by a week in NZ afterwards. Apparently all the computers in NZ have been confused by it (and in fact I remembered noting this on a Visa receipt I got the previous day). And Clare's flight times are correct because it is all fixed after next weekend.
Auckland is not that big an airport, nor is the international lounge that busy, but it still took me a while to get through it, trying to spend my last NZ dollars, including the ridiculous departure tax that has to be paid by everyone, $25, and which can't be paid for in advance. Very annoying. It all meant that I only had time and money for one last, last NZ beer, my third in 24 hours. I say enough money, but in fact I was 10 cents short for the bottle of Steinglager, but the nice girl behind the counter let me away with it.
Anyway we boarded the plane at 6pm...
You may have noticed that I have skipped over a number of entries. This is because there are people reading this who will be in Santiago soon (my sister Clare and her boyfriend Paul), and this information may be of help to them. I'll eventually get around to writing the NZ stuff from my notes. But my days in Chile actually start in New Zealand due to the International Date Line.
We got up and out of our motel. Clare and Paul were going to stay with friends so we were all out, but they were able to leave their bags in the motel, so I was the only one who had to lump around his backpack in the city centre. There wasn't much we could do with such encumberments, so we had a late breakfast, the a quick look around some shops, and then we went to Father Ted's pub for a final NZ beer (wasn't last nights one a final beer). The beer was called a Father Ted's lager, but it tasted suspiciously like the Export Gold lager that was on the other tap, and which I'd had in other pubs. After that it was a goodbye to the kids and I was off to the airport.
We had had some confusion about my flight time. My electronic invoice had a different time on it to my paper one, and my paper one was actually more recent. But it differed from Clare's time for her flight, which was the same flight number. They only differed by an hour so I decided to get out to the airport in time for the earlier of the two. The hour bit should have been the clue though, it was all a Daylight Savings Time mess, and in fact the last times sent to me were correct , and so were all the others. The time when the electronic information was sent out was correct, because the DST changes were moved by a week in NZ afterwards. Apparently all the computers in NZ have been confused by it (and in fact I remembered noting this on a Visa receipt I got the previous day). And Clare's flight times are correct because it is all fixed after next weekend.
Auckland is not that big an airport, nor is the international lounge that busy, but it still took me a while to get through it, trying to spend my last NZ dollars, including the ridiculous departure tax that has to be paid by everyone, $25, and which can't be paid for in advance. Very annoying. It all meant that I only had time and money for one last, last NZ beer, my third in 24 hours. I say enough money, but in fact I was 10 cents short for the bottle of Steinglager, but the nice girl behind the counter let me away with it.
Anyway we boarded the plane at 6pm...
At last real civilisation
Monday March 31st.
OK its a bit unfair on Wellington, being Easter weekend when we were there we didn't really get to see it alive, but for the first time since I've been in New Zealand, I feel like I'm in a place I recognise, Auckland, its just like home (cheap imported labour seems to be everywhere).
OK its a bit unfair on Wellington, being Easter weekend when we were there we didn't really get to see it alive, but for the first time since I've been in New Zealand, I feel like I'm in a place I recognise, Auckland, its just like home (cheap imported labour seems to be everywhere).
A big Kiwi
Sunday March 30th
This time on our long trip we decided to divert to see a big kiwi. The fruit not the bird.
This time on our long trip we decided to divert to see a big kiwi. The fruit not the bird.
Zorbing, and more closures
Saturday March 29th
Today we went out to the Agrodome, but I never saw a dome, or any Agro. Anyway we also discovered that Rotorua likes Easter closing so much, it repeats it every Saturday at lunch time.
Today we went out to the Agrodome, but I never saw a dome, or any Agro. Anyway we also discovered that Rotorua likes Easter closing so much, it repeats it every Saturday at lunch time.
Whats that smell
Friday March 28th
Rotorua. Its got lots of sulphur, and it smells. It says so in the guide books, so why complain.
Rotorua. Its got lots of sulphur, and it smells. It says so in the guide books, so why complain.
The greatest one day walk in the world?
Thursday March 27th
Today we did the Tongariro Crossing, billed as one of the best one day walks in the world. Was it? Not really, but it could have been the weather.
Today we did the Tongariro Crossing, billed as one of the best one day walks in the world. Was it? Not really, but it could have been the weather.
Hell is Pizza Heaven
Wednesday March 26th
Not much happened to day, but we did have a Pizza from Hell, which was one of the best I've ever had.
Not much happened to day, but we did have a Pizza from Hell, which was one of the best I've ever had.
The Big Carrot
Exactly what it says. On our long trip from Wellington to Lake Taupo, we visited a big carrot.
This day wasn't ever going to be too exciting. It is a long way from Wellington to Lake Taupo, about 400k, which even on a good motorway would take 4 hours. And although we are on the main road in New Zealand, State Highway 1, joining the largest city and the capital, its not a motorway. In fact the roads in New Zealand are like how they were in Ireland 20 years ago, but if traffic volumes are low enough do you need motorways. The answer is yes if the distances are painful, and this is. I don't know how anyone drives from Wellington to Auckland in a day, and I know they can't take the train as thats not much better here.
But I digress, although thats all there really is to do. Poor Paul has the hard job of the day as the only driver, so it is up to him to do it all. We do get some welcome breaks along the way, we pass by a cookie shop in an old DC3 painted to look like a cookie, so obviously we have to stop there. A less obvious stop is a giant carrot in Okahune. This is mainly because it is an extra 50k out of our way, and to be fair it is a long enough day already. But Clare likes her picture with big things, so we do the diversion.
The main feature of the journey is the last 100k, all of which is either in the shadow of Mount Tongariro, our trekking destination for later, or alongside Lake Taupo, which is a lake formed in the caldera of an ancient super volcano. The scenery is spectacular as usual.
That evening the other pair are tired, so after dinner I head out for a drink in the local Irish bar. There is a pub quiz on, which I get roped into, and then a slightly strange clothes swapping competition which I don't get roped into. An interesting night.
Lord of the Rings
Monday March 24th
Well after snubbing the expensive tours in Queenstown, today we did a Lord of the Rings scene tour in Wellington, and it was very good.
Well after snubbing the expensive tours in Queenstown, today we did a Lord of the Rings scene tour in Wellington, and it was very good.
Rolling along
Sunday 23rd March
Spoke too soon about everything being open, they all shut again for Easter. At least the parks and the museum are open.
Spoke too soon about everything being open, they all shut again for Easter. At least the parks and the museum are open.
Ferry cross the Cook
Saturday 22nd March
Transfered to the North Island today, and it seems to have a lot more civilisation. Also everthing is open again.
Transfered to the North Island today, and it seems to have a lot more civilisation. Also everthing is open again.
A long Good Friday
Friday March 21st
Yep its Good Friday. And just like home all the pubs are closed. Unlike home, so is everything else.
Yep its Good Friday. And just like home all the pubs are closed. Unlike home, so is everything else.
Deserted towns
Thursday March 20th
I'm not sure is it the further north we go on this island, or the closer we get to Easter, but everywhere is becoming more and more deserted.
I'm not sure is it the further north we go on this island, or the closer we get to Easter, but everywhere is becoming more and more deserted.
Franz Josef this time
Wednesday March 19th
The helihike couldn´t be topped, so we just walked up to the front of the Franz Josef Glacier this time (or as close as you can get).
The helihike couldn´t be topped, so we just walked up to the front of the Franz Josef Glacier this time (or as close as you can get).
Up on Fox Glacier
Tuesday March 18th
The helihike onto Fox Glacier has to be one of the coolest things ever.
The helihike onto Fox Glacier has to be one of the coolest things ever.
Paddy´s day, and no Irish bar
Monday March 17th
Yep its St Patrick's day, but we were doing the long trip to Franz Josef Glacier. Where there are no Irish pubs (in fact not really any pubs at all) but there was some Irish music in a local restaurant.
Yep its St Patrick's day, but we were doing the long trip to Franz Josef Glacier. Where there are no Irish pubs (in fact not really any pubs at all) but there was some Irish music in a local restaurant.
White water rafting
Saturday 15th March
Actually that was fairly straight forward. It was the trip there that was the white knuckle ride.
Actually that was fairly straight forward. It was the trip there that was the white knuckle ride.
Meet the relatives
Friday 14th March
Yep the relatives were in town. Kate and Paddy, my Aunt and Uncle, and Anne and Pearse, Clares godparents, were pasing through on a whirlwind coach tour of New Zealand. But today was their half day off so we spent it with them.
Yep the relatives were in town. Kate and Paddy, my Aunt and Uncle, and Anne and Pearse, Clares godparents, were pasing through on a whirlwind coach tour of New Zealand. But today was their half day off so we spent it with them.
Two trips to Paradise
Thursday 13th March
Today was the day we had wanted to go on a Lord of the Rings tour, but we had decided not to pay the excessive prices. So instead we went off to find Paradise. Paradise is an area some distance beyond Glenorchy, which is a little township about 45 miles from Queenstown. It is in effect the back of beyond, and was obviously used in Lord of the Rings as it is untouched by humans.
Today was the day we had wanted to go on a Lord of the Rings tour, but we had decided not to pay the excessive prices. So instead we went off to find Paradise. Paradise is an area some distance beyond Glenorchy, which is a little township about 45 miles from Queenstown. It is in effect the back of beyond, and was obviously used in Lord of the Rings as it is untouched by humans.
We drove to Glenorchy, a nice drive by itself along the lakes edge, and found it to be a typical Scottish highlands village. Well what did you expect with that name. Actually looking at the names on the war memorial you really would have thought you were in Scotland. On the pier overlooking the lake we met a man fishing, and he gave us directions to get to Paradise. "Drive the road out of town, and when it finishes drive on the track. After it finishes, keep following the path, fording a few streams, until you get to a stream you can't ford. When you get there, cross the river by foot, go round the corner, and the mountain will rise up in front of you and you can go no further. Then you are at paradise"
Suffice to say that is pretty much what happened, we reached the point at which they said don't take your rented car past, and kept going. Eventually after Clare got a bit concerned over some of our fordings, we reached one we decided not to try, not because it was too deep, but because of the boulders in the stream. We think it was the right one. Either way it was beautiful, and could easily be called Paradise.
What the guy didn't tell us was that on the way we would run into a red light. Turns out Lord of the Rings was not the only film made there, they were in the middle of making Wolverine. We turned a corner to see a field full of catering trucks, a load of 4x4s, and a helicopter chasing a motorbike. We were halted by security, as they were filming a scene they wanted us to wait. Clare got a bit excited to think Hugh Jackman might be in town, but it turned out he was back in Sydney in the studio, and we were stuck with the stunt doubles. Eventually we got let through, no helicopters chased us.
When we got back to Queenstown we decided to go for the other taste of Paradise. Fergburger is a famous takeaway burger place in Queenstown, so good it allegedly caused Burger King to pull out of Queenstown. Anyway we decided to try it, and all I can say is they are pretty much the best burgers I have ever had. I had the full monty, bacon, cheese and all sorts of other toppings. It was awesome. The burger was so big it didn't even fit on the plate. Even Paul's veggie burger was pretty good.
So that was our two trips to Paradise, one scenic, and one culinary.
Gondola and Luge
Wednesday 12th March
One of the highlights of Queenstown, literally, is the Skyline. This is a complex of restaurants and a luge circuit at the top of the mountain overlooking the town and lake. To get there you must go up in a cable car, and then to go on the luge it is a ski lift to the top before getting these go kart type things back down. I guess it is sort of like doing the luge, just on concrete instead of ice.
So off we went in the morning, up the cable car, which gives great views of the town and Lake Wakatipu, and we got up to the luge. It was fairly good, and as it says it is a great view blurred by speed. It was fairly enjoyable but like most mountain tops there wasn't much to do. Unless you want to jump off the mountain in various formats. Some friends of Clare, who we had met for drinks the previous night in an Irish bar, where else, had done a sort of bungee of the mountain. This makes jumping off the bridge look normal.
Anyway after lunch we headed back down and played a game of crazy golf and afterwards went for a few walks around the town. Although it is a adventure sort of place, given the amount of travelling we had all done to get to Queenstown, we were taking the chance of having a bit of a chill, made a lot easier by having a permanent place to stay for 6 days.
A big puzzle
Tuesday 11th March
For those who don't know Queenstown it is the adventure sport capital of New Zealand, and in some ways the adventure sport capital of the world. Many others will claim this title, but in fairness it did sort of invent the idea of bungee jumping (as a tourist attraction anyway). Added to this is all manner of rafting, gliding etc activities. And thats only in summer. In winter the place really comes alive with skiing.
Anyway that is an explanation as to why the first part of the day in this fine place was spent in tourist offices. Trying to organise various activities and trips. One trip of course we wanted to sort out was a Lord of the Rings tour. As most people know, the films were all filmed in NZ, and a lot of the scenes were around Queenstown. So there are a lot of tours taking you to the locations. However after looking around, and finding the price of these tours, and aided by a map and a book about the making of the film, we decided to skip the tour and find some of these places ourselves.
So off we went to Arrowtown. This is a little town that made its name from a gold rush. It is exactly as you would imagine any town in the Yukon, or any other gold rush area. Anyway it was the scene of the crossing of the ford where the elves wash away the Nazgul. You'd know it if you saw it, and we did see it. But as it was raining we didn't hang around.
So we headed off to Wanaka, another town built on a lake (they all are around here). A nice place, but very quiet. However it does boast puzzling world, a world of puzzles. Its interesting, some optical illusions and so on, and a massive 3D outdoor maze. I think we got through it in a resonable time.
After that it was back to Queenstown and Clare made us dinner. With an apartment you don't always have to eat out.
Transfer to Queenstown
Monday 9th March
Today was a lengthy bus trip South to meet up with my sister Clare and our chauffeur for the next few weeks Paul. (Seriously how he puts up with us two non drivers is amazing, thanks for that).
As hinted yesterday the alarm system was the first highlight of the day. Rather than being some buzzer or radio, this modern hotel gives you sunrise at your own chosen time. Seriously, about 15 minutes before the time you choose the room starts getting lighter, then some light noise of birds singing begins until it reaches a noise and brightness that will wake you at about the time you specified. In case you want to doze it continues getting brighter, though not noisier, forcing you up. A more natural alarm you won't find.
Anyway off I went to get the bus. Which wasn't a big bus, more of a minibus, but it left on time. Booking it had been easy, those nice people in the tourist office did it for me while I waited for the hotel to confirm yesterday. Anyway it was a long journey, but very enjoyable, with amazing views around every corner. Well once we got out of Christchurch, which finally seemed to have turned all the Zombie ducks back into commuters. For a small place rush hour was fairly busy. Anyway once on our way we drove through some great scenery, including views of Mt Cook, stopping in a number of really nice villages for refreshments. (As it was my first day of NZ I hadn't yet realised that all trips in NZ are like this).
Using the wonders of modern technology I was able to keep Clare updated as to my ETA, and lo and behod when I stepped off the bus in Queenstown, there she was. I hadn't seen my sister in 10 months, so needless to say the rest of the day was taken up with catching up and a few drinks, before back to the apartment in the centre of town which would be our home for the next 6 days (and fait play to Clare who organised it, its about as central as you can get).
Today was a lengthy bus trip South to meet up with my sister Clare and our chauffeur for the next few weeks Paul. (Seriously how he puts up with us two non drivers is amazing, thanks for that).
As hinted yesterday the alarm system was the first highlight of the day. Rather than being some buzzer or radio, this modern hotel gives you sunrise at your own chosen time. Seriously, about 15 minutes before the time you choose the room starts getting lighter, then some light noise of birds singing begins until it reaches a noise and brightness that will wake you at about the time you specified. In case you want to doze it continues getting brighter, though not noisier, forcing you up. A more natural alarm you won't find.
Anyway off I went to get the bus. Which wasn't a big bus, more of a minibus, but it left on time. Booking it had been easy, those nice people in the tourist office did it for me while I waited for the hotel to confirm yesterday. Anyway it was a long journey, but very enjoyable, with amazing views around every corner. Well once we got out of Christchurch, which finally seemed to have turned all the Zombie ducks back into commuters. For a small place rush hour was fairly busy. Anyway once on our way we drove through some great scenery, including views of Mt Cook, stopping in a number of really nice villages for refreshments. (As it was my first day of NZ I hadn't yet realised that all trips in NZ are like this).
Using the wonders of modern technology I was able to keep Clare updated as to my ETA, and lo and behod when I stepped off the bus in Queenstown, there she was. I hadn't seen my sister in 10 months, so needless to say the rest of the day was taken up with catching up and a few drinks, before back to the apartment in the centre of town which would be our home for the next 6 days (and fait play to Clare who organised it, its about as central as you can get).
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Transfer to Christchurch
Sunday 9th March
This has all got messed up now due to the prioritisation of the Chilean segments. I will sort it out soon.
Today I departed Sydney for New Zealand. As its getting into winter, its South first and then move North, so off to Christchurch. It was an early start, after a late night, but Janet was kind enough to volunteer to drop me to the airport, although I could have got a taxi. There wasn't much to report from there, it was a fairly normal flight. The one interesting thing was we seemed to be delayed for the nice shiny A380. I guess nothing gets in the way of a successful launch of a new plane. The plane is massive, what makes it freaky is that unlike the 747 with its bump, it is the same proportion as other planes. So when it is up in the sky and far away, it just looks like another plane closer. Even after it took off it was visible for 10 minutes.
Eventually we took off and as I said it was a fairly standard flight. The one thing I guess us Europeans don't realise is how far NZ is from Oz. Its a 3 hour flight, like flying across Europe.
Upon arrival in Christchurch the first thing I had to do is locate accommodation. Due to some internet and credit card issues I had nothing booked. But it couldn't be easier. Just go into the tourist office and they pretty much did everything for me. It was a bit more expensive, but I went for an ultra modern hotel, sort of a pod concept, with a small room but everything you need, plasma TV, internet, and the best alarm system ever (more of that tomorrow).
Once booked in it was time for a walk around the town. It was weird, it was about 4 in the afternoon (yep like the flight time, I had also not realised the time difference) by the time I got out there, and the place was empty. I did the walk through the square with the eponymous church, along the river, through the botanic gardens, and in over an hour and a half on a Sunday afternoon I would say I saw 20 people tops. I have no idea where all the others were, but there were many more ducks that people. In fact it seemed like it was one of those Zombie movies where everyone had been turned into ducks. Zombie ducks.
The only real people I saw were some of the Cheetahs Super 14 rugby team, who were checking into the hotel after losing to the Chiefs the night before.
After that I found that some of the natives were in pubs, and went into a local micro brewery (amazingly bypassing the Irish bar - more about this later in the week) to have dinner, which was a very impressive venison wellington, before heading back to the hotel. Quite simply it seemed a bit dangerous to be walking the streets too late, there were a few dodgy characters lurking about.
This has all got messed up now due to the prioritisation of the Chilean segments. I will sort it out soon.
Today I departed Sydney for New Zealand. As its getting into winter, its South first and then move North, so off to Christchurch. It was an early start, after a late night, but Janet was kind enough to volunteer to drop me to the airport, although I could have got a taxi. There wasn't much to report from there, it was a fairly normal flight. The one interesting thing was we seemed to be delayed for the nice shiny A380. I guess nothing gets in the way of a successful launch of a new plane. The plane is massive, what makes it freaky is that unlike the 747 with its bump, it is the same proportion as other planes. So when it is up in the sky and far away, it just looks like another plane closer. Even after it took off it was visible for 10 minutes.
Eventually we took off and as I said it was a fairly standard flight. The one thing I guess us Europeans don't realise is how far NZ is from Oz. Its a 3 hour flight, like flying across Europe.
Upon arrival in Christchurch the first thing I had to do is locate accommodation. Due to some internet and credit card issues I had nothing booked. But it couldn't be easier. Just go into the tourist office and they pretty much did everything for me. It was a bit more expensive, but I went for an ultra modern hotel, sort of a pod concept, with a small room but everything you need, plasma TV, internet, and the best alarm system ever (more of that tomorrow).
Once booked in it was time for a walk around the town. It was weird, it was about 4 in the afternoon (yep like the flight time, I had also not realised the time difference) by the time I got out there, and the place was empty. I did the walk through the square with the eponymous church, along the river, through the botanic gardens, and in over an hour and a half on a Sunday afternoon I would say I saw 20 people tops. I have no idea where all the others were, but there were many more ducks that people. In fact it seemed like it was one of those Zombie movies where everyone had been turned into ducks. Zombie ducks.
The only real people I saw were some of the Cheetahs Super 14 rugby team, who were checking into the hotel after losing to the Chiefs the night before.
After that I found that some of the natives were in pubs, and went into a local micro brewery (amazingly bypassing the Irish bar - more about this later in the week) to have dinner, which was a very impressive venison wellington, before heading back to the hotel. Quite simply it seemed a bit dangerous to be walking the streets too late, there were a few dodgy characters lurking about.
Final Day in Sydney
Saturday 8th March
Today was a fairly easy day as my final day in Sydney. I was slightly hungover from the previous night. I got up to say goodbye to John, Val and the kids. It was a really nice day, so goodbye was on the beach. Again I'm not a great fan, but there is something to be said for being able to be out on the beach at 9am in Autumn. Even better considering I was stumbling over the same beach (Coogee of course) at 3am.
Of course my hangover did cause a bit of an injury, in my delicate state I didn't apply my sun cream properly and left a gap on my neck that got burned slightly as I built sandcastles.
After that it was just a bit of shopping and a trip up to Watsons Bay. I got to have a drink in the famous restaurant Doyles, no meal though. So it is one that Pat got over on me, but then it always was my dads dream to eat there. A bit of shopping in Bondi junction and then back for another night out. Janet was meeting some friends so I tagged along and had a few drinks. This time the bar and club were more like Cafe En Seine instead of Coppers.
Today was a fairly easy day as my final day in Sydney. I was slightly hungover from the previous night. I got up to say goodbye to John, Val and the kids. It was a really nice day, so goodbye was on the beach. Again I'm not a great fan, but there is something to be said for being able to be out on the beach at 9am in Autumn. Even better considering I was stumbling over the same beach (Coogee of course) at 3am.
Of course my hangover did cause a bit of an injury, in my delicate state I didn't apply my sun cream properly and left a gap on my neck that got burned slightly as I built sandcastles.
After that it was just a bit of shopping and a trip up to Watsons Bay. I got to have a drink in the famous restaurant Doyles, no meal though. So it is one that Pat got over on me, but then it always was my dads dream to eat there. A bit of shopping in Bondi junction and then back for another night out. Janet was meeting some friends so I tagged along and had a few drinks. This time the bar and club were more like Cafe En Seine instead of Coppers.
Manley Beach
Friday 7th March
Today I went to Manley on the ferry, which also doubled as doing a boat tour of Sydney Harbour.
Despite the name that Bondi gets, I actually think Manley as a suburb is a lot nicer. The beaches are fairly similar, although I'm not really a fan of the beach, but I thought the places to sit out and eat were a lot nicer. Except for the seagulls, which were fearless in landing on the tables and eating from the plates. They were clever enough not to eat from your plate until you were finished, but once you looked away for even a minute they would swoop in.
As the weather wasn't that warm when I got there, I didn't sit on the beach, but decided to go for a ramble up on the old headland. I saw the WWII gun placements which were put in to defend Sydney. I think we missed the Battle of Sydney in history. Seriously though I would never have realised they thought they were going to be bombed. Beats Ireland which was bombed even though we were neutral. Apparently they did do some recon flights over though, so I guess the guns got some use. And I only learnt later there was an attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese subs.
I did say the weather wasn't warm, but it was once I got up on the head, so I came back down again, and it got cold again. In fact it then began to rain, so I decided to head back across the bay. Although it didn't rain for long it got quite choppy on the way back, but again it was great for the views.
That evening I met my cousin John for a few pints. Except pints in this country have shrunk to schooners. Means you seem to spend a lot more time at the bar. Although we didn't know it at the time, there was a big electrical storm, with the rest of the rain, while we were in the pub. The clue was the rugby match from the stadium up the road on TV, it was quite wet, and the picture froze for a few minutes after a lightning strike.
After John departed I walked home, but as my path home took me past the infamous Coogee Bay Hotel (CBH) I had to go in. The queue of people showing their passports to get in was quite long, but for some reason the bouncers thought I might have been old enough. All I can say about the CBH is that it reminded me of Coppers on Leaving Cert results night. It was pretty weird. Met a few other Irish but they were all kids. Eventually I made it home, after talking to a nice local girl for a few hours.
Today I went to Manley on the ferry, which also doubled as doing a boat tour of Sydney Harbour.
Despite the name that Bondi gets, I actually think Manley as a suburb is a lot nicer. The beaches are fairly similar, although I'm not really a fan of the beach, but I thought the places to sit out and eat were a lot nicer. Except for the seagulls, which were fearless in landing on the tables and eating from the plates. They were clever enough not to eat from your plate until you were finished, but once you looked away for even a minute they would swoop in.
As the weather wasn't that warm when I got there, I didn't sit on the beach, but decided to go for a ramble up on the old headland. I saw the WWII gun placements which were put in to defend Sydney. I think we missed the Battle of Sydney in history. Seriously though I would never have realised they thought they were going to be bombed. Beats Ireland which was bombed even though we were neutral. Apparently they did do some recon flights over though, so I guess the guns got some use. And I only learnt later there was an attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese subs.
I did say the weather wasn't warm, but it was once I got up on the head, so I came back down again, and it got cold again. In fact it then began to rain, so I decided to head back across the bay. Although it didn't rain for long it got quite choppy on the way back, but again it was great for the views.
That evening I met my cousin John for a few pints. Except pints in this country have shrunk to schooners. Means you seem to spend a lot more time at the bar. Although we didn't know it at the time, there was a big electrical storm, with the rest of the rain, while we were in the pub. The clue was the rugby match from the stadium up the road on TV, it was quite wet, and the picture froze for a few minutes after a lightning strike.
After John departed I walked home, but as my path home took me past the infamous Coogee Bay Hotel (CBH) I had to go in. The queue of people showing their passports to get in was quite long, but for some reason the bouncers thought I might have been old enough. All I can say about the CBH is that it reminded me of Coppers on Leaving Cert results night. It was pretty weird. Met a few other Irish but they were all kids. Eventually I made it home, after talking to a nice local girl for a few hours.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Feeling Blue
Thursday 6th March
Today I went on a day trip to the Blue Mountins and the Jenolan Caves. The beginning of this trip was less chaotic than those in Thailand, but I think it was only because I spoke the same language as the operators. Because of cross booking and so on I still ended up on a bus belonging to a different tour operator than the one I booked with. It did confuse some foreign people so for them I guess it was as chaotic.
Anyway I ended up on a tour with John the bus driver. He was very entertaining, and although a number of his comments were scripted, there was enough where he was reacting to things happening around us for him to give us some good off the cuff remarks. He had to, because the traffic out of Sydney was quite busy. It took us quite a time to get to our first stop, ScenicWorld, which is neat Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.
Basically all this is, is a tourist site built around a few cable cars and a funicular railway that is said to be the world steepest. There are also jungle walks and so on. As we arrived late, and were on a tight schedule (more about that in a minute) we only had time to do the funicular and a cable car back up. The funicular ws quite steep, it says its at 56 degrees, but to be honest at times it feels almost vertical. I think it feels steeper because you are sitting, not standing like in a lift. The cable car back up wasn´t as exciting, it was a big cable car capable of taking 60 people, so it didn´t swing in the breeze like others.
Then we were off to the Jenolan Caves. These caves are quite a distance beyond Katoomba, about 75 km, so it takes quite a while to get there. It hadn´t looked as far on the map, and in fact isn´t as the crow files, but it is a tricky journey. When I realised how long it was going to be, an extra 2 1/2 hours on the bus, I thought I´d made a mistake instead of just picking an easier tour to Katoomba only, but the trip itself was worth the extra time and money, never mind the caves.
The road to the caves was up and over a couple of mountain passes. When you get a bit higher the terrain became more of a mountain pasture scene than the jungle of the Blue Mountains, which I liked better, probably because it reminded me more of home. But the best bit was when you got to Jenolan. The last 8 km are very narrow and winds down a mountain side. The road is so narrow that they have to close it and make it one way for the buses, which is why we were on a deadline to make that window. Two cars might be able to pass, but a car and a bus could never pass. And we weren´t too bad, we were only in a 21 seater bus, there were 45 seaters going down ahead of us, and the driver told us that sometimes they get double deckers as well. That would be pretty hairy.
The caves themselves were pretty good. There are hundreds, we just visited one, the Lucas cave system. They had all the usual features, and some fancy lighting. The little village of Jenolan though has to have one of the most stunning settings ever, in this clearing surrounded by mountain walls, and the only way in is through a big natural arch. And there are some nice lakes and walks around it as well which we had a little time to do. Its only drawback is that you can only get in and out at certain times.
On the way back we got the big picture stop of the famous three sisters rock formation from Echo Point. It was actually quite empty, and it was a good time to take pictures from a lighting point of view, so it was good that it was left till last (I believe on other tours they do it early in the morning and its quite crowded). Anyway after that it was back to sydney, again with the heavy traffic, so we were back late, at about 7.40. Overall the trip took just under 12 hours, and of that we were on the bus for 7 1/2. I can't think how it would be done faster, but it did seem like a long time. Still it rested my dodgy ankle.
That evening I went for dinner in Wagamamas overlooking Darling Harbour. I'm not sure that its a better view than the one that overlooks the Tower of London, but its certainly a better view than the one in Dublin. Then I went to take some nighttime pictures of the sights. Darling Harbour did look a bit more lively under the lights, and the Bridge lights up well, but again I was slightly disappointed by the Opera House. Maybe there was something on and they didn't have it lit up as much, but it seemed quite dim in the pictures.
I decided to go to see if Kings Cross was any worse at night, and it was, but not by much. In general the strip clubs are fairly reserved, and there wasn't to much hassling of people on the street. Or at least I wasn't hassled much, but any groups of lads who looked like they were on a night out were getting targetted by the bouncers. Its the first time being a single bloke has stopped me from being hassled.
I headed back in towards the central station to get the bus home. But as I was passing a pub I saw some sport on (England v New Zealand in the cricket, but sport is sport, and Janet doesn't have the sports channels), so I popped in for a couple of drinks, just long enough to watch England fail against NZ, and long enough so I needed to get a taxi home.
Today I went on a day trip to the Blue Mountins and the Jenolan Caves. The beginning of this trip was less chaotic than those in Thailand, but I think it was only because I spoke the same language as the operators. Because of cross booking and so on I still ended up on a bus belonging to a different tour operator than the one I booked with. It did confuse some foreign people so for them I guess it was as chaotic.
Anyway I ended up on a tour with John the bus driver. He was very entertaining, and although a number of his comments were scripted, there was enough where he was reacting to things happening around us for him to give us some good off the cuff remarks. He had to, because the traffic out of Sydney was quite busy. It took us quite a time to get to our first stop, ScenicWorld, which is neat Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.
Basically all this is, is a tourist site built around a few cable cars and a funicular railway that is said to be the world steepest. There are also jungle walks and so on. As we arrived late, and were on a tight schedule (more about that in a minute) we only had time to do the funicular and a cable car back up. The funicular ws quite steep, it says its at 56 degrees, but to be honest at times it feels almost vertical. I think it feels steeper because you are sitting, not standing like in a lift. The cable car back up wasn´t as exciting, it was a big cable car capable of taking 60 people, so it didn´t swing in the breeze like others.
Then we were off to the Jenolan Caves. These caves are quite a distance beyond Katoomba, about 75 km, so it takes quite a while to get there. It hadn´t looked as far on the map, and in fact isn´t as the crow files, but it is a tricky journey. When I realised how long it was going to be, an extra 2 1/2 hours on the bus, I thought I´d made a mistake instead of just picking an easier tour to Katoomba only, but the trip itself was worth the extra time and money, never mind the caves.
The road to the caves was up and over a couple of mountain passes. When you get a bit higher the terrain became more of a mountain pasture scene than the jungle of the Blue Mountains, which I liked better, probably because it reminded me more of home. But the best bit was when you got to Jenolan. The last 8 km are very narrow and winds down a mountain side. The road is so narrow that they have to close it and make it one way for the buses, which is why we were on a deadline to make that window. Two cars might be able to pass, but a car and a bus could never pass. And we weren´t too bad, we were only in a 21 seater bus, there were 45 seaters going down ahead of us, and the driver told us that sometimes they get double deckers as well. That would be pretty hairy.
The caves themselves were pretty good. There are hundreds, we just visited one, the Lucas cave system. They had all the usual features, and some fancy lighting. The little village of Jenolan though has to have one of the most stunning settings ever, in this clearing surrounded by mountain walls, and the only way in is through a big natural arch. And there are some nice lakes and walks around it as well which we had a little time to do. Its only drawback is that you can only get in and out at certain times.
On the way back we got the big picture stop of the famous three sisters rock formation from Echo Point. It was actually quite empty, and it was a good time to take pictures from a lighting point of view, so it was good that it was left till last (I believe on other tours they do it early in the morning and its quite crowded). Anyway after that it was back to sydney, again with the heavy traffic, so we were back late, at about 7.40. Overall the trip took just under 12 hours, and of that we were on the bus for 7 1/2. I can't think how it would be done faster, but it did seem like a long time. Still it rested my dodgy ankle.
That evening I went for dinner in Wagamamas overlooking Darling Harbour. I'm not sure that its a better view than the one that overlooks the Tower of London, but its certainly a better view than the one in Dublin. Then I went to take some nighttime pictures of the sights. Darling Harbour did look a bit more lively under the lights, and the Bridge lights up well, but again I was slightly disappointed by the Opera House. Maybe there was something on and they didn't have it lit up as much, but it seemed quite dim in the pictures.
I decided to go to see if Kings Cross was any worse at night, and it was, but not by much. In general the strip clubs are fairly reserved, and there wasn't to much hassling of people on the street. Or at least I wasn't hassled much, but any groups of lads who looked like they were on a night out were getting targetted by the bouncers. Its the first time being a single bloke has stopped me from being hassled.
I headed back in towards the central station to get the bus home. But as I was passing a pub I saw some sport on (England v New Zealand in the cricket, but sport is sport, and Janet doesn't have the sports channels), so I popped in for a couple of drinks, just long enough to watch England fail against NZ, and long enough so I needed to get a taxi home.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hopping around Sydney
Wednesday March 5th
Woke up with quite a sore foot. I think I twisted my ankle when I jumped off the bus in town yesterday (I said there would be more on that later) and walking 15 km on it probably didn't help. But I'm only in Sydney for 7 days, and there are too many things to see, so I wasn't going to let a little thing like tht slow me down.
I got the bus into town and pretty much continued my walking tour where I had left off the previous day, in Hyde Park. This time I walked down through the Central Business District and rubber necked at all the tall buildings before heading to Darling Harbour. This is a big tourist area with lots of hotels, restaurants and pubs, as well as convention centres and other tourist attractions. Oh and of course a harbour.
However at 11 in the morning it wasn't really too lively. I guess it gets better as the day goes on. So I just wandered around and then decided to go into the aquarium that was there. This wasn't the best animal attraction I've been to, but it was still pretty cool walking under the sharks and manta rays. The sharks weren't too fierce though, there were scuba divers in with them cleaning the pool. But the manta rays were cool, theie bottom sides look evry weird. I had wanted to see the duck billed platypus, but he was asleep and wouldn't come out. I thought the crocodile was a bit of a wuss as well.
Overall Darling was a bit of a let down, so I went back up to the CBD for lunch, in a very nice shpopping precinct called the Queen Victoria Building, and then decided to head out to Kings Cross to see what it is like. I had planned to walk, its not that far, but my foot was hurting a bit so I hopped on the train. Syndey trains are cool, although they are underground like a metro, they are full sized trains, double deckers and all.
KC is notorious for being Sydneys Red Light District, but it seems a bit tame during the day anyway. There are a lot of strip joints, and some of them are open, but they are pretty discretely placed. The main bars that face out onto the street do just appear to be normal bars. There are also a lot of backpacker places, and therefore all the bits to support them (cheap cafes, internet etc). Its probably where I would have ended up had I not had a place to stay.
I walked around the Kings Cross area and up Darlinhurst Road until I began to hit the gay area when I decided to turn around. Luckily with my beer belly I can't really be mistaken for beign gay, these guys must all spend ages in the gym. So finishing up there I decided to head back, via the big shopping centre of Bondi Junction, which although big, is nothing compares to the monsters of SE Asia. And as I had nothing to buy, it was sort of waste of time as well. So I hopped on the bus home.
That evening I went round to John and Valeries for a barbeque. They were kind enough to get some Kangaroo which I hadn't ever had before. It was pretty nice, a bit richer than ordinary steak. Its not something I could see myself having too often, but once or twice a year would be good. And it would be better for the environment, as kangaroos fart a lot less than cows.
Anyway by chomping on one of them I got a little bit of revenge for having had to hop around on my dodgy ankle today.
Woke up with quite a sore foot. I think I twisted my ankle when I jumped off the bus in town yesterday (I said there would be more on that later) and walking 15 km on it probably didn't help. But I'm only in Sydney for 7 days, and there are too many things to see, so I wasn't going to let a little thing like tht slow me down.
I got the bus into town and pretty much continued my walking tour where I had left off the previous day, in Hyde Park. This time I walked down through the Central Business District and rubber necked at all the tall buildings before heading to Darling Harbour. This is a big tourist area with lots of hotels, restaurants and pubs, as well as convention centres and other tourist attractions. Oh and of course a harbour.
However at 11 in the morning it wasn't really too lively. I guess it gets better as the day goes on. So I just wandered around and then decided to go into the aquarium that was there. This wasn't the best animal attraction I've been to, but it was still pretty cool walking under the sharks and manta rays. The sharks weren't too fierce though, there were scuba divers in with them cleaning the pool. But the manta rays were cool, theie bottom sides look evry weird. I had wanted to see the duck billed platypus, but he was asleep and wouldn't come out. I thought the crocodile was a bit of a wuss as well.
Overall Darling was a bit of a let down, so I went back up to the CBD for lunch, in a very nice shpopping precinct called the Queen Victoria Building, and then decided to head out to Kings Cross to see what it is like. I had planned to walk, its not that far, but my foot was hurting a bit so I hopped on the train. Syndey trains are cool, although they are underground like a metro, they are full sized trains, double deckers and all.
KC is notorious for being Sydneys Red Light District, but it seems a bit tame during the day anyway. There are a lot of strip joints, and some of them are open, but they are pretty discretely placed. The main bars that face out onto the street do just appear to be normal bars. There are also a lot of backpacker places, and therefore all the bits to support them (cheap cafes, internet etc). Its probably where I would have ended up had I not had a place to stay.
I walked around the Kings Cross area and up Darlinhurst Road until I began to hit the gay area when I decided to turn around. Luckily with my beer belly I can't really be mistaken for beign gay, these guys must all spend ages in the gym. So finishing up there I decided to head back, via the big shopping centre of Bondi Junction, which although big, is nothing compares to the monsters of SE Asia. And as I had nothing to buy, it was sort of waste of time as well. So I hopped on the bus home.
That evening I went round to John and Valeries for a barbeque. They were kind enough to get some Kangaroo which I hadn't ever had before. It was pretty nice, a bit richer than ordinary steak. Its not something I could see myself having too often, but once or twice a year would be good. And it would be better for the environment, as kangaroos fart a lot less than cows.
Anyway by chomping on one of them I got a little bit of revenge for having had to hop around on my dodgy ankle today.
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