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hello all
Sorry we have neglected our blog over the past few weeks, we have done so much and seen so many amazing places and been covering so much land that its been difficult to find time. So here is an update since our last blog.
We spent a few more days in Bariloche, in the heart of the lake district area of Argentina. We hired bikes and cycled around the national parks, seeing some incredible lakes and lush green mountains. We also did white water rafting which was good fun, we met a couple from Weybridge! The highlight of Bariloche though had to be the chocolate. We ate about 1/4 kg each every day. It was too delicious not to!
We then left Bariloche (armed with 3kg of chocolate!) for Mendoza, the wine region of Argentina. Bariloche was our last stop of Patagonia and our bus out of there was so much better than the ones we had been getting in Patagonia; once again we were relaxing on reclining leather seats and being served food...its a hard life!
Wine tasting in Mendoza was one of the highlights of Argentina. We hired bikes and cycled from Bodega (winery) to Bodega tasting the wines and being given tours showing us how the wines are made, stored, bottled etc. The first Bodega was alot more commercial than the rest, it sold its wine to supermarkets so it was much larger. They had a museum which showed how techniques in making wine have changed so much over the centuries. Travelling in Argentina really makes you develop a taste for wine, so we were really enjoying learning so much about it! After trying some of the wine at this Bodega we got on out bikes and cycled to the next, much smaller, family owned Bodega. Here we took another tour and then another wine tasting session, in which we learnt the difference between a Cabernet-Sauvignon and a Merlot. When the guide left the room everybody helped themselves to a few more glasses! After this Bodega once again we were on our bikes (feeling the effects of the wine slightly) to the final Bodega. This consisted of yet more wine tasting. At the end of the day we had learnt a number of facts about wine... the reason red wine is red isn`t because red grapes are used, but because the skins of the grapes are left on during the fermentation process, and with white wine they are taken off. The best wine can only be left in the bottle for a maximum of 10 years, if left for longer it passes its peak point and is no longer yummy. Also, what gives a good wine its flavour and body is the fermentation process, the best wines are fermented in oak barrells, slightly less expensive wines are fermented in metal containers but with oak chips, and the cheapest wine isn`t fermented with oak at all (dear dear). The process of tasting wine is all very important aswell (which you will see when we upload our photos). Lastly, we learnt how to distinguish between a good wine and a not so good wine! That night was our last night in Argentina, so we said farewell to it with a steak dinner and ofcourse...a bottle of wine!
The next day we got the bus to Santiago, Chile. The journey took us up and over the Andes, to 3600 feet. The views were incredible. At Santiago we didn´t hang around, we just changed buses and left for the north of Chile, the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert. After a 24 hour journey, and covering almost half of Chile, we arrived in the small town of San Pedro de Atacama. It was a typical oasis desert town, with dim street lighting, houses made out of mud and sand, and candle-lit restaurants, all very eery, but brilliant! The next day we hired bikes and explored the desert. The landscape there was out of this world, literally, we felt like we were on mars rather earth. The red rocks form strange shapes and there is not a bit of green in sight. We made it as far as some inca ruins but then had to turn back for town as we ran out of water and became unbearably thirsty! Best not to go into the driest place on earth with one bottle of water between 2 people! The next day we did sand boarding, which was fantastic. The whole morning we spent climbing up a huge sandune and then boarded (or attempted) back down it. That afternoon Beth was using a cash machine when the town had a power cut, the machine took her card. The next day I had to call a guy named Juan and explain to him that we need Beth`s card back. He said that he would be there at 11am to put cash in the machine and he would get the card then. So we were waiting outside the ATM for him, expecting a van to pull up, with a man in a bullet proof vest and helmet to come out with a box chained to his hand containing cash, just like in England...but no, this is south america. Instead two men in an old pick-up truck pulled up, ready to fill up the machine. They got the card for us and we didnt even have to bribe them! Our final day in the Atacama desert was one of the best. With two people from our hostel we hired bikes (yes again), and cycled to Valle de la Luna (valley of the moon). On the way we stopped off at some caves and a canyon. The canyon was incredible, on either side was stange red rock, with a sandy texture, it felt as if you were walking in a giant sand castle. When you stopped and listend, all you could here was the cracking sound of the rock all around you, as if it would cave in at any moment. We got to Valle de la Luna just before sunset, and climbed a massive sandune to watch the sun go down. The light made the red rock look even more red and the whole desert glow gold. The best thing about the desert is it has the most surreal landscapes, they seem as if they should be from another world. Once the sun went down the tour groups piled into minivans and headed back for San Pedro. Us four however, had a 12km bike ride through the dark desert ahead of us. We were cycling along through the pitch black, in the middle of the desert, the only light from the stars overhead, the cold wind from the desert nights creeping in when what happens... I get a bicycle puncture! Luckily we had a spare tube and within ten minutes, after some first class teamwork we were back on our bikes. At 11pm we had a star gaziong tour in the middle of the desert (this time we got a minibus rather than cycle!). We stood under the stars whilst our guide pointed to lots of different stars explaing how far away they were etc. He also pointed out constellations such as the scorpian, the dog, the plough, the southern cross etc. Then the real magic happend, and we got to look through telescopes. We saw a galaxy, balls of gas, Jupiter and its moons and best of all Saturn. We got a picture of Saturn which we will put on the website when we upload our photos. It was so strange to see, it looked like one of the glow in the dark stickers you can buy of stars and planets. We got back at 2am an had 5 hours sleep before we had to be up for the 3 day Salt Flat tour that would leave from San Pedro, Chile, and finish in Uyuni, Bolivia.
So at 8am the tour left, in our jeep were two Japonese girls and an Australian couple. The whole tour was at an average of 4000m above sea level, going up to 4800m, so just being this high was stange in itself. The first stop was an incredible lake that had perfect mirror images of the surrounding mountains and flamingos. Then we swam in some hot springs (36 degrees). Then we stopped at some geysers which were one of the strangest things we have seen. Pools of mud bubbling away constantly, and in some parts you could see and hear steam under your feet, leaking out of the ground, and large clouds of steam rising from tiny holes like a pressure cooker. The last stop of the day was a huge red lake, filled with flamingos and islands of salt. We survived the first day without altitude sickness, only one person in our group got it...the australian. The second day consisted of more high altitude lakes and an active volcano. That evening we stayed in a hotel made completely out of salt. The next day was the final and best day. We left at 5am to watch the sunrise over the Salar de Uyuni, the largest Salt Flat in the world, visible from space, 2000 square km of pure salt, stretching for as far as the eye could see. It was left there 1500 years ago when a lake evaporated leaving this salt. after watching the sunrise we drove across it in the jeep, it was like driving on a sea of white. We took some good photos. Beth spent alot of the day trying to learn Japonese with the two girls, who giggled every time she repeated a word!
Late afternoon we arrived in Uyuni, our first Bolivian town. The contrast between Bolivia and anywhere else we have been so far is huge. The typical south american face is the norm (unlike Brazil, Argentina and Chile), and all the old women walk around in big skirts, blankets and bowler hats on their heads. It was difficult not to experience culture shock on our first few days. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and thats clear, but it has such a strong culture its a wonderful place to travel, we really feel we have arrived in the heart of South America.
The next morning it was another early start and we left for Tupiza, the bus journey was notably different to buses in other countries, all the seats brocken, people standing up for five hours, families sitting at the front of the bus on makeshift seats, real South American havoc everywhere, but it makes such an amazing experience. Also for the first time Beth and I stick out like saw thumbs because everyone looks so different in this part of south America. Tupiza is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came on their horses, its much like Arizona in the states, real wild west cowboy country. So we went on a horse ridng trip, we made the horses run really fast like true cowboys, but Beth was sick a few times which wasn´t so good, probably because of the intense heat and the motion of horse riding.
So this afternoon, if I ever finish this blog, we are catching an overnight train to the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. Hopefully there we will get a chance to upload photos showing everything I have been ranting on about. After a few days there we are planning to enter the Amazon region of Bolivia.
Oyasumi! (as the Japonese would apparently say)
Tom and Beth
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