Little boxes
Friday 13 dec 12;13pm bus valpa-sant
OKAY i have an hour to do this shit! I'm going to try cover everything basically.
SO me and matt went down Chile and crossed over to Argentina and kept going down until we reached Ushuia, the worlds most southermost city XD. We did it in 16 days and all via bus + a cargo ship. We spent a ridiculous amount of time in transport, especially towards the end. We stupidly decided to take a bus to Ushuia o.o It was going to be 18 hours and ended up being 28 all up D= We were kicking ourselves even harder on the way to Buenos Aires because we went from Ushuia to El Calafate by plane (thats where we got our bus from) and it only took...AN HOUR. yeah. fuck. This leg of our trip was unplanned for the most part, we were using a company called BambaBus which organises buses for you and includes a few tours and you just email them 24 hours prior to when you want to leave and they send you the tickets/deets. It's an incredibly efficient and fast system that they have in place BUT now that we did Valpa by ourselves..and seeing the prices we would have payed for those buses we got...rip off. HEAPS. I mean...potentially we may have just broke even but I don't think so. Now we know *sigh*
So we went:
Santiago
Pucon
Puerto Vara
Crossed over to Argentina
Bariloche
Perito Moreno
El Chalten
El Calfate
Ushuia
I enjoyed it, the hostels were super cheap, a couple places were only $12 a night and really nice compared to the Cross. It defs prepared me for the worst haha. I defs over packed and over prepared for the cold. The worst was probably the final bus to Ushuia (yes there was multiple on the one journey =.=), it was like 3am and FREEZING, and I was exhausted but the cold had a real bite to it that kept waking me up. So I was semi-conscious struggling to keep warm. Argh and stepping off that bus at 5:30am. Man that was a shock to the system. Disoriented and with no where warm to scurry to, we had no place to stay and a tour that was going to pick us up from a hostel we had hoped to stay at but was fully booked lol. So we made our way there and luckily they were nice enough to let us stay there and they would have a room for us when we got back that night from the tour. Yeah that was a painful day lol with lots of coffees and alcohol to keep me awake. But apart form that abrupt entry into Ushuia it wasnt actually that cold.
Recaps might be a little difficult at this stage and because I want to cover Brazil and Valpa real quick I'll do that first.
So when we flew to Buenos Aires we met up with our GAdventure tour group to do the 'Iguassu and Beyond' tour. Overall, disappointing. I defs feel like I missed out on heaps and didn't get a feel for the place or it's people at all. Our tour leader was rubbish and we didn't even do the big cities with the group. I suppose that's my fault though, I didn't read the itinerary closely enough before booking and consider what it meant. We got to B.A and our hotel and 15mins later had our first group meeting and then we went to dinner. The next morning we left bright and early for the airport....we didn't see B.A at all apart from me and Matty wondering a bit around midnight =.= We were hoping to get there earlier and originally had enough days at the end of our Patagonia journey to get there at least 2 days before the tour but two of our buses along the way took too long and we lost our time.
Then I felt like the tour wasted too much time at Iguassu Falls. I've seen that motherfucker from all angles and tbh it still looks like a fucking waterfall no matter which way you look at it. I saw it from a helicopter, from a boat, from the argentinia side, from the brazilian side, from ramps, from below, from above, from the side. I get it. It's wet. Don't care. We spent two full days at the Falls all day long. Too much.
Then we flew to Sao Paulo, completely skipped it, took a long ass bus ride and boat to Paraty, a town that looked a lot like Trinidad in Cuba with the cobblestones but lamer. I was also pretty sick at this stage with a cold and blocked ears from being wet and airconned at the falls. It was humid and I was uninterested. Luckily the second day we did the Caipirinah boat cruise. I will always do a booze cruise if it's offered to me, I don't understand why you wouldn't. OPEN fucking BAR on a boat that takes you to places to swim! Highlight of the tour and one of my favourite days I've ever had tbh. I've never been so drunk for so many consecutive hours and the beaches were pretty and it was the first time I've worn a bikini since i was like 2 haha. Under a tshirt of course but it still counts! lol.
Then we went to Iilha Grande by boat and bus. That place was ridiculously humid when we arrived, it was disgusting. We got some cabin type accommodation but again you couldn't really swim on the actually island beach because it was a port. The full day we had there we spent it getting to and back from this beach that was meant to be amazing but it was soooo not worth the hour boat and 30min walk =.= I did however see those little monkies...fuck what is it called, M something. ... I spent the day with Rhys and Niel the poshy brits who turned out to be gay and not just posh brits haha. It was a nice enough day, I napped on the beach, took my top off in the water so was technically in a bikini in the ocean XD haha It's the small things =P It rained each night in Illha Grande, the first night was spectacular though haha we went to get food with the group at a restaurant on the beach and it was lovely and stormy and then started pouring but we weathered that storm..for a little while, until everyones backs were wet and umbrellas started getting blown away lol.
That whole time I hadn't seen a single person dance, no live music nothing. I was hella dissapointed.
Then we got another boat and bus to Rio de Janiero, my one last hope. Again I was upset because we realised that we didnt even do ANYTHING in Rio with the tour apart from get food. What the fuck man. Every tour I had done this far at least did a quick bus ride around the sites. God. We walked to Cocacabana beach which also had a sever lack of hot people, my mental image of Brazil has been dramatically altered. I was expecting increadible women, sexy booties, music everywhere. Everyone always says that you're going to leave Rio feeling like a fat slob and ugly but I barly saw hot people. There was plenty of good asses...and an oddly large amount of fat chicks with booty shorts. I was dying to know where they bought them so I could get a pair haha but never saw any in the shops we walked past but I didn't look too hard. There was a lot of activity on the beach though, heaps of sports. Rio didn't feel as dangerous as they said it would be but I never entered a Favala =(
The other thing was that the Churasco was hella crap, Sydney takes the cake. Holy crap so much better =(
Argentina's meat was amazing, even at the airport o.o
The ngiht the tour ended was a Saturday night so we ended up at a gay bar which the girls had to pay double for lol. It was alright. Biggest disco ball I've ever seen, the worst gogo dancers, the most self-indulgent collective group of people I've ever seen and the cleanest club toilets ever. There was a strange thing happening in the upstairs dance room, there was mirrors everywhere and HEAPS of dudes would sexy dance...at themselves. For AGES. Just checking themselves out lol. Shameless haha, good dose of self esteem =P
The next day was a bit better because we did an organised city tour with another company and it made me feel like I at least saw the must-see stuff in Rio. Then we met up with one of the left over girls for dinner and got sushi ^.^ Expensive, not the greatest but ehhh. The next day we flew to Chile ^.^
I was in a heaps good mood coming back to Chile, mostly because the doco I watched on the plane and because I knew I had a comfy bed waiting. I made the most of it in The Holiday Inn and went to their indoor heated pool solo and then the sauna...only last like 5 mins haha. The next day we got a feast of a breakfast and made our easiest city transition to date. We got to the bus terminal easily, I had left my big backpack in the airport lockers so I was feeling lite and the possibility of ADVENTURE had me buzzing. We got there heaps easy, and then I called a hostel I found online and got a cab up there. Everything worked out heaps easy and we ended up on the trendy/art hill. Lol always choose your hostels based on their wallpaper =P They gave us a discount because they offered us a room with a lot of traffic noise but we can sleep through anything so we took it. It was lovely and victorian looking with high ceilings and a little sitting room and private bathroom. The next day we did a tonne of walking to see the city and then joined a free walking tour which was absolutely amazing, best tour I've ever done. The tour guides were funny and energetic and really good at summarisng the history and covering everything important and not just boring dates but the sociocultural development of the place. Plus free cookies and pisco sour XD
The next day we went for a cooking class I had organised which was also really really good. We went by bus with the chef to the market with one other lady and got our ingredients and then bused it up the hill to the house and had a lovely day. We all chatted well and learnt how to make pebre (salsa/tabuli thing), pisco sour (cocktail), empanadas (chilean meat pie), pastel de choclo (corn bake/pie) and ceviche (raw fish cooked in lemon juice). It was all tasty and we were so full we didnt have dinner plus got 4 glasses of wine and a pisco sour out of it. Good value for money too and lovely company. Valpa in general was a lot cheaper for us than anywhere else we've been, it was fantastic. Then we made our way to Pablo Neruda's valpa home and did the tour.
Today we had a leisurely breakfast and head off to the bus terminal and that was super easy and CHEAP too. Our hour long coach ride cost us about $7.
I'm pretty pumped, we're meeting up with my cousin tomorrow night and we're getting the metro to get to our hostel XD and I've already got a place lined up for us to stay =) My ticket for La serena for sunday is bought so we're all ready to roll XD
My time with Matty has gone fairly quickly...or maybe just = to what it was but he was a pretty good travel buddy ^.^ he's funny and brilliant with directions and we both know how to do comfortable silence together so its been great.
AHHH i did it! haha I'm pretty much caught up with blogging hehe. I'm caught up with photos too. HAZZAH.
SO I'm really happy =) Im pumped for xmas and new years with the fams and friends I've made. And mum keeps telling me not to come home haha...so I don't know..I was thinking of extending my trip until the last week of jan because I wanted to be home for my bday but now I don't know. I'm thinking I might actually stay longer D=
I mean, I'm going to be heaps busy until new years so then it's only 2 weeks left after that until i would have to fly. And it would be pretty cool to maybe travel up north a bit..or maybe go to Bolivia since it's cheap. The only reason to come home was my bday...but to be honest I feel like I might have more fun in Chile.../ less pressure haha. I am afterall, never going to get a chance to be gone for this long again. I wonder how many times I can change my flight lol. hmm...let's see, my birthdays on a Tuesday. I mean. The reason I wanted to come back then was so I could throw a combined birthday and welcome home party so it feels less douchy lol. I'm also worried about that though haha coz I don't know how I feel about throwing parties. I always swear I'll never do it again after it's done and then I miss it.
I was thinking I could make a cocktail/drink from each place I've been hehe. I'm going to have to bring back some pipenyo to make Terremotos haha. Except we don't really have pinapple ice cream here. Maybe in a gelato store.
I mean, the only responsibility I have left at home is stef's wedding but that's not until 2015 I think.
Freedom...haha it's a nice feeling.
Hmmm and I guess I can mention what I haven't at all in here. Ash. *sigh* that boy. We broke up when I was in Costa Rica. He was getting mad at me really frequently and was getting jealous and couldn't trust me. I ended it when he told me he cheated on me =.= He says he just said that to piss me off. That's worse to me. Ehhh that's not really the point though. We've kept talking and lol...you'd think the fighting would stop but it hasn't. Things are the same. I'm not changing and he isn't either so we're in a war of attrition right now. It's all so icky and annoying. He makes me laugh so much and no ones made me feel as loved as him but I've also NEVER fought with anyone, let alone like the way we do. It's horrible. There's too many problems =( He's currently not talking to me. He was looking through my pics again and got jealous and carried away with his own thoughts *sigh* He said he was done. who knows...
oh well...that's life right. I'm too excited to explore and be with family and friends to let it get to me. Either it works or it doesn't and right now. I'm here. I'm not wasting my time stressing over something that I can't do anything about. I've spent countless hours arguing and explaining my stance and it never changed...and yet I continue to have to reiterate my thoughts. I don't want to keep doing that.
This bus ride feels longer...heh. At least I'm all caught up =D
I'm going to put this away now.
Lovelove
xx
