Off the gringo trail & off the beaten track in Colombia

Compared to the rest of South America, most of Colombia is still off the gringo trail, but probably not for long as it has been getting a lot safer over the last few years. Verena and I spent the last 5 days mainly on various buses in Colombia, traveling from the south to the north, the Caribbean coast.

TUE: bus from Quito to Tulcan, near the border; taxi to cross the border from Ecuador into Colombia, bus from Ipiales to Bogota.

WED: Arrival in Bogota around 11 am. My camera is dying – can´t read some of my memory cards anymore… Mueso del Oro (gold muesum) in the late afternoon.

THU: 9:30 am departure - Bogota; 7 pm arrival in Bucaramanga. travel planning time at the bus station. 10:30 pm departing Bucaramanga

FRI: 7 am: arriving in El Banco. looking for a boat all over town. no boat. have to take minibus to Mompox (10 – 12:30). Mompox is off the beaten track. no tourists. nothing. different experience. nice dinner on the main square. the pizzeria is just a stall on the main square. different. but fun

SAT: it rained at night. the roof of our hotel was leaking. my clothes are wet. some are really, really wet. soaked. these are the moments when traveling is not fun. once the clothes are dry (a/c first, then drier) we leave. taxis leave once there are 4 people going to Bodega. locals seem to go there often. we leave 10 minutes after showing up at the square. one hour from Mompox to Bodega, then a 20-minute boat ride to Magangue, the most off the beaten track town we have been to in South America. at first it´s annoying, once we´re on the bus it´s lovely. the bus driver (pollito) and his assistant (allesandro) treat us like queens, let us sit in the front, bring us coffee. simply lovely. the best bus ride   they hardly ever get tourists here. arrival in Santa Marta late at night (22:30).

Arriving in PERU

Verena and I arrived in PERU today

On Saturday we had dinner (delicious!) with Daniel and Kati at ¨La Cupula¨, including a chocolate fondue as dessert   It was such a nice surprise that they caught up with us instead of staying in La Paz and trekking up the mountain there; well, partly it´s because Kati still hasn´t gotten rid of her cold. 

On Sunday Verena and I did a trip to Isla del Sol, and it is indeed the ¨Island of the Sun¨ – we ended up being a little sunburnt by the end of the day, mainly because it was rather cold and we didn´t realize how strong the sun was until we were back at the hostal in the evening. Met up with Kati and Daniel again.

Today we took a bus from Copacabana, Bolivia, to Puno, Peru. It was an easy 3-hour bus ride including border formalities – the usual: filling out some paperwork (entry card) on the bus, then getting an exit stamp from Bolivia, walking across the border, getting an entry stamp from Peru, getting on the bus again and continuing the journey.

So Verena and I made it to Peru and are in Puno now. Puno is also on Lake Titicaca, but not as nice as Copacabana and much bigger. Tomorrow we´re visting the ¨Islas Flotantes de los Uros¨ (floating islands) – looking forward to it. I still remember when Sabine R. told me about them and showed me pictures – about 10 years ago when we were living in Vienna.

Overall I´m very happy traveling in South America – it´s rougher than other parts of the world, but great scenery and fun   The only issue Verena and I are having is that it is rather cold; ever since we left Santiago de Chile we´ve often been cold. I ended up bying a hat and gloves and we dress in layers pretty much all the time. So what really surprises me is that even though it´s cold here (and it´s not even winter yet!), people here seem to have NO heating?!

Coca museum in La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Copacabana (3841 m = 12,602 ft.)

After our flight from Rurrenabaque on Thursday afternoon Verena and I arrived back in La Paz, checked into the Adventure Brew Hostel, went to the COCA MUSEUM (small, but very interesting and informative), and then met Kati and Daniel (from the Uyuni trip) for dinner. It´s always so nice to meet up with travelers one has met earlier – especially if they are as nice as Kati, Daniel, Eli and James

On Friday we took a bus from La Paz to COPACABANA (3841 m = 12,602 ft.) at the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. I LOVE it here! It is absolutely beautiful! In the afternoon we walked up the Cerro Calvario (3966 m) – a great viewpoint. We had to stop often on the way up – to catch our breath. The air is thin here

The hostel we are staying at,  ¨La Cupula¨ (Eli´s recommendation), is also great – really nice rooms and a beautiful view of the town

Today, Saturday, we´re spending a day reading our guide books and researching in the internet… planning day

Salar de Uyuni (3653 m) & La Paz (3660 m)

What an amazing trip and a great group: Verena, Kati (from Bavaria but living in London), Daniel (from Berlin, but living in London), Eli (from London, but moving to Sydney), and James (from London and also living there).

First day: Laguna Blanca – Laguna Verde – Decierto Rocas del Salvador Dali (Dali Rock Desert) – Chalviry Lagoon & Polque Hot Springs – Geyser sol de Mañana (4860 m – highest point of the trip) – Laguna Colorada

We spent the night at the Laguna Colorada at 4270 m at a hostel with no running water and it was cold there – but we had a lot of fun; WE = Kati, Daniel, Eli, James, and Verena, of course

Second day: Arbol de Piedra (stone tree) – Lagunas Altiplanicas: Lagoon Honda, Lagoon Chearcota, Lagoon Hedionda (lunch), and Lagoon Cañapa – Ollague volcano – Salar de Chiguana (train tracks)

The second night we spent at Villa Martin – again pretty basic, but this time there was running water. The hot shower would have cost 5 bolivianos, but it was too cold and the owners too pushy trying to sell hot showers so we chose not to shower. We´re getting used to it

Third day: leaving at 5 a.m. got us to the Isla de los Pescadores (Fisherman Island) in time to view the SUNRISE at the Salar de Uyuni – the UYUNI SALT FLAT – simply amazing!!! And like everyone who goes there we took lots of funny pictures Later that day we also saw a salt museum, salt mines, and a railway & train cemetary.

Upon our arrival in Uyuni at 1 pm, Verena and I realized that there´s really nothing to do there and instead of staying a night to figure out where to go next we decided to take the overnight (11 hour) bus straight to La Paz. The best bus company had no buses that evening, so we (Eli, James, Verena and I) chose another one (not a good choice as we found out shortly before our departure in the evening). We then met up with Kati and Daniel and some people from the other group for dinner – they are all going to Potosi tomorrow. Verena and I will skip it as we still have a long way to Colombia. Shortly before we were to baord the bus, we found out that the company had lied to us and the bus was not a direct service, but we had to change buses and wait for another bus in the middle of the night. Fortunately the tickets were so cheap ($10 for a 11 hour bus ride) that we ended up buying 4 tickets from a much better company who got us directly to La Paz – where we arrived this morning at 7 a.m. after the bumpiest, rockiest, shakiest bus ride ever – welcome to roads in Bolivia!

Eli, James, Verena and I checked into the ¨Adventure Brew Hostel¨not far from the main bus station, where we´ll spend probably two nights. Our dorm is an 8-bed dorm with 2 bathrooms and only guys – other than Verena and myself. This is becoming a fairly common experience here. It seems there are more men traveling in South America than women. In Southeast Asia it was the other way round – more women than men; and more travelers in general than in South America.

So here we are in La Paz (3660 m above sea level) – feeling clean and fresh again after a hot shower and deciding where to go and what to do next   La Paz looks really impressive so far and I can´t wait to walk around the city tomorrow – May 1st (Labor Day). We´ll make sure we´ll leave all our valueables in the hostel – as La Paz doesn´t have the safest reputation -  so we should be fine

PS: We went for a walk in the late afternoon and ended up having dinner at the RESTAURANT VIENNA, where the owner is from Styria, not far from Verena´s hometown   The food was delicious and the service excellent!

40-hour bus ride to Chile

Our second attempt to go to Chile was successful and Verena & I arrived in Santiago de Chile tonight – after a 40-hour bus ride

Wednesday evening we went to the bus station in Puerto Iguazu around 23:30 and waited and waited and waited. To cut a long story short, we again waited 4 1/2 hours. The bus finally showed up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning and then we spent the next 40 hours on the bus. The seats were “cama”, which means the seats recline up to 160 degrees – fairly comfortable. On Thursday, our first day on the bus, breakfast was served around 8 a.m. and lunch around 2 p.m. We got to watch 3 nice movies and met Rosario, a nice young woman from Argentina. Dinner was served at 3 a.m. the following morning (running behind schedule 5 1/2 hours at this time) and breakfast around 9:30 a.m. – our second day in the bus. Soon after that they ran out of water – luckily Verena and I had stocked up on snacks and water at one of the gas stations earlier! The second day wasn´t that great – only one movie and no food after breakfast. But we made it and finally arrived in SANTIAGO DE CHILE at 8 p.m. in the evening – after a 40-HOUR BUS RIDE. I think this was the longest bus ride in my life, but is wasn´t the worst

@ = Alt 6 4

Spending a day in the supermarket, at the pool and on the internet.

I finally figured out how to type the symbol @ on computers here in Argentina: @ = Alt 6 4. It’s funny, at this point I have typed on so many different keyboards in various countries; some letters and numbers are always in the same spot and some are not. Typing @, though, so far has only been either the European or the American way – if I remember it correctly. This @ was a surprise

Regarding emails – I’m so sorry that I just don’t have the time to reply to all of you! Really sorry! The problem is always the same: either the internet is too slow or there is not enough time. For example, in the hostels we have been staying at so far in Argentina there were 2 computers each, but time is limited to 15-20 minutes per person if someone is waiting – and there’s always someone waiting   So, please accept my apologies for not getting back to all of you this year while I’m traveling – but I’m happy to receive your emails and that you keep me updated on how you are and what’s going on back home in NYC, Austria or whereever home is!!! Love hearing from you! And am also looking forward to catching up with you in person either in July (if you live in NYC) or in August & in the fall (if you live in Austria)

PS: Verena and I will try for the second time to catch the bus (cama) to Santiago de Chile – leaving Puerto Iguazu tonight (Wed) at 23:55 and arriving in Santiago de Chile 38 hours later, on Friday at 13:45 – hopefully

A night at the bus station

Verena and I were supposed to take a 36-hour bus to Santiago de Chile last night. The bus (Cruzero del Norte company – which was great coming up to Puerto Iguazu from B.A.) was supposed to leave at 2:30 am. We decided not to go to sleep, but update our blogs, write postcards, etc. At 2 am in the morning we walked over to the bus station and waited for our bus and we waited and waited. After a while we asked the security guard about our bus, but he was only able to tell us (in Spanish – as usual) that this bus is often running late, but will come eventually. I was quite proud to almost have a conversation – a basic one, I admit – in Spanish   Then we waited and waited again. Other buses came, a few people got on and off, mostly locals, hardly any backpackers. And we waited some more – fighting to stay awake.  4 1/2 hours later, at 6:30 in the morning, we realized that this bus just wasn´t going to come. We were angry, but way too tired to express our anger. So we walked – silently and almost falling asleep while walking – back to our hostel, where we had checked out at 1:45 am, got our beds back, booked one more night and went to sleep for a few hours.

Around 11 am we went to the bus company to find out what happened: the busdriver  had for whatever reason NOT gone inside the busstation; instead he had just driven past it. He had our names on his list, though, and knew we were supposed to get on in Iguazu. (The bus connects Sao Paulo with Santiago de Chile.) We were not able find out WHY he did what he did. In the end we booked another ticket from Iguazu to Santiago de Chile for tomorrow night (at no extra cost; 38 hours this time), leaving Iguazu at 23:55 on Wednesday and arriving in Santiago de Chile on Friday at 13:45, and were reimbursed for our nights here in Puerto Iguazu. Furthermore, the people working at our hostel (Marco Polo Hostel Inn) were really nice and very helpful   So it wasn´t so bad after all – still tired, though.

So, let´s keep fingers crossed and hope it works this time as there are only two buses per week that go all the way to Chile.

Good night, everybody; I´m having an early night tonight - catching up on some missed sleep

Arriving in SOUTH AMERICA!

I´M IN SOUTH AMERICA

I arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires this morning at 7:45 am, got some money out of the ATM, took the bus # 8 to the Plaza Congreso, and then met Verena in a cafe at the corner there. We then checked out a few hostels in San Telmo and ended up staying at the Buenos Aires Hostel Inn. We walked around the neighboorhood, decided to stay here until Saturday and bought tickets for the overnight bus from B.A. to Iguazu for Saturday evening. Everything went well, it was great to meet up with Verena and we are looking forward to traveling together in South America for the next 3 months

I´m excited to be here and to spend 3 more days in this city. Tomorrow we´re going to La Boca with a friend of Verena´s.

North Island & “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”

The last few days I made may way from the South of the North Island (Wellington) via Napier and Mt. Maunganui back to Auckland where I started my trip in New Zealand. It rained a lot, as usual, I met some very nice people on the bus, in the hostels (Elvis from Itlay was one of my favorites in Napier), and in cafes (Ben from New Zealand was one of my favorites in Auckland) and other than that the last few days were rather uneventful. Upon my arrival in Auckland yesterday (Thursday) a storm was approaching the city which I found out about on the news after having checked into my hostel – on the 16th floor of a very tall and narrow building. I had a great view, but it felt as if the building was slightly moving in the storm. Maybe I was just imagining this… Actually, it was kind of cool to see, hear and feel the storm from my room on the 16th floor

On more thing I need to mention: I went to the movies yesterday and saw “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” – one of the best movies I have ever seen! It’s about the friendship of two 8-year old boys, one is the son of a high-ranking Nazi officer and the other is Jewish and in a concentration camp. It’s an excellent film, so if you get the chance to see it I can definitely recommend it!

Rain, bus, and passport

From Franz Josef to Queenstown:

The usual: It’s raining again.

The good news is: the magic bus did not forget to pick me up today

The bad news is: I forgot my passport in the hostel in Franz Josef

Andy, our really nice magic bus driver, will call tomorrow’s bus driver to bring my passport down to Queenstown tomorrow. So I should have it back by tomorrow evening, or Monday morning at the latest.