San Pedro de Atacama – 24 May

San Pedro is the highest place that I have been to (2400m ASL). On the lips of many travellers travelling to high altitudes, is altitude sickness. People’s bodies react differently to the altitude: Nausea, vomiting, light headedness, shortness of breath. I seemed to suffer from none of these (at least at San Pedro), but my body made up its own symptom…slow mindedness. I’ll explain.
When buying something, it would take me 20s to do a simple sum to calculate my change. I was Skyping April in Canada, with a 3 hour time difference, and we arranged to chat at 8pm local time. Great, 8 minus 3 = 7! Yes this was the pulp of my mind for about 2 days. Eish :)

As not to strain my brain I did a mellow first trip to the Salt Lakes (Lagoa Cejar). Our guide couldn’t speak English so communication was funny. An American couple, on their honeymoon, were informed about their increased “power” when they would arrive in Santiago due to the difference in altitude ;) (increased oxygen). Two things stood out for me:
Being able to lift your hands and feet out of the salty waters without sinking.
The photos taken afterwards which don’t have perspective (look below).

I randomly bumped into Gary and Sallie (Team Fantastico), they moved into the same hostel on my second day. We all went sand boarding, which was the most fun thing I did in San Pedro…my highlight! After talking to the girl selling the tours a bit, we got offered a schweet deal! Sand boarding in Death Valley with sundowners in Moon Valley. We all got “pro-boards” (which is basically a snowboard) and headed off with Pato as our guide.

We arrived as the first group to a smooth dune. Pato gave us some instruction at the top and we made our first cautions run down the dune. After two runs we developed the need…for speed. So we started waxing our boards. Needless to say that this caused some of us (read me) to have some glorious wipe-outs. Carolina, a Chilean girl I’d befriended (and the only Spanish speaking person to take the tour, ironically), was feeling confident and asked me to take some pictures. It is on this run that she had quite a spectacular fall that had everyone “feeling her pain”, and I snapped a pic as her board went over her head :) Priceless. Like a true champ, she got up and was wanting for more.

The Moon Valley was named because it resembles the surface of Mars…and something went wrong in translation, so it got called the Moon Valley (at least that is what I think the story was). Sundowners were enjoyed with a spectacular view.

Alex (Team Fantastico) had been to San Pedro a short while before, suggested the geyser tour. In case you are wondering, it is difficult to see anything without going on a tour. The whole town is filled with little agencies. Back to the tour…you have to be ready for pickup at about 5am, 2 hour ride to see the geysers at sunrise when they are the most active. It was interesting to see, especially the difference when the sun comes out. Almost no more steam! But it was either being tired or that I had done the sand boarding the day before, that I was not as impressed as expected. Maybe it was too build up. Still glad I went.

The last day I spent walking around in town and besides all the people on the street trying to sell you tours, San Pedro has a nice atmosphere. A small, but green, central square is a great place to just sit and chill.

Getting in was cold – Floating on the salt lake – Me after the swim

 
Rinsing off. Perfect timing – White men CAN jump! – Are they walking on water?

Sunset with Pisco sour

Fitting boards for sandboarding – Death Valley – Our group

Sunset in Moon Valley – Moon Valley – Carolina and I (Pato said we looked like a great honeymoon couple, hence the smiles)

 
Gary with his signature pose – Sunset profile of Carolina

 
This is one of the better early morning views. LOTS of steam – At the mouth of a geyser

Before sunrise (lots of activity) – 30min after the sun hits the ground. Everything dies

This bus remind you of “Into the Wild?” – Pato taking another tour – The cactus looked sad, so a hug was in order

 
San Pedro’s main square – One street away. Quite dusty

Good bye South America

Firstly I'd like to apologise that there has been no activity on my blog the last month. I haven't made much time for updates, but they will follow soon.

This is my last day in Peru. I'll be getting on a bus for Lima soon and fly to Vancouver, Canada at 2am tomorrow. And so my adventure in South America comes to an end. If feels a bit weird as it only really sank in yesterday that I will be leaving. I am, however, looking forward to Canada as moving around on a regular basis has become a bit draining...especially in a poor-ish country where everyone wants to sell you something. Saying that, Peru has been an interesting experience with some great people along the way.

I have to thank everyone who I have met along this leg of my travel, you have made it unforgettable for me!

I'm off....hope to give you something to read soon.

Ciao for now!

Carnaval in Rio

I think my experience of Carnaval was different from most tourist’s. Most people head straight for the Sambodromo (where the main event is held). Due to my late decision to stay for Carnaval, I didn’t get tickets for the Sambodromo. This didn’t stop me from having a great Carnaval though :) I have been told that in the old days, Carnaval was a celebration in the streets with the local Bataria (band) providing Samba music for the people. These are called Bloco’s, as mentioned in a previous post. The whole competition (held in the Sambodromo) is fairly “new”. So if the streets are where everything is happening, then that is where I will be.

I met some of Adriana’s friends the previous week, and we were going to join them for Carnaval. Andrea, Kassia and 4 friends were going to dress up differently every day. Definitely the right crowd to hang out with!

Day 1:
I arrived in Rio on the Saturday that Carnaval started…at 7am. After a long bus ride from Ouro Preto. On my arrival I was quite tired. After a huge lunch, I rested for a bit. By this time the people I was going to join for the day, had partied too hard and were all man-down. To be honest, this suited me quite well as I stretched myself a bit thin the week.

Day 2:
All rested out, Adriana and I headed for a bloco at the botanical garden (close to her house). This was a bit of a disappointment as the bataria had stopped playing quite early and beers were nowhere to be found. Some people bring their own instruments and they got the party started, well at least for the people close to them.

Since the day was disappointing, we would hit Lapa that night to make up for it. There was just one small thing that we forgot to take into account. Carnaval was now in full swing with bloco's everywhere, making public transport VERY slow. A trip that would normally take 30-60min, took us 2.5 hours! By the time we met up with Andrea it was 11pm! The other girls had gone to another party and it seemed everyone wanted to do their own thing. So the party didn’t last very long. This was a bit of a blessing as I was going to join the girls tomorrow at 9am for a bloco in Santa Teresa.

Day 3:
We all overslept :) I got a call at 9:45am to meet the girls at 10am. I slapped some clothes on and off I went. On arrival in Santa Teresa…something was wrong. Where were all the people? We checked that we were in the right place…yes we were. But we got the time wrong, damn! The bloco was only starting at 3pm. Eish. Well we were there, so lets make the most of it.

Santa Teresa has a long road running through it with little centres (grouping of shops & bars) along it. We went to the next centre in search of an open bar. On the corner of the bar, a guy was dressed as a hooker…an ugly one. He was incredibly sharp and had a snappy comment for everyone…including me. He said I should leave the girls and take him. I hadn’t gotten my “Carnaval legs” yet so I didn’t play along. (Should’ve though) It was very entertaining to watch him dish out comments, with translation from Andrea. I’d say this was the highlight of my morning.

Afternoon was creeping up on us and we headed for the site of the bloco. More people had arrived and by the time the bataria started, the party was in full swing! The bataria doesn’t stay in one spot, it moves through the streets. In this case to the second centre where we had beers earlier. Wow it was really fun! Difficult to put into words.

The girls wanted to go to a show the night in Lapa and by the time it was dark, we headed for the ticket booth. It was quite a walk, but it helped get rid of the beer in our systems. Tickets in hand we headed home for a shower and food!

The concert was a famous Brazilian Samba band. The lead singer (who all the girls were gaga about) made me think about James Blunt. Great concert with another famous Brazilian singer (this time female) joining the band. Apparently her mother was a ridiculously good singer and even more famous. The band finished at 3am and there were 2 more acts to come. None of us had the energy to carry on, so we headed home.

Day 4:
The last day of Carnaval. No matter how tired I was, today was not a day for sleeping! Admittedly I did get up late & had an afternoon nap but as it is tradition in Rio, the party only gets started after dark. First a bloco in Ipanema (along the beach) then we went to a bar right around the corner of Adriana’s place…called Uncle Sam’s bar (yes like the American Uncle Sam). I had to chuckle.

Those of you that know me well, will know that I’m not the biggest party animal. By this time my batteries were running low, so I couldn’t work in another party…even if I tried. So my Carnaval ended as gently as it started, with pizza, beer and the company of a lovely lady. Without her (and her friends) I don’t think Carnaval would’ve been the spectacle that I had heard it should be.

 

For those of you always bugging me for photos, I didn’t take any as things like cameras have a way of disappearing out of you pockets during Carnaval. But Kassia did have her camera with her. Here are some crazy pics taken during Carnaval.

Ouro Preto & Mariana

Day 1:
This is the second section of my Minas Gerais trip. I got on the bus (which was 2 hours late) at Sao Joao del Rei bound for Ouro Preto. Sitting next to me was Doug, a student from SJ on his way to OP to DJ. We had a great chat for an hour or so. On arrival in OP, he gave me directions to the main square (Praca Tiradantes). My guide book suggested a nice (& cheap) hotel just off the square. It wasn’t there. I later checked that the guide book was published in middle 2009, so I could only use it as….a guide…not the law :) I ended up getting bed at the hostel.

Exploration time! OP is quite hilly so I’m sure if you live here you are very “walking fit”. I’m not :) I followed my nose around and was looking for a place to buy Cachaca (alcohol distilled from sugar cane used to make Caparinias) at Adriana’s request. Found one and did some tasting…bad idea. The stuff is strong! I ended up at the train station. There is a train that travels between OP and Mariana on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (this was Thursday). This trip was on my agenda so I got ticket for the next day @10am, which really played into my hands as there is an organ concert in Mariana at 11:30! Finally my plans were coming together. Also at the train station they have some video displays of the history of OP and the surrounding towns, with some locals providing commentary. All with English subtitles :) Ticket in hand & being a bit tired, I headed back to the hostel stopping to buy Cachaca on the way.

Met an Irish guys, Sean, and we got chatting about some interesting stuff. So we decided to meet later and go to the Bloco later. I finally had a bed and did an intensive study of the inside of my eyelids for 2 hours. Sean and I missed each other, so I went down to town alone (literally, the hostel is on top of a hill). The bloco was supposed to start at 9pm. There is no rush here though. The band only started to rock up around 8:45pm and stated to play around 9:45pm. I was in a prime spot as the band start right in front of me. The tuba player was next to me! Really cool. Just an observation: bloco’s are an event for the whole community. There are people from all walks of life & ages. I even saw some children (probably 10years old and another even younger). Nice to know that these events are all-inclusive :)

Back at the hostel I met up with Sean. He had gotten side tracked with Yoga (which he forgot to tell me about), but he was keen for the train ride to Mariana. We were going to leave tomorrow at 9am.

Day 2:
Took the train from OP to Mariana. The train ride was nice, winding through the valley. Only down side is that the steam engine was undergoing maintenance, so a diesel engine was pulling the carriages. Still nice. There is an organ in the church on the main square. We went to a concert that they have every Friday & Sunday. Very nice.

The weather didn’t play along today. It was raining most of the day. By the time the concert finished, we were hungry. So Sean and I sat down at a restaurant on the square for food and good conversation. It was nice to sit down and just take in the place without having to rush to the next place. We had a quick walk around town. Its small enough to see the sights in a short while, but getting wet didn’t seem like a good idea. Since Sean had never had a Capirinha, we headed for a bar for an introduction. There we saw chatting like good friends until it was time for me to head back to OP. I didn’t want to be late for my bus.

By this time we were hungry. Sat down for a nice (and cheap) meal, before heading home and catching the bus.

   Views of Ouro Preto

  A couple taking life easy. Probably in preparation for Carnaval

 
The train ride: Carriage – We went through a couple of tunnels (not at all as fast as this pic looks. About 15kph – View

 The conductor…in Carnaval sprit

  The organ in Mariana

Ouro Preto at night from the hostel

Sao Joao del Rei & Tiradentes

Day 1: (click for map)
I disobeyed Rule #3. Man I must be stupid! I was faced with a decision at the rodoviaria on Monday: Wait until 11pm to get bus to Ouro Preto or get a bus to Sao Joao del Rei at 2pm. I though that I could save half a day by going to Sao Joao del Rei first (wanted to go there anyway). However, I would arrive at 6pm…after the tourist office had closed. The difference was that I actually had numbers and address for place in SJ! So I look the chance.

About 30min from SJ, we stopped in the highway. I saw some red flashing lights up ahead, so thought I was some road works. Thought nothing of it. Back to my book. When the driver switched off the engine, I knew there was something fish. Two trucks had collided and were now blocking the road. The bus driver informed us that those going to SJ would be able to hitch a ride with another bus…no charge. This meant that I only got to SJ at 8pm!

Not too phase, I sat down calmly as I have been told by many people that the local of Minas Gerais (the state that SJ is in) are very friendly. 10min into the trip this became apparent. A lady sitting in front of me asked me where I was going (I must’ve looked lost before getting onto the bus). She lived in SJ and offered to explain where the hostel was. She took it one step further. Her husband picked her up at the rodoviaria and there drove me there! Awesome! By now I was hungry and one of the guys the hostel had just ordered a pizza, which I was invited to share. Score! So the day didn’t end too badly.

Day 2:
Started by walking around SJ, but wasn’t overly impressed. Yes it had nice cobble streets and old buildings, but nothing spectacular. I’d seen better. Close by (15km) is Tiradentes (map) which is much nicer. Its like it was plucked from the 1800’s and the local people replaced with modern ones. Cobbles streets with nice plazas. Surrounded by mountains. Only problem is the price. It’s not a cheap town, but I can understand why.

Stumbled upon an all wood furniture manufacturer. Great stuff & his wife is learning English, so we had a bit of a chat :) I didn’t want to take photos because people are copying his designs because they are so popular. He only designs chairs, but makes anything. Saw some truly different, but still practical, furniture. (AJ if you are reading this, you would’ve drooled!).

Got back to SJ and booked my bus ticket for Ouro Preto, for Thursday morning @ 2:45am! Eish! Either that, or leave @ 4pm…its a 4 hour ride. Remembering Rule #3, I took the early option :) So now my bus tickets are all booked.

Views of Tiradantes:

Day 3:
I didn’t eat well yesterday, so was tired. Treated myself to a lie-in. Just as well, because it started to rain :( After catching up on my emails and learning some Spanish (will need much more than Portuguese, since Brazil is the only country in S. Am that speaks it), I put on on my rain jacket and headed into town to discover the historic city (where-ever that might be).

Followed my nose up the hill and into a poor residential area. Helped an old lady offload some food (my good deed for the day).
Just over the hill is the “wild”. The nature is beautiful! Getting an itch to go get some “nature time”.

Saw some of the cathedrals but to be honest, I don’t want to pay to see them inside. Even though they are historic and all.

I got to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force Museum (exhibits the history of this area’s military involvement in WW2) just as they were closing. Explained to the guy that I was leaving tomorrow and they allowed me to have a quick look inside. This must bode well for my Portuguese! Very interesting! They LOTS of guns, medals & certificates of honour, uniforms and a sculpture in remembrance of the men who died (with name, photo and rank of each man). Wish I got there earlier.

I’m taking it easy tonight as I’m taking the bus to Ouro Preto (map) really early tomorrow.

The rain that started the day

  Views from the poor neighbourhood. Not bad

 
Same poor neighbourhood: The houses….the view! Better than Constantia :)

In the historic centre – must be a strong military background here