Coming back to Buenos Aires felt like meeting an old friend. When we left Buenos Aires we felt like we're going into the unknown. We were sure that we'll come back after two months of rice and bread diet in Peru and Bolivia after spending the tine in the worst hostels. Well, as you dedicated readers know, that wasn't exactly what happened. On our last stay in La Paz the food and the hostel were so good that we didn't even want to leave. However, we felt great when we landed, after a long and tiring night that we spent on the benches in Lima's airport and on the plane, that had to land and wait 3 hours in Cordoba, because of the fog over Buenos Aires.
But old friends forgive, and even the long bus (hour and a half through the inner city) from the airport to our hostel didn't ruin the fun of the reunion.
We went back to Lime house hostel where we stayed during our first visit. We didn't spend a lot of time in hostel and headed to the Sunday market in San Thelmo. On the way we passed a parade. The people of Buenos Aires like to march or celebrate, and this time it was child's day combined with the celebration of Bolivia's independence day that was the day before. The market was especially happy, this time, because there was yet another parade on the market's main street. This parade belonged to the clubs of the drummers and Samba dancers of the happy city. We thought we are going back to Argentina, and found ourselves in Brazil again! That was a real fun. On the second day we completed the “must-do's” of Buenos Aires. We walked through the trendy neighborhood Palermo, saw the Botanical garden, took a peek at the animals of the zoo from outside and were very happy to see at least one animal that we didn't see during our trip to South America, a giraffe.
We had a quick visit in the Japanese gardens before we crossed the city to get to the real attraction of the day: the weekly music concert of “La bomba del tiempo”. The stage was located in a large hangar, and on it were a group of 14 drummers with every possible percussion. From time to time they were accompanied by a trumpet player and a Brazilian singer and guitarist, that was the special guest of the evening. The first sounds removed any doubt that might have been about the strange collection of instruments. The next two hours were a wild party of music that switched between jazz, Samba and dance music. Time flew and we were so into the music that it seemed only few minutes passed before the show ended. If you are in Buenos Aires, plan it so you'll be there on Monday and don't miss the show.
Early next morning we met Anna, Lilya's friend, that came all the way from Santiago, Chile to see us (22 hours by bus!). We visited the Caminito, the famous coloured street in the notorious neighbourhood “ La Boca”. The Caminito area is very touristy and not that interesting, so we spent there only a short time and wanted to walk to Porto Madero where the trendy meat restaurants are located.
Soon after we started walking, no more than 5 minutes walking from the touristy area of El Caminito, the atmosphere changed completely. The street became abandoned and even though it was morning, it looked scary. An old woman, that left her home with her grandson told us to go back and take the bus. 5 minutes walk on the way back and the environment changed again. Don't be fooled by the large boulevards and the celebrations of Buenos Aires. This city has its dark side and it can be as close as 5 minutes walk.
We ate at “La Bistek”, an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant, that was really good. It took us more than an hour to walk from there to the shopping street Florida, because we left the restaurant almost twice as heavy as we entered.
We spent the rest of the day doing shopping. On the next morning we said goodbye to Anna and took the cab to the airport.
It was hard to say goodbye to this great continent that gave us such a great time, but after 4 hours of flight we already flew over the Pacific ocean on the way to Australia. We waved to the imperial penguin when we flew over the South Pole, on our way.
The next post will be from a new continent.
Tip 1: If you slept during the post and missed this tip, we'll write it again: don't miss the show of "La bomba del tiempo". It is every Monday on 3131 Sarmiento st. at 19:30.
Tip 2: The lunch deal at "la bistek" on the weekdays is really good. Be there around mid-day.
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Friday, 10 September 2010
Sunday, 23 May 2010
The Iguazu Falls and thoughts about the promissed land
We do not want to disagree with God. If he says that Israel is the promised land, then he is probably right. But we do feel that he didn't checked carefully enough all around the world. Had he asked us, we probably would have suggested him to take a closer look at Argentina. If he would have visited the Iguacu falls, maybe Moses would have split the Atlantic ocean apart instead of the red sea on his way to the promised land. We have noticed, though, that a lot of the enormous wonders of nature mention the devil in its names, so maybe God likes churches and synagogues better.
After another night on a bus (about 18 hours) we arrived to Puerto Iguazu, the closest Argentinian town to the falls. We left our stuff at a nice hostel (Marcopolo inn) just across the street from the main bus station, and took a bus to the falls. After about half an hour we arrived to the Iguazu National park. We were said that we need at least 5-6 hours to cover the main routs of the park. They didn't take into account Oren's tendency to stop and photograph every 2 minutes.
We took an internal train to our first waterfall lookout, Garganta del Diablo, Spanish for Devil's Throat. Enormous amount of water just falling down right in front of you. The thunder can be heard from far away, but only when arriving close to the falls the full extent of the wonder is revealed. What a scenery! It was like standing in front of an atomic bomb explosion. An average of 1300 cubic meters per second falls down this waterfall. This is almost the entire daily water consumption of Israel in one hour. What a waste of water! This could have saved the pealing faces of Ninet and Bar Refaeli.
We had a great day, the sun was up so we got the combination of two of our favourite physical phenomena: gravity and diffraction. In the language of the common non-physicists, this means a double rainbow above huge waterfalls. The sight was really amazing, and Oren photographed it from every possible angle. But not just Oren, at every other viewpoint there were lots of tourists taking pictures, mostly of their own faces blocking most of the waterfalls. We looked at them and wondered what was the exact thought going through their minds while looking on this divine picture: "What a nice waterfall, but something is missing... I know what! My face!". It seemed like a sin to us to interfere such a spectacular view.
The waterfalls are not the only attractions in the park. All around the park there were lots of butterflies of all kinds and sizes. A lot of them were quite friendly. It seemed that they liked to eat Autan (the mosquito repellent), and one of them stayed on Lilya's hand for almost an hour, eating it. She called him Pablo. The other attraction are the Coatis , which are a sort of a raccoon. They are used to humans, so they just hang around between them, looking for something to steal. It is very amusing to see them so close. One of them stole a Mate bag from an Argentinian tourist. He should have known not to mess with the locals' Mate. She ran after him and wouldn't give up until she returned her Mate.
In the evening we had dinner with a very nice French guy, that happened to be Jewish. It was refreshing to hear such sympathy to Israel from someone from France.
The next day was dedicated to the Brazilian side of the falls. The trail on the Aregnetinian side takes you very close to the falls, on the Brazilian side you can see a more panoramic view of the falls. Unfortunately, we have found on that day what Pacha Mama likes to eat. She likes steaks, so she stayed in Argentina for few more days. This is why we had a bad weather on this day, and the photos you can see looks grey. But sunny or not, this is Brazil and we celebrated our first day there with a coconut shake that made us think that we would trade some of the promised milk and honey with sweet tropical fruits. Chava Alberstein, by the way, got to the same conclusion.
We spent the second part of this day in the amazing bird park right across from the entrance to the falls. They have a huge collection of birds and some reptiles from all across Brazil. Some of the cages are large with a lot of birds and people can get inside. The birds don't look too disturbed by this arrangement. On the contrary! In the cage that was dedicated to the birds of the Pantanal, one of the more friendly Tucans started eating Lilya's pants. He probably wanted to eat the strings which were exactly what he needed for his diet.
At the evening we took the bus to Campo Grande, one of the main cities of the Pantanal to start or tour there.
After another night on a bus (about 18 hours) we arrived to Puerto Iguazu, the closest Argentinian town to the falls. We left our stuff at a nice hostel (Marcopolo inn) just across the street from the main bus station, and took a bus to the falls. After about half an hour we arrived to the Iguazu National park. We were said that we need at least 5-6 hours to cover the main routs of the park. They didn't take into account Oren's tendency to stop and photograph every 2 minutes.
We took an internal train to our first waterfall lookout, Garganta del Diablo, Spanish for Devil's Throat. Enormous amount of water just falling down right in front of you. The thunder can be heard from far away, but only when arriving close to the falls the full extent of the wonder is revealed. What a scenery! It was like standing in front of an atomic bomb explosion. An average of 1300 cubic meters per second falls down this waterfall. This is almost the entire daily water consumption of Israel in one hour. What a waste of water! This could have saved the pealing faces of Ninet and Bar Refaeli.
We had a great day, the sun was up so we got the combination of two of our favourite physical phenomena: gravity and diffraction. In the language of the common non-physicists, this means a double rainbow above huge waterfalls. The sight was really amazing, and Oren photographed it from every possible angle. But not just Oren, at every other viewpoint there were lots of tourists taking pictures, mostly of their own faces blocking most of the waterfalls. We looked at them and wondered what was the exact thought going through their minds while looking on this divine picture: "What a nice waterfall, but something is missing... I know what! My face!". It seemed like a sin to us to interfere such a spectacular view.
The waterfalls are not the only attractions in the park. All around the park there were lots of butterflies of all kinds and sizes. A lot of them were quite friendly. It seemed that they liked to eat Autan (the mosquito repellent), and one of them stayed on Lilya's hand for almost an hour, eating it. She called him Pablo. The other attraction are the Coatis , which are a sort of a raccoon. They are used to humans, so they just hang around between them, looking for something to steal. It is very amusing to see them so close. One of them stole a Mate bag from an Argentinian tourist. He should have known not to mess with the locals' Mate. She ran after him and wouldn't give up until she returned her Mate.
In the evening we had dinner with a very nice French guy, that happened to be Jewish. It was refreshing to hear such sympathy to Israel from someone from France.
The next day was dedicated to the Brazilian side of the falls. The trail on the Aregnetinian side takes you very close to the falls, on the Brazilian side you can see a more panoramic view of the falls. Unfortunately, we have found on that day what Pacha Mama likes to eat. She likes steaks, so she stayed in Argentina for few more days. This is why we had a bad weather on this day, and the photos you can see looks grey. But sunny or not, this is Brazil and we celebrated our first day there with a coconut shake that made us think that we would trade some of the promised milk and honey with sweet tropical fruits. Chava Alberstein, by the way, got to the same conclusion.
We spent the second part of this day in the amazing bird park right across from the entrance to the falls. They have a huge collection of birds and some reptiles from all across Brazil. Some of the cages are large with a lot of birds and people can get inside. The birds don't look too disturbed by this arrangement. On the contrary! In the cage that was dedicated to the birds of the Pantanal, one of the more friendly Tucans started eating Lilya's pants. He probably wanted to eat the strings which were exactly what he needed for his diet.
At the evening we took the bus to Campo Grande, one of the main cities of the Pantanal to start or tour there.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Mendoza and Buenos Aires - A tale of two cities
It was the best of times...
It was the age of wisdom...
It was the epoch of belief...
It was the season of fun!
We intended to stop at Mendoza for only a short time on the way to Buenus Aires, so Lilya can find a place for rock climbing, but Mendoza is not a town you just stop on the way in. Located at the center of a large winery district (about 1100 different wineries!), Mendoza had turned itself into a center of attractions. It didn't take more than 2 minutes from the time we got off the night bus until we were hunted by Raul, an owner of a hostel nearby the bus station. Raul also turned out to be a paragliding instructor and other tours organizer. He lives with 3 of his 7 children (a single parent) at the hostel, while his older children come to help, whenever needed. Raul is a very fun guy and also very helpful, he called different companies every day in the attempt to organize some rock climbing for Lilya, but that didn't help...
We spent our first day just hanging around in Mendoza. Mendoza is a vivid and a lovely city with large avenues full of plane trees and people, it reminded us Tbilisi. We passed through a huge park and watched the richer folks of Mendoza doing their jogging. But walking around is not what we came for. On the next day we took a bike winery tour, guided by Raul's son (only the biking part). We visited 2 wineries and a chocolateria. The wine tours weren't that good, the wine we tasted wasn't great, and they are much less generous with the tasting comparing to the Israeli wineries. The bike ride was fun, though. Since it is autumn in Argentina the yellow and the red leaves of the grapevines created a very nice decoration.
One of the most important concepts you need to know when visiting in Argentina or in Chile is "Tenedor Libre", which means a free fork, it's an "all you can eat" restaurant. They are usually consist of free buffet and a grill. The price is relatively low, and all is included (except the drinks). There is a very large variety of such restaurants, some are pretty good, and some (the really cheap ones) are quite disappointing. The one we have visited in Mendoza was the best we saw. The meat was great, the variety was enormous, there was a special chef for every type of dish (pastas, seafood, oriental...), waiting to prepare it just for you. And all this heaven costs about 10$!
On the next day we took the "Alta Montana" tour. It was a minibus full of local tourists, most of them Argentinian and all were older than us. The guide spoke only Spanish, which we couldn't understand, but we did understand that he was very funny. Although the difficulties in communication, after half a day half of the bus were our friends (or parents to be precise). That really reminded us of our trip to Georgia. The tour took us to the mountains surrounding Mendoza. On the way we passed a lookout on the Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside Asia, 6962m. We also stopped at the amazing Punta del Inca, a natural bridge covered with a yellow-orange mineral of some sort. Later the minibus climbed to a lookout at 4200m, which was on the border between Chile and Argentina. Both countries' flags were on the top, right next to Jesus. While the Chilean was new and tidy, the Argentinian was old and torn, which didn't seem to bother our Argentinian friends, which started singing "Viva la Patria".
The last day was dedicated to paragliding. Lilya doesn't like paragliding, because it is not extreme enough for her. So Oren was the only one to jump. Although short, it was very very fun, and not that expensive at all. We left Mendoza that night, taking a "Cama Suite" bus to Buenus Aires, which is similar to a 1st class seats on an airplane (including champagne and all). We got to Buenus Aires on the next morning, and a new world was opened to us.
In Buenus Aires we felt again the power of a large city, and immediately got addicted. More than 13 million people live in this beautiful city. This number really puts the small villages we come from (Tel Aviv and Haifa) into perspective. They call it the Paris of South America, they must be right.
After finding our hostel and Ohad inside of it, we went to tour the city. We started with Plaza de Mayo. On its eastern side sits the Casa Rosada, which is a sort of a White House of the Argentinians, only pink. It was a Sunday, so it was open to visitors. We found ourselves standing in line to enter it without even knowing what is this building. Only in the president's chamber we understood where we are. On the main balcony we waived to the public downstairs, Evita style.
From there we continued to a large (more than 15 blocks) Sunday street market. Most of the streets of Buenus was very empty, since it was Sunday, but the market was full of people. It was something between a flee and an art craft market. Lots of street shows and people dancing tango. For the first time, Lilya justified her new camera and photographed a lot of people.
That day was a very important day, because it was the final round of the Primer League, that should have determine which team will be the Champion. Lilya didn't want to get updates during the match (not to bring bad luck to Chelsea) so she was very nervous during all the game. At the end of it we went into an Internet cafe and spent the best peso (worth 1 shekel) Lilya had ever spent. Chelsea won the championship! Oren, on the other hand called it "a shekel worth of championship".
That day there was also a Boca Jr. game in their own stadium in La Boca neighborhood. Since we have just arrived, and didn't have tickets, we went there only to feel the atmosphere. The atmosphere was tense, but we didn't see any real action, even though Lilya insisted on running in the direction of every explosion she heard.
We spent the next day with Gabi and touring the beautiful and noisy city center. At night we met them again for a pub tour in the Palermo neighborhood, the young a trendy Soho of Buenos Aires, but since it was Monday, most of the pubs were closed so the tour included only two pubs. On the next day we hanged around the rich Ricoleta neighborhood and visited the old and impressive cemetery, which is considered a must for tourists, there we saw the graves of half of the streets' names in the country. Oren never really understood the point of visiting cemeteries, except for the morbid sculptures of archangels that guard the graves. The graves themselves are not plain gravestones but a full burial estate that could have made a nice apartment in Tel Aviv today. We left the cemetery after we got tired from being hunted by ghosts from someone else's past, and went to eat. All those righteous archangels and figures of the suffering Jesus made Lilya very sinful so she ordered the largest hamburger ever seen, combined with every unhealthy addition you can think of, and served with an appointment to a cardiologist. After the meal we continued touring the plazas of Ricoleta, which by no doubt has the largest ratio of plazas per person in the world. At the afternoon Lilya finally went rock climbing (indoors). She found a small gym place one hour from the center, and was determined not to leave Argentina without climbing. The way there was an experience by itself. We got to the local subway (called "Subte"), and took the busiest line in the middle of the rush hour. If you visit in Buenos Aires, this is certainly a must. You do not enter the train, you are pushed and dragged into it by the crowd around you. And when you're inside you are squeezed until it hearts. The good thing about that is that you don't need to hold anything, there is no chance you will fall when the train will stop. Even after enormous amounts of Sundays on the way to Be'er Sheva, struggling with armed soldiers trying to get on the bus ahead of you, this was indeed a constructive experience. We got a sauna and a massage for less than 2 pesos! The rock climbing itself was much less exciting. We got back just in time to take a quick shower and run to the Tango show (Sabor de Tango). This show is something all tourists must do in Buenos Aires. It included two annoying singers, 8 quite professional tango dancers, a really nice music band (2 accordions, 2 violins, a contrabass and a piano) and practically no soul. Since Tango is a dance of passion, the lack of it really harmed the show. It looked more like a good acrobatic show. But this is only Lilya's opinion, all the rest seemed to enjoy it.
Half of the next day was spent on buying a third digital camera. A small pocket camera that we can take with us in our pocket in more dangerous areas. On the way back we stumbled upon a demonstration. It started from a small group with very loud drums, and turned out to be a swarm of thousands of people. It took us a while to understand what is the demonstration is about. They were gas station workers and their families from all across Argentina protesting against gas stations being closed. We followed the crowd and took lots of pictures. Democracy can be so exciting sometimes.
At the evening we went to see Puerto Madero, a port near the Rio de la Plata riverbank. It was a very nice place to hang around. There are a lot of nice restaurants and a Calatrava -like bridge (as you can see at the pictures), dedicated to women.
We left Buenos Aires the next day on our way to the Iguacu falls, without feeling we had enough of this great city.
We'll be back!
Tip 1: All the activities we have done in the Mendoza area were booked through Raul. Raul is the owner of Casa del Sol hostel. The hostel itself wasn't great, but Raul's presence improved it a lot. He was the one that recomended us the great "Tenedor Libre" restaurant on the Katamarca street, few blocks from the hostel.
Tip 2: You don't have to book the whole wine tour in advance, you can go to the wine region, hire a bike and choose the wineries you like to visit by yourself.
It was the age of wisdom...
It was the epoch of belief...
It was the season of fun!
We intended to stop at Mendoza for only a short time on the way to Buenus Aires, so Lilya can find a place for rock climbing, but Mendoza is not a town you just stop on the way in. Located at the center of a large winery district (about 1100 different wineries!), Mendoza had turned itself into a center of attractions. It didn't take more than 2 minutes from the time we got off the night bus until we were hunted by Raul, an owner of a hostel nearby the bus station. Raul also turned out to be a paragliding instructor and other tours organizer. He lives with 3 of his 7 children (a single parent) at the hostel, while his older children come to help, whenever needed. Raul is a very fun guy and also very helpful, he called different companies every day in the attempt to organize some rock climbing for Lilya, but that didn't help...
We spent our first day just hanging around in Mendoza. Mendoza is a vivid and a lovely city with large avenues full of plane trees and people, it reminded us Tbilisi. We passed through a huge park and watched the richer folks of Mendoza doing their jogging. But walking around is not what we came for. On the next day we took a bike winery tour, guided by Raul's son (only the biking part). We visited 2 wineries and a chocolateria. The wine tours weren't that good, the wine we tasted wasn't great, and they are much less generous with the tasting comparing to the Israeli wineries. The bike ride was fun, though. Since it is autumn in Argentina the yellow and the red leaves of the grapevines created a very nice decoration.
One of the most important concepts you need to know when visiting in Argentina or in Chile is "Tenedor Libre", which means a free fork, it's an "all you can eat" restaurant. They are usually consist of free buffet and a grill. The price is relatively low, and all is included (except the drinks). There is a very large variety of such restaurants, some are pretty good, and some (the really cheap ones) are quite disappointing. The one we have visited in Mendoza was the best we saw. The meat was great, the variety was enormous, there was a special chef for every type of dish (pastas, seafood, oriental...), waiting to prepare it just for you. And all this heaven costs about 10$!
On the next day we took the "Alta Montana" tour. It was a minibus full of local tourists, most of them Argentinian and all were older than us. The guide spoke only Spanish, which we couldn't understand, but we did understand that he was very funny. Although the difficulties in communication, after half a day half of the bus were our friends (or parents to be precise). That really reminded us of our trip to Georgia. The tour took us to the mountains surrounding Mendoza. On the way we passed a lookout on the Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside Asia, 6962m. We also stopped at the amazing Punta del Inca, a natural bridge covered with a yellow-orange mineral of some sort. Later the minibus climbed to a lookout at 4200m, which was on the border between Chile and Argentina. Both countries' flags were on the top, right next to Jesus. While the Chilean was new and tidy, the Argentinian was old and torn, which didn't seem to bother our Argentinian friends, which started singing "Viva la Patria".
The last day was dedicated to paragliding. Lilya doesn't like paragliding, because it is not extreme enough for her. So Oren was the only one to jump. Although short, it was very very fun, and not that expensive at all. We left Mendoza that night, taking a "Cama Suite" bus to Buenus Aires, which is similar to a 1st class seats on an airplane (including champagne and all). We got to Buenus Aires on the next morning, and a new world was opened to us.
In Buenus Aires we felt again the power of a large city, and immediately got addicted. More than 13 million people live in this beautiful city. This number really puts the small villages we come from (Tel Aviv and Haifa) into perspective. They call it the Paris of South America, they must be right.
After finding our hostel and Ohad inside of it, we went to tour the city. We started with Plaza de Mayo. On its eastern side sits the Casa Rosada, which is a sort of a White House of the Argentinians, only pink. It was a Sunday, so it was open to visitors. We found ourselves standing in line to enter it without even knowing what is this building. Only in the president's chamber we understood where we are. On the main balcony we waived to the public downstairs, Evita style.
From there we continued to a large (more than 15 blocks) Sunday street market. Most of the streets of Buenus was very empty, since it was Sunday, but the market was full of people. It was something between a flee and an art craft market. Lots of street shows and people dancing tango. For the first time, Lilya justified her new camera and photographed a lot of people.
That day was a very important day, because it was the final round of the Primer League, that should have determine which team will be the Champion. Lilya didn't want to get updates during the match (not to bring bad luck to Chelsea) so she was very nervous during all the game. At the end of it we went into an Internet cafe and spent the best peso (worth 1 shekel) Lilya had ever spent. Chelsea won the championship! Oren, on the other hand called it "a shekel worth of championship".
That day there was also a Boca Jr. game in their own stadium in La Boca neighborhood. Since we have just arrived, and didn't have tickets, we went there only to feel the atmosphere. The atmosphere was tense, but we didn't see any real action, even though Lilya insisted on running in the direction of every explosion she heard.
We spent the next day with Gabi and touring the beautiful and noisy city center. At night we met them again for a pub tour in the Palermo neighborhood, the young a trendy Soho of Buenos Aires, but since it was Monday, most of the pubs were closed so the tour included only two pubs. On the next day we hanged around the rich Ricoleta neighborhood and visited the old and impressive cemetery, which is considered a must for tourists, there we saw the graves of half of the streets' names in the country. Oren never really understood the point of visiting cemeteries, except for the morbid sculptures of archangels that guard the graves. The graves themselves are not plain gravestones but a full burial estate that could have made a nice apartment in Tel Aviv today. We left the cemetery after we got tired from being hunted by ghosts from someone else's past, and went to eat. All those righteous archangels and figures of the suffering Jesus made Lilya very sinful so she ordered the largest hamburger ever seen, combined with every unhealthy addition you can think of, and served with an appointment to a cardiologist. After the meal we continued touring the plazas of Ricoleta, which by no doubt has the largest ratio of plazas per person in the world. At the afternoon Lilya finally went rock climbing (indoors). She found a small gym place one hour from the center, and was determined not to leave Argentina without climbing. The way there was an experience by itself. We got to the local subway (called "Subte"), and took the busiest line in the middle of the rush hour. If you visit in Buenos Aires, this is certainly a must. You do not enter the train, you are pushed and dragged into it by the crowd around you. And when you're inside you are squeezed until it hearts. The good thing about that is that you don't need to hold anything, there is no chance you will fall when the train will stop. Even after enormous amounts of Sundays on the way to Be'er Sheva, struggling with armed soldiers trying to get on the bus ahead of you, this was indeed a constructive experience. We got a sauna and a massage for less than 2 pesos! The rock climbing itself was much less exciting. We got back just in time to take a quick shower and run to the Tango show (Sabor de Tango). This show is something all tourists must do in Buenos Aires. It included two annoying singers, 8 quite professional tango dancers, a really nice music band (2 accordions, 2 violins, a contrabass and a piano) and practically no soul. Since Tango is a dance of passion, the lack of it really harmed the show. It looked more like a good acrobatic show. But this is only Lilya's opinion, all the rest seemed to enjoy it.
Half of the next day was spent on buying a third digital camera. A small pocket camera that we can take with us in our pocket in more dangerous areas. On the way back we stumbled upon a demonstration. It started from a small group with very loud drums, and turned out to be a swarm of thousands of people. It took us a while to understand what is the demonstration is about. They were gas station workers and their families from all across Argentina protesting against gas stations being closed. We followed the crowd and took lots of pictures. Democracy can be so exciting sometimes.
At the evening we went to see Puerto Madero, a port near the Rio de la Plata riverbank. It was a very nice place to hang around. There are a lot of nice restaurants and a Calatrava -like bridge (as you can see at the pictures), dedicated to women.
We left Buenos Aires the next day on our way to the Iguacu falls, without feeling we had enough of this great city.
We'll be back!
Tip 1: All the activities we have done in the Mendoza area were booked through Raul. Raul is the owner of Casa del Sol hostel. The hostel itself wasn't great, but Raul's presence improved it a lot. He was the one that recomended us the great "Tenedor Libre" restaurant on the Katamarca street, few blocks from the hostel.
Tip 2: You don't have to book the whole wine tour in advance, you can go to the wine region, hire a bike and choose the wineries you like to visit by yourself.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Bariloche and the lake district - The trasfiguration of Lilya
The new testament tells the story of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9). The story tells that Jesus and some of his followers climbed on a high mountain (the tradition claims this mountain was Mt. Tavor), where Jesus met Moses and Elijah, when a bright cloud appeared and a voice from the cloud said that Jesus is the son of god. Jesus face started glowing and he has changed in front of the men on the mountain. Lilya had a very similar experience here in Bariloche. As she went down the street she met the three grate ones: Don Alberto (steaks), RapaNui (Chocolate) and Jauja (Ice cream). In front of my eyes she has changed from the strict Spartan calorie keeper she was to a hedonist Roman emperor that enjoys all the goodness of life.
Oren on the other hand, became a bit concerned. After 7 years of having a small voice (Lilya) telling him when he had enough to eat, suddenly there is no such voice any longer, and had to decide for himself. He was really frightened by this amount of freedom given to him. He tried to put Lilya through some very difficult tests, for example offered to go get some chocolate/ice cream after a very very large dinner, but to his surprise, she failed them all.
The Steaks here are only the padding for the premium chocolate which is flushed by a quality (but quite cheep) wine. The afternoon is the icecream time, maybe after a good pasta or pizza. This is the Bariloche way of life.
After we were back from the Carretera, Oren had a nasty pain in his back so we decided to stay in Bariloche for a while. But we didn't spent all the time in the chocolate stores. While here, Lilya did a nice bicycle trip with Ohad, Gabi and Achia around few of the countless lakes around Bariloche (The "Circuito Chico"). On the next day we went together to the "17th km" - a nice lookout above the Nahuel Huapi (read as na-well wa-pee) lake.
After Oren got better, we rented a car (just the two of us this time) for 3 days and drove north on a road called "the 7 lakes road". The road crosses the Argentinian lake district and passes through 5-10 lakes (depending
Oren on the other hand, became a bit concerned. After 7 years of having a small voice (Lilya) telling him when he had enough to eat, suddenly there is no such voice any longer, and had to decide for himself. He was really frightened by this amount of freedom given to him. He tried to put Lilya through some very difficult tests, for example offered to go get some chocolate/ice cream after a very very large dinner, but to his surprise, she failed them all.
The Steaks here are only the padding for the premium chocolate which is flushed by a quality (but quite cheep) wine. The afternoon is the icecream time, maybe after a good pasta or pizza. This is the Bariloche way of life.
After we were back from the Carretera, Oren had a nasty pain in his back so we decided to stay in Bariloche for a while. But we didn't spent all the time in the chocolate stores. While here, Lilya did a nice bicycle trip with Ohad, Gabi and Achia around few of the countless lakes around Bariloche (The "Circuito Chico"). On the next day we went together to the "17th km" - a nice lookout above the Nahuel Huapi (read as na-well wa-pee) lake.
After Oren got better, we rented a car (just the two of us this time) for 3 days and drove north on a road called "the 7 lakes road". The road crosses the Argentinian lake district and passes through 5-10 lakes (depending
on your definition to how small can a lake should be and still be named a lake). We had a wonderful weather on the first day and the drive was fantastic. A full day is enough to see all the lakes even if someone (the name is not important right now) constantly asks for picture stops. We came to the conclusion that the beauty of a lake depends on the location of the sun in the sky and the absence of wind. That's why lake number 5 is our favorite. The sun was low and the light was warm, so the landscape was painted with wonderful colors. There was no wind at all, so the lake became a mirror and reflected the mountains behind it. On the way back, by the way, this lake wasn't that great with all the clouds blocking the sun.
On that day we slept in San Martin de los Andes. This is a small (and better) version of Bariloche. The chocolates are here and so are the good restaurants, but the town is smaller, cleaner and more stylish, and just like a Dolce and Gabbana purse, for style you have to pay more. That's why there are almost no cheep places for budget tourists like ourselves. We spent the night at (probably) the only hostel in town. We got a big room with TV, so we could watch "Old Christine" and "Friends" even before breakfast. But most of all, we will probably remember this day as the day we ate 5 different animals (none of which was a chicken): A pig, a boar, a cow, a deer and a lamb. Argentina can be so diverse!
The next day we drove to Junin de los Andes. Several km north of Junin there is the northern entrance to Lanin National Park. The road takes you to the northern viewpoint over Lanin volcano. The sky had no clouds and the view of the snowy conical peak of Lanin with the clear blue sky was classic. We climbed the steep road through the rain forest for an hour, and arrived to one of the nicest lookouts we've seen until now. If you are there don't miss it.
In Argentina, every second town is the capital of something. Junin, for example is the capital of traut fish. Even the signs of the street names have a fish on them. So, you must try a trout in Junin, and so we did. We got a recommendation in return for helping a local Indian, and had two delicious trouts for dinner. We slept in San Martin again, since we wanted to see the next episode of "Old Christine".
On the next day we drove back to Bariloche. The road back goes back through the marvelous lake Traful. Only after driving for some time we realized that we are almost out of fuel. The red light lit 50 km from the nearest town. We got to Villa Traful on the last fuel vapors, only to find out that the gas station is closed. We already prepared ourselves to hitchhike to the next town (60 km ahead) with an empty juice bottle, when we remembered the first rule of Argentina: Nothing is open on the Siesta! We acted like the locals and had a Siesta of our own in our car, in the gas station. Luckily, because of the delay we got a better weather for the rest of the road (for the pictures, of course). We celebrated our return to heaven (Bariloche) with a nice pair of steaks.
On the next morning we tried to climb Mt. Catedral, near Bariloche. The cable cars that should have taken us up the mountain didn't work (well, it was Sunday, and why would something so touristic will be open on Sundays?), so we had to climb it by ourselves. Pacha Mama was on vacation this day and her place was probably filled by her wicked brother Bob, so we were stopped on the way up by the snow that started to fall. Bob didn't think that we will like it very much but he was wrong. Being the Israelis that we are, we didn't experienced snow falling for a long long time and we were very excited and naturally, took a lot of pictures.
We left Bariloche the next day to Osorno (in Chile) to see the Chilean lake district.
On that day we slept in San Martin de los Andes. This is a small (and better) version of Bariloche. The chocolates are here and so are the good restaurants, but the town is smaller, cleaner and more stylish, and just like a Dolce and Gabbana purse, for style you have to pay more. That's why there are almost no cheep places for budget tourists like ourselves. We spent the night at (probably) the only hostel in town. We got a big room with TV, so we could watch "Old Christine" and "Friends" even before breakfast. But most of all, we will probably remember this day as the day we ate 5 different animals (none of which was a chicken): A pig, a boar, a cow, a deer and a lamb. Argentina can be so diverse!
The next day we drove to Junin de los Andes. Several km north of Junin there is the northern entrance to Lanin National Park. The road takes you to the northern viewpoint over Lanin volcano. The sky had no clouds and the view of the snowy conical peak of Lanin with the clear blue sky was classic. We climbed the steep road through the rain forest for an hour, and arrived to one of the nicest lookouts we've seen until now. If you are there don't miss it.
In Argentina, every second town is the capital of something. Junin, for example is the capital of traut fish. Even the signs of the street names have a fish on them. So, you must try a trout in Junin, and so we did. We got a recommendation in return for helping a local Indian, and had two delicious trouts for dinner. We slept in San Martin again, since we wanted to see the next episode of "Old Christine".
On the next day we drove back to Bariloche. The road back goes back through the marvelous lake Traful. Only after driving for some time we realized that we are almost out of fuel. The red light lit 50 km from the nearest town. We got to Villa Traful on the last fuel vapors, only to find out that the gas station is closed. We already prepared ourselves to hitchhike to the next town (60 km ahead) with an empty juice bottle, when we remembered the first rule of Argentina: Nothing is open on the Siesta! We acted like the locals and had a Siesta of our own in our car, in the gas station. Luckily, because of the delay we got a better weather for the rest of the road (for the pictures, of course). We celebrated our return to heaven (Bariloche) with a nice pair of steaks.
On the next morning we tried to climb Mt. Catedral, near Bariloche. The cable cars that should have taken us up the mountain didn't work (well, it was Sunday, and why would something so touristic will be open on Sundays?), so we had to climb it by ourselves. Pacha Mama was on vacation this day and her place was probably filled by her wicked brother Bob, so we were stopped on the way up by the snow that started to fall. Bob didn't think that we will like it very much but he was wrong. Being the Israelis that we are, we didn't experienced snow falling for a long long time and we were very excited and naturally, took a lot of pictures.
We left Bariloche the next day to Osorno (in Chile) to see the Chilean lake district.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Carretera Austral (Part A - to Bariloche and back)
We need your help. If anyone knows Pacha Mama (the Chilean name for mother earth) please contact us immediately. We want to know what she likes to eat. Here in Bariloche we can probably find it and send it to wherever she is. We can build an altar and sacrifice it right here if needed. It is the begining of April an we had no rain all through the Carretera Austral. Let me say that again. NO RAIN. Actually, we did have 15 minutes of rain that came especially when we needed a rainbow for the pictures. As if the whole nature was recruited to help us compose the photographs. And not only in the Carretera. Until now we had the most amazing weather we could've expected, even though we are almost out of the season. But first thing first. This story begins with a bus.
"The busses in Argentina are the best ever" said the experts. As if...
We ordered two tickets to a bus from El Chalten to Bariloche from a guy that yelled "Balagan" everytime Oren was around. Lilya managed to avoid the treat, since no one belives she's an Israeli. This was the first bad omen. The second was the bus that looked small and not really up to the task. But the last omen came 5 minutes from the beggining of the ride. The bus driver (or his 10 years son) cound't use the manual gear properly. We jumped everytime he changed a gear until we stopped just outside the town and the other driver gave him a quick driving lesson. From there the memory of the ride becomes vage. A 33 hours ride through the unpaved rute 40 took more than 44 hours, when the bus broke down for several hours every now and then. One of these stops ended with an entire bus assembeling inside a small pub in a ghost town in the middle of nowhere at 2 AM.
We got to Bariloche one day before Pessah feeling as if it was us who got out of Egypt.
The Seder was held at the next evening in a large indoor basketball court that was arranged as a dining room for 700 people. The whole street was closed to protect all the Israeli backpackers that migrated to Bariloche from all over Patagonia and the lake district in Chile and Argentina. The noise was unbelivable and the Pessah songs sounded like a cheering in the basketball cup final in Yad Eliyahu. On one side, the fans of Hapoel Rabi Tarfon and on the other - Macabi Rabi Akiva. But the real mayhem started as soon as the food came. 700 hungry and tired youngsters grabbed as much as they could take. Any attempt of the 4 waiters to serve the food to the tables came upon a wave of people that entered the kitchen and took anything they could. At the end we did not leave hungry but mostly because of the enormous amount of beetroot we ate.
In the next two days we tried to find a car for rental. The Easter this year came a day after Pessah, and lots of Israelies and Easter bunnies (or Argentinians on vacation) rented cars, so by the time we got there, we could hardly rent a bike. At the end, we managed to rent the last Toyota Hilux in Bariloche, together with Gabi (a girl) and Achia (a boy), an Israeli couple that we met in the Torres del Paine. We drove south for two days via Ruta 40. This legendary rute (as the Lonely Planet defines it) is a boaring, mostly unpaved, road that took us deep into the Argentinian Patagonia - the land of the ships. In Perito Moreno (a small city, not to be confused with the name of the Glacier, the street, and everything else in Argentina called after this advanturer) we met Ohad. Ohad was one of the most annoying kids in the one of the groups in Hugei Siyur that Oren had guided 11 years ago. Ohad is still quite annoying, but now he is all grown up. And he is standing right behind us while writting these words and agrees with the description.
In the next morning we crossed the border into Chile and started driving north in the famous Caraterra Austral. In part B we'll tell you all about the wonderful days in the Carretera.
Tip 1: Try to avoid the busses that go from the south to Bariloche through Ruta 40.
Tip 2: If you decide to take part in a Seder in a Beit Habad, bring with you a lot of patience and holliday spirit (and eat something before that).
"The busses in Argentina are the best ever" said the experts. As if...
We ordered two tickets to a bus from El Chalten to Bariloche from a guy that yelled "Balagan" everytime Oren was around. Lilya managed to avoid the treat, since no one belives she's an Israeli. This was the first bad omen. The second was the bus that looked small and not really up to the task. But the last omen came 5 minutes from the beggining of the ride. The bus driver (or his 10 years son) cound't use the manual gear properly. We jumped everytime he changed a gear until we stopped just outside the town and the other driver gave him a quick driving lesson. From there the memory of the ride becomes vage. A 33 hours ride through the unpaved rute 40 took more than 44 hours, when the bus broke down for several hours every now and then. One of these stops ended with an entire bus assembeling inside a small pub in a ghost town in the middle of nowhere at 2 AM.
We got to Bariloche one day before Pessah feeling as if it was us who got out of Egypt.
The Seder was held at the next evening in a large indoor basketball court that was arranged as a dining room for 700 people. The whole street was closed to protect all the Israeli backpackers that migrated to Bariloche from all over Patagonia and the lake district in Chile and Argentina. The noise was unbelivable and the Pessah songs sounded like a cheering in the basketball cup final in Yad Eliyahu. On one side, the fans of Hapoel Rabi Tarfon and on the other - Macabi Rabi Akiva. But the real mayhem started as soon as the food came. 700 hungry and tired youngsters grabbed as much as they could take. Any attempt of the 4 waiters to serve the food to the tables came upon a wave of people that entered the kitchen and took anything they could. At the end we did not leave hungry but mostly because of the enormous amount of beetroot we ate.
In the next two days we tried to find a car for rental. The Easter this year came a day after Pessah, and lots of Israelies and Easter bunnies (or Argentinians on vacation) rented cars, so by the time we got there, we could hardly rent a bike. At the end, we managed to rent the last Toyota Hilux in Bariloche, together with Gabi (a girl) and Achia (a boy), an Israeli couple that we met in the Torres del Paine. We drove south for two days via Ruta 40. This legendary rute (as the Lonely Planet defines it) is a boaring, mostly unpaved, road that took us deep into the Argentinian Patagonia - the land of the ships. In Perito Moreno (a small city, not to be confused with the name of the Glacier, the street, and everything else in Argentina called after this advanturer) we met Ohad. Ohad was one of the most annoying kids in the one of the groups in Hugei Siyur that Oren had guided 11 years ago. Ohad is still quite annoying, but now he is all grown up. And he is standing right behind us while writting these words and agrees with the description.
In the next morning we crossed the border into Chile and started driving north in the famous Caraterra Austral. In part B we'll tell you all about the wonderful days in the Carretera.
Tip 1: Try to avoid the busses that go from the south to Bariloche through Ruta 40.
Tip 2: If you decide to take part in a Seder in a Beit Habad, bring with you a lot of patience and holliday spirit (and eat something before that).
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Friday, 26 March 2010
El Chalten and the Fitzroy trek
Well, we have already decided. In the long lasting debate about which trek is better, The Torres del Paine beats the Fitzroy 41:36. Not to say that the Fitzroy is not beautiful. On the contrary! The Fitzroy trek gave us the best sunrise until now. Think of the opening statement as a great complement to the Torres del Paine. If you have only few days in Patagonia, go to the Torres. However, if you have more time, or if you prefer a place that is suitable for long day hikes - you should definatly visit El Chalten and the Fitzroy.
The way from Puerto Natales to El Chalten takes you through the relaxed but very touristic town El Calafate, where we started our Argentinian part of the trip. We slept there in a hospedaje, which is kind of a small guesthose that is located in the back of the house of a family, so basically you pass through their livingroom on your way to the room. Alechandra, the seniora of the hospadaje, is an old lady that looks and behaves like a wicked Eastern European house owner. As soon as we told her that we are from Israel, she narrowed her eyes into two thin slits and said in a terrifying voice: "NO AMIGOS!", which actually means: "I know you Israelies - taking one room and sleep with all the group". We agreed quickly and Alechandra took us to our room which was nice and cheap.
The main reason to visit El Calafate, except for the bus to El Chalten, is to see the Perito Moreno. This is a large glacier which is quite active and has won the nickname "The smashing glacier". The glacier moves about 2 meters every day, dropping pieces, that can be as small as an apple or as large as a 3 stories building to the water. These pieces smashes into the water with a sound of a thunder. There are, alas, more of the apple size falling pieces then the large building sized pieces, so most of the unpatient visitors might have quite a disappointing show. We, however, were lucky to see a large piece falls to the water when we joined an hour cruise to the far side of the glacier. Later, after the cruise we spend couple of hours on the large decks that are spread all over the peninsula that looks on the glacier. The lonely planet recommended to take the late bus to the glacier, which leaves at 13:30 and comes back at 20:30. That was a pretty dumb idea! It gets dark and cold at least an hour before that and the cafiteria closes at 18:30, so we just sat an hour in the bathrooms because it was the only warm place around.
The next stop was El Chalten which is a lovely, (very) little town in the valley near the Fitzroy and the Cerro Torre mountains. We´ve started the Fitzroy trek at the same day. We hiked to Laguna Torre, which has a nice lookout towards the pointed teeth that are the Cerro Torre and its fellow mountains. From the laguna we took the hard way to the Poincenot campsite that passes near the mother and daugther lakes (Lagunas Madre y Hija) . The next morning (if 5:30AM can be considered as morning...) we went up to see the colorfull sunrise. A hour of steep climb took us to the Los Tres Laguna where we saw the Fitzroy turns red for 3 minutes, not before waiting in the cold cold wind for almost an hour. One thing you´ll never take from Patagonia, it does have amazing sunsets and sunrises. We came back to town only to find that we have two extra days in the town before we can catch the bus to Bariloche. We spent the next day doing small hikes to two lookouts and a waterfall. At the evening, we got the full Argentinian experience when we ate two 420g steaks for less than 10$ each, and drank some wine.
The way from Puerto Natales to El Chalten takes you through the relaxed but very touristic town El Calafate, where we started our Argentinian part of the trip. We slept there in a hospedaje, which is kind of a small guesthose that is located in the back of the house of a family, so basically you pass through their livingroom on your way to the room. Alechandra, the seniora of the hospadaje, is an old lady that looks and behaves like a wicked Eastern European house owner. As soon as we told her that we are from Israel, she narrowed her eyes into two thin slits and said in a terrifying voice: "NO AMIGOS!", which actually means: "I know you Israelies - taking one room and sleep with all the group". We agreed quickly and Alechandra took us to our room which was nice and cheap.
The main reason to visit El Calafate, except for the bus to El Chalten, is to see the Perito Moreno. This is a large glacier which is quite active and has won the nickname "The smashing glacier". The glacier moves about 2 meters every day, dropping pieces, that can be as small as an apple or as large as a 3 stories building to the water. These pieces smashes into the water with a sound of a thunder. There are, alas, more of the apple size falling pieces then the large building sized pieces, so most of the unpatient visitors might have quite a disappointing show. We, however, were lucky to see a large piece falls to the water when we joined an hour cruise to the far side of the glacier. Later, after the cruise we spend couple of hours on the large decks that are spread all over the peninsula that looks on the glacier. The lonely planet recommended to take the late bus to the glacier, which leaves at 13:30 and comes back at 20:30. That was a pretty dumb idea! It gets dark and cold at least an hour before that and the cafiteria closes at 18:30, so we just sat an hour in the bathrooms because it was the only warm place around.
The next stop was El Chalten which is a lovely, (very) little town in the valley near the Fitzroy and the Cerro Torre mountains. We´ve started the Fitzroy trek at the same day. We hiked to Laguna Torre, which has a nice lookout towards the pointed teeth that are the Cerro Torre and its fellow mountains. From the laguna we took the hard way to the Poincenot campsite that passes near the mother and daugther lakes (Lagunas Madre y Hija) . The next morning (if 5:30AM can be considered as morning...) we went up to see the colorfull sunrise. A hour of steep climb took us to the Los Tres Laguna where we saw the Fitzroy turns red for 3 minutes, not before waiting in the cold cold wind for almost an hour. One thing you´ll never take from Patagonia, it does have amazing sunsets and sunrises. We came back to town only to find that we have two extra days in the town before we can catch the bus to Bariloche. We spent the next day doing small hikes to two lookouts and a waterfall. At the evening, we got the full Argentinian experience when we ate two 420g steaks for less than 10$ each, and drank some wine.
Today we are homeless, but we´ll also join the large Israeli migration towards Bariloche and get there right in time for Pessah.
Ver Treks en un mapa más grande
Tip 1: Take the cruise in the Perito Moreno. It is not that expensive (about 12$) and it's worth the money.
Ver Treks en un mapa más grande
Tip 1: Take the cruise in the Perito Moreno. It is not that expensive (about 12$) and it's worth the money.
Tip 2: Don't take the late bus to the Perito Moreno. Why? If you're asking that, you haven't read the post carefully.
Tip 3: Don't miss the waterfall north to El Chalten. It's less than an hour of easy walk from the town.
Tip 4: 10$ for a good 420g steak in Ahonikenk Chalten in the main square of El Chalten. Need we say more?
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