Backpacking - likes and dislikes

After backpacking a few months in South America here are a few thoughts:

10 things I like about backpacking (not in any order):

1. Meeting new people from different places
2. Visiting new cities
3. Seeing amazing views
4. Having your whole world on your back.
5. Being able to change your plans quickly, without any difficulties or hesitations.
6. Trekking
7. Travelling with new people you barely know (but quickly you get to know them)
   
8. Having no real responsibilities
9. It is very hard to contact you, which gives a great sensation of freedom
10. Having a lot of free time (to read, relax, listen to music, etc.)!

10 things I do not like about backpacking (not in any order):

1. Showering with flip flops.
2. Using public or shared toilets.
   
3. It is very hard to contact you (in case you want to be contacted)
4. Leaving places you really liked.
   
5. Wearing the same set of 2 clothes that you have all the time.
6. Travelling with people, and after several days knowing there is a good chance you will never see them again.
7. Living out of a backpack.
8. Having no personal space.
9. Feeling (and knowing) that in many cases people are trying to screw you over since you are a tourist.
   
10. All conversations start the same:
    Where are you from (if they are from Israel it is "Meefo at/a ba´aretz")?
    Oh..
    How long have you been travelling for?
    Oh..
    How long do you have left?
    Oh..
    Where have you been?
    Oh.. How did you like it?
    Oh..
    Where are you going to next?
    Oh..
    
    This of course goes to both sides (so you have to ask these questions and answer them)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

May 25 - June 1

Picture links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/BuenosAires

Arriving from Uruguay in the morning, and taking a taxi to our hotel, we saw that some streets were closed due to a running race not far from where we were staying.

When we arrived we decided to go for a run..

We met the race at a certain point, and decide to run with them.. At that point the problem was we did not know how long the race is..

It was a great race with a lot of people. Just before the 5km mark the way started turning so I realized (happily) that it is a 10km race.. the element of surprise definitly helped the excitement of the run.. Although I hurt a bit that day and the next (I also ran a bit more than 10km since I ran from the hostel to where we met the race) it was still worth it..

Afterwards we went to the ArteBA show. It is a big (and very nice) contemporary art show, displaying mainly argentenian artists and galleries, but also from the rest of South America..

Other things I did in Buenos Aires:

Walking around the various neighbourhoods, markets, and in the streets of the city, among others I visited the San Telmo neighbourhood and market, Ricoleta neighbourhoold, Puerto Madryn, and of course the colorfull La Boca:

Going to the famous recoleta cemetery which looks like a small city:

Visiting a couple museums, seeing tango shows on the streets, going out at night a lot - Buenos Aires is known of having a great nightlife, which I enjoyed..

Eating out at some great restaurants (the local specialty is of course the argentenian meat and wines which I enjoyed a lot, but I have to add that the pastas and ice creams are also great).

Boca Juniors soccer game -

I wanted to go to a Boca Juniors game. I heard that it is a problem getting tickets at the Stadium, since they do not open tickets stands, and the tickets sold by the people outside are in many cases fake (I have several friends who bought fake tickets). So I thought of going with a tour..

I met a group of 3 brazilians who said we can buy tickets in the stadium in the morning of the game.. The brazilian guy went to buy tickets to all of us..

When he was there he found out he cannot buy tickets (this option is only for Boca club members).

On the way back he was robbed (Boca is not the nicest neighbourhoods, he was walking alone, not in the nicest area), tried to fight with the 2 robbers who pulled a knife out.. He finished without his wallet (which was stolen), with torn jeans, in the hospital and having a few stitches in his fingers.

I finished without watching the game :) And I still consider myself lucky..

The next day I took the night bus to Iguazu Falls (18 hour bus ride).. This is for my next post..

Uruguay

May 19 - 24

Picture links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/Uruguay

Arriving to Buenos Aires on May 19 I met Oren, and we left (that day) to Uruguay..

Taking the cheap (and more adventurous way) we took a train to Tigre, Argentina, then a boat to Carmelo, Uruguay, and then a bus to Colonia..

Colonia, is a very nice city, with a very nice old city which we walked around:

From Colonia we went to Montevideo where we walked around the city, and saw a lot of people drinking Mate. Mate is similar to tea, it is drunk through a small cup which is always refilled by a thermus. It is usually drunk with a group of people. I would say it is the national drink around here, and I think in Uruguay is the worst.. Anywhere you go you see people walking around with a thermus and a cup of Mate while drinking..

Besides seeing people drink mate we ate great meat, saw a very nice bear show in the main plaza, etc.

In the bear show artists from various countries had to paint a bear representing his own country. This is a very nice exhibition that goes around the world..

From Montevideo we went to Punta del Este. This is one of the most famous resorts on the continent, but being out of season, there were not many people there. Having nice weather we used the time mainly to go to the beach, read, go out, and relax..

I went into the water once for a few seconds - It is pretty cold!!

Unfortuantely there were no good waves for surfing the days we were there..

After a few days in Punte del este we took a bus to Montevideo, we were there for a few hours. We went back to the central market to have great steaks, walked around the city, and went to a artistic video show we were invited to in our previous visit to Montevideo in one of the museums in the city. In our first visit the museum was closed, and we were told we could come and watch a show on Sunday evening. Arriving for the show (since we were in Motevideo) we realized this is a pretty small, but nice show.

That day we took the night bus from Montevideo to Buenos Aires (this is neither the shortest - about 11 hours, or the cheapest way to return, but we wanted to be the next day in Buenos Aires for the ArteBA show which will be in the next post..)

Cordoba and around, Argentina

May 15-18

Picture links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/CordovaAndAround

Cordoba is a city full of univercities.. Therefore it is known as a city with great nightlife and a lot of hot chicks..

Yours trully decided to check these facts..

After arriving to Cordoba we (a group of us, including Tamir, Limor - whom we met again arriving to the same hostel Tamir and I went to, and myself) went wandering around the city.

From wandering around, you could not get the sense that it is anything out of the ordinary.. But we decided to wait for the night..

After wandering around a bit, Tamir and I went to buy some stuff for Limor´s birthday (which was the next day)..

At night, after waking Limor up (who went for a nap) with a birthday cake and songs we went out to check the Cordoba nightlife..

Conclusion (from 1 day of going out in Cordoba): There is great nightlife (or at least that is what it seemed on Friday night), and a lot of hot chicks, but at least from where we went, the crowd was too young (at least for my taste and age)..

The next day we (Limor and I) decided to go to the nearby small town of Tanti (which is not on the usual tourist path)..

Arriving there, we went to a great hostel, where we were the only guests, and the staff was amazing..

We did a small hike in the area, and in the evening they had a nice party that we joined..

The next day we decided to go on a hike in the nearby mountains:

Having no map, and being told that the trail is pretty obvious (which it is not), we found ourselves trying to look for the way to the top..

Luckily, we met a group of argentians (whom all spoke english) that one of them has been there a few times before, and they offered us to join them (and gave us a ride back to Tanti)

Due to them, we also saw some interesting caves on the way, and had a really nice hike.. We also discovered that the area is one of the important areas in Argentina for rock climbing..

The next day in Tanti, we mainly used to relax, in the evening I took a night bus to Buenos Aires to meet Oren and go to Uruguay, while Limor stayed in Tanti for a few more days..

Mendoza, Argentina

May 10 - 14

Pictures link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/Mendoza

To reach Mendoza we took a bus from Santiago to Mendoza. The way (takes about 5 hours of driving plus a couple hours for crossing borders) is spectacular since it passes through the Andes mountains..

The first day we arrived, was spent walking around the city, and trying to find out the things to do.
Mendoza, being close to the Andes has some great hiking in the area (close to it is the highest mountain in the wester hemisphere - Aconcagua (just under 7000m) which can be climbed without being an expert climber (takes about 3 weeks including time to adjust to the height), and there are several other shorter treks in the area.

Finding out that we are after the season (season is mostely Jan-Feb) it was a problem going on a hike..

Therefore we skipped that option and the second day went to a wine tour..

Mendoza is famous for its wines.. A main attraction in the place is renting a bike and visiting various wineries Trying out the different wines and getting various tours in the wineries:

After the wine tour, Limor decided to go to Valle de Luna, and I decided to go to Cordoba..

Meeting Tamir (whom we travelled with in Santiago), I decided to stay another day to go paragliding..
Having bad weather the next day ruined our plans, so I went again to do a short wine tour (visiting a couple of wineries that I did not visit the previous day):

After that, from Mendoza, I took a night bus to Cordoba (about 10 hours)..

Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile

May 5 - 10

Picture links:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/SantiagoAndValparaiso

After another 7 hours on bus, we (Limor and I) arrived in the evening to Valparaiso. It is a very nice hilly city on the ocean.

The city itself is beautiful, due to the hills, the colors of the houses etc. (there are some very close rich and poor neighbourhoods which adds to the looks as well):

There are some very interesting escalators to help walk through the hills (which we of course had to ride):

So generally our visit included walking around the various parts of the city (including some more hippy neighbourhoods), visiting a nice museum, and going out every night (there was a really nice local area with pubs and bars close to where we lived. Enjoying their happy hour I think we tried all the different combinations of Pisco (see previous post). For those who are asking, the Pisco Sour is the best option.

After 2 days in Valparaiso we took a short bus (1.5 hours) to Santiago.

In Santiago, we (Limor, Tamir - a guy we met in the hostel, and myself) visited the central market. This is a very well known sea-food market. Talking to some local merchants, we asked how to eat the thing in the picture below (I have no idea how it is called).





The guy just stuck his hand in one of the shells, took something out put it on his hand (which did not seem to be clean) and told me to try it, and that it is very good. I tried it. I cannot say it was very good, but it was eatable..



After that Tamir and I decided we needed to try another thing (which I do not know how it is called), maybe it is a ¨KIPOD YAM¨. Anyways it looks like this:






The waiter tried to talk to us, but we wouldn´t listen. As we tried it, I think it is the worst thing I have ever eaten (and maybe the only things I really did not like).

Talking to him, he switched to a very good shrimp dish.. Making friends with him, we went with him to a Salsa club later that day..


Other things we did in Santiago is walk around the city, and climb up to 2 nice viewpoints of the city:




After a couple days in Santiago we took a bus to Mendoza, Argentina!!

Elqui Valley, Chile

April 29 - 5 May

Picture links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lotanc/ElquiValleyAndLaSerena

Arriving to Santiago after a long bus drive (around 11 hours) we (Limor and I) decided that the best idea would be to take another long bus ride!!!

Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but at the time we were all packed, ready to go, did not feel like staying in the big city of Santiago, and it did make sense.

Continuing another 7 hours we arrived to the city of La Serena. The city itself is a nice city besides the beach, but the main attraction is the Elqui Valley which is close by..

After spending an afternoon and a night in the city we went into Elqui valley.

The Elqui valley is known for several things:

1. A picturous valley, due to the nice mountains and the vineyards that grow (see next points)

2. Almost all days are sunny (not many cloudy days) this makes this region ideal for observatories.

3. An ideal climate for vineyards that are used to make Pisco*. (see point at the end)

4. A famous center for alternative medicine.
5. Not having many Israelis (This just might be the greatest attraction of this area - it is a hard to find thing in many of the nice places in South America). We even met some people who were excited to meet Israelis, and some said that we were one of the first Israelis they met..

*Pisco is a alcoholic drink invented in Peru and heavily consumed in Chile as well.. It is made of grapes, sweeter and more alcoholic than wine (around 35-40% alcohol) it is almost always consumed as a mixture, where the most famous is the ¨Pisco Sour¨. The Elqui valley produces most of the Pisco for Chile.

The first night in the valley we went to an observatory. The tour was very interesting, and included observing through several telescopes (another picture of the moon can be seen in the picture link):

The next day reaching the city of Pisco Elqui we rented bikes to ride around the valley, visit a pisco distillery plant, art center, a place where they dry fruit (they had amzing raisins - not surprisingly), seeing their old ways of growing the vines - they still use very old, organic ways in most of the valley (except for parts in which they grow for exportation purposes), and generally seeing amazing scenery.

Buying pisco in the distillery plant we decided to make our own Pisco Sour. Getting some advice from locals (including the hostel owner and her friend) we actually made some pretty good Pisco Sour :-)

One of the great benefits in Pisco Elqui is we had a very nice hostel (the owner did not speak any english, but we got along with my almost non-existent spanish).. Feeling not overly well in parts of the visit in the Elqui valley I also decided to rest for a day in the garden of our hostel, laying on the hammock and reading a book was great..

The next day we returned to La Serena, and after spending a night there we took a bus to Valparaiso..