Fred's world tour week 6 - La Paz to Potosi

Fred's world tour

Week 6 – La Paz to Potosi in Bolivia

3^rd until the 9th of November 2012

In brief:

1. Sightsee La paz, including Valle de la luna, coca leaf museum and cemetery the day after 'El dia del muerto' (day of the dead).
2. Cycle down the world's most dangerous road, the 'Carretera de la muerte' (Death Road)
3. Witness the sunrise from Isla del Sol on lake Titicaca and trek from north to south of the island.
4. See Argentina's first ever flag.
5. Visit 68 million year old dinosaur footprints.
6. Venture deep into the cooperative mines of 'El Cerro Rico' in Potosi
7. Be part of a traditional independence day display.

Being at 3,660 metres high in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, makes any minor activity a huge effort. You get a headache easily and constantly feel you've just run a half marathon. For my second day of acclimatisation I took a open top tour bus to the south of the city with the ultimate aim to learn about the city's history and end up at the Valle de la Luna. The city seems to be built on sand/rubble and unfortunately for the hillside houses each rainy season takes away more of the land beneath them until the house ends up in the river. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea building there when trees helped to hold the land together but then they decided to use the trees for combustible fuel hence the huge erosion problem. This erosion did cause and impressive landscape at the south of the city. The so called Moon valley for its alien landscape was a great place to 'run' around. This was overlooked by the devil's tooth mountain because of its appearance to, yep you guessed it, a tooth.

On the way back I learned how England has influenced La paz and Bolivia as a whole. In its mining industry, railway, tennis, football and even the bowler hat fashion of the indigenous women. It turns out the reason most of the indigenous women wear bowler hats is thanks to a British hat maker in Bolivia who was failing to sell his stock of bowler hats to the men so he then went on to sell them to high society's women claiming that they were all the fashion in Europe. Unfortunately this trick worked and then the lower class indigenous population copied. Until this day bowler hats are worn by the indigenous females as part of their traditional wear! 

That afternoon after the tour I went for a huge walk around the city to the Olympic stadium where a replica of the Tiwanaku ruins were. Although its not the real thing its quite nice to see the ruins from yesterday in full detail like they used to be before being weathered away. From there I went to some lookouts of the city, plazas and ended up in the cemetery. I'm used to cemeteries being really quiet and deserted places. This was completely different. It was full of life. Relatives walking around everywhere. They were singing, crying, praying, cleaning the plaques, changing the flowers, having picnics and drinking. Graves were in the form of towering stack sometimes reaching three stories high! Resembling more like apartment blocks than a grave yard. This was bizarrely a great experience.

The next day was the activity that I've been looking forward to doing every since I heard about it some 10 years ago... and that's to cycle down the death road or 'carretera de la muerte'. Named as such because before 2007 the road was used for two way traffic to Coroico. The road is a very narrow, cliff hugging dirt road constantly changing because of landslides. Many people died before the opening of the alternative and safer road. The road still sees its share of fatalities as some still see it as a short-cut with less traffic! The most recent was a car full of people died 4months ago. Its not unheard of for bikers to also go off the edge since it gained appeal among thrill seekers! The descent started as some 4000metres on paved road where you could get some serious speed going downhill. The idea was to get used to the bikes. Then we had breakfast and soon after were on the gravel track of the death road. Hardly wide enough for one car its hard to believe this was used for two way traffic with some passing areas. The cliffs on the left side of the road were ridiculously impressive and adrenaline pumping. We learnt that we had to ride on the left side i.e. the cliff side because up going vehicles have priority of the safer side! Not a problem then! For the next 50km I've never been so scared, excited, amazed and blownaway by any experience before. I was going fast, doing jumps, skids, overtaking and putting my dual suspension bike to its limits. I kept thinking that something like this would not be allowed in the UK. A minor lapse in concentration or brake problem and you could be off the edge! The ride ended around 2pm at some 2,000 metres lower and at a completely different climate! The tour included buffet lunch at the bottom and the use of a great pool. Just want the doctor ordered! (sorry :-)

From Death road to Copacabana on the shores of lake Titicaca the highest navigable lake in the world and covers 8,400 squared kilometres. Incidental it was an English-made steam boat that was the first mechanical boat to float on its waters! It was carried in bits by Llamas from Chile. On the Monday I took a bus to this scenic lake-side town, I climbed up the pilgrimage trail of the Calvario to give me a better view of the lake and town. Again because its still 3808m up in the Andes this was no mean feat. I made it back down just in time for the 13:30 boat to the north part of the Isla del sol (Island of the sun) where according to Inca mythology the sun was created. The village at the north island is nothing but about 50 houses. Some have built extensions with rooms to accommodate tourist. As the boat landed a 12year old boy persuades me to check out his family's place. I drag along Annabel, Maxime and a Columbian couple. Impressed by the view, the cleanliness and the price of £2.5 for the night we all picked our rooms. All rooms had windows facing the beach and where the sun would rise tomorrow morning. We left our bags in the room and then went for a wonder. During the walk I got to know the other travellers, met Aymara (indigenous families) working on the fields, crossed paths with llamas and also appreciated the beautiful surrounds where we had chosen to stay the night. The walk ended at 'the' restaurant seeing as its the only one in town. At the table I found myself around a table with 5 nurses, four french and one swiss, and also Maxime. Maxime is a French Club Med fitness instructor who looks like a pretty big rugby player so you couldn't imagine that only 4 days ago he took a dodgy taxi that took him to a dark alleyway where three men assaulted him! They took all his possessions and clothes leaving him in his underwear. He was beaten pretty badly especially his face. He was then picked up by police who arrested him for indecent exposure and wanted to fine him a lot of money. Never mind that he had just been robbed and kicked in the head repeatedly! Anyway as was for my case the embassy came to the rescue and he thankfully was released with no fines. Crazy stories like this probably put anyone off travelling but it has to be said that they are very rare.

The next morning, after a stormy night I was up on the balcony enjoying the sunrise around 6am with a bag of fruit as my breakfast. It was very early on a crispy cold morning and yet I saw lots of men and women go work on the fields or take the animals out. They are very devoted and kind people. They are however very much against having their picture taken. That day I got a group together and we all set off up the mountain in search of our first Inca ruins. Lake Titicaca is so vast, blue and placid which made for a stunning trek. From seeing the ruins to the north we trekked to the south along the mountain ridge. The sun was beating down hard on us but because of the altitude it wasn't particularly hot and difficult to tell if you were getting burnt.

With three indigenous 'checkpoints' we had to pay three times for the privilege of walking along the island! By the third we thought they must be joking. After almost 5hours of beautiful trekking and two mostly unimpressive ruins I was on the boat back to Copacabana to feast on one last whole trout fresh from the lake. With belly full we were treated to an impressive sunset en route to La Paz by bus. La paz had torrential rain to welcome us back.

With time flying by I wasted no time in getting my overnight bus to Sucre to appreciate the whitewashed colonial city of Bolivia. Annabel and I relaxed in the nice green plaza took in the atmosphere followed by a visit to the museum where the first ever Argentinian flag is kept. It looks a bit tatty if you ask me but the glass case I suppose is doing a good job preserving this ancient treasure :-) . From there Annabel and I went out of town to the highlight of the city, the 68million year old dinosaur footprints. A cement factory had dug into the mountain and stopped where there was a change in the rock type. This left a cliff-face exposed to the elements where after a few months the weather helped to erode a layer and expose the glorious dinosaur footprints you can see today. Obviously when the dinosaurs roamed the earth that piece of land was horizontal and only the rise of the Andes made them vertical..... otherwise those were dinosaurs with spider-man talents! The tourist park was well done with moulds of the prints and live size figures which made for an interesting walk around.

From there Annabel and I thought we had pretty much seen all there is of Sucre so off we went our separate ways that afternoon. The hostal charged me half a day's fee and then I went to Potosi. Potosi is next to 'El Cerro Rico' which once housed the richest supply of silver ore and other minerals that made Potosi the wealthiest city in South America for a period. It also apparently underwrote the Spanish economy for almost two decades. Today was it left is mostly white silver, zinc, copper, arsenic and very bitter locals that hate the Spanish people! My Spanish accent of course didn't help things! The next day I went and did what is thought to be Potosi's 'must-do thing', a mine tour. It was only me who signed up to the tour that day which meant a more personal experience of the mines. I donned the hard-hat, lamp, jacket, trousers, wellies and got the intro from the guide. From the start of the tour the guide was racist, sexist, homophobic and rude in so many other ways I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. There was a lot of fake smile and nodding from my part. Never the less the tour was informative. The first stop was the miners market we bought 96% alcohol, two bottles of squash and beer. These were as offerings to the miners we were to see en route. The 96% alcohol I thought was to clean machinery or tools but no this was 'Bolivian potable alcohol' for drinking! 30 mins into the mines we found a group of 4 miners and sat in a little tunnel with a light, chatting for 1hour while they consumed shots of squash mixed with the 96% alcohol. My guide took a few more liberties than the rest which meant I spent the next hour and a half following a drunk guide through small, dark, dusty and arsenic infested tunnels. It was actually quite entertaining . He would burst into song, randomly decide to go down a narrow hole, crawl in tunnels and explain to me how to kill someone with just a thumbs worth of arsenic he was holding! All in all I felt I got to know a lot about a miners, life, culture and the complete disregard for their own health. All this for the shiny silver we find in everyday life. On the way back to the hostel we stopped at the refinery which apparently broke every ecological and chemical safety rule ever created because there were 'no repercussions'. Good to know.

That afternoon I really didn't feel well, not sure if it was the gases in the mines, the altitude or the dust despite me buying an industrial mask. I was tired, had a headache and felt like I wasn't able to think properly. I definitely wouldn't have done the mine tour without the mask because of what i'd heard about the air quality so I can't imagine what I would be like after if I hadn't used one. After recovering a little bit I went for some sightseeing round the centre. The 'Casa nacional de le moneda' was an impressive museum that told the story of where Bolivia's and Spain's currency was made using furnaces, presses and cutters. There was also an impressive collection of silver artefacts, minerals and paintings from around South America. Did you know that none of Bolivia's currency is now made in country due to the expense of fabricating it? The bills are made in Holland, the 5 Boliviano coin in Canada and the rest of the coins made in Chile.

That evening the hole town was celebrating the 202^th year of independence from Spain so there were parades of people, brass bands and even little kids botton twirling. A great way to end week 6.

Next week: I travel to Uyuni to do a three to 4 day tour of the Uyuni salt flats. Then I may either go into Chile or Argentina.

Route so far:

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Fred's world tour week 5 - Paraguay to Bolivia

Fred's world tour

Week 5– Paraguay to Bolivia

27^thof October until the 2^nd of November 2012

Inbrief:

1. Roast like a Christmas turkey in the heat of Asuncion, Paraguay
2. Shave my head for charity.
3. Melt on the worst 22hour bus ride I've ever had!
4. Visit Santa Cruz and get detained by three Interpol police officers for 2hours.
5. Go to the wildlife reserve of quimbe in Santa Cruz,
6. Visit the ancient Inca ruins of Tiwanaku near La paz

This weekbegan by waking up to temperatures reaching 36 degrees in the morningrising to highs of forty something in the shade during the day! Whatwas worse is that the sun was so strong you felt like your skin wasbeing scorched and the effect was multiplied by the fact that thereis no breeze. This was spring time and apparently similar temps occurin the winter time which means this land locked country must not be avery desirable place to live. Luckily for me I booked myself into ElViajero the only hostels here with a pool. With little options but tostay indoors or in the pool I spent the morning sorting throughpractical things like laundry, booking bus tickets to bolivia,booking flights to borneo and shaving my head for charity! At thispoint I'm only £150 away from reaching my fund raising total for theRaleigh international charity at www.justgiving.com/fredcjI thought I would need to take drastic measures so I asked people tosponsor me to shave my head. I went to a local barbers whointerestingly enough cut the hair of US army personnel and has aframed picture to prove on the wall. I videoed the whole thing, putpictures up online and e-mailed people to sponsor me. Fingerscrossed.

Thatevening I felt like an animal that had been imprisoned all day so Iwent for wonder around during the 'cooler' time of day and wore myrunning kit in case I managed to make it to the river font. Ithappens that the entire river front is all under construction buttaking shape nicely. I wouldn't mind betting I'm the first gringo torun along these unfinished promenades. With the intense heat, even atnight, and the building site as its not hard to see why​? Aftergetting to know lots of the other hostel residents during the day thehostel organised a 'parrillada', a grilled meat dinner. This was asocial occasion to chat to other travellers and another reason whyhostels are great. You wouldn't have to stay in a dorm room like meand risk a sleepless night but hostels also have private rooms withen-suites or shared bathrooms. This way one can benefit from all thegreat things about hostels without the discomfort. I know what Iwould do when I get a bit older :-).

TheSunday was like being in a completely different country, it wascloudy and lots of wind. In other circumstances I would be a bitmiffed (annoyed) after the luck I've had with the weather whiletravelling but actually this was a welcomed relief from the heat. Itmeant I could go do some sightseeing and sampling the local foodbefore embarking on my 22 hour bus journey to Bolivia that evening

 

The railway museum - full of British made objects relating to the railway.

When the bus pulled up with windows open, air conditioning notworking, and an engine noise that didn't sound healthy I knew I wasin for a rough ride. Boy was I right! Within the first 30minutes allthe seats were reclined, felt like there was no space even for asmall(ish) guy like me, I was sweating like a piglet already and itwas 9pm!. To top it all off one of the window's got hit by a stoneand glass went flying around the cabin. Luckily for me I had my eyesclosed when the glass rained down on my face! The good thing aboutthe journey is that they had a guy who gave us simple three meals,drinks along the way and was our co-ordinator. He was telling us whento get off, where to go for the immigration checks and army checkpoints.... There were lots of army checks! Not entirely sure whatthey achieve except adding hours to our already long journey time. Below is Bolivian immigration!

I wasglad to see the terminal in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in south eastBolivia, tired, smelly, covered in my own sweat, hot and in desperateneed of a number two because you would not want to go in the bustoilet or any public toilets en route! I'm sure you wanted to knowthat :-)

The lightat the end of the tunnel for was the pool at the hostal Jodanga. Itdidn't take me long to get swimming and chilling pool-side getting toknow the other hostel guests. Over the next three days I explored thecity of Santa Cruz, saw blond haired Menonites in the town centre,went to a local wildlife reserve, spent time in the pool and gotdetained by Interpol (International Police)! Oh yeah! for 2 hours,three officers detained me in their bus terminal office claiming thatI should be carrying my immigration paper as well as identification.I only came out of my hostel to the terminal to buy my bus ticket forlater that day and only had my ID. Anyway its my understanding thatthe immigration paper is only needed on entry/exit of the country andupon request but not to be carried at all times. I said I wouldhappily retrieve it from the hostel. Unfortunately they said it wastoo late for that and that I should pay them 500 Bolivianos as afine. To do this they would have to take me to the city'sheadquarters and this would take 3-4hours and I could get a receiptfor the fine! I naturally wasn't best pleased as I don't believe Idid anything wrong. After a bit more arguing the officer suggested Icould alternatively pay them 250 Bolivianos and be released right nowbut 'of course I wouldn't get a receipt'! I smelt a fish! With someresistance/persuasion I convince them that we should go to my hostelpick up my passport, immigration document and money and then pay thefine. Their eyes lit up and agreed. They didn't even drive me therein an official police car. I felt very threatened as all three ofthem kept holding their gun holsters and handcuffs at any sign of megetting angry or raising my voice. Pretty scary to be in thisposition in a foreign country such as Bolivia. As soon as the hostelbuzzed us in at the front door I ran to my locker to get my guidebookand phoned the UK embassy from a hidden corner of the hostel. Theysaid Interpol were completely wrong, I should stay where I was andthey would call the front desk of the hostel and they would speak tothe officers directly. The officers were very surprised when thereceptionist handed them the phone and said it was for them. Theysoon changed their attitude and claimed they weren't going to fine meand that they only wanted to see I had the documents as a matter ofroutine. They did some serious back-pedalling! That right there, is aspanking by the British embassy over the phone! I've never been sorelieved in my life. The next thing I did is pack and then get thebus ticket I was going to get that morning (with the immigrationpaper just in case). I could then relax the rest of the day at thewildlife reserve with two Brits who were also going. At the end ofthe tour the park had a pool to cool down in.

After myincident with the police, it was nice to be on an overnight bus awayfrom there to La Paz. Unfortunately for me I discovered that aBolivian's thermostat is thoroughly skewed. The first part of thetrip I was boiling in the bus with the window open and the rest ofthem covering themselves with thick blankets on their already heavilylayered attire! The second part of the journey the heating wascranked up to the max as we reached the altiplano at nearly 4,000m,again roasting. Arriving in la paz was nice. Cool air temperaturewith bright sun. I checked in to the Bacoo hostel and then went for awonder round town. It was similar to Cusco in many ways, the localindigenous ladies selling things on the road side, the handicraftsand the toxic fumes of the unregulated motor vehicles. Excited to behere and chatting to other travellers I spent some time with theon-site travel agent and found out about good things to do in La Paz.My first stop was Tiwanaku an ancient Inca ruin 72km west of town.Said to be one of the oldest settlements before even Machu Picchu itmade for a great full day tour. During the day I got to know someother travellers Becky and Hallana. We had a traditional alpaca steaklunch and then visited a museum which concluded the visit to the ruins.

That night we came back to the hostel for the Halloween party at thehostel which was a great way to end my 5^th week oftravelling.

Nextweek's plan is to see La Paz, Cycle down the world's most dangerousroad 'La carretera de la muerte' (Death Road) and got to lakeTiticaca the highest navigable lake in the world.

Fred's world tour week 4 - Rio to Paraguay

Fred's world tour

Week 4 – Rio de Janeiro to Paraguay

20^th until 26^th of October 2012

In brief:

1. Run and workout one last time at the beach gym overlooking the Sugar loaf mountain.
2. Go to a real Samba school and see a carnival demonstration and party with them after.
3. Bump into Alistair Brownlee Team GB's 2012 Olympic gold triathlon champion on my run around the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, Ipanema.
4. Sip Caipirinhas on Ipanema beach on a gloriously sunny day with a great group of friends.
5. See the enormous waterfalls of Iguazu.
6. Walk through the second biggest hydroelectric damn in the world.
7. Wonder through the ruins of Jesuit missions in Paraguay.

Time flies when you are having fun and I can't believe I’ve only got two more days left in Rio. With the late, caipirinha-fulled Friday night with Jose and some other friends it took time for us to get going. It was overcast so beach was not really on the cards. I took the opportunity to go for another run along the beach and use the outdoor gym. Its really hard to resist this amazingly scenic place to do sport. 

Then that evening we sampled the delights of a restaurant that you pay per kilo of food you put on your plate. Its set out like a buffet with a variety of traditional food and then at the end your plate is weighed. You are given a receipt, you take it to the till at the end of your meal. Its very common to find these here and they are great because you can try lots of different foods and only pay for what you want to eat. To start the night we headed to Tijuca samba school to the north of the centre where they were having demonstrations from their best samba dancers in typical outfits as a 'warm up' to carnival I suppose. It also works as a fund-raiser for the school because you pay to get in. There's food, drink and a great party atmosphere not to mention the traditional Brazilian spectacle. With no other foreigner in sight its moments like this when its amazing to have a local who can show you round some places not in the guidebooks. Very cool! This was Saturday night so as the samba demonstrations finished Jose suggested we go to Lapa and get some caipirinahs (can you see a trend developing here on a Rio night out? :-). Who was I do decline going to the best street party spot in Rio for the second time!

On Sunday Jose had to go to work for the morning so I decided to go sightsee the only other place on my Rio to do list. That included going to visit Leblon, Ipanema and the 'Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas' behind Ipanema. What better way to see it than to jog around it. So although is seems strange I took the tube to Ipanema and then ran from there. Three quarter’s of the way round I came across Alistair Brownlee, the Olympic triathlon gold champion for team GB. He has such a distinct run and after cheering him on at the Olympics its hard to forget his face. It was only yesterday that I read an article online saying that he has had his appendix out recently and to recover has gone to Brazil! This was such an amazing coincidence. He was just doing a leisurely run in the opposite direction. I'm not sure if I was too 'star struck' or too determined to continue run in the other direction but I didn't stop and chat to him. Maybe its for the best, he might have thought I was very lame. In hindsight though, I should have spoken to him seeing as he is a bit of a hero now. However hindsight is a wonderful thing! To finish my running tour I ran barefoot along Ipanema beach amazing to be running in such a spectacular setting. It was even more blissful later to go the beach and sip caipirinhas on a sun-lounger, swimming in the sea and chatting to some friends until sunset. Little did we expect torrential rain around 9pm but hey, Rio can be like that in spring apparently .

Monday saw me fly out to Foz Iguacu the Brazilian side of the famous waterfalls of Iguazu (notice the different spelling). The next day I wondered to the falls and got to admire the huge power of hundreds of waterfalls that convene in this area. The geology explains the falls by a change in rock density at that particular spot but the legend tells a completely different reason. According to the legend there once was a god who's relationship with a woman was frowned upon by the other gods. One day as the couple were taking a boat down the river Iguazu another god caused the earth to open below them. The women perished into the abyss and turned to stone while the god turned into an overhanging tree watching over his fallen lover, a tree that still stand there today.... Personally I prefer the legend better.

Later that day I went for a tour inside the second biggest hydroelectric dam of 'Itaipu Binacional'. This joint project between Brazil and Paraguay went on to decimate wildlife, obstruct a migratory fish route and cost billions. All this in the search of 'clean' energy for both countries. The damn has 20 turbines. Two turbines can meet all of Paraguay's energy demands! The other 8 that Paraguay owns is used to sell energy to Brazil and interestingly enough none of the electricity generated is used locally and is sent out directly to San Paolo state for distribution.

The next day I took an organised tour to the Argentinian side of the falls. It is said that the Brazilian side is for the panorama and the Argentinian side is for the immersed experience. They weren't wrong! Via a series of wooden walkways you are able to get right up close to the falls to awe at their power and intensity. Not only that but the walk led us to see some small monkeys, a marsupial-type animal, toucans, lizards and very big iguanas. To finish the day off we went on the waterfall boat ride. We got right up close, got very wet and really got the 'immersed' experience everyone has been talking about. From there we went to the 'Three points' on the Argentinian side where you can see the other two countries all separated by rivers. This is where I left the tour group and Lucy, a very cool traveller whom I spent most of the day with. The tour group went back to Brazil side and I stayed in Argentina so that the following day I could take bus to Posadas and then to Paraguay.

The trip was long but I made it across to Encarnacion at the south east part of Paraguay. Did you know that Paraguay in it's greed for more hydroelectric energy flooded half the city of Encarnacion for yet another damn!? It means a whole renovation of the river front from slums to a quaint river-side walkway and artificial beach so I suppose that's nice. Paraguay is not really on many traveller’s itinerary and they tend to go round Paraguay on the Argentinian side. I think its mainly because of the lack of tourism infrastructure to the different sights. If something is very hard or complicated to visit less people do it. It didn't deter me, the eerie pristine jesuit missions of 'Trinidad' and 'Jesus' where worth the effort and hitch-hiking made for some interesting conversation with locals.

I also sampled the local delicacy, 'chipa', a type of bread made with manioc flour, eggs and cheese. Very filling. From Encarnacion there was a 6 hour bus to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, and what better way to start my stay in Asuncion than with a night out with some guys from the hostel. One of them was a doctor, qualified 2 years ago and is about to apply for specialist training in anaesthetics. He is in the exact same career position as me! How random! I could probably afford to stay in a nicer hotel than a £7 per night hostel but I love when these sort of encounters happen not to mention the other great Argentinians, French, Germans and Uruguyans that were also staying at the same place.

That winds up week 4. The next plan is to stay in Asuncion a few days and then head north into Menonite  and Chaco territory of northern Paraguay on the way to Bolivia.

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Fred's world tour week 3 - Rio De Janeiro

Fred's world tour

Week 3 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

13^th until 19^th of October 2012

In brief:

1. Partied on the streets of Lapa, drinking Caipirinhas until the early hours.
2. Explored the bohemian district of Santa Teresa.
3. Walked down the famous 'Escadaria Selaron' (Tile staircase of Selaron) and met the creator.
4. Take the funicular to 'Christo Redentor' (Christ the redeemer) and awe at the views over Rio.
5. Watch the sunset over Rio from the 'Pao de acucar' (sugarloaf mountain)
6. Delta hang-gliding over Rio and land on San Conrado's white sandy beach.
7. Run and stroll along the beaches of Flamengo, Botafogo, Copacabana and Ipanema.
8. Take a motorbike tour of two favelas (hillside slums) including where Michael Jackson filmed the music video for his song 'The don't really care about us'.
9. Take a beginner's class of samba.

This week started with a short flight from Florianopolis to Rio de Janeiro's domestic airport of Santos Dummont. It was a hairy landing approach dodging the famous hills of Rio but meant I could walk straight into downtown. I was unfortunately welcomed with cloudy skies and more rain later as if its been following me from Buenos Aires. Still, I was excited and rearing to see the highly recommended 'ciudade maravilhosa'. It was named after the Portuguese arrived in January 1502 and they though it was at a mouth of a river hence 'Rio of January'. All hostels were booked up because it was a national holiday so I managed to find a not-so-good hostel in Santa Theresa. It was in fact a blessing in disguise because the other backpackers at the hostel were a great. We all had a disco nap and walked down to Lapa the party centre of Rio which happened to be just down the hill.... a very steep hill. Lapa was crazy, streets closed off, people were partying everywhere, clubs lined the road and stalls selling the very best caipirinhas for £1.5!! With clubs open until 8 or 9am it was hard to stay until the end because I didn't bring my sunglasses unlike all the locals in the know! Five in the morning was late enough for me. I didn't want to waste the next day.

Unfortunately because breakfast at hostels are only served until 10am it means no lie-ins for us. Then again it was a good excuse to kick start the day and 'carpe dium' . The view from the hillside hostel for breakfast was great and this view was only going to get better as we walked uphill and round the bohemian neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. Artistic graffiti paintings covered the walls, tram tracks lined the road (currently not working due to tragic death a year ago) and quaint restaurants gave it a great authentic Brazilian atmosphere. From parque de Las Ruinas we caught our first view of the 'Pao de acucar' (sugarloaf) on a beautiful day.; Then we walked down the selaron stairs. These stairs are the creation of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selaron whom has spent decades collecting tiles from 60 countries around the world to decorate this stair case. To this day he sits there next two his own house selling art and continues to add touches to the staircase. He is so at home on the stairs that when I got a picture with him he was picking his toes :-) . to finish the day we cooked our own food and sampled a few tipples at local Santa Teresa bars.

The next few days Mark, Johanna and I did some of the big name sights of Rio. Took the funicular to the Christ the redeemer statue which is currently one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The views were great and I don't think I have ever taken so many photos from one place before. Also what I didn't realise is that there is a tiny, cute little chapel inside the base of the Christ. 

We also walked around the famous beaches of Copacabana and ipanema which was very beautiful and a surreal experience. Including going to the cafe where 'the girl from ipanema' was written by Tom Jobin. Going up to see the sugarloaf by cable car was pretty special. What was even better was seeing the sunset from there and also waiting to see Rio at night all lit up. 

I also managed to convince Jo to come and go delta hang-glide with me over Rio. The flight was short but very special seeing rio from the air and being able to land of the pristine beach of San Conrado. 

On the thursday I spent time seeing the sights at the centre, met up to have lunch with a friend's friend which is always fun. I then managed to cross the bay by boat to Nicerio to see the MAC (museo de arte contamporaneo) a flying saucer shaped art gallery designed by the famous Oscar Niemeyer. 

The boat back dodged some planes landing at the Santos Dummont airport which made for an interesting trip. On my return I saw the impressively modern/odd shaped cathedral right next to the Lapa viaduct arches and I also booked myself in for a Samba class on Friday. Not at the same place I don't think God would approve! :-)

Friday would mark the end of one week in Rio! I didn't think I would stay here this long but i've enjoyed every minute of it. Jose has persuaded me to stay the weekend. Afterall Friday and Saturday nights are the best in Rio. However before that all kicks off I had organised to have a motorbike tour of two of Rio's Favelas (hillside slums). This guy was recommended by Mark the guy from Holland. The operator is an English speaking favela resident with a motorbike and the 'know how' of the area but otherwise that's it. No tour operator licence and no website. This could go either way and thankfully for me it went really well. The first Favela was the most dangerous one 3years ago and it also happens to be the one where Michael Jackson filmed the music video for his song 'they don't really care about us'. The production crew for the video had to pay off drug dealers to get permission to film there! In the last few years Rio's favela 'passifying' initiative has slowly but surely been clearing out the drug gangs from the 300 favelas and Santa Marta is one of them. It was an eye opening experience. It had areas of colourful art, dingy cramped spaces and some very smelly streams flowing through it. The government had installed an elevator to get to the top seeing as its also the steepest favela in Rio. We took that and then meandered our way through, pass the Michael Jackson statue and murial. The rest of the day involved going some good city viewpoints and also a city park with amazing geology.

After this there was the Samba class in downtown. Despite the instructor only speaking Portuguese  I was able to get a grasp of the basics by copying and so it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable lesson. I'm not quite ready for Carnival yet but maybe soon.

To finish my week we went out and sampled Rio's nightlife once again.

The plan for the coming week is to stay in Rio until Monday then get to the Iguazu fall on the border with Argentina,  Brazil and Paraguay.

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Fred's world tour week 2 - Uruguay to South Brazil

Fred's world tour

Week 2 – Uruguay and South Brazil

6^th until 12^th of October 2012

In brief:

1. Wondered the cobbled streets of Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay
2. Got culturally enlightened in a rainy Montevideo
3. Explored the surfer and holiday-maker's mecca of Punta del Este. (also in the rain)
4. Sampled the all you can eat Brazilian Buffet for £4 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.... twice!
5. Survived my first Brazilian taxi ride with two very near misses.
6. Basked in the crisp beautiful beaches of Ilha de Santa Caterina, Florianopolis.

After more of a static visit to Buenos Aires (BA) it was time to hit the road, backpack on, sense of adventure in one hand and guidebook in the other (thank you to my sister Steph for the book :-). Well I say road it was actually a Ferry that got Louise and I across the waters of the Rio Plata to Colonia. Louise is a Swedish girl from the hostel that's doing a long Spanish course in BA. Colonia de Sacramento is a quaint little village in Uruguay. Full of history, character and old Portuguese architecture. It didn't really take much time to cover all the sights of the old town so we took our time and had a delicious lunch. A 'chivito' is a dish which comprises of a slab of meat (chicken or beef), topped with a slice of ham, cheese, some bread On the same plate there is salad, a cucumber melange, french fries and a fried egg on top. A cheap, traditional and very filling dish.

From there we took the very confi buses to Montevideo the capital of Uruguay. Things have definitely changed since I last took a bus in latin america or maybe its just Uruguay, but there is wifi on board all long distance buses. It was good enough to have a skype conversation with just minor hiccups! In Montevideo we went out for a stroll in the centre of town, admired the lit up colonial buildings and after dinner Louise called it a night. Excited at the prospect of the new city I headed out to the nearest club. To my surprise at half past mid-night the venue was empty on a saturday night! The bar man said to 'come back in one hour and see how it is'. He was right the crowds just started to come at 01:30-2am. I chatted to some locals and a chap from Rio, Jose. Originally Rio was not going to be on my trip because I was keen on coming back some other time with a grasp of Portuguese but everyone including Jose said that it was a must! The beauty of this trip is that I can be flexible to change plans so.... Rio here I come!

Louise and I spent the weekend in Montevideo going to museums, art galleries, inside colonial building and had lunch at the 'famous' mercado del puerto. Museums and Fred don't usually mix too well but when you throw-in horizontal rain with a cold wind and the fact that for this weekend only, all museums were free to enter. Then, you can find me getting culturally enlightened. On the Monday Louise had to get back to Buenos Aires for her language school so we said goodbye and off I went to Punta del Este a two hour bus trip.

'Punta' as the locals call it, is a special place where it seems every Argentinian, Brazilian and rich foreigner has a house or at least a flat for use only during the 2months of December and January. It has a resident population of 18,000 which swells to 500,000 in those months. Not only that but some 400 additional police are drafted in from around the country to add to the 38-strong Punta police to cope with the masses. It basically means that this beach town is currently an eerie urban ghost town. That afternoon it rained some more but we still got some sightseeing and food with some hostal people including Jose the Brazilian from Rio. The next day I invested money on a mini-van guided tour of the sights. I go to learn some portuguese from the other punters and see sights of the area that are pretty unique. Sights such as the houses of the rich, the wavy bridge, the casa pueblo (home of artist Carlos Paez vilaro) and the general layout of 'Punta'. The wavy bridge is apparently architecturally ground breaking for what was thought was a non-feasible design and now they built an identical next to it. 'Casapueblo' is the creation of artist Carlos Paez Vilaro. Initially a beach side white house has grown room by room over the years to eventually occupy and entire southfacing hillside. In case you're wondering I don't think planning permission existed in those times. A third has become a hotel, a third his art gallery and a third remains his home/art studio. Beautiful especially as a place to watch the sunset which is accompanied by a recording of the artist's poetry. Incidentally he happens to be the father of one of the survivors of the Andean place crash that inspired the film 'Alive'.

From here an overnight bus took me to Porto Alegre where I did an open top bus tour, ate twice at an all you can eat buffet for £4, and survived my first taxi ride to a Brazilian club. Apparently taxi drivers at night don't abide by the speed limits, traffic lights, one way systems and have no hesitation in answering their phone while driving thereby narrowly missed hitting two parked cars!

One night at a funky hostel and one on an overnight bus I found myself in Florianopolis. If Rio de Janeiro would have a lovechild this would be it. A healthy seaside exercise lifestyle, an island full of beautiful beaches nearby, sand dunes to sandboard on and a very very good nightlife!

Next stop was Rio and I had two choices; 20hour by bus or short flight for £74... tough choice :-)

on Punta del este beach monument

Guys from hostel

Casa pueblo

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Fred's world tour week 1 - Buenos Aires

27^th of September until 5^th of October 2012

In brief:

1) Sightseeing all over Buenos Aires

2) Partied until 5am three times with the crazy locals.

3) Eaten more meat than I could have imagined possible.

4) Played polo on an Argentinian horse & watch a pro's polo match

5) Took two tango lesson and watched a tango show

6) I decided I might be willing to shave my head for charity if I can get enough sponsorship. www.justgiving.com/fredcj

The last week has absolutely flown by. I've had so much fun and feel I've really sampled what BA (Buenos Aires) has to offer.
The year out of specialist training that I’ve imagined doing for so long had finally arrived. Departing was very emotionally charged! Saying goodbye to family and friend with the thought that I wouldn't see them again for 12months was pretty intense. What's more is that I would be missing Christmas with family for the first time in 27 years. The mix of emotions was bizarre. Nevertheless I was excited and raring to go.

My flight landed on Friday the 28^th of September which was intentional as I figured what better way to get stuck-in than to go and party on the first night! I prepared myself by having a kip and headed to the best place rated online. To my surprise entry was 9 British pounds and all you can drink from a list of BA's best cocktails. I was on to a winner ;-) . Travelling alone is not for everyone you need to be willing to chat to random people. I sparked conversation with some Argentinians and once they realised I could speak Spanish we had a great time. Its always fun. They educated me on local lingo, traditions and gave me advice on the best places to visit. After chatting we hit the dance floor to a crazy mix of current mainstream music and Latino beats. A 5am end to the night out was unexpected but the club didn't really get busy until 2am. Crazy latinos! :-)

The next day the hostel suggested I do a bike tour of the city. It was a great way to see cool places of the city such as iconic old town of San Telmo and the picturesque colourful streets of la Boca where live tango and handicrafts where a plenty. The tour also took us to the new part of town where land reclamation occurred years ago from the rubble left over after large parts of the city were demolished to give way to the new motorway. The idea was to move the business district to this new piece of land but finances limited this migration. Instead nature came and made the most of it. vegetation arrived, birds followed and then this was later declared a natural reserve. The tour then moved through the port and the heart of the city, the plaza de Mayo. Back at the hostel I chilled with some other residents, got to know them, went to dinner with them and then naturally I had to sample a second night of night life. Saturday nights also are not to be missed in BA :-)

The next day I went to large expanses of parks near the palermo district, where the hostel was, to try and see the sights that the bike tour missed out. A chap from prague, Veet and Louise a swiss girl joined me. We chilled out in the parks and took in the sights. To conclude this walk I went to the Evita monument and to the Recoleta cementery where her body is buried with the rest of her family. Not as 'prominent' nor extravagant as I would have expected.

Tango and polo lessons were the next thing on my agenda. Rain delayed the latter by a few days which wasn't a problem other than I just needed to extended my stay in BA. Tango lesson was interesting. I went to one class first where roles were switched every now and then. This made for an interesting class where I had to learn both steps required by either party. It really enables you to appreciate the other's role. At the end of the class the venue became a 'milonga' otherwise known as a tango dancing venue. Here is when locals and people in the know come in and danced. So passionate, so sensual and co-ordinated. Very impressive to watch. My second lesson focused very much on one role and certain combo of steps to learn rather than ad-lib dancing like the day before. Having grown more confident in the moves the second class was easier and really fun. Soon after this I had to dash across town to La Ventana a sort of Moulin Rouge for Tango but smaller. The tango on show here was very impressive and a cross with gymnastics! Plenty of outfit changes, singers, good live music and impressive display of fine skill with small plastic balls at end of ropes.... google 'boleadora show' to see what I mean. Impressive stuff.

Polo would have to have been my highlight of the stay so far. We drove to an authentic hacienda 1hr outside BA where a polo player showed us the basics of polo and gave us plenty of opportunity to practice. It was great fun and satisfying when you successfully hit the ball on the move. Seems pretty impossible at first but you soon get the hang of it. After the riding we went off to a local hacienda where a practice match between two teams was happening. We got front row seats. Literally sitting on the pitch boundary and moving when horses came close! It was more entertaining because the polo instructor was also playing in this match and so came over to us between each 7minute round to talk to us or explain certain things. Each horse would only get used for max 14mins as they work up quite the sweat in the intense 14mins that they play. Apparently top polo players have up to 20horses each! This enables them to play every weekend in tournaments during the season. Our instructor has 6 so only plays every other weekend on his own horses.

Well that wraps up my first 7days of my world tour. Some very memorable moments.

Next stop Uruguay – Colonia de Sacramento by boat tomorrow, then Montevideo the capital followed by Punta del este.

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Buenos Aires

So far in Buenos Aires I've done sightseeing all over the city including Evita's grave. I've partied until 5am twice, eaten my head's weight in meat and relaxed in the sun. Tomorrow I learn to play polo on an Argentinian horse, watch a pro's polo match and learn the tango in the evening. Oh and today I decided I might be willing to shave my head for charity if I can get enough sponsorship.... Go to www.justgiving.com/fredcj