The Great South American Adventure

I´ve been up to a lot recently, hence the long wait between entries, both due to the increased demand on my time and to having a lot more stuff to write about, making the prospect of doing so even more daunting. However, I have summoned up the inspiration and have managed to free up some spare time to devote to my beloved readers, if they haven´t given up on checking already. One of the things that has happened is I have had my camera, iPod and PSP stolen out of my locked bag, from between my feet on a bus from Nazca to Ica, so to see the photo´s that go with this section of the blog you will have to check out hutchi´s flicker,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8075577@N02/sets/72157600767324997/

monkey´s blog

http://randomphotomonkey.blogspot.com/

and this site which has photos of us riding down the worlds most dangerous road, the password is "photos"

http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/sign_in.jsp?aid=768a5498cf40ad58caed

and for some photos of Lima taken with my new camera, check out my flickr at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12875483@N00/

Anyway, after Cusco, Hutch, James and I headed to Copocaban to check out lake titikaka. From Copocabana most people take tours on the Island of the Sun, which they reached by ferry. However, we figured we didn´t need any fancy, motor powered ferry to get to the Island of the Sun, so we hired a wonderful little sail boat for the very economical rate of 30 bolivianos (about AU$5) per hour. We later named the vessel crapsack, soon after we had given up on ever reaching the island. When we left port, the wind was heading more or less straight back into port, making it very dificult for us to leave, to the great ammusement of those watching from the shore. However, after a while the wind started to turn around and we started to make a bit of ground. We ended up making it around a point, which we had taken as our new goal after conceding that the island of the sun was out of reach, so we decided to turn around and head back in, only to find that the wind was then blowing into our faces again coming from the direction of Copacabana, our intended resting place for the night. With my sailing savy, I reasured the guys that we should be able to zig zag back in without any problem. However, poor old crapsack was not the best boat at pointing upwind, not actually having a centerboard, and we were finding it dificult to make ground. In fact we were getting blown back around the point we were so proud to reach. We decided to row back around the point, then hopefully the wind would somehow be different and we could sail back in. Rowing proved to be more dificult than expected, until we moved the oars from the front to the middle of the boat and took the sails down. It was good to finally put all those rowing trainings to good use. All the five ergos I did were not done in vain. Pretty soon we were back around the point, and with the sight of Copacaban so far away we decided to try the sails again. We broke the paddle off the end of one of the oars while moving them back to the front of the boat, so we had no other choice but to sail in, or so we thought. As soon as we put the sails back up we were getting blown backwards and the waves were washing us into the rocky shore, so we "decided" to beach the boat just as it crashed sideways into one of the bigger river rocks, as if we had any other choice. So we took the sails down, pulled the rudder in, jumped out and started trying to pull the boat up onto shore. Luckily for us, a much more sea savy kid came along and started to help us out, first advising us to stop trying to pull the boat sideways over big rocks and push it around them instead, and showing us a good trick using the broken oar handle to slide the boat on up the beach. After we got it far enough out of water he asked for money then left and we started our long walk back into town. I was worried and thought we would be thrown in gaol for destruction of private property or something, but as we were about to get into town, the guy who had sent us on our journey came out to meet us on his push bike. He asked us where the boat was, we pointed and tried to explain, then he said we owed him 70 bolivianos for the extra time we had the boat. We paid and asked how he was going to get it back. He was going to ride out and row it back in. We explained that an oar was broken so he turned his bike around and started to ride back to his storage shead. I could not believe our luck and felt bad that this guy was going to row back by himself in the dark. He didn´t even charge us extra for the time it would take for him to do it. We figured that 70 bs would be going straight to his pocket, which is a fair bit for locals, but we still felt bad but helpless and lucky at the same time. Anyway, it´s a funny story. That´s all for now folks. Signing out, Marc/Plummers.

I know it´s been ages and I apologize, but I really don´t have that much to report. New photo´s again at www.flickr.com/photos/12875483@N00/ . From Cordoba, I went to Rosario by myself, where I really got off on the wrong foot. The bus left Cordoba at midnightish and was scheduled to arrive at Rosario at 5ish in the morning. However, Rosario was not the end of the line, so I didn´t really allow myself to properly fall asleep, for fear of waking up and finding myself in Buenos Aires. I hadn´t made any reservations in Rosario and when I arrived the tourist information at the bus terminal had not opened yet. So I found a kiosko, like a milkbar, that had computers, because none of the internet cafes were open yet, and started to look for places to stay. The second one I rang had room so I marked it on my map, which I had grabbed from the unmanned tourist information, and headed outside for to take a cab. I asked the cab driver to take me to Rosario Hostel. Instead he took me to Rosario Hotel. With much difficulty, I explained to him that this was not where I wanted to go. He seemed a bit thick and confused as to why I would ask to go somewhere I didn´t want to go. Then I tried to explain to him that the place I wanted to go was on the street ´urquiza,´ so he took me to Hotel Urquiza. When I explained to the bell boy that I wasn´t interested in staying in his hotel and that I wanted to go to Hostel Rosario, he translated my bad bud obviously understandable spanish into correct yet seemingly confusing spanish to the driver. I showed the bell boy the mark on my map and he gave the adress to the cabbie and finally he took me where I wanted to go. Not straight to the door but close enough to find with a bit of searching. I rang the door bell and waited. And waited, and waited, until a guy finally came and had a look at me, gestured for me to wait then left. Eventually he came back and let me in, made me pay more for my room than advertised up front, then showed me to a huge room with ten beds, of which the only one being used would be mine. At this stage I decided I would check out the other hostels later that day, but first I had a shower and a nap, after which I felt much better, had a bit of breakfast and headed out to see the city and find a new hostel. The first hostel I, which was the first I had called, went to looked quite cool and had a free bed for me the following night. So I reserved that and actually met some english guys there straight away, due to the fact the actually had no reception or apparent administration. I ended up staying in that place for about 2 and a half weeks. Activities mostly consisted of gowing out on weekends, which Rosario was quite good for, as it is renowned for having the prettiest and nicest girls in Argentina, a reputation that is well deserved. Apart from going out and practicing my spanish and dance moves with the local ladies, I also spent some time between monday and wednesday trying to see the local sites. Rosario was a nice city but it wasn´t exactly full of tourist attractions, which I didn´t mind too much cause it mean it wasn´t full of tourists. Of the few tourist attractions I went and saw the modern art museum, the flag monument, where the first argentinian flag was raised and I tried to go to the flea market and the planetarium but was too early for both. I also did a little bit of shopping and tried what is apparently the best icecream in argentina at Smart, Rosario, and was inclined to agree with its reputation. I also spent my birthday in Rosario and had a great night, including party hats and cake, although I did miss my family and friends back home.

Not long after my birthday I decided it was time to move on to my next destination, Puerto Iguazu, where I came to see the incredible Iguazu falls. The hostel I´m staying in here, Hostel Inn, is pretty nice. Well not really nice. It is a little too large for my liking and unfortunately I got put in a room full of israeli stoners, in one of four outdoor lodges, rather than in the main complex, near the showers which actually have hot water. However, it has a massive pool which I got to sunbake around a couple of days so that kind of makes up for it. As for falls, which I went and saw on the argentinian side a couple of days ago, they are absolutely amazing. First I went on a bit of a hike to a smaller secluded waterfall, which I was quite impressed by. Then I was completely blown away by the scale of the main falls and amplitude of water falling at one time. Absolutely amazing. Check out the photos. In the arvo I weant on a tour on truck through the jungle, pretty crap, not recommended, then a boat ride up the river to the feet of the various falls, which was pretty cool, although you couldn´t really see much when you got really close and were getting showered by the spray. Still, it was a very unique esperience.

Tonight, I am taking a bus around the southern part of Paraguay, cause you need a visa to go through it, to Tucaman in the North West of Argentina, where I will have about three hours to have some dinner tomorrow night and have a look around, before I get on a bus bound for Bolivia, which will arrive the morning after. Why such a large distance in one go you may ask? Well, my Argentinian visa last to the end of May. It sucks cause I am bypassing some cool places, like Salta, to make it and I just heard this morning that the fine for overstaying your visa is 50 pesos (like AU$20). But 50 pesos saved is 50 pesos earned and that should go a bit further in Bolivia, which is a fact I´m looking forward to. Hope everything back home is going well, keep in touch, and stay tuned for more TALES OF INTEREST!!!