Antarctica and South America

I was going to write a specific Blog entry to document our trip to Antarctica and South America but have just adapted my trip notes instead. This does mean there is some random stuff.

Neena and I flew to Buenos Aries in Argentina and then on down to Ushuaia where we embarked on an 11-day boat trip to Antarctica. After arriving back in Ushuaia we spent the next month working our way north eventually arriving in La Paz in Bolivia and then flew back to Wellington.

I won’t pretend it was a perfect trip, because it wasn’t. Either one or both of us were unwell for much of the latter part of the journey and that coupled with long arduous days travelling meant that at times the holiday seemed more like an exercise in survival than anything else. Whether this was down to plain bad luck or our advancing years who knows - I suspect it’s a mixture of both. This does however mean that there is some negativity lurking but I wanted to write an honest account rather can come up with the usual bullshit where everyone is smiling and everything is wonderfull and perfect and the sun is always shining, so be prepared. For me, the joy of these kinds of trips is that they take you outside your usual routine and comfort zones and give you a wealth of new experiences and challenges, which ultimately I find immensely satisfying. Overall, I am jolly glad we did the trip as the pleasure certainly far outweighed the pain.

Antarctica:

I can’t recommend the cruise high enough, which really was the trip of a lifetime. My recommendation would be to go on as small a ship as possible. Our boat was fully booked and had 90 passengers and is about as small as it gets on the commercial side. The smaller the boat, the more time you get on shore as the number of people that can land at one time is strictly limited to 100. Ships carrying more than 500 people are not allowed to land anyone at all (having said that, you will still see some stunning scenery on a larger ship, but not have the bragging rights of having actually stepped on Antarctica). There are downsides - the cruises are expensive, the crossing can be terribly rough, it can be jolly cold and you can’t really choose your company (I didn’t really click with anyone on this trip, not that I minded that).

When to go? The cruise season lasts from November to March with, generally speaking, more snow and ice early season and more wildlife and warmer weather later in the season. Nice though the wildlife is, it’s the landscapes and the endless permutations of mountains and snow and ice that does it for me, so it’s early season all the way.

The cruise company we went with are World Expeditions who were excellent.

Photography. If you are at all interested in accurately documenting what you see then take a good camera. A decent zoom/telephoto lens is pretty well essential for decent pictures of the whales and bird life - I regret not taking one. I can’t recommend my Nikon D3400 which let me down badly and on several occasions and nearly ended up in Davey Jones’s Locker. Buy a Canon.

Argentina:

Argentina is full of National Parks (NP), of which we visited just a few, namely Torres Del Paine, Los Glaciares and Iguazu Falls.

The country itself has apparently suffered from a series of economic crises in recent times, but at least in the areas we visited, felt safe, prosperous and well run.

One area the above has definitely been felt is with inflation, which as of Dec 18 is around 40%  - two years ago the Pesos rate against the USD was 7 but now stands at around 37! My tip is to bring USD and then exchange them locally for Pesos for everyday spending money and also to cover any larger bills such as for accommodation in case credit cards are not accepted and/or a steep surcharge is imposed - this happened a number of times to us, although only at smaller places, such as hostels (Hotels were fine). One issue we did find when changing money at the local Cambios is that they will only change a maximum of 50 USD if you are offering up small denomination notes (10’s and 20’s), which was rather irritating.

Unless you are desperate, ATM’s are also best avoided as they have high transaction fees (around 10 USD) and often low withdrawal limits.

One Argentinian peculiarity is their toilets - see my 13 Dec 18 post for the gory details.

Buses/Flights (applies to Bolivia as well). We took many bus journeys including a 26hr monster. The longer trips were very tiring but I was willing to put up with them, as you are effectively sightseeing as you going along and getting a good overview of the region you are travelling through. We also took a number of flights. The flights were a bit of a surprise as they were, on occasion, only a little more expensive than the bus and saved a huge amount of time - this option was very useful in the latter half of the trip when neither of us were feeling very well. We found that we were getting cheaper flight prices from local travel agents than online. Before anybody’s get too precious, I am well aware that, although we we’re on a comparatively modest budget, that still represents are lot more money than the average backpacker has.

Food. Our staple diet for breakfast was cafe con leche and medalunas which cost around 85 Pesos. Interestingly, the coffee got stronger the further north we went. Argentinian lamb was very good but it was mostly Italian for us when we eat out, which is the predominant cuisine in the country. Empanadas are a South American staple, but we’re not as available as we expected - it seems they are being supplanted by McDonald’s and the like. The local drink of choice is Mate which tastes like a mixture of tea and nuclear waste and is drunk through a special straw. Argentinian’s are seriously addicted to the stuff - I personally find it way too bitter, and this is coming from a coffee addict like myself. You have to try it though. Chocolate and ice cream are also hugely popular and very good indeed.

Bolivia:

Bolivia is a poorer country than Argentina which was evident the second we crossed the border. Pretty well everything is a notch or two down including, accommodation, infrastructure, housing and toilets. On the plus side, prices are a little cheaper and the internet is better than in Argentina (still not great though). The whole country has a rough and ready feel, but that’s just the way it is.

Toilets. Many places charge for their use and you are often expected to provide your own toilet paper!

Food. Similar to Argentina but without so much Mate.

4 - Day Uyuni Salt Flats Tour. This is an absolute must do. It’s all on unpaved roads and most of the accommodation is basic in the extreme and you can forget about having a shower. Most of the tour companies use big Toyota Land Cruisers which we found to be surprisingly comfortable, even in the real bumpy stuff. The food was Ok with the exception of the bread which should only be used for hand to hand combat.

In parts of Northern Argentina and much of Bolivia the altitude can be well over 4000m. The extreme altitude should not be taken lightly and you are highly likely to experience some level of discomfort, particularly in the early days before your body has had a chance to adapt. Symptoms include insomnia, laboured breathing and headaches. I brought Sorochi pills from a local pharmacy in Bolivia and they seemed to lessen the symptoms somewhat. Another good alternative is chewing coca leaves which were effective, but thoroughly unpleasant tasting.

18 Nov 18

Good news - the All Blacks lost To Ireland.

First full day in BA. We spent most of the day walking and visited the Plaza San Martin which was pleasant enough with a splendid statue of some Argentinian warmonger, sorry, general. All very nice, but unremarkable. After this we walked to Puerto Madero. This is a waterfront area with lots of cafes which upped the pleasantness quotient somewhat. We walked past the Sarmiento frigate and then over the women’s bridge. Neena almost got ripped off by Macca’s when buying some ice cream. After this we spent several eternity’s visiting the San Telmo fair where I brought a nice little rucksack. We saw lots of pretty trees with purple flowers. We had pizza and beer at the Art Factory San Telmo, where we also stayed from the 17th to 20th.

19 Nov 18

We spent most of the day in Recoleta, which was about an hour’s walk away. The area has many very nice colonial buildings and a relaxed feel. The highlight was actually walking there - I am not a big fan of cities but liked the wide avenues and the areas general ambience rather than anything too specific. The main tourist attraction is a large graveyard with a fine collection of mausoleums including one housing the remains of Eva Peron, which we duly visited. I can’t say that the mausoleums did much for me as they are a monument to people’s vanity and the futile wish to be remembered as much as anything. Still, a few fascist tendencies aside, Eva seems to have been a pretty decent women.

On the way back we stopped off a Burger King of all places for a much needed ice cream (it was very hot). I then proceeded to disgrace myself with a badly behaved ice cream cone. The bottom half of the cone had a liquid chocolate filling which leaked everywhere after the cone collapsed and made the mother of all messes, much to the amusement of all and sundry.

In the evening we went to a small local bar, had an Imperial beer and sat outside and watched the world go by.

20 Nov 18

We visited the Japanese Gardens which were about an hour and a half walk from the hostel. Nothing earth shattering, but they weren’t bad. It was a filthy hot day and we spent an hour or so on the way back in Starbucks primarily for the air conditioning rather than their coffee.

Pizza and beer in the hostel.

Buenos Aires has grown on me.

21 Nov 18

Flew to Ushuaia.

Staying at Torre al Sur hostel, which I reckon is not bad but Neena dislikes as she reckons our room is a bit on the pokey side.

The scenery is very impressive, with more snow on the hills than I expected. The town itself is relatively small and nothing special to look at but has a hell of a lot of traffic - where on earth are they all going to? The place is full of swanky shops and everything is very expensive with prices at least double that of Buenos Aries. As expected, the weather is cool and cloudy with temperatures in single digits which I much prefer to the heat of Buenos Aries.

We arrived about midday and spent most of the time looking around the shops and getting stuff for tomorrow’s trip to the Tierra Del Fuego NP.

One concern is that our hostel would only accept cash. If this is repeated across Argentina then will soon start to run-out of our US dollars, which is a real worry. We are reluctant to use the ATM’s as you can only withdraw small amounts and they have very high charges as well.

22 Nov 18

Tierra Del Fuego NP. Located about 20km from Ushuaia. We took a bus (700 Pesos each) to get there and had to pay a further 420 Pesos each to get into the park.

We walked from the visitor centre to Acigami Lake where we had lunch and then walked back to the centre (about 3hrs total) where we had the now traditional weak coffee. After that we did a circular walk around a little headland before catching the bus back to Ushuaia.

Of the two walks the headland one was the more enjoyable and pretty with even a little scrambling involved.

Overall, I enjoyed the day but also felt a little underwhelmed. The trouble is that we are spoiled for scenery in NZ and the NP felt similar to Fiordland, but without the lush vegetation. Tierra del Fuego is clearly much drier than Fiordland as while forested there is very little undergrowth which lent a certain bleakness to the place. Other than that, the resemblances was uncanny, which is I guess a sort of compliment.

It was very windy which made the modest air temperature feel a lot colder. We saw plenty of birds and even some wild horses, which was nice.

23 Nov 18

The cruise starts...Day 1

It seems a long time since we signed on the dotted line so it was a really good feeling for both of us when we finally set sail at 6pm. We had the obligatory greeting and safety drill and then it was off to dinner.

The ships dress code is basically anything goes which is just great after the formal attire required at times on our other cruises.

There were 90 passengers on board with surprisingly mixed ages, including a small child. They are predominantly Americans, Malaysians and Chinese with two Brits and two Kiwi’s, one of whom is a geologist (and first time crew member) and the other a mysterious character called Neena.

Dinner was a three course sit down affair which, so far as I am concerned, had the menu from hell (for those who don’t know me, I am a fussy eater with a particular aversion to uncooked vegetables and especially mayonnaise, which I reckon is the work of the devil). First course was salad whose sole redeeming feature was a small piece of blue cheese. The main was salmon with homicidal capers on a bead of risotto topped with a malevolent vinaigrette. I am normally fine with Salmon but the fish was really strong - at one point I thought it was about to re-animate and leap off the plate. Dessert was strawberries and cream. The best that can be said about the meal is that, salad aside, I managed to eat most of it. At this rate I will be a bag of bones by the end of the trip!

Ominously, during the meal the ships doctor came round and handed out sea sickness pills like they were smarties. She strongly suggested taking them as the dreaded Drake Passage was coming up.

On the positive side, watching the boat pull out of Ushuaia with snow-capped mountains in the background was a majestic sight and holds promise for what is to come.

Our ship is the MV Ushuaia, which is the one at the end.

24 Nov 18

Crossing the Drake Passage

The MV Ushuaia is a small boat on a big ocean and consequently moves around a great deal which at times made even the 3m trip to the loo quite a challenge. Neither Neena nor I got much sleep due to the constant movement of the ship (the beds are equipped with rails to prevent you being thrown out!).The swell I would estimate was about 4m which made walking around the ship difficult and not a little hazardous - we have been warned in particular about securing doors as if they slam they can and do cause serious injuries including decapitating fingers and other bodily items. We were told this particular sailing is smoother than most and the swell can get to 10m or more - the mind boggles!

Neena is really struggling with the conditions. I am coping fine although the lack of sleep is not doing me any favours and I am finding myself even less tolerant of the other passengers than I normally would, which is saying something.

I attended lectures on Pelagic birds (sea gulls basically), Antarctic geology and penguins.

Lunch:

Beef - good

Mashed potatoes - good

Vinaigrette on said beef and potatoes - very bad

Let’s see what dinner brings...

Salad with celery and mayonnaise - very, very, very bad

Chicken on a swamp of rice with veggies - underwhelming, but edible

Fruit tart - actually pretty good

25 Nov 18

Drake Passage crossed. Sea now much calmer with 2 to 3m swell. It is cold and sunny with not much wind, which is about as good as it gets in this part of the world.

Our intended first destination was Half Moon Island which is part of the South Shetland Islands. Close to the island we spotted a pod of Humpback Whales. We watched them about for about an hour during which time they put on a terrific display and you could really hear them when they vented (if that’s the right word). There were many classic “tail shots” taken, but alas not by me as my camera was playing up due to the cold. The whales got within 20m of where I was standing, so I could hardly have got a better view short of jumping in and joining them.

Good though the whales were, for me, they were completely overshadowed by the scenery, which was beyond breathtakingly. The starkness and beauty of the mountains and glaciers will live with me for a long time. If you want more details on the wonders of Antarctica then a great many people have written more eloquent accounts than I ever could and I suggest you check them out. Failing that, get on a boat and find out for yourself.

We were supposed to land at Half Moon Island, but due to another ship getting there first we were unable to do so and instead set sail on the last 500km to Antarctica proper.

Dinner:

Tomato soup - not bad

Some weird stinky fish with putrid kumara mash - nasty, nasty, nasty*

Cream puff type thing for desert - not bad

*Neena is a rabid seafood fan, but even she struggled with this one (the staff are very good, but the chef, if that’s the right word, should be taken out and keel-hauled ASAP)

26 Nov 18

In the morning we set off in the Zodiacs.

The skies were hazy and the wind light, but as this was my first time ashore I didn’t take any chances with the cold and put on two pairs of tracksuit bottoms, waterproof leggings, two fleeces and a down jacket topped off with a waterproof top layer.

On the way we sailed past many small icebergs before landing on Cuverville Island. The scenery was spectacular.

We saw thousands of Gentoo penguins, lots of assorted sea birds and a Weddell Seal taking it easy on an iceberg. The environment looks hostile but is teeming with life.

I took plenty of pictures of the wildlife but it’s the landscape that really gets me excited.

Not long after we landed the sun came out and putting on all those layers came back to haunt me as I was soon roasting on gas mark 10.

The other issue I had is with the camera which doesn’t work properly at low temperatures. The camera still takes pictures but its display screen stops working and I can’t tell what the aperture or exposure is, so have to resort to shooting in fully automatic mode. I brought the camera expressly for its manual modes, so this is super irritating.

After a couple of hours on Cuverville Island, it was back to the boat for some gastronomic torture, otherwise known as lunch.

Lunch:

Pea soup - ok

Seafood broth with weird fishy items and squid - beyond horrible

Ice cream with banana - ok

After lunch we jumped in Zodiacs and headed to Paradise Bay for our first taste of the Antarctic mainland proper.

On the way we came across a pod of Humpback whales and stopped and watched for a while. I managed to get the classic tail shot so was well pleased. I was using my 35mm lens at the time which is hardly ideal, but the whales got fairly close. Around this time the weather took a turn for the worse as the cloud and the snow rolled in and it got much colder. After the mornings roasting I had left a couple of layers off and was soon uncomfortably cold. A lesson learned.

There is a Chilean station situated at Paradise Bay which was unoccupied when we were there. We saw lots more Gentoo penguins and another Weddell seal. To be honest this part of the day was a bit of a let-down as the weather was pretty horrible at this point and stunning location that it is, you couldn’t see much of it. The station was also an eyesore and very much a blot on the landscape.

For a high percentage of passengers, it seems one of the main reasons for visiting Antarctica was to knock of their 7th continent, which is fair enough. It turns out that it is also my 7th continent, but even with all the planning that has gone into this trip I hadn’t realised until this point! Not that I could give a toss about the goal thing.

Dinner:

Vegetable Soup - lovely

Cottage Pie type thing - delicious

Pineapple Cake - very good

What’s going on! My theory is that either the chef has mended his ways, or more likely, has been thrown overboard.

27 Nov 18

In the morning we had a Zodiac cruise around Nero Harbour and saw Gentoo penguins, Weddell seals and a single Crab eater seal. The wind and swell got up a bit on our journey back to the mothership which made for a fun, fast and bumpy ride.

In the afternoon we visited the tiny Oren Island (we were supposed to do the mainland, but couldn’t due to sea-ice). We walked up to the islands summit taking pictures of all and sundry on the way. We saw the by now ubiquitous Gentoo penguins but also some Chinstrap penguins as well.

Lovely weather and a super day.

PS Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all top notch, so no moaning from me.

28 Nov 18

We sailed through the narrow (about 100m wide at one point) and spectacular Lemarie Channel and were the first ship to do so this season. I got up at 6am to watch along with a few other hardy souls. It was properly cold, but worth it, as I saw a pod of Orcas (Killer Whales). This is the first time I have seen them and feel privileged to have done so, not least as they rather elusive, even down here.

We were supposed to land at Port Charcot but again there was too much sea-ice.

Instead, went on another Zodiac cruise around the various icebergs close to the ship. The sea was mirror-like there was that little wind. We saw Crabeater seals along with numerous Gentoo’s swimming about doing their thing and some spectacularly icebergs which have been shaped by the wind and the waves. I do like a good boat ride so this was my favourite part of the day.

In the afternoon we visited Peterman’s Island and saw lots of Gentoo and a few Adele penguins. These were difficult to spot as they nest amongst the Gentoo’s and look very similar save for having an all black head and beak.

Note: The penguin colonies reek of Gentoo poo which smells bad, but not as bad as the fish we had the other night!

29 Nov 18

A gloomy day, both literally and metaphorically.

The weather was overcast and rainy and there was a strange long period swell. It felt cold.

It was a Zodiac ride for us this morning. We cruised around Cierva Cove and saw mostly the usual Gentoo’s. Towards the end of the trip we came across a group of Humpback whales and followed them for a while. Our boat did not get that close to them, and in any case my Nikon had completely packed in by this point, so not many pictures, although I did manage to get a few shots on the iPhone. However, one of the whales surfaced within a few metres of one of the other Zodiacs which must have been something’s to behold. The encounter was uncomfortably close and could have ended badly, but I am still ever so jealous.

In the afternoon we visited Mikkelsen Island. We saw lots of you know what, but not a lot else. A properly dreary trip with rain, sleet and snow, often at the same! To be fair, you sometimes to have to take your pleasures where you can and I spent most of the time watching the Gentoo’s who are wonderfully, noisy, argumentative and boisterous little creatures.

The camera decided its life was in danger and started working again, not that I took many pictures on this particular visit.

Surprise announcement. The captain has informed us that tomorrow’s mornings scheduled stop at Deception Island has been brought forward to 9pm this evening.

The island is basically one huge volcano and we will be sailing into its caldera. The calderas entrance is very narrow and evidently requires some precise navigation and should be well worth seeing. The idea is to make a quick landing to check the place out including a disused whaling base there and then bugger off as quickly as we can back to Argentina - there is a reason for this. The reason is that a major storm is brewing in the southern ocean that stretches all the way from the Antarctic Peninsular to South America and which could produce waves as high as 14m. Our change in schedule will hopefully allow us to outrun the worst of the storm...we shall see. Neena is not a happy bunny.

We landed on Deception Island late in the evening and had a wander around in the mist. The old whaling station was still there, but is in a poor state and rusting into oblivion. The ground was covered in a coarse black ash and was streaked with snow that had yet to surrender to the coming summer. Other than the odd seagull there was no sign of life. The island felt like it was part of some post-apocalyptic world. I loved the place.

30 Nov 18

Swell not too bad so far. Just killing time.

01 Dec 18

Passage crossed. Now in the Beagle Channel heading towards Ushuaia. The last couple of hours of the crossing were a bit rough but overall it all went very well.

The ship has now anchored up for the night.

02 Dec 18

Praise be the gods - a decent night’s sleep!

The boat has done a little circuit around the eastern end of the Beagle Channel, presumably to use up a bit of time as Ushuaia is only around 4hrs sailing away and we aren’t due there until tomorrow. It feels a little like we are being held hostage until everyone has settled his or her account, which I suspect is not so far away from reality.

The wind is strong and the sea choppy even in the Beagle Channel so I reckon it was a good call to leave Antarctica a day early.

Finished off reading The Earth Gazers by Christopher Potter. Superb.

Throughout the trip Word Expedition took lots of photos which they put together with music for a very entertaining little closing show. We were also presented with a cruise ship shape USB stick containing the above show and other cruise related information, which was a nice touch.

I certainly haven’t interacted with other people on the cruise as much as I could have done which has doubtless made me seem prickly and unfriendly, which I am to a degree, but I certainly can’t fault World Expedition or their staff, who were excellent. Well maybe the chef, but even he got his mojo back and came up with some excellent food during the second half of the cruise (any chef would be hard pushed to cater for my culinary peculiarities).

Antarctica was fantastic, but for me, the actual cruise part of the trip has been less successful. The first cruise Neena and I did together was on a monstrous 2000 passenger vessel and my big fear at the time was that I would find it too claustrophobic with nowhere to escape to. The reality was different - the ship was so vast that it was easy to find some nook or cranny to hide in and while the hours away. The MV Ushuaia on the other hand is tiny with one lounge and one eating area, so no means of escape other than ignominious retreat to one’s room, which is also rather claustrophobic, and even worse doesn’t have Sky Sports!

03 Nov 18

Back in Ushuaia - oh the joy of drizzle and solid ground.

We are flying to El Calafate at 6pm so have plenty of time to mooch around. I am going to post a couple of postcards - how quaint is that - and also check my emails, which is somewhat less quaint.

04 Dec 18

We are staying at the very pink and rather splendid Flores Patagonias Cabanas.

El Calafate is a lovely town. It is also a dog town. There are dozens of them roaming the place all of whom seem to be well fed and uniformly friendly. Many of them have collars and presumably owners, but other than that they are seemingly left to their own devices, which seems to be hanging round waiting for titbits from weak sentimental fools (like us) and chasing cars, both of which they are very good at. The dogs also seem to have an amazing sense of road-craft and rarely walk in front of moving vehicles, and if they do, the local drivers seem to take their movements into account. It seems El Calafate has gone to the dogs, but in the nicest possible way. And no dog poo anywhere.

                               

We spent the day chilling and sorting out a number of tours for the next few days. Tomorrow we are off to visit the Torres Del Paine NP and then the Perito Moreno NP the following day.

Had a go at uploading photos and videos which was excruciatingly slow and ultimately futile - there are doubtless undiscovered tribes with better internet access than we have.

05 Dec 18

Torres Del Paine NP.

This was a long 14hr day, much of it on the bus. The NP is only around 60km away from El Calafate but because the Andes gets in the way, entails a round trip of 700km.

Patagonia covers a huge area with much of it in the rain-shadow of the Andes and is consequently dry, windy and arid with annual rainfall measured in millimetres. As soon as you reach the Andes the climate abruptly changes with rainfall now measured in metres.

After about 3hrs of travelling through Patagonian nothingness we reached the Chilean border and after the usual bureaucracy reached Chile proper.

Hmm...motorcycle trip?

After a further 1hr we reached the NP where we paid the 35 USD each entrance fee - ouch! The scenery now began to change and we were soon travelling amongst snow-capped peaks and glaciers. We stopped numerous times for photos and trekked for an hour or so to look at a waterfall, which was suitably photogenic.

Some notes on the trip:

We went on a guided tour which is by far the easiest way to reach the Torres Del Paine NP, not least as the roads are mostly gravel (we saw very few cars anywhere in the park or on the way, which in this day and age is pretty amazing).

For the amount of money you pay, the park has limited facilities and is poorly maintained, with the information boards in particular barely legible due to weathering.

The scenery was great, but the trip was exhausting and expensive, and that doesn’t even count the NP fee. My tip is to take the bus and stay in the park for several days - the available accommodation is expensive, but there are camp sites and the NP fee covers you for 3 days.

06 Dec 18

Los Glaciares NP.

I set off on this particular excursion with low expectations and even lower enthusiasm as I was rather jaded after yesterday’s exertions and also had a niggling cold. Turns out we have had the best day of the holiday so far, and that includes Antarctica.

I had guessed that Antarctica would be mind-blowing, which indeed it was, but hadn’t realised how good Perito Moreno would be.

The highlight is the 30km long Perito Merino Glacier, which is fed by the huge Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The terminal face of the glacier empties into Argentino Lake. The glacier is one of the few in the world that is actually advancing and is an awe inspiring sight. We spent quite some time watching icebergs calving from the glacier - this was announced by a loud crack like a rifle shot and followed by ice crashing 70m or so into the lake.

The viewing area consists of a number of routes of varying degrees of difficulty. You basically start at the top of the area and walk along metal walkways and stairs to reach the various viewing platforms. There are lots of information boards and seats to plonk yourself on - there is even a lift for elderly or disabled people. From top to bottom, I reckon, is about 70m vertical, so a fairly stiff climb if you are not used to it. There is a nice little cafe and gift shop at the top.

Some notes:

If you find yourself in El Calafate, this is THE must do trip.

The bus ride is only 90 minutes or so and the NP fee a much more reasonable 15 USD.

The various bus company’s offer an additional boat trip to the glaciers terminal face. This costs 800 Pesos (about 30 USD). We didn’t take up the offer and elected to be transported straight to the terrestrial viewing area. To my mind, this is a better option as you can get to around 50m from the glacier, whereas the boats don’t get any closer than about 150m, for obvious safety reasons.

The viewing area and facilities are as good as I have seen in a NP anywhere in the world and are sympathetic to the environment they are situated in, including the lift. It’s funny, but we paid twice as much for the Torres Del Paine NP and got comparatively little for it, whereas for less than half the price got a world class experience at the Los Glaciares NP.

07 Dec 18

Today we get on a bus for the 26hr drive to Bariloche, practically all of it on Route 40. Yes, that’s right - 26hrs. The bus doesn’t leave until 6pm, so another of hanging around day.

We checked out the unheralded Laguna Nimez nature reserve, and very good it was too. If you have an ornithological bent and find yourself in El Calafate then this is where it’s at. We saw lots of birds including pink flamingos, but no John Waters.

The first few hours on the bus have been fine. I was expecting more Patagonian nothingness, but have instead been treated to rolling hills and high mountains and glaciers.

08 Dec 18

The overnight part of the journey was OK and I even managed to get a few hours’ sleep, albeit accompanied by some fevered cheese dreams.

We have left behind the Andes for the time being. The landscape is still arid and harsh but always subtly changing and evolving with flat areas interspersed with low mountain ranges and swift running rivers. There was virtually no wildlife to be seen. I can’t help but think that Route 40 would make a smashing long distance motorcycle trip given the nature of the landscape and lack of traffic - something to think about.

The Andes reappeared mid-afternoon and the scenery became progressively more alpine.

We arrived in Bariloche bang on schedule at 8pm. too late for many impressions, although it is a lot cooler here than it was in El Calafate despite being 1500km further north, which is a bit of a surprise.

We have splashed some money out and are staying in the very posh Tres Reyes hotel for a few days.

Notes:

The transport was alright but not quite the bus with flat reclining seats it was intimated we would get. The company is Chalten Travel (there is another bus company called Tasqa Marga who have a better reputation, but their office was closed on the day we booked the tickets).

We were fed on the bus, but not a huge amount, and what we did get was pretty horrible, so take some snacks.

09 Dec 18

We spent the day mooching around Bariloche.

The plan was to organise some hikes and get prices for transport to our next destination, which is not nailed down yet, but is most likely Iguazú Falls.  Turns out that it is Sunday, which in this part of the world means most shops are shut for the day.

The main part of the town is full of high-end shops, mostly selling chocolate. The rest of the town is a little scruffy, particularly the outskirts.

10 Dec 18

We have made our plans for the next week or so, which is good, but which has also brought to our attention what could be a major problem. The plan is to do a tour of the Uyuni Salt Flats but there is talk on the internet that the tours might not be running over the Xmas and that Bolivia could effectively be shut down until the New Year...hopefully this can be sorted, or will have to revert to plan B, whatever that is!

What is confirmed is that we will be staying in Bariloche until the 15th before flying (which is cheaper than travelling by bus) to Iguazú Falls and staying there for a couple of days. Beyond that, who knows?

We also found time to do a short but steep hike up to Cerro Campanario (1049m). The weather was a bit rubbish. The views from the top were splendid, despite the rain. There is a nice little cafe up there and we duly imbibed. We spotted a gap in the rain and managed to bluff our way onto a chairlift for a free ride back down.

11 Dec 18

The plan today is to move to our new hotel and then get some hiking in. The forecast is for cloudy and cool weather. Looking out the window it is nice and sunny which bodes well. It is windy, but then it is always windy here.

Had breakfast and then spent an hour battling with Argentinian internet before succumbing to abject defeat.

Question: What do Argentinian internet users call Morse code?

Answer: An upgrade!

The new hotel (the somewhat misnamed Premier) is well below the standard of our last one but is also a lot cheaper and gets the job done.

We took the No. 20 bus to the Lao area and spent a couple of easy hours walking through the woods. This is a very beautiful part of the world with snow-capped peaks and round green hills interspersed with turquoise lakes. The trees in particular were wonderfully photogenic with many of them covered in vivid yellow blossom/flowers. Despite the promising start, it rained again.

The local buses are busy to say the least, and on the way back I reckon we set an unofficial world record for the number of people you can cram into one.

All in all, a nice day.

12 Dec 18

The dreaded man-flu came back with a vengeance today, not that it ever really went away. Result, the low point of the trip for me with even the snow-capped mountains and Bariloche not quite cutting through the gloom. First world problems. What is needed, literally and metaphorically, is a change of scenery which should be amply achieved when we fly up to Iguazu Falls on Saturday.

Today’s trip was to the Cerro Catedral ski resort. We took the No. 55 bus to get there and the paid 590 Pesos for a cable car up to the top of the mountain.

There were some patches of snow left from winter and I was promptly ambushed by Neena with a well-aimed snowball. The views from the top of the cable car were nice though not as good as those from the much lower and cheaper Cerro Campanario. We spent a couple of hours walking around and found some decent viewpoints - the views were eerily similar to those from Roy’s peak in Wanaka in NZ, which is praise indeed. We also saw some Condors.

After the above frolicking it was time to catch the No.55 bus back to Bariloche. Trouble was that, in the meantime, the bus drivers had gone on a snap strike and we were stuck 25km from home. An enterprising taxi driver negotiated a “reduced” fee with an equally opportunistic van driver and we were all duly stuffed into said van and the day was saved (along with the numerous other hikers at the bus stop we initially assumed we were being scammed, but a quick check online confirmed it was all true). The van trip cost us 120 Peso each which isn’t a lot at all, and the ride back was quicker and more comfortable than the bus, so no damage done.

13 Dec 18

Today’s plan is to do next to sod all - there is laundry to be done, money to be changed, ice cream to be consumed and books to read, but that’s about it.

A special mention must go to Cafe Azul which is situated on a corner just a few yards from our hotel. The place has a wonderful ambience and is a jolly nice way of whiling away an hour or two watching life go by.  We come here every day and have coffee, orange juice and medialunas (croissants), which are all very fine indeed.

Feeling like death warmed up.

Random notes/man-flu hallucinations:

Bidets:

Argentinian plumbing is not bad, but the sewage system cannot cope with too much toilet paper. The result of this is that many places have Bidet’s. I had never used one of these contraptions before so I thought I would put on my public service hat on and fill you in on the ins and outs, so to speak.

There are 3 taps, one each for hot and cold water and a central tap which directs water either from the side or directly up - this is an important distinction. Method of use - juggle the hot and cold taps, with the water direction from the side, until the desired temperature has been achieved, then plonk yourself down and then turn the direction tap to up, for what was (for me) initially a very strange experience, but not bad once you get used to it.

For you Bidet novices out there, whatever you do don’t use just the hot tap with the direction on up or you are in grave danger of having your civil liberties infringed. It did for me.

Argentinian vs NZ drivers (generally speaking of course):

From what I have seen South Americans are a pretty excitable bunch, with Argentinian’s being no exception. On our two trips to South America we have seen plenty of noisy demonstrations and even more noisy celebrations. The above makes it all the more remarkable that the local drivers drive sensibly and are unfailing courteous (more often than not they will stop and give way to pedestrians even when the driver has the right of way). This is such a pleasant change from NZ drivers rampant aggression and serial tailgating - NZ’s are a pretty decent lot, but I reckon, rather than letting it all hang out like the Argentinian’s, they just bottle up their frustrations and take it all out on the road.

Ice cream:

Absolutely top notch and reasonably priced as well. Today, purely for therapeutic reasons you understand, I had a pistachio ice cream topped with a lemon meringue ice cream. Both were fantastic although I can’t say went too well together, but that is just me being an idiot and ordering an odd combination. More experimentation is obviously required.

14 Dec 18

Feeling slighted less crap than yesterday. Neena is comparatively full of beans.

We walked along the Bariloche lakefront (Lake Nahuel Huapi) and visited the city’s splendid cathedral. I spent a happy and serene 30 minutes or so sat down listening to hymns. I am not religious, but I felt as content as I have done for a fair while.

We saw some wonderfully colourful birds with long curving bills. Neena’s took photos of said birds, which will hopefully be posted in due course.

Bariloche has been cool and mostly cloudy for the duration of our stay. This is a good thing.

15 Dec 18

Flying to Puerto Iguazu. No issues. We are staying at Departmentos El Chileno.

16 Dec 18

Our apartment is pleasant, modern and most importantly has air conditioning. Hard to quibble (actually quite easy - see below) for 25 USD a night.

It is Sunday which means most places will be shut. The plan is to take it easy today and check out the town centre later on, if we are brave enough to leave the apartment that is, as it is scary hot outside and it’s only 11am!

We wandered the 10 minutes or so into town had a light lunch and brought a few provisions from the supermarket. To cap of the fun, I brought a pen.

The town itself is nothing to write home about, but that’s not why we’re here.

The whole lot took about 2hrs but we were wasted by the time we got back to the apartment - the 36C heat and 94% humidity had taken its toll. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of lying down in our lovely air-conditioned room. I was to be bitterly disappointed.

The air-conditioning unit would only run for 7 or 8 minutes before shutting down. I reset the unit, but the same thing happened again and again. We had a long chat with the proprietress (who tried her best) via some Spanish - English translation software which, in all truthfulness, brought into mind Monty Python’s hovercraft full of eels sketch. The long and short of it is that their air-conditioning unit cannot cope with the extreme heat. We have been assured that the air-conditioning will function correctly (it functioned better the first night but still needed resetting several times), at night when it is cooler, but I am not so sure - a change of accommodation might be on the cards.

On the positive side, we were treated to some thunder and lightning in the evening, which also had the effect of cooling things down somewhat. We saw what looked curiously like a beam of light straight from the gods and also some interesting cloud formations. No tornadoes.

17 Dec 18

The aircon functioned slightly better last night so we will tough it out.

Its Iguazu Falls day. We got there early but there were already hordes of other people there waiting for the place to open at 9am. We had some hassle getting in at all as the Witch at the counter said my credit card was faulty (it wasn’t). Between the two of us we just about managed to scrape together the required 1400 Pesos in cash.

The Falls themselves consist of multiple waterfalls spaced over quite a wide area and can be viewed from Brazil as well as Argentina. We did the Argentinian side.

There are 3 main trails each of which covers a particular area of the Falls. The trails are accessed by an uncomfortable and ludicrously slow train which ambles along at not much above walking pace (due to the extreme heat it was better than walking, but only just).

A game of two halves...

We did the Garganta Del Diablo trail first as this was the furthest away on the train and gives you accessed to the largest most powerful waterfall.

Once we got off the train we followed the trail which consists of a long series of metal walkways suspended above the water. It took about 20 minutes to walk to the end during which time we saw innumerable butterflies of every shade and colour imaginable - a number of them landed on me, which I loved. We also saw some monster catfish. The landscape itself was very nice, but also quite open meaning there was no escape from the sun.

At this point I know I should gush about how awesome the Diablo waterfall is, and indeed it is pretty impressive, but my lasting impression is of the shear mass of humanity all fighting to get their perfect shot or selfie, us included. On the face of it everyone was polite enough, but you could feel the undercurrent of tension. I suspect most people would love to just stand there, take their time, and let it all sink in, but that wasn’t really possible or you would need a very thick skin. I am still glad I did it, but it all felt a little shabby and dispiriting.

After the Diablo it was back on the train for the ride to the Upper Circuit (we actually got on the wrong train, which wasted about an hour, but got there eventually).

The Upper Circuit was superb and restored my faith in the park. The track is mostly through the jungle and gave access to lots of smaller but arguably more photogenic waterfalls. It was also much cooler, had far fewer people and plenty of wildlife.

We saw lots of Coati, which are raccoon like creatures. They are very inquisitive and forever on the scrounge for food. One of them took quite a liking to Neena who nearly ended up as the Coati’s lunch.

There was no shortage of monkeys either. They were a delight to watch. I took a number of pictures, none of which are that great - not for the first time on this trip I regretted not bringing a decent telephoto lens.

We ran out of time to do the Lower Circuit or any of the various boat rides on offer. The NP is pretty big and you really need two days to cover it properly, and that doesn’t take into account the Brazilian side.

I would like to have spent more time here, but haven’t been well recently and didn’t want to push it, and in any case we still have a lot of ground to cover before we get to La Paz. Neena is also struggling with the heat (much more so than me) and very keen to get to cooler climes.

18 Dec 18

On the Bus to Salta - 24hrs of not much fun at all.

Notes:

Some properly violent thrillers were played on the bus. Does this say something about the Argentinian psyche? Buggered if I know.

The landscape is predominantly green fertile grassland and proper ranching territory. It is also flat as flat thing and seemingly endless.

19 Dec 18

Arrived in Salta at 11am. The bus wasn’t bad. The food was.

We have made a snap decision not to stay and are getting another bus to the border town of Quiaia. We won’t get there until 11pm, so it’s going to be another long day.

Notes:

The countryside is still lovely and green but no longer flat as we are now in the foothills of the Andes.

The towns up here are much less prosperous and the roads are in a poor state of repair.

Arrived in Quiaia at 11pm accompanied by the mother of all electrical storms. We are staying at the Hosteria Any Wayra which is a little steep at 50 USD, but there wasn’t anything else available. We were the only customers.

The town is at an altitude of 3400m. This kind of height takes some acclimating to and along with a shortness of breath I quickly developed a nasty headache, so out came the painkillers.

20 Dec 18

Headache miraculously gone.

Despite my misgivings, turns out the Hosteria was a very nice place to spend the night and has a definite Moroccan vibe going on. This is a good thing.

The owner and his daughter were kind enough to drive us to border crossing in the morning. Half an hour later and with the minimum of bureaucracy we found ourselves in the Bolivian half of Quiaia, which is just as shabby as the Argentinian bit but with a lot more people and general buzz to it.

I quickly changed my remaining Pesos to Bolivianos and we hailed down a taxi to take us to the bus terminal to catch a bus to Tupiza which is where Uyuni Salt Flats tours run from. Turned out the taxi driver had “misheard us” and was intending to drive us there himself. We only figured out what was going on when at the edge of town he stopped for petrol. He took a hell of a lot of persuading and seemed to have some kind of selective amnesia whenever the word bus was mentioned, which was a lot. Eventually he realised the game was up and promptly delivered us to the bus terminal although he did charge us double the usual fare which wasn’t much and we were happy to pay. He departed with a grin on his face.

The bus ride was mercifully short (1 1/2 hrs) and went through some lovely red rock canyons. There was little wildlife to be seen but loads of cacti, the sort you see in Westerns and which are best not stuck down your Y-fronts.

We have travelled a hell of a lot recently so the plan is to take it easy for a couple of days and check out availability of Uyuni Salt Flat Tours (we are not sure what difference Xmas could make, but it could be a lot).

We are staying at the Hostal Valle Hermeso, chosen for no other reason than it was the first one we came to. Not bad - the breakfast was, as expected, not great, but the shower was rather splendid.

We had chicken and chips at a tiny little eatery and drank a bottle of Bolivia’s version of coke, which actually wasn’t bad at all. Outside by the door looking at us was a pathetic looking and terribly undernourished dog who broke both of our hearts. The dog was nervous and had clearly been mistreated and ended up getting a fair bit of our dinner - if he is still there tomorrow I will buy him his own dinner.

21 Dec 18

Feeling rubbish. The worst night of the trip so far.

I brought some Sorochi pills today. These are supposed to be effective in tempering the effects of altitude. We shall see.

We have made our plans and booked a 4-day Uyuni Salt Flats tour starting tomorrow.

Tupiza is a scruffy town which, alas, seems to be the norm in a poor country like Bolivia. The people still have a sense of purpose and lives to lead and it was nice sitting in the town’s main square watching the children and adults in their brightly coloured costumes as they readied themselves for their Xmas parade. No great insight I know, but people aren’t much different wherever you go.

I spoke to my mum and sister Louise today and they are also busy with their preparations for Xmas.

We found a cracking little pizza place for an unexpectedly flavoursome end to the day.

22 Dec 18

Day 1

The pills seem to have worked as I woke up refreshed and comparatively full of beans and ready for what the day will throw at us - it’s amazing what a good night’s sleep does. That and no headache.

We are travelling with a young French guy (Pablo) and our Bolivian driver.

For the first couple of hours we climbed and then climbed some more on a rough 4x4 track before things levelled of somewhat.

About an hour in we saw some stunning eroded red rock formations.

We are well and truly in the Altiplano and must have touched 5000m at times. The landscape is arid but not bare as there are lots of hardy shrubs and mosses that have adapted to the cold harsh climate up here. There are also lots of dried up river beds so when it does rain it must be pretty torrential.

We saw a wonderful snow-capped mountain which must have been at least 2000m above the already high desert and also visited a suitably eerie ghost town.

Lunch was in a little shack in a little village and was very good. Basically rice and stew with a raw onion salad. Needless to say, I avoided the latter.

We are staying in a small lodge near the NP headquarters at 4144m.

We saw lots of Llamas and a solitary flamingo.

A very enjoyable day.

23 Dec 18

Day 2

So, so night.

Today we travelled into the heart of the National Park. The already arid landscape became ever more so and at times there was no sign of life of any kind. The area consists of dried up or semi dried up salt lakes surrounded by numerous volcanic peaks of varying shades of white, red, orange and yellow. The colouration is presumably due to iron in the rocks and volcanic sulphur. Stunning stuff.

For a very reasonable 6 Bolivianos I spent lunchtime soaking myself in a hot pool accompanied by flamingos and Llamas.

The view from my hot pool.

Later in the day we visited a geothermal area which had a couple of small geysers and lots of bubbling mud pools. The area was pretty impressive and would have been even better had the wind not been blowing at gale force strength, which eventually had us all scurrying back to the car. There were absolutely zero health and safety precautions and it would have been all too easy for someone to slip into one of the pools and meet a very grizzly end. I like the setup.

As they day wore on the wind became ever stronger resulting in hazy skies and much unpleasantness. We visited a stunning salt lake which had some intense red areas, but I didn’t want to risk the Nikon (which was playing up again) so only took a few snaps with the iPhone.

Pablo is a very nice guy, but his music in the car is driving me nuts - basically jazz noodling with a Gaelic twist, which is every bit as horrible as it sounds. I may yet get my revenge with some Captain Beefheart.

Music aside, not a bad day.

Staying at the Lodge Cordillera (4346m). Very basic - one step up from a cave, but it got the job done and dinner was good.

24 Dec 18

Day 3

The morning was great. The afternoon was less successful and was basically an exercise in killing time.

We visited some lovely salt lagoons. The resident flamingos seemed tamer than they have been so far and we managed to get fairly close them.

After this we visited some stunning free standing rock formations which had been weathered by the wind into some very interesting shapes. One of the rocks resembled a tree and seemed to be defying the laws of gravity. The rocks were really quite something, but also unheralded, which is odd.

We had lunch at an alleged viewpoint of Bolivia’s most active volcano. 

After that we stopped and waited at a railway track for a train that never came. Neena and I spent a fair bit of time watching a thunderstorm developing and just when things were getting interesting the guide signalled it was time to go, to my enormous frustration.

Next came a visit to a Quinoa shop. Neena got a terrific deal on some chocolates which turned out to not be so terrific when she discovered they had expired a couple of months ago.

Staying at the Hostal La Escandida (3761m) which is by far the nicest and certainly quirkiest place we have stayed on the tour.  When you come through the front door you are greeted by a mannequin dressed up like a supermodel (a real one would be nice). All of the tables are made of concrete and dressed up in a sort of North African/native Bolivian look. Most of the rooms, including our bedroom, have white gravel floors which is certainly a new one to me. It’s all very well done and I like it.

Dinner was excellent and done to a high standard. I had zero expectations, but the hostel is actually among the best places we have stayed at on this entire trip.

25 Dec 18

Day 4

Merry Xmas to one and all!

I finally find a nice comfortable bed to rest my weary bones and guess what it’s a 4.15am start! This is because it’s Salar De Uyuni day, which in case you don’t know, is the world’s largest salt flat.

We drove to Isla Incahuasi which is situated roughly in the middle of the salt flat and arrived there about 5am. The guide parked up the car and I trudged up the roughly 100m vertical to the top of the island and sat down and waited in the cold for the sun to rise.

The sun behaved itself and rose at the allotted time, and very nice it was too. Nothing earth shattering, but it was a surreal experience watching the sun rise over a sea of salt sat on a rocky outcrop and surrounded by cacti. I fired off the usual flurry of snaps and then just sat down for 15 minutes or so and took it all in. I would like to have lingered longer, but Neena was back in the car feeling very unwell, and my conscience got the better of me.

By the time I got back our guide had readied our breakfast of yoghurt and coffee and cake.

After breakfast we drove to a remote area of the salt flat and mucked about taking silly photos. This was a fun part of the day as Neena had perked up a bit by this stage and Pablo did a bongo solo.

We also visited Uyuni town’s main and indeed only tourist attraction, namely a train graveyard, which I thought was literally and metaphorically rubbish. This also marked the end of what has been an enjoyable 4 days. All that was left to do was to say a fond farewell to Pablo and get dropped off at the Hostel La Roca (3692m) where we are staying for two nights.

The tour was run by Tupiza Tours, and they, along with our guide Ruben come recommended.

We had omelette, soup and orange juice at a local restaurant which wasn’t bad at all. Neena however, barely managed the meal and is pretty unwell.

26 Dec 18

Had a wander around Uyuni. The outskirts of town feel like they are at the edge of the world but the downtown area is quite pleasant with a nice little pedestrianised area and lots of restaurants and cafes.

We booked an overnight bus for the 27th to La Paz. We asked for camo (reclining) seats and were quoted a suspiciously cheap 100 Bolivianos each. Neena liked the price, so that was that. Neither of us is feeling great, so the bus trip, which is mostly on gravel roads, could be quite an ordeal. On the positive side, it is going to be our last bus trip in South America - thank f*#k for that!

The hostel is impeccably clean and tidy and they do a decent breakfast. The showers are OK, although the internet is on the slow side. They even supply towels and toilet paper. An above average hostel.

We went to a restaurant in the evening and sat and watched a monster thunderstorm. A number of bolts of lightning touched down within metres of us accompanied by rifle-shot thunder. The downside is that we had to trudge back to the hostel on flooded roads and in torrential rain and got well wet.

27 Dec 18

A tough night.

Our bus doesn’t leave until 9.30pm, so just killing time.

The bus was about 30 minutes late leaving due to a heated argument between the staff and a number of backpackers. We didn’t know what all the fuss was about, and as we had good seats at the front of the bus, just kept our heads down and hoped to not get involved. The bus finally went on its not-so merry way. A couple of hours later nature called and I headed off to the loo located at the back of the bus only to be confronted by a foul smell which got exponentially worse the closer I got - I had found the reason for the discord! I am not always the most empathetic of people but I felt so sorry for the poor bastards at the back of the bus. I had a stinking cold at the time and could barely smell a thing which gives an idea of how bad it was.

Other than that, our seats were comfortable and the bus rode smoothly. I even managed to sleep for a few hours. Neena didn’t sleep a wink.

28 Dec 18

We arrived in La Paz around 7am very tired and very grumpy.

We took a taxi to our accommodation for the next 4 days - the Like Home B&B, which is situated about 3km from the centre of La Paz. We were promptly informed that our room wouldn’t be available until 2pm, so had around 6 hours to kill.

We walked into town and checked out a couple of cafes and managed to while away the required hours. On the way back to check-in we got hopelessly lost, which is no laughing matter in a hilly city at 3700m. We were rescued by a lovely young lady who literally went out of her way to help (she was a local and even she struggled to find the place). Tomorrow, I will be taking the iPad loaded with an offline map and mobile GPS unit which should hopefully ensure we are not too locationally challenged.

29 Dec 18

A much better day. Cool and thundery.

I did a spot of research - since we were last in La Paz 6 years ago a large network of cable cars (each line is colour coded) have been built to mitigate the city’s terrible traffic problem. This has apparently worked very well and has cut travel time to the downtown area from 1-hour to 10 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of traffic and tooting of horns, but compared to last time we were here, it all seems a little less frenetic.

After yesterday’s slog a study of the cable car network showed that there is a station only 1 block from where we are staying. In the morning we took the Yellow Line up to Alta (4100m) and the walked for about 20 minutes and caught the Purple Line down to the city centre - this was great stuff as it got us to where we wanted to go and we got some stunning views along the way. The cable car system works brilliantly (and is super cheap at 3 Bolivianos per journey) and it is a wonder other cities around the world haven’t followed suit.

We had lunch at the Tia Gladys Cafe. This was our regular haunt 6 years ago and it was comforting to find it was still there.

After lunch we spent a fair while wandering around the Witches Market with Neena searching for the elusive bargain that never came. I discovered an English pub selling bangers and mash and showing live premiership football - life doesn’t get much better than that and I will be conducting some in-depth research in due course.

We used a different route on the way back and took the Blue Line and then the Yellow Line this time. We made it back to the B&B accompanied by thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

30 Dec 18

Another very good day. Cool and rainy.

We took Yellow and then Green cable cars and had a looked around the lower part of La Paz. This is where most of the wealthy live. What can I say - the areas we visited were bland and boring with none of the pizazz of central La Paz. Eventually, we found a large faceless shopping mall whose main point of interest was what looked like a 5m tall Xmas carrot. Or maybe a turnip. We couldn’t possibly sustain this level of excitement so took Green and then Blue cable cars up to La Paz’s main tourist area.

Xmas carrot?

We had the by now obligatory lunch at Gladys’s. Lunch for both of us was cream of mushroom soup which was divine and came in bowls the size of buckets - cost 12 Bolivianos each. We met a lovely English speaking Bolivian family and even exchanged email addresses.

After lunch it was shopping time for Neena. She brought a rather fine purple duck-down jacket for 160 Bolivianos, so finally bagged her bargain.

On the way back we decided to explore the area near where we are staying, and what a surprise that was. We found a little green square which was surrounded by small cafes and women with roadside stalls selling all sorts of food. There was a lady selling barbecued Llama and boiled potatoes in some kind of sauce. It didn’t look that promising but tasted superb and the sauce even had some bite to it, which is not the norm in this part of the world. We liked it so much we will be going there for dinner tomorrow night.

31 Dec 18

Nice in the morning, cool and thundery thereafter.

Its cable car time again.

The target this time was Plaza Villarreol which is a small park at the end of the White Line. We got a couple of nice snaps overlooking the city, but it was all a bit underwhelming really, as it wasn’t much of a park. There wasn’t much of interest in the immediate vicinity either, so we headed off to the end of the Orange Line to see what wonders were lurking there.

This was more like it. We got off the cable car and were immediately amongst the throngs in the midst of a large market area. We didn’t quite know where we were but new that if we headed downhill we should end up in the city centre. So downhill it was. We eventually made it to the square outside the San Francisco museum. This is our favourite spot in La Paz as it is full of street vendors selling all sorts and a great place to sit down and watch life unfold. I brought a Llama burger which was very good indeed. We sat in the square for a while, had coffee and cake and then headed back to the B&B for some R&R.

The square

Home of the Llama Burger

01 Jan 19

Happy New Year to one and all!

We have moved to the hotel Astrella Andina which is situated in central La Paz and where we will be staying for the next 2 days before flying back to NZ.

We would like to have stayed an extra couple of days at the Like Home B&B, but unfortunately they were booked out. We initially had some reservations about the B&B as it is a fair way from the city centre but have really come to love the place. It is situated in a nice quite residential area and is virtually brand new, so has excellent facilities. The cable car network means that the distance to central La Paz is no issue at all and you get a nice scenic ride to boot.

Turns out the hotel Astrella Andina is also very good. There are painted frescos everywhere which gives the place some real character. Our room is spacious with easily the best shower we have encountered in South America - standing under Iguazú Falls springs to mind. There is also a very nice rooftop area complete with a pool table.

We are both getting a little homesick so had dinner at The English Pub which is just a few yards away from our hotel. I had Steak and Ale Pie which was nice enough, if rather pricey.

02 Dec 18

Our last full day in South America.

Lovely and sunny and warm in the morning. The usual thunderstorms in the afternoon, this time accompanied by hail.

We had a look around El Alto. This is a huge city situated high on the altiplano immediately above La Paz, and very much it’s poorer cousin. To me, both cities are effectively one and the same.

We took the Red line followed by the Celeste line which stretches almost to the far end of El Alto. To be honest, from a general touristic perspective, there wasn’t that much to get excited about, but it was nice to get a feel for the place and watch people busying themselves with their daily lives.

On the way back we stopped off at a tiny little restaurant and had Polo and Papas. This cost less than a quarter of the price of our pub meal and was absolutely superb. Nostalgia comes with a price.

As special mention must got to Tia Gladys, which is our favourite cafe in all of La Paz, both this time round and when we were last here 6 years ago. The feeling must be mutual as they got us to sign a little card which we then slid under a glass table top to join the dozens of others already there. We also got some free cakes.

03 Dec 18

La Paz is a great city. It’s certainly not the prettiest place we have ever visited but it has a real buzz and vitality to it. We have had 6 days here, basically chilling out. This has made a world of difference, as we were both pretty jaded when we got here. It is nice to be flying home but I suspect we will both be missing the place as soon as we leave the ground.

We are flying back to NZ shortly so I had better shut up...