Tango dancing in Buenos Aires

It was time to leave Salta behind and check out the big city: Buenos Aires. If you are by the way wondering how our lovely cactus is doing.... in short: not so good.

As it turned out, this kind ofcactus, or to use the correct term: Candelabra-cactus (Euphorbia lactea), usually called'cardón' ,is very protected in Saltaand it is actually forbidden to take a dead cactus (so, even when it's just a piece of wood) out of the province. Well, except if you send it with Fedex and pay 2300 dollars, or if you buy them atone of the threeauthorized stores. So, this law makes absolutely no sence. But when we took the cactus to the airport, people were more than willing to help us with it, and when we showed the invoice it was no problem to take the cactuswith us on the plane. But then at the last moment, some annoying police guy came and pointedout the law, and kept our very nice cactus with him.

So later that day we arrived in Buenos Aires without our wooden friend. And what do you do when you are in Buenos Aires? Dance the tango of course!

We went to the famous tango place 'Confiteria Ideal', and took a tango lesson. I have to say, we were pretty good! Allan was a natural.

When we had enough tango for one day we checked out a bit of Buenos Aires nightlife with some mojito's and some more dancing...

Today we went shopping in the Palermo area, which is a kind of hippie neighbourhood, but with very nice shops, restaurants and bars.

We have given some stories about how cheap things are in other countries, and Argentina can also be very cheap with some things. Allan needed to have a root canal performed on a tooth and after consulting the almighty google, he went to see an English speakingdentist. The root canal cost 300 pesos incl. xrays, and everything. 300 pesos is 30 euros....a dentist in Europe will charge you the same to shake his hand.

As you can see in these pictures, there are no people. All the shops closed and the owners retired rich and happy after Miriam went on a legendary shopping spree. Some will say thatit was what Iowed her a shopping day after the volcano Misti, Miriam thinks I still owe her some more shopping, but tomorrow we will fly to El Calafate, in the South of Argentina, to see some glaciers, good luck finding shops there :-)...

Salt flats, multi coloured mountains & highest viaduct in the world

We have now been gone for five weeks in total, and we feel like we have seen so many beautiful places in the past weeks, but still there are a few we would like to share with you.

We would also like to say a big thank you, for all the nice comments. It feels really nice to hear from you and we send you a loving thought every time we read them.

After a few guided trips we decided to take matters into our own hands and drove a long trip into the mountains. First stop was the highest viaduct in the world. It was only a short stop, because we had a long way ahead of us.

The roads turned out to be worse than expected. Most often gravel roads with big holes,but the tiny car we had rented took its punishment well.

Until we where officially in the middle of nowhere, and one of the tires blew (well, it was actually completely destroyed...).

The change of tire was quickly done, but Miriam was not happy about the possibility of losing another tire and being stranded in the desert. (Actually,I have to admit: I turned into a bit of a drama queen. I already imagined we would be stranded, and then would freeze and starve to death before the voltures would come to eat us...)

Luckily the remaining tires held up and we reached the salt flats. An impressive place that made Miriam very happy (we're still alive!).

We continued to drive up into the mountains where we would stay for the night. The next morning we took a hike up to see the 7 coloured mountain up close. Not only was this mountain beautiful, but the whole area is so peaceful and the colors melt together in impressive shapes and breathtaking views.

Allan could not help himself and had to climb one of the mountains before beginning the long journey back to Salta.

Rafting & canoping fun

After a relaxed Saturday where we did nothing but a bit of reading in the sun, playing some online poker, buying water in the supermarket, drinking ice baileys on a terrace and dancing Salsa in the streets, it was time for a little fun.

We deceided to go rafting and canoping in a beautiful area south of Salta.

After the rafting it was time for a very nice BBQ, a beer, and on to our next adventure: canoping.

As you can see Miriam enjoyed it after the first scary crossing.

Our first stop in Argentina: Salta

After Peru it was time for new adventures in Argentina. Wednesday we arrived in our very nice hotel in Salta. After a string of hostels, it is nice to be in a nice bed and breakfast, tastefully designed and with personal service. The breakfastalone is worth the money it costs to stay here. Fresh juice, warm croissants, fruitsalad and wonderful toppings gives a great start of the day.

Yesterday we checked out the city some more and went with a cable cart to the top of hill overlooking the city. Latera woman from the hotel took usto 'Ferinoa', a fair thatlasts for a week every two years. She was going there because she teaches blond people how to play football. We found it a bit strange, that they had a blond people league, but we soonfound out she meant blind, and not blond people.Every person from Salta looks forward to this event for a long time, so we were happy that we could join in the fun.

The fair shows cars, paintings, travels, clothes, food and much more and there doesn't seem to be much logic in the products that are shown. A big part of the fair is the blind football, tourneywhere the best blind football players of South Americacompete against each other. We watched the game between Argentinaand Paraguay. Even though they play on concrete, they have no fear and run as fast as seeing people after the ball that has a bell inside so they can find it.

After the fair we went to Balcarce, the street where all the restaurants, bars and clubs are. We tried the local cuisinewithout knowing what we were eating (it seems that all the local dishesare some kind of stew with meat) and flushed everything away with strawberry daiquiries.Bythe way: the thing to eat hereis empanadas, inbaked meat or chicken, they are everywhere!

Today we took a trip to the town Cafayate to do some winetasting. On the way we passed some wonderful gorges.

After the wine tasting we had lunch, Allan ate goat, but it wasn't that great,and afterwards we walked around a bit. At a stall we saw a very cool (and big) dead cactus. Against all sense we bought it and took it back to the hotel. In the near future we will ship it to Amsterdam. We will send itto one of the blog readers...so keep a look out at your mail box:-)

Machu Picchu & Cuzco

It's been a while since our last update, and at the moment we have left Peru behind and we are in Argentina.

Our last days in Peru we spent in Cuzco and ofcourse we visited touristic attraction numner one:Machu Picchu!

The next morning we woke up early to catch one of the first busses to Machu Picchu that left at 05:30 hrs. When we arrived we walked around at bit and then climbed mountain Wayna Picchu, where we had a beautiful view over Machu Picchu.

The climb to the top was tough and after enjoying the view we climbed down on the other side to see the 'great cave'. The trip turned out to be better than the actual cave. Wewalked on small stone steps and most of the time with a drop of several hundred meters down to the valley below.

Back in Cuzco we checked out the city, which is very nice with very nice buildings. Somehow Allan picked up food poisoning, maybe because he tries to eat everything he hasn't tried before,and he spent a day making prayers and offerings to the great white toilet god.

These days where our last in Peru, we then flew via Bolivia (again) to Salta in Argentina where new adventures awaits...

Killer vulcano Misti

His Story...

Since Miriam made a slight calculation error in our departure date for Cusco, we suddenly had two days left before our bus. We had just returned from a trip that was very nice, so why not book another! (No reason to hang around town where the ever present shopping gene of Miriam might spring into action)

They where advertising with trips to Misti, a still active volcano, and I thought how hard can it be when they advertise everywhere? Its only about 5.800m and we have already been in altitudes above 4000m for the last couple of weeks, so we should be acclimatized by now. Piece of cake!

We where picked up in a cool range rover, and our guide had selected the equipment needed to survive on the mountain. My bag was deemed unfit, so he insisted that I took another one, good advice it turned out to be.

After an hour of bumby roads we arrived at the starting point. The Mountain Misti loomed above us, and we had a slight sense of dread, when looking at the sides. It is so steep...where are the paths? We would soon find out.

The first part of the trip was to get all food, water and equipment to base camp at 4.600m, it was just the beginning. Butafter nearly 6 hours of hiking with backpacks, the altitude was getting to me. We started with 30 minute walks before breaking for water, the 30 minutes became 10 and in the end it took not more than a few minutes before I was hyperventilating, without getting dizzy. Now I know why the mountain riders in Tour de France don't weight 90 kilos and wear a backpack.

Luckily there was a tent set up by the guide the day before, (apparently they run up and down the mountain all the time) and after a quick but very sensible dinner (soup and pasta with tuna) we had to head to bed. A snow front was coming, and we where at eye hight with it. It is kind of weird to go to bed at 17 in the afternoon, but when the tent is shaking like a moneymaker and the degrees are dropping fast, there is no better place than in a sleeping bag.

After a night with little sleep where I seemed to be warmer all over than Miriam. It might have been the silly hat and gloves I bought last minute that did the trick. We where woken at around 2 at night and had to start the journey to the summit.

It turned out that the journey to basecamp was a piece of cake. Now we where facing a wall of stone and vulcanic ashes that had to be conquered often with very steep parts that required hands and boots in the right place. Luckily it was dark, so we could not see the drops into nothingness that might have sacred unexperienced mountaneers like us.

The oxygen got less and less, and even though we chewed coca leaves to take the worst of the altitude sickness, Miriam started to feel worse and worse. She kept on climping, but a mere 200m from the top, she was out of everything. I promised to take her shopping, and that made her go on another 100m before the dizzyness and nausea had her turn back.

It was now up to me and after 6 hours climbing the day before and another grueling 6 hours I finally reached the crater. Imagine hyperventilating for hours, every muscle screaming of tiredness and lack of oxygen, then take a deep breath of the worldsbiggest egg fart. Welcome to Misti. Unfortunately the camera I had was set on shooting dawn images, so the pictures I took of the crater did not turn out well and in my tired state I did not check if they had the right setting.

On the way down, we had to slide through lava ash, which quickly filled, nose, ears, boots but it was kind of fun. And the 6 hours it took from basecamp was done in just an hour. After we reached base camp we had to pack up and go down to the rover, all in all 10 hours of walking in one day. 35 kilometers in high altitude...we deserved the massage when we came back to the hotel.

Her story....

Gisteren gingen Allan en ik op weg om de vulkaan Misti (5825 mt.) te beklimmen (niet mijn idee trouwens, maar dat mag duidelijk zijn...). Toen we werden opgehaald door drie woeste kerels in een afgeragte jeep had ik al zo mijn bedenkingen. De eerste dag bestond uit 6 uur klimmen tot 4600 mt hoogte, waar het 'basecamp' te vinden was. Toen we begonnenwas ik na pak em beet20 seconden al compleet buiten adem, dus dat begon al goed.

Maar ik moet zeggen dat ik er na een uurtje of drielekker in kwam en dat klimmen wel leuk begon te vinden. En het uitzicht is natuurlijk te gek. Dus ik was helemaal in mijn nopjes met ons vulkanenavontuur, totdat we bij dat basecamp aankwamen. Onze tent stond gelukkig al klaar, dus dat scheelde. Om 16.00 uur werd ons diner geserveerd dat bestond uit soep, en pasta met een blik tonijn en tomatensaus. Daarna gingen we allemaal slapen, want het was toch te koud om buiten te blijven en om kwart voor 2 's nachts zouden we alweer gewekt worden voor het tweede deel van het klimgebeuren.

Kamperen is al niet mijn favoriete bezigheid, maar in dit geval sliepen we dus op 4600 mt hoogte (KOUD!!) en op bijna niet bestaande matjes. Ik had aan: een skibroek, een shirt, een thermotrui, 2 jassen, 2 paar sokken en een muts, en ik lag nog te vernikkelen van de kou in mijn slaapzak. Gelukkig werden we dus om 01.45 uur uit ons lijden verlost en mochten we lekker verder klimmen.

Dit keer ging het wat minder goed. Dit gedeelte was superstijl en we moesten dus in het donker over allerlei rotsblokken zien te klauteren. Tot nu toe had ik nog helemaal geen last van hoogteziekte, maar op 5 km hoogte sloeg het noodlot toe. Misselijk dat ik was, en duizelig! Mijn voeten waren ook nog steeds helemaal bevroren dus daar had ik geen gevoel meer in. Al struikelend over de rotsen, helemaal verkleumd, bang dat ik van die vulkaan naar beneden zou kukelen en half kotsend probeerde ik me naar boven te slepen. Je zal begrijpen dat ik op dat moment niet op mijn allergezelligst was. Op 5600 mt. trok ik het echt niet meer en dacht ik: ' bekijk het maar met die nare rotvulkaan' (of iets dat er op leek) en ben ik ermee gekapt. Ik was er echt helemaal klaar mee.

Daarna voelde ik me in eerste instantie wel een beetje een loser (ook toen Allan vanaf de top me toe zwaaide). Maar op de terugweg naar beneden zag ik pas echt goed hoe ver we naar boven waren geklommen. Echt niet normaal. Dus ik ben toch wel trots op mezelf dat ik zover ben gekomen. En het was toch wel cool om een keer mee te maken, ook al was het het zwaarste wat ik ooit gedaan heb. Maar: eens en zeker never nooit meer!

Liefs, Miriam

Colca Canyon

One of the main attractions of the Arequipa area is the worlds deepest canýon; The Colca Canyon and more importantly the condors that soar the skies in the valley.

Every single tourist agency in the city sells trips to the canyon, but we had already gotten a deal with the hotel we are staying at, so we where picked up in the morning for a two day trip into the canyon. After a long bus ride there is nothing like relaxing in a hotspring.

The trip itself to the canyon took 4 hours, luckily there where plenty of animals to watch on the way. Alpacas are not just cute and fluffy, they also give very fine fibers for clothes and above all they taste really good!!

Not only did we eat the cute fluffy animals, we also ate guinnee pigs, and once you get past they still have the heads and cute little hands attached, it is a dish that taste like a strange mix between rabbit and chicken. With dinner we also enjoyed a couple of dancers exibiting some of the traditional dances of the locals. Guess who got picked to take part. in the dancing.. (in my case I had to dance the 'Malaria dance' where you have to pretend to eat an orange, get malaria, trow yourself on the ground and shiver all over while your partner hits you with a rope...)

When we finally got to the condors, they appeared almost immediately, soaring on the hot air currents and we had a great time trying tospot them and capture them before they soared too high above our heads.

We are both doing really good with the altitude by now. Maybe it is thecoca leaves we are chewing,the final test will be tomorrow when we will try to climbthe active volcano Misti.

White city Arequipa

We were done with Puno, so we took a 6 hrs busride to Arequipa, which was very nice because of the great views.

There was evena bit of entertainment during the ride... We passed 5 men who were shouting at the bus and waving with bustickets, trying to make it stop, but the busdriver ignored them and kept on driving. When we later reached a roadblock, a taxi drove up to the bus with the 5 very angry men in it. The busdriver and another guy from the buscompany began shouting at the men, and before we knew it they were all on the street hitting and kicking each other! Soonafter a police officer arrived and stopped all the nonsense. The last 45 minutes of the ride a one legged man was shouting about the unfairness of the world and showing his wooden leg to the rest of the passengers, we dugour earphones deeper in andcontinued lama spotting.(if you have ever taken the train from Amsterdam to Utrecht you must know the shouting ex-homeless guy. Well, this guy must have been his teacher...)

In Arequipa we walked around and watched a street parade with dressed up people dancing. It seems that everywhere we go, they have a fiesta of some sort. We also visited a monastery which looked very nice with bright colored walls.

Tomorrow we will begin our tour to the Colca Canyon for two days, and after that we will try to climb volcano Misti (5822 mt!) for two days... Wish us luck!

The view from our hotel...