Not keeping up to date

I am sorry I am not keeping the travel diary up to date. As this time I am not travelling alone there is less time to find internet and spend time writing up days' events and uplaod pictures. I have put some pictures on Facebook

Long haul flight

I have just arrived in Hong Kong for a 4 hour stop over before flying on to Sydney and to meet Jackie.

I did not get much sleep and it feels like morning, but its actually the afternoon. Not feeling too bad.

I better go there is a queue for the free internet service at the airport. A further 9 hor flight to Sydney takes off in about 4 hours.

Rio to Home via Buenos Airies

Monday 5 August 2007
After a couple more days in Rio relaxing and I'd begun exploring the city on foot again, I had started to get some pain in my right leg which I took to be a latent injury from the week before.

On Wednesday morning I took a 3 hour plane to Buenos Airies, Argentina. This was a lot easier than the 40 hour bus alternative. As I threw my heavy backpack onto the check-in conveyoer belt I felt and heard my back click. After that I had to walk very tentativley around the airport with my hand luggage on a trolley.

The three hour flight was comfortable and from Buenos Airies airport I took a taxi to my cheap and cheerful backpackers hostel near the city centre. I had allowed myself the luxury of a room for myself. After a quick wash and coffee I took the metro sytem to the business district to try and change some remaining travellers cheques at the American Express office. I was most annoyed to be told that their exchange counter had closed at 3pm, just 30 minutes earlier .

I then walked a couple of blocks to the British Airways office. I wanted confirmation that Friday's flight back to London was unchanged, as it was 9 months since I'd booked this flight. It turned out the office was no longer open to the public but a website connection was provided on a desk. As I withdrew the keybord, the retractable shelf crashed onto the floor. As I picked up the keyboard off the floor I was expecting security to rush in through the frosted glass doors. But no such priviledge of meeting a human being. So I then tried to follow English website instructions to locate my flight details. Within a minute or two I was in the unvirtutous cycle of entering ticket numbers and being told the details were incorrect and to try again.

After several attempts I tried the ringing the free-phone call centre on the phone provided. Again this didn't work. I didn't know whether I was getting an outside line or not, but the phone never answered. I went back to the computer and eventally I managed to ascertain that the flight time was unchanged.

I then had to walk around the city centre and try about 8 ATMs before I could get any cash out on the more expensive Visa card. I was feeling most frustrated with international travel and finance by now.

To cheer myself up and fulfill my reason for travelling I signed up for a tango show later in the evening . I was picked up from the hostel about 9pm and taken by minibus to a large restsaurant with stage where I had a three couse meal with a bottle Argentnian champagne and was entertained by very professional 2-3 hour tango music and dancing. My leg prevented me from joining in.

Early next morning, Thursday, I was met at the hostel by Camilla, an old friend of Owen's who lives and works in BA. With a combination of taxis and walking we visited some of the older districts in BA such as La Boca (famous for La Boca Juniors football club) and Recolleta where we had splendid lunch. It was a real pleasure to meet Camilla who could tell me so much about Buenos Airies and I most enjoyed having a really good conversation in English for the first time for two weeks.

Later on Thursday I met up with my friend, Norbert, and his family, for dinner. Norbert is German but lives in Quito, Ecuador, with his family where they run a Spanish school. I met Norbert on the Salar Uyuni trip in Bolivia and we had agreed to meet up some weeks before. After meeting at the Oblelisk in the city centre we went to a restauarant, L' Estancia, where I had the best Argentinian steak of the trip washed down by a couple bottles of good Argentinian red wine and more good conversation. It was a splendid way to spend the last night of the trip.

Next morning, tired but not hungover, I took a taxi to the airport and after two hours for checking in eventually caught the plane back to London via San Paulo. The flight, which took 15 hours, was comfortable and uneventful. I slept a good deal of the time.

I was delighted to be met by Jackie at the airport who took me home and Owen was there to let me in. I was pleased to see he'd kept the house tidy and clean while I'd been away. I was glad to be home and after calling mum to say I was home safe, if not sound, I went to bed for a few more hours' sleep.

Since then I've been catching up with family and friends. I've been to the doctor's for more tests, I've got my motor bike back on the road and I've started looking around for a new car.

Rio de Janeiro

Many thanks to all the people who have sent warm comments or emails wishing me well since last entry.

Ive been taking it fairly easy. Thurday and Friday were mostly taken up with visits to a series of xray centres and head specialists. I had a minder, Jose, to take me around by taxi and i did get to see bits of Rio on the way round.

The good news from these visits is that I am OK to fly again and my flight to Buenos Airies is fixed for Wednesday morning. Ill have just 2 nights in BA now before flying home on friday arriving in London on Saturday, albeing well.

On Saturday, yesterday, I managed to take in a city tour. This involved a trip by cog train up to the large Jesus statue on top of a mountain called Corcovoda, and to the top of the Sugar loaf montain by cable car. As the weather was a bit like a English bank holiday the views of Rio were mostly obscured by the clouds. Other places of interest were Copocabana and Ipanema beaches. But as it was cold and drizzling there wasnt one bikini on view.

The 2007 Pan American games are actually on in Rio currently. While it isn´t entirely dominant on the streets, except on TV, there is a bit of a buzz about the place. I haven´t been very adventurous but did get out the other night to an old German restaurant called Bar Luiz, first opened in 1887 .

There is no photographs to add now as i lost my camera and small rucksack during the incident last weekend.

Look forward to seeing and speaking to many of you soon.

Iguassu to Rio de Janiero, Brazil

Thursday 25 July The last week has been unfortunately eventful. On Sunday I took a short bus ride over the Brazilian border to Foz Iguassu and caught a plane to Rio. Marvelously i was met at the airport and was soon installed in my downtown hotel for the next few days. I went out for a walk in the afternoon. I remember having a nice meal at a cultural centre near the centre and wandering about a bit more. But then I only remember waking up in hospital with a bad head. It appears that somewhere I was attacked or fell and was brought into hospital by the tourist police. I spent the next few days in hospital looking at my head injuries. i spent a lot of the time sleeping and have no recollection of what happened. Somehow someone got word to Owen and he contacted his friend Luijaunna who came round to see me. So did the British consul.

Yesterday I came out of the hospital and today i went to see a specialist who says i cannot fly as my head injuries are too weak and the air pressure may cause a problems. he gives no idea how long it will take. This is so frustrating as i´m so looking forward to coming home- due next weekend; It means changing my flight from tomorrow to Buenos Airies and possible changing my flight next Friday from BA to London;

To add insult to injury I am now having trouble accessing my email! Need less to say I´ve not seen much of Rio yet. I´ll do my best to sort thsi otherwise its just the blog site.

Salta to Peurto Iguazu, Argentina

Friday 20 July On Monday night I took another overnight bus journey to the northern Argentinian city of Resistencia, capital of the Chaco region. I didn´t particulalry want to come here but it is a convenient half way point between Salta and Iguassu.

Unusually I arrived in Resistencia without having pre-booked any accommodation. On arriving at the bus terminus at 7am I took a taxi the 3 kms to Hotel Colon, in the city centre, and recommended by Lonely Planet. Happily the hotel had a single ensuite room available at a reasonable price,($18) albeit I had to wait until after 10am to get access. After some breakfast in a local cafe I returned to the hotel to claim my room. It is an old fashioned hotel, built in the 20's I'd guess, with long light corridors and some art deco features such as, high ceilings, beautiful tiled floors in the corridors and a marble top to the wash hand basin in my bathroom. There is a vey nice feel about the place.

As usual when I arrive somewhere I almost immediately start planning my next move, so after dropping my bags into my room I walked round the city centre square to look for bus a company office to book the next leg of the journey to Iguazu. I found the local tourist office first and they informed me the bus companies only had offices in the bus terminal, which was completely different to all the other towns I'd recently visited. As I had little to do I decided I'd walk to the bus terminal. In Resistencia there are less roads asphalted than in Salta. Also there are more motorbikes, mainly small 125's like mine at home, being used than I remember seeing anywhere else so far in South America so far.

The housing I passed wasn't as upmarket as the areas I had seen in Salta but most homes looked reasonably habitable. Further out, closer to the bus terminus and ring road, there was a large social housing development with a mix of single storey homes and flats accessed by metal staircases, giving a bird cage feel to these blocks. Lots of the property looked in poor repair and were painted all colours, suggesting the occupants take reponsibilty, or not, for upkeep of their homes. Many homes had what looks like aluminium foil fixed over large areas of the roofs, presumably some type of cheap repair system.

Having bought my ticket for the next night's journey I took a local bus back to the town centre. The sun was shining and I had a salad lunch and a litre of beer sat out on a pavement cafe watching the world go by. Opposite was an upmarket restaurant and I watched a man and his son with a horse and cart provide a privatised waste collection service presumably to be recycled for animal feed, which reminded me of the UK 30-40 years ago. In the evening I returned to this restaurant for my next delicious Argentinian steak.

Next day, Wednesday, I had 10 hours to kill after checking out and catching my bus. I decided to hit the museums. . This took about 2 hours in total The first museum was closed for repairs. The second, a disused French design railway station, took about 15 mins to look around to see some moth eaten stuffed animals and birds. Resistencia has made a name for itself by placing sculptures everywhere. The sculpture park was being built on. I retreated to the main square which is very large and an unharmonious mix of fountains, palm trees, sculptures and stalls. The cathedral in one corner of the square is unusual for its plainess. It could have been cut out from a cereal packet.

Later I tooka taxi with my luggage tothe bus station.The bus was quite empty although the passengers seemed to be crammed in to one area.Luckily I had a double seat to myself all night and had a relatively good night's rest.

When we arrived in Iguazu, on the border with Brazil and Parguay, at 6am it was dark, damp and misty. I walked a couple of blocks to my hostel. The hostel is a dissppointing. The room had the promised ensuite w.c./shower but it was vitually unventilated and this just added to the damp atmosphere of the bedroom. Nor was there aTV which is useful to pass the time. The common room is barely furnished and isn't comforatble to hang out. Maybe I'm getting too fussy but it is relatively expensive for what I am getting.

Most of yesterday was spent planning the next onward moves with a travel agent, cahnaging money etc. In the evening I wandered about the town and found a little area of stalls specialising in salami, olives, olive oil and vinegar and where they served plates of olives, salami and cheese with litre bottles of beer which was delicious change.

Today I took the bus to see the reason for being here, the Iguazu falls, and spent about 4 hours wandering about the excellent Argentine national park, walking several kilometres, including lots of steps, to see some of the most spectacular falls I've ever seen which includes Victoria and Niagara falls. There are about 260 falls in all as the river crashes down to a lower level over a length of several kilometres.

Salta, Argentina

Monday 16 July 2007 On Friday I gratefully caught the overnight train from Uyuni, in Bolivia, to Villazon on the North Argentina border. While waiting in the station cafe I was able to watch Reading v the River Plate, in Korea. The train was full but comfortable. I slept a good deal of the journey. There was some disturbance at couple of stops as some passengers alighted and boarded. As dawn broke the landscape was the typical sandy desert scrub with mountains in the distance. I was really impressed to find the toilet perfectly clean and in full working order after 8 hours travel.

At about 7am we reached Villazon. There was a scrum to revcoer luggage from the freight car at the rear and a walk through the town to reach the border controls. There was long queue to get through Argentinian immigration because there was only one man processing the travellers. Some locals would push in much to the gringos' annoyance. In fact the system was bizarre as some didn´t need to queue.




Eventually I crossed into La Quaica, the Argentinian border town, and walked about 1km to the bus terminal where I bought a bus ticket to Salta, 7 hours away. The bus journey was on the usual impressive double decker luxury coach with reclining seats and on board WC with a fair mix of tourists and locals. The roads were quickly noticeably better than Bolivia, being asphalt and in good repair. We stopped after a couple of hours in a small town and many got off for a snack or comfort break. I may have been sleeping for part of the stop ass I got off after everyone else and went to buy a sandwich. As I was paying I heard the bus start and I had to shoot out of the shop and wave it down. Typically helpful the shop keeper followed with my change. I don't like to think what would have happened if I'd been left behind. Another hour later on the bus was stopped at a check-point and we had to collect our bags from the luggage hold for inspection. It appeared to be some counter terrorism measure. Many of the local men were taken into a room to be body searched. They didn't pay much attention to me.

Once we passed San Salvador de Jujuy the main road became a 4 lane motorway and the lanscape changed to a greener, if somewhat parched, grass and trees. Frustratingly the bus route kept leaving the motor way and going into towns to pick up and drop of more passengers. The last 100kms of the journey seemed to take for ever but eventually we arrived in Salta only half an hour late.

I took a taxi to my pre-booked hostel and managed to negotiate a better room with an external window. In fact the room was pretty large with ensuite bathroom and heater, and the young staff have been very helpful so I´ve been very comfortable the last couple of days.

After getting some cash from an ATM i joined in a BBQ dinner at the hostel where I met some of the other residents, all much younger than me, and good company. I went to bed when most of them were going out on the town.

Next day, Sunday, I went to the bus station to purchase my next ticket to Resistencia, which is about half way to Iguasso, my next real destination. On my way back I came across a regional food festival in a park with music and dancing and where I tried some of the local dishes of empanadas (little pasties), a sweet maize puree wrapped and boiled in the corn leaf and finally a big dish of corn, vegetable and meat soup. The locals on my table were full of encouragement to try what they were having.





I then had a wander around the city centre. Salta is a real 21st century city with nice clean streets, housing and shops. There is a main square which would grace any city in Europe and plenty of the older colonial architecture in good fettle. It was a tangible and pleasant relief from the previous 5 weeks of relative poverty and grime.





Last night I went to the night life area near the station to watch on a large screen in a bar the final of the Copa America with Argentina playing Brasil. Unfortunately Argentina didn´t play too well and lost 3 nil. The bar was half empty well before full time. I then went for my first Argentinian steak and it was pretty good. Plenty more of these to come too.





This morning I checked out of my hotel and took a cable car up the nearest mountain for the view. In a couple of hours I catch the overnight bus to Resistencia, the "city of sculpture".