Argentina finished with a football feast!

Well I spent some time in Buenos Aires which I have to say was an excellent city. Good cafes and bars to sit in and watch the world go by and plenty of places to visit and hang around. Oh, and the weather was pretty good as well. I have to admit I did some serious drinking especially as the hostel I was staying in was a party place. Plenty of good people there as well, so there was always something going down every night. Could not believe it when watching footie on the TV the guy next to me was from Stoke, Bignal End. Talk about a small world. I was even more impressed when his mate told me he was a close relative of the great Dennis Smith, ex Stoke captain and one of the best players never to play for England. Let me tell you - beers were drunk and songs were sung!
At the hostel, like I said, every night something was going on. DJs, party nights, clubs, my god the whole time I was there I rarely got to bed before am. Did manage to make it to a local football game to watch Boca Juniors and what an experience that was! I thought us English lads liked our footie but Boca Juniors take it to another level. The whole stadium is going mental the whole game. It was an amazing sight when you look over to the opposite end and see the whole crowd chanting and dancing around and the noise is deafening. The opposition fans who were positioned above where we were also a little up for it, throwing tiles off the floor at us through the metal grills along with fire crackers and bottles of pop - nice! At one point they were banging something on the floor above us and I thought they were going to come down on top of us. All in all it was a great experience made better by the 4- nil win by the mighty Boca's.
I stayed a little longer in Buenos Aires than planned so I could also watch Argentina play Bolivia which I thought was a rare treat. This game was played at River Plate's stadium, which is the other main team in B.A. The stadium was a real big 'un and you even got a seat - unlike the Bocas game. Enjoyed watching the likes of Messi and Raquilmes playing. That Messi is some player and he was on fine form, some of the runs and turns he did took me back to my youth (HA - yeah right). Again the atmosphere was great but not quite as intense as the Bocas game.
In the end I managed to get myself away from Buenos Aires with my liver just about in tact. My next stop was Iguazu Falls which is right on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Managed to go to both side of the falls which is well worth while. The Argentinean side was my favourite as there is more to see and do. I have to say the falls are amazing probably the best waterfalls I have seen. There is said to be around 275 falls over a frontage of 2,470m and let me tell you there is a serious amount of water cascading over these falls. On the Argentinean side you can do a upper and lower walkway with excellent views. Including getting right over the top of one of the big boys which is an amazing sight. The size of them and amount of water joined with the deafening raw is mesmerising, helped with a nice spray giving you a welcoming cool down as it was red hot. The highlight was taking a boat out right under the falls and getting a serious soaking and it taking your breath away.
The Brazilian side is not as big but it does give you panoramic views of each section of the falls. Again you finish right over the top of a section of waterfall with great views. Managed to get some good photographs of the falls but it was impossible to show the sheer scale of them, but hey - I had a good go.
At the moment I have just landed in Rio de Janeiro where I am staying at Ipanema beach which is the next beach down from Copacabana. Great to be by the beach and ocean again as it has been a while. Hard to believe Brazil will be my last country visited here. Should be good to spend the final time on the beach by the ocean. Will be in touch soon with talk of paradise beaches... the bear

Patagonia, its massive and its windy... but christ the sights are awesome!

Over the last few weeks while in Patagonia I have done some long coach journeys and got some serious mileage under my belt. The long journeys have been well worth the effort for the rewards are great. After my last post from Baraloche I went to Puerto Madryn which is famous for being the main stop off point to see whales. At the moment they are in the breeding season, around Peninsular Valdes just outside Puerto Madryn. I did a day tour to the peninsular to view the whales as well as elephant seals and penguins, all up close. The whales were amazing as we got to see plenty of them and really close. The highlight was when one whale came right up to the boat and actually nudged the boat right below where I was standing, that close I could not even get a photo of it, just standing there gorping at it! Managed to get a couple of shots of some tail action but with them having young they were not playing much. The boat cruise was quite hard work as I was well hung over after a few too many of the local brew (Quilmes), after watching England's sporting effort over the week finally end with Hamilton blowing the F1 title.
After the wildlife viewing, the two English guys I was travelling with (and myself) headed back over the border into Chile to the famous Torres de Paine National Park on a 4 day trek. On this trek we were not doing any camping, thank god as it was well windy there. We were staying in nice dry warm hostels and having food cooked for us, which is nice. The weather was OK apart from the first day where we got seriously pissed on, Christ it was worse than Snowdonia on a bad day! I have to say though, over all, it was one of the most scenic treks I have ever done. The sights were so varied with snow peaked mountains next to cream coloured mountains, lakes of different colours and some serious glaciers thrown in - a photographer's paradise. The main glacier was massive as well going on far as I could see it finished off with sheer ice walls dropping into a huge lake. Overall, I reckon we did around 65 kilometres over the 4 days. The main difference between this one and other treks I have done on this trip is Torres de Payne; not as high altitude and not as much sheer up-hill as the others. Still, me legs and feet were well tender for a few days.
The next stop was back over in Argentina at Calafate which is the stop off point for the Glaciers National Park. The main reason for coming here was to see Perito Moreno glacier and if I thought the glacier in Torres de Payne was big - this boy was the daddy! Its one of the only glaciers in the world that is still moving and the size of it is breathtaking. The front of it is over 5 kilometres long with a height of 60 metres and against a lush turquoise lake and surrounded by snow peaked mountains. We did a boat cruise which takes you right up to the front of the glacier to get a good close up view of it. Again - My God it was windy and cold up on the top of the boat but the Bear was last down after having to change memory cards in my camera I was getting that carried away with the photos. After the boat cruise we went down to a series of viewing platforms near one end of the glacier giving good views of the glacier, lake and surrounding mountains. I have seen some sights on my travels but this baby had my jaw well on the floor, amazing!
Calafate was my last stop in Patagonia and we then took the longest bus journey I have ever done, to Buenos Aires, around 40 hours. I now know what cabin fever is like, I could have kissed the tarmac when we arrived. Buenos Aires is a great city and the last stop I was with Phil and The Sweed. They were top lads and I had a good laugh with them and a very messy Saturday night out where we stumbled out of a club at 7 am to the amusement of a few locals. At the moment I am still in Buenos Aires and will probably stay till after the weekend as I might go watch Argentina play Bolivia. I will send another post let you all know what it was like, plus the Boca Juniors game I went to watch a few days ago which was amazing. Shall be in touch soon... the bear

Mountain Mania 2 - the mountain bear returns...

Well since the last post I sent from Cordoba the scenery has got steadily more spectacular. Before I left Cordoba I did a trip to the surrounding area around Cordoba which was nice. The area was mainly mountain valleys and lakes. The main highlight was taking a chair lift to the top of a mountain for good views of the valleys. The chair lift I took was like what you get at the ski resorts. I laughed thinking how Baggaley would have reacted as he is scared of heights, the big girl!
After Cordoba I went to Mendoza which as all you quaffers know is wine country. I did a tour of a couple of wineries, it would be rude not to. Great to get to the tasting part - managing to get a taste of quite a few wines. Even bought a bottle as it was so cheap for the quality of wine. Took a couple of bottles back to the hostel and did some serious quaffing only stopping to go eat a massive thick steak. Hey you gotta do it to soak up the wine. It's unbelievable how many different wines there are in the restaurants, Christ the wine list is like reading the bible there are so many.
Took a day trip to the surrounding mountains, where the mountain scenery was outstanding. If you like mountains like me, I have to say it was up there as one of the most scenic roads I have been on. As good as the scenery was, the actual tour and the guide were rubbish. His first photo stop may as well have been in a powerstation there were so may pylons and wires. Uninterrupted views of panoramic snow peaked mountains and he stops there. He also very rarely stopped so as you can imagine was like a caged tiger wanting to get out of the vehicle take some shots. I had to bite my tongue stop myself telling the tour guide he was a clown. We did manage to stop in a couple of good spots right up in the mountains to get some good photos. So yes Janet - me camera finger was going ballistic. Coop - you can expect the photos to be coming thick and fast. (not as good as the photo of Lord Vader George) Even went on another trip to a massive canyon south of Mendoza which again was well worth a look. I enjoyed my stop in Mendoza, a good spot with great wine and again great steak plus good things to see nearby.
After Mendoza I headed to Chile and Santiago up the same mountain route I took earlier. When I got over the border the mountain scenery on the Chilean side was even better as you are right up at the top of the mountains surrounded by snow peaked mountains over 6,000 metres. You even have the chair lifts coming over the bus taking the skiers to the ski slopes. Santiago is a nice city, again its a big un with everything you need here, even if it is more expensive than all the other countries I have been to in the Americas. Today, here, I have seen something different - coffee shops like hooters - yes believe me. The waitresses who are absolutely lush all wearing tight, short, low cut dresses. Some of the best views I have seen while drinking coffee. Looks like my coffee habit is about to get alot worse!!!
On that note I will say
laters my friends....the bear

Argentina!... the streets are paved with steak and wine.

Greetings to everyone...
Well I had heard the rumours about Argentina - the lush steak and red wine - let me tell you, the rumours are true. I have been in Argentina for 10 days now and I have to admit I have eaten steak on nine occasions, yes its that good. I swear it's a good 2 inches thick and it melts in the mouth. The wine is also amazing and so cheap, put the two together and let the good times roll. I really should have a night off the steak, especially as I am getting heartburn, but as they say no pain no gain. By the time I get back I will have a big belly and a nose like Alex Ferguson!
My first stop in Argentina was Salta which was a really nice city with good colonial buildings. The weather was lush, great walking around in shorts and t-shirt in the day and even comfortable in a t-shirt at night. What's great about Argentina is European standards and cheap prices. There are outside cafes and bars where you can chill and watch the world (well, beautiful women) go by. This is probably why I stayed in Salta for 8 days plus the hostel I stayed at there were people to party with. I did manage to do a couple of excursions though to the surrounding area. The scenery was again very good with a lot of different coloured mountains and gorges plus some more salt flats. So as you can imagine the camera finger was clicking. It killed me getting up at 6 in the morning after a belly full of steak, wine, beer and a late night. Christ I must be getting too old for it! I was getting a rollicking off the tour guide as I was falling asleep during the tour, mind you she was boring me to death bless her. I nearly told her leave me alone I am only here for the scenery and the photos, I ain't bothered what the are plants called.
At the moment I am in Cordoba, a city south east of Salta and let me tell you it's a big 'un. I have spent the day mainly getting lost its that big. Plenty of steak houses though. There is supposed to be some nice scenery again in the surrounding area so I shall check that out in the next couple of days. Next stop - I will head west to Mendoza which is said to be big mountain country and I do like me mountains!
So long for now.....the bear