Wow, so I haven't written since January...yikes. I am alive and well in Herradura, Costa Rica where I have been since February 26th. I'll be here until May 13th when I have a flight back to Utah. I will write more soon to tell about the adventures of returning to Argentina, traveling through Panama and then returning to Costa Rica where I got a visit from 3 friends. So to anyone out there who is still reading...stay tuned.
Love,
Cori
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
A Birthday Abroad & Ciao, Ciao Chile!
We say good by to Chile in 3 days so I thought I better do a Chile wrap up. I'm writing this from Pucon, chile which is the further South (in Chile) that we traveled. It's just across the Andes from Bariloche, Argentina where we saw the glaciers and only 62km from the Argentina border.
Pucon is a really beautiful town at the base of the active Villarica Volcano (and two other volcanoes which names I can't recall). It also sits on Lake Villarica. We stayed here for a week and it was great. Beautiful weather (except for 2 mornings of rain which we used as days to stay in bed late and read without feeling guilty). We also hiked in Huerquehue National Park, mountain biked to another lake, river rafted, celebrated my birthday, ate delicious food (finally they had good vegetarian food here), laughed as lot (as per usual)and spent a few days on the beach/lake. Oh...and a really wonderful, lazy day at a hot springs.
Tonight at 9pm we are taking a 10 hour overnight bus to Santiago. ***Important note here...so many of you may have read my last post and might be a little worried about me. But here are a few reasons/facts that my help put you at ease:
1. We have now started to bus more luxuriously. We are buying the 'cama' seats (cama = bed). The seats are about the same size as first class on a plane, but much more leg room (I felt like a chile because my legs didn't hit the ground) and the seats recline pretty far...further than in the picture).
2. Because of our new luxury bus strategy, the ride has been much more enjoyable. We slept almost the whole way from Santiago to Pucon. We actually arrived an hour before we expected. So when the bus stopped we thought we were in the town 1 hour from our destination. So we stayed on the bus and made ourselves comfortable (I even had my sleeping eye mask on my head...you know those things that block the light so you can sleep). And the bus driver had to come and let us know we had in fact arrived.
3. I have a brand new supply of anti-motion sickness pills.
Iqueque: Ok, so the rest of Chile...in chronological order. I already wrote about and posted pictures of San Pedro de Atacama. After the desert we headed a bit North to Iqueque. Finally we arrived at the beach. But for us, Iqueque was too big, too dirty and seemed to make no sense. So after 2 days, we headed further South to La Serena. Best part of Iqueque...our hotel served breakfast to our room in the morning...so breakfast in bed!
La Serena: Ahhhh, such a nice Pacific beach town. Well city I guess. We stayed there 5 or 6 days. Each day we to the beach (10 km) there and back. The beaches streatched wide and were pretty...but the water was cold and full of jellyfish. So our swimming was limited but we loved it there. We also went to the movies! Which we treat ourselves to in the bigger cities. Also breakfast in bed here. :)
Viña del Mar: We spent a few days further South in Viña, another beach city before headed down to Pucon (details above).
So there it is folks...my summary of my time in Chile. A lot of details left out...but check out the pictures too.
Photos: LA SERENA, VIÑA, PUCON & BIRTHDAY
Photos: MORE PUCON
Pucon is a really beautiful town at the base of the active Villarica Volcano (and two other volcanoes which names I can't recall). It also sits on Lake Villarica. We stayed here for a week and it was great. Beautiful weather (except for 2 mornings of rain which we used as days to stay in bed late and read without feeling guilty). We also hiked in Huerquehue National Park, mountain biked to another lake, river rafted, celebrated my birthday, ate delicious food (finally they had good vegetarian food here), laughed as lot (as per usual)and spent a few days on the beach/lake. Oh...and a really wonderful, lazy day at a hot springs.Tonight at 9pm we are taking a 10 hour overnight bus to Santiago. ***Important note here...so many of you may have read my last post and might be a little worried about me. But here are a few reasons/facts that my help put you at ease:
1. We have now started to bus more luxuriously. We are buying the 'cama' seats (cama = bed). The seats are about the same size as first class on a plane, but much more leg room (I felt like a chile because my legs didn't hit the ground) and the seats recline pretty far...further than in the picture).2. Because of our new luxury bus strategy, the ride has been much more enjoyable. We slept almost the whole way from Santiago to Pucon. We actually arrived an hour before we expected. So when the bus stopped we thought we were in the town 1 hour from our destination. So we stayed on the bus and made ourselves comfortable (I even had my sleeping eye mask on my head...you know those things that block the light so you can sleep). And the bus driver had to come and let us know we had in fact arrived.
3. I have a brand new supply of anti-motion sickness pills.
Iqueque: Ok, so the rest of Chile...in chronological order. I already wrote about and posted pictures of San Pedro de Atacama. After the desert we headed a bit North to Iqueque. Finally we arrived at the beach. But for us, Iqueque was too big, too dirty and seemed to make no sense. So after 2 days, we headed further South to La Serena. Best part of Iqueque...our hotel served breakfast to our room in the morning...so breakfast in bed!
La Serena: Ahhhh, such a nice Pacific beach town. Well city I guess. We stayed there 5 or 6 days. Each day we to the beach (10 km) there and back. The beaches streatched wide and were pretty...but the water was cold and full of jellyfish. So our swimming was limited but we loved it there. We also went to the movies! Which we treat ourselves to in the bigger cities. Also breakfast in bed here. :)
Viña del Mar: We spent a few days further South in Viña, another beach city before headed down to Pucon (details above).So there it is folks...my summary of my time in Chile. A lot of details left out...but check out the pictures too.
Photos: LA SERENA, VIÑA, PUCON & BIRTHDAY
Photos: MORE PUCON
BIRTHDAY HUG!!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
So This is How it's Going to End?!?!?!?!?!
Finally the day arrived that we would take the bus from Purmamarca, Argentina to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The day started out well, nice weather, a little walk to the bus stop and the bus arriving on time. I was a little worried about the long bus ride through the Andes because I get car sick so easy. But I've been doing really well on the bus rides, so I hoped this one would go smooth as well. The first half hour was uneventful until we near the top of the first pass when the bus stalled and started ROLLING BACKWARDS people! It was only for a few seconds, but I am serious when I say there is NO WAY we could have done anything except plummet to our deaths if the bus continued to roll backward. Gracias a Dios we stopped. The driver restarted the bus and we were on our way...for a few more minutes when it stalled again and we started ROLLING BACKWARDS AGAIN people! This time for longer...really, probably for only 2 or 3 seconds, but when you are truly seeing your life pass before your eyes, time moves a little slower.
Well this time when the bus finally rolled to a stop, 2 of the other employees ran outside and put large rocks behind the tires. Yeah, this made me feel really safe (italics = sarcasm). Next the driver walks down the isle and right near our seats, opens a panel on the floor and starts working on the bus. The two other guys are underneath the bus at this time. Which actually gives me a tiny bit of comfort as I think to myself 'OK, if these guys trust the rocks behind the wheels enough to be underneath the bus, then maybe I should calm down'. But then I also think to myself 'well...think about all the other things you see in Latin America...the family of 4 (or 5) on a mopehead, the town full of people packed into the back of a pickup truck, the most recent oddity, a man pedaling a bicycle with his 'woman' riding side-saddle on the middle bar while breast feeding her child (honest to God) in the middle of rush hour traffic...so maybe the rocks behind the tires aren't going to keep us from plunging off the side of this cliff'.
So, I start to get a little anxious. I feel like I would be safer waiting outside of the bus. But am a little afraid to pass the man in the isle working on the engine. Not only is he mad at me for taking a picture of them fixing the bus (I guess there was a brief moment where the anxiety faded enough for me to realize that if I ever make it out of this situation alive, I definitely need a picture for my blog...see photo at left), but I also don't think he'll be too happy to have to move in order for me to go outside. So I sit and I wait. And Lies (Liz) tries to help me relax.
At this point the guy is now sucking on the end of a tube. Maybe the mechanics out there can tell me what the problem might have been because they certainly didn't give us any information. After a while I assume the 'problem' was 'fixed' because we started going again.
We made it up the pass without further incident. However, I don't know if they were trying to make up lost time or what, but once we reached the top of the pass, we started hauling serious ass. Really, we were going WAY too fast (in my humble, paranoid Gringa opinion). You could feel pretty strong G-forces as went went around the corners. I wondered if they had perhaps lost the lower gears and couldn't use the engine brakes to slow down. Lies and I sat there clutching the armrests with white knuckles (notice 'white knuckles' is not italicized because I'm not using sarcasm here folks, our knuckles were literally white). At one point I looked at Lies and said in a loud, terrified voice, 'WHAT THE F%$# IS THIS GUY DOING?'. It was about this time when I thought to myself, 'so this is how it's going to end...'
Well, obviously we made it out of the Andes alive to tell our harrowing story and post the picture of that grumpy bus driver. And, I must admit, I don't think the other people on the bus were as afraid as we were. At least I didn't hear them shouting profanities or anything of that nature. But still, when one comes to the conclusion that this is, in fact, how 'it' is going to end, one doesn't take the time to look around to see if everyone else in the bus feels the same way.
San Pedro de Atacama was amazing. It's a small little pueblo in the Atacama Desert...which is the driest desert on Earth. I thought Utah was rough on my nasal passages unti
l I got to Atacama. Within 2 days my nose was worse then it had ever been in Utah. Luckily we are now at the beach and the nose has recovered fully! :) We visited the dessert, Death Valley where we ran down the sand dunes, and Valley of the Moon where we watched the sun set. The next day we also toured the geysers there. It wasn't as spectacular as Yellowstone, but still really beautiful (although very cold...below 0 temps).
Links to pictures are below. Don't forget that even though I'm out touring the world...I still like to receive emails from the 'litte people'. :)
Miss you all...Cori
Well this time when the bus finally rolled to a stop, 2 of the other employees ran outside and put large rocks behind the tires. Yeah, this made me feel really safe (italics = sarcasm). Next the driver walks down the isle and right near our seats, opens a panel on the floor and starts working on the bus. The two other guys are underneath the bus at this time. Which actually gives me a tiny bit of comfort as I think to myself 'OK, if these guys trust the rocks behind the wheels enough to be underneath the bus, then maybe I should calm down'. But then I also think to myself 'well...think about all the other things you see in Latin America...the family of 4 (or 5) on a mopehead, the town full of people packed into the back of a pickup truck, the most recent oddity, a man pedaling a bicycle with his 'woman' riding side-saddle on the middle bar while breast feeding her child (honest to God) in the middle of rush hour traffic...so maybe the rocks behind the tires aren't going to keep us from plunging off the side of this cliff'.
So, I start to get a little anxious. I feel like I would be safer waiting outside of the bus. But am a little afraid to pass the man in the isle working on the engine. Not only is he mad at me for taking a picture of them fixing the bus (I guess there was a brief moment where the anxiety faded enough for me to realize that if I ever make it out of this situation alive, I definitely need a picture for my blog...see photo at left), but I also don't think he'll be too happy to have to move in order for me to go outside. So I sit and I wait. And Lies (Liz) tries to help me relax.At this point the guy is now sucking on the end of a tube. Maybe the mechanics out there can tell me what the problem might have been because they certainly didn't give us any information. After a while I assume the 'problem' was 'fixed' because we started going again.
We made it up the pass without further incident. However, I don't know if they were trying to make up lost time or what, but once we reached the top of the pass, we started hauling serious ass. Really, we were going WAY too fast (in my humble, paranoid Gringa opinion). You could feel pretty strong G-forces as went went around the corners. I wondered if they had perhaps lost the lower gears and couldn't use the engine brakes to slow down. Lies and I sat there clutching the armrests with white knuckles (notice 'white knuckles' is not italicized because I'm not using sarcasm here folks, our knuckles were literally white). At one point I looked at Lies and said in a loud, terrified voice, 'WHAT THE F%$# IS THIS GUY DOING?'. It was about this time when I thought to myself, 'so this is how it's going to end...'
Well, obviously we made it out of the Andes alive to tell our harrowing story and post the picture of that grumpy bus driver. And, I must admit, I don't think the other people on the bus were as afraid as we were. At least I didn't hear them shouting profanities or anything of that nature. But still, when one comes to the conclusion that this is, in fact, how 'it' is going to end, one doesn't take the time to look around to see if everyone else in the bus feels the same way.
San Pedro de Atacama was amazing. It's a small little pueblo in the Atacama Desert...which is the driest desert on Earth. I thought Utah was rough on my nasal passages unti
l I got to Atacama. Within 2 days my nose was worse then it had ever been in Utah. Luckily we are now at the beach and the nose has recovered fully! :) We visited the dessert, Death Valley where we ran down the sand dunes, and Valley of the Moon where we watched the sun set. The next day we also toured the geysers there. It wasn't as spectacular as Yellowstone, but still really beautiful (although very cold...below 0 temps).Links to pictures are below. Don't forget that even though I'm out touring the world...I still like to receive emails from the 'litte people'. :)
Miss you all...Cori
Pictures: Atacama Desert (Chile)
Pictures: Atacama Geysers (Chile)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Northern Argentina
We arrived in the city of Salta on the 26th of December and stayed (or rather got stuck) there until the 6th of January. Nothing against Salta, which was a very nice city....but 11 days was just too long. However, we couldn't get a bus ticket until the 8th of January. So, tomorrow we take the bus from Pumamara (also in N. Arg) through the Andes to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
We took three tours to the areas surrounding areas:
1) Cachi
2) Cafayate
3) San Pedro de Cobre/Salinas Grandes/Purmamara
I have uploaded PICTURES for the first two and will post the others once we get to Chile.
Please keep you fingers crossed for a safe and car-sick-free bus ride through the Andes.
Ciao,
Cori
We took three tours to the areas surrounding areas:
1) Cachi
2) Cafayate
3) San Pedro de Cobre/Salinas Grandes/Purmamara
I have uploaded PICTURES for the first two and will post the others once we get to Chile.
Please keep you fingers crossed for a safe and car-sick-free bus ride through the Andes.
Ciao,
Cori
Sunday, December 28, 2008
A day in my life in Argentina...
We took a road trip from our main 'road trip' to El Chalten, which is in the northern part of the Glacier National Park. We went on December 23rd so we could get back in time to spend Christmas Eve in El Calafate. I call it a road trip because we left our BIG backpacks at our hotel in El Calafate and just took the bus with our overnight stuff.So, the morning started in our hotel in El Calafate (quite nice as we decided to splurge for Christmas). My alarm clock went off at 6:30am, the earliest I've gotten up since I had to get up at 4:30am when I left Jaco, Costa Rica. Neither of us were pleased so we went back to bed until 7am. Breakfast is included and they had homemade bread, homemade banana cream pie, homemade quince pie (which I don't really know what that is but it's a red fruit that you can't eat raw but is good for baking) and tea. As we were walking 2 blocks to the bus station at 7:45am I started complaining about how tired I was. And then I started laughing and telling Liz how much shit my friends would be giving me if they knew I was complaining about waking up early to go see more amazing sights in South America. So...I laughed a little and stopped complaining about the early hour.
The bus ride was 3.5 hours. It was really beautiful but once again looked almost exactly like Utah. I took half of a motion sickness pill (any of you who know me know that I can get motion sick practically by thinking about riding in a bus or the back of a car). So, along with the EARLY rise and the pill, I was pretty sleepy. Each time I would wake up on the bus I would open my eyes and if the scenery looked the same as Utah, I just closed them and went back to sleep. According to Liz we did pass a lake with one iceberg. She thought about waking me up...but has learned that I can be a tiny bit grumpy when I don't have my sleep :) So she decided she would only wake my up if I started drooling on myself, which I guess didn't happen because she never woke me up.
We arrived into El Chalten around 1pm and checked into our room in a cute little bed and breakfast. We layed down on the beds at 1:30pm and agreed that we would leave for a hike at 2:00pm. It was almost 2:00pm when Liz said, we should go before I fall asleep, and I replied, yeah.
We woke up 2 hours later. We have to wake up once at 6:30am and not only can we not pull ourselves out of bed until 7:00am, we have to take a 2 hour afternoon nap. Anyway, we did go on a small hike to view the town. It was super windy so we hurried down and then stopped for a submarino (steamed milk into which you drop a chocolate bar), then soup, then pizza and a bottle of wine, and a piece of chocolate cake. Needless to say, we're not looking as trim as we were in Bariloche...but I think you'll agree with me that it was a fabulous end to a fantastic day!Photos of El Chalten & Christmas in El Calafate.
Hasta luego...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Argentina: El Calafate
We flew from Bariloche south to El Calafate. Again, it's beatiful here. Upon arriving I once again felt like I was in Utah and wondered why am I traveling to the other side of the world to look at scenery that looks exactly like it does back home...until we visited the glaciers. WOW! We paid an arm and a leg to take an all day catamarn to three glaciers: Upsala, Spegazzini and Perito Moreno. Perito Moreno, although not the biggest glacier here, is the most famous. This is because while most if not all other glaciers are receding, Perito Moreno is actually gaining as much mass at the beginning as it is losing to the lake.
It was absolutely incredible to see the glaciers. We were on the boat the whole day so didn't get to walk on them (we decided to skip the mini trekking on the glacier because the tours are so expensive). But we stayed out on the deck of the boat most of the day so we had a great close up view of the glaciers.Here are some of my PHOTOS from EL CALAFATE.
Info on Los Glaciers National Park. We are headed to El Chalten for one night tomorrow before returning back to El Calafate to spend Christmas.
Happy Holidays!!!
With love,
Cori
Argentina: Bariloche & Photos
Liz and I had a great time in Bariloche. We continued with the trend in Buenos Aires and walked, and walked and walked some more. It was beautiful there and we lucked out with great weather. After walking for three days we hiked another day and then also did a 20 km of the Cirquito Chico by bike. Bariloche reminded me a lot of Utah as you'll notice from the pictures (well those of you who know Utah will notice).Bariloche is famous for their delcious chocolate...which we can attest to. Argentina is also known for delicious ice cream...which we also sampled in Bariloche.
We celebrated Liz's 30th birthday on the 18 of December...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ! We actually put on dresses and wore shoes other than flip flops or hiking books to celebrate the occation and went for fondue and wine...after which we took the silly pictures of us making faces and lauging.
Well...2nd city in Argentina down, onward to El Calafate for Christmas.
Here are links to Argentina photos with the new camera...
Photos of BARILOCHE.
Photos of BUENOS AIRES.