We took off from Heathrow on a British Airways flight to Hong Kong. It was our intention to transit in HK straight to Taipei in Taiwan. Departure date was 6 September and we had a ride to the airport with Brian. Two and half hours from his place in Bronham Wiltshire.
I keep saying it I know but Heathrow is such a huge place. We took off from Terminal 1 but there are three others and they are building a fifth!! What with Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southhampton all within 1 hour the sky must be alive with planes at all times.
Anyway off we went (no upgrade but good seats) and after a long flight we landed at HK International on Lantau Island. We had a four wait and then boarded Cathay Pacific for a short hop across to Taiwan. Taipei International airport is about 1 hours drive to the west of the city. Leah changed some money there and then we got a local bus into the city, after getting some info on accommodation options. The bus let us off at the central railway station and from there we wound our way to our hotel. After a wrong turning or two we finally made it. A couple of Taiwanese showed us the way – a nice gesture which very much typified most everyone we met. Now the hotel’s name escapes me at the moment but it was OK. Double bed with en suite toilet and shower. They kept on putting toothbrushes in the en suite so they got added to my toilet bag. Actually they were quite good as they seemed to have the toothpaste embedded into the bristles somehow. It was raining outside so we went out to a local restaurant and bought a couple of cheap Taiwanese dishes. Also bought some breakfast provisions at the 7 Eleven.
So next day it was off to the National Museum. By Metro and then bus. The Metro is good and cheap and we got to the museum without too many dramas. I loved the museum. It had some fantastic stuff in it. Mainly artefacts taken from the mainland when CKS came across. There was a section on calligraphy and we got a mini demo. The trick is in how you hold the pen apparently. And the works are an art form. Great calligraphers all have their own style and the differences between them are obvious to the experts. But damned if I could see how they could tell who was who.
The real thrill was viewing the jade work. There was some superlative stuff. Like the carved balls that had intricately carved pieces inside. The carver did the inside work by reaching through the “skin” of the ball. Or the tiny piece of jade that had been carved in the shape of a nut but incorporating a boat with rowers and the like. It was probably no more than 40mm long but the level of detail was astonishing. You could almost see the expression on the faces of the rowers. They also had the Emperors toy boxes. These were made of wood but built up in pieces. The box had a series of little drawers which you could only access in a certain way. If you unfolded the box in an incorrect sequence then it either wouldn’t open or you couldn’t get it closed again. Each little drawer contained a small carving; I think that each depicted some aspect of Chinese legends or a tribute to the emperor. Apparently the emperor valued the challenge of opening and closing the box as much as the objects inside. One of the boxes had been partly opened so you could see how it worked. Beautiful wood work and very tricky.
Monday, August 1, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
Europe 2005
EUROPE 2005
We arrived in Madrid after a long flight from Mexico City. Straight away changed to an Air Nostrum flight to Marseilles in France. Air Nostrum is the regional airline for Iberia. The aircraft was a small Canadian made plane but quite comfortable and it didn’t fly too high so we could see the Spanish countryside. Well I did as Leah fell asleep!! Also a nice meal which she missed out on.
Marseilles airport is a fair way out of town to the west. We had to get a bus to our train station in order to get to Le Puy. Choices of train – a bit limited. Slower cheap trains had all departed so we were stuck with the TGV (to Lyon). Booked on one and then proceeded to miss it by less than 1 minute. I couldn’t believe it – by the time we walked from the ticket office to the platform they had closed the doors and the b …… train was off. Great start to France. But there was another TGV leaving 1 hour later so we re booked on that. Euro zone costs – a real wake up call. EU 100 for the train fare!!.
But the TGV WAS fantastic. It went very fast but you never actually felt as if you were doing anything more than just cruising. So into Lyon Par Duex station quick smart where we change for another train to St Etienne. St Etienne was a big town and from there we got a nice ¾ empty rail car to Le Puy. Now that was a nice trip – through the French countryside. We followed a river part of the way which gave excellent scenery.
Le Puy en Velay. The town of history. A period piece. Scenery to burn. The starting point of our pilgrimage. It was all of that. The old centre with its narrow streets, cathedrals, squares, olde worlde shops and the like – well they were quite stunning. And it had the almost obligatory chapel on a rock and a statue of Christ on another high point. We arrived late and I got into trouble as I did not have a place worked out for us to stay at. I had expected to arrive much earlier and use the time to tap tourist info. But it was closed so I made use of my impeccable French (sic) to check out on youth hostels. Yay. There was one in town – right in the old section close to the cathedral, but up a hill. Anyway it was OK – we shared a room with a dutch couple who were also walking the Route. We had a cheap dinner in town and followed with an early night.
Next day off to the Cathedral to book in as pilgrims. The cathedral was great and we checked in at the sacristry where a nun looked after us. Well should I say Bruno a French guy from Nevers translated for us. He was a wonderful find – we caught up with him along the way and were invited to his home in Nevers. We were tempted but it was out of the way. So after a bit of tooing and froing we got our passports and first stamps and a DODO book sort of showing the route and listing all the gites. We also “acquired” a map of France. Well Leah did in her usual style. No more need be said. We stayed and watched the service for a little while but then went out to get some lunch and buy some dinner. Who should we then meet at the internet café but Marc and Michelle; he a Belgium and she an American. They were off all the way to Santiago having started in Veselay. An interesting story – he intended to propose to her on the steps of Santiago cathedral once they got there. They slept in the cathedral annex in Le Puy which we regretted missing, not the least because it was free, and they got a meal. They talked to us about jet lag and tried really hard to get us to stay an extra night, but we were resolute in our determination to press on.
So off we went – just as it started to rain. Which didn’t last thank goodness. The camino is actually called the Chemin Podiensis in France. It is marked on hiking trails as GR (Grand Randonee) 65 and you have to follow red and white marks. No amarillo fleches in France which is a bit of a pity.
As now seems usual on our marathon walks, we had a steep uphill to begin. They always find me out on the first day. It is probably just breaking back into it. But the way out of Le Puy took us past some historic sites. An old fort cum castle on a bit of a ridge, an old tower on another high point. They seemed to love all the high ground in the early Middle Ages.
After the first few kilometers it wasn’t too bad and we had a straight run into Montbonnet.
Montbonnet was a small old town with no shops and only a small pub cum café which sold a modest variety of eats. We took a room at the local gite and had a meal there. It was pretty good and we caught up with the dutch couple we met back in Le Puy. But the price EU 48.00 for room and food – phew. A bit higher than we were used to on the Spanish camino.
It’s probably best that I deal with our walk as a series of highlights. It would be a bit boring to do things on a day by day basis. So here goes …..
For me first – Highlights
1) Chapel of St Roque and Look out – we got to this really small village which had a lookout on a rocky tor. I climbed up to a small chapel perched on the side of the hill. I mean it was really small. About 30 feet long and probably no more than 10 feet wide. The pews were lined up against the wall and the Altar looked like a tiny lectern. There was a visitors book there though so I entered up my remarks and my compulsory drawing of a Kiwi. Then up to the lookout which had been there since the 13th century. What views across the valleys and watersheds. It was easy to imagine a couple of soldiers with swords and spears keeping watch there.
2) Walk out of Monistrol d’Allier - a steep climb straight after lunch up past a chapel
dedicated to Mary Magdelene . The chapel was cut into a rocky cliff. The climb
seemed to on for miles and miles.
3) Aumont Aubrac – Leah had a couple of blisters so we stopped there for a couple of nights in a nice Gite. Big room with 20 Beds which we shared with an irish lass and our French friends who were traveling with a donkey. It carried all their gear whilst they walked in comfort. We and our irish lassie (Norah) had the room to ourselves on the second night. Marc and Michelle caught up with us here – they stayed in the monastery. We had already paid at the gite or we would have changed. Also met up with two Austrian priests (Thomas and Louis) who were going all the way to Santiago. Having started in eastern Austria what’s more. Thomas, the older and more senior of the two, had this huge fund of compellingly rude jokes which he proceeded to regale us with at dinner in broken english. They were filthy but very funny particularly as they sort of came out in a fractured way. We didn’t know quite what to make of it – after all they were priests and aren’t those guys supposed to be modest and reserved in their demeanour. Maybe it is a new trend ie the priest as a man of the people. Which brings to mind Jacob, a bearded Belgium who was limping the chemin. He had the biggest blisters (including one that was infected) we had ever seen and a doctor had told him to stop. So by way of compromise he arranged to get his pack sent on ahead each day so that he could walk?? unemcumbered.
4) Espalion – a town I really liked. We had great lodgings in this nice gite near the centre of town. Importantly the town had a decent supermarket and we could do our own cooking. Bliss. The old centre was excellent with the usual cathedral and 800m year old bridge. I love the way they built them back in the old days. A nice arch with a keystone, cobbles and a clear sense of history. There were old platforms by the river where people used to beat the leather after dyeing or something. Met Oliver and Erich, two Frenchmen here. Oliver had something to do with computer journalism. He gave me a couple of tips regarding anti virus software (not Nortons or Macafee!!) but blowed if I can remember what they are.
5) Estaing – another historic town close to Espalion. I am glad we did not miss this. We met up with MandM again and managed to go with them and book into the monastery. Two bedrooms with about 6 beds in each. Supposedly pilgrims only but I wondered about the French family that came in later. The good thing about this place was that dinner and breakfast were included and you paid by donation. We felt morally obliged to go to mass but didn’t stay for the singing. Actually the priests were very hospitable – I mean we had wine with our meal and as much to eat as one could within a prescribed period of time. We helped wash up. The acid test was morning when donations were called for. I think only Oliver and us put any money in the box. Pretty poor really as the others ended up being freeloaders. Even M-M. Estaing had a fine castle overlooking a bend on the river. It had some old bridges and nice historic walking tours. We ambled around all the back streets and I went down to the south end of town to check out the gite. It looked OK but I think that we had the better deal with the monestary.
6) Conques – a real period piece of a village. We arrived late on a Saturday and were lucky to find a bed in a small communal gite. We had the chance to go into the monestary but for some reason we turned that down. And then missed out later as it was on a first come first served basis. Conques itself is a real middle ages town complete with the obligatory cathedral. The Cathedral is dedicated to St Abbe de Foy a young lass who was matyred at 13 years of age for not renouncing her faith. She was canonized years later and a whole religious panoply developed around her. They had a museum in Conques which had some objets d’art dedicated to the saint. We saw photos of a gold mask crafted in the 12th century. It was a superb piece. They also had jewellery donated by various bishops and the like over the years. The cathedral was being set up for a TV show on Sunday so we couldn’t see inside too well. But the front arch over the door featured this amazing tympanan. Which is a religious carving in stone. This one which is quite unique and really well preserved shows what happens to all the goody two shoes (who go to heaven) and the bad guys (who end up in hell). I liked the depiction of hell. Horrible monsters with huge mouths into which the no goods are being pushed, devils burning others, yet others being led away thru’ the gates of hell. The whole thing is a play on the seven deadly sins (greed, pride, laziness, anger, lust ….) and I guess an attempt to show the peasants what would happen to them if they did not do as they were told. The artistry was supreme and we were doubly lucky as we were there when a guide was explaining the symbology to a group and we had a friend who translated for us. Conques was set in a narrow valley – a natural strong point and it had town gates, some of which have survived. Huge crowd in town and we were lucky to get a feed. Leah went down to the local camping ground and got the bare essentials at the camp store.
7) Livinhac l’Haut – we weren’t supposed to stay here but we missed a turn somewhere and ended up following this group of Frenchwomen around our destination to Livinhac. It was a small town with a gite run by the mayor, who also had the only pub in town. He was a bit of a hard case and tried to diddle me of my change for my beer. All these small places posed problems in terms of getting something to eat. Shops were all small and usually closed after 5.00pm particularly on a weekend.
8) Figeac – we decided to stop In Figeac and resume on the Podiensis at some other time. Figeac was a nice town and most importantly it had a railway station which would take us either north or south. We stayed at a small hostel up a hill in the north of the town. Not a bad place – we shared a room with two others but missed the chance to stay at a seminary. MandM overnighted there and we just missed them the next day. Figeac had a nice old cathedral and a monestary set on a small hill in the south of the town. Nice walk there thru’ cobbled streets. A more modern place than others we had stayed in so not too much to tell.
9) Lot department – we spent a few days walking thru’ the valley of the Lot. And across a sort of plateau. Really beautiful countryside and would have been even better if we had gone thru a couple of months later. All the sunflowers would have been in bloom and the grapes would have ripened. The fields were all well tended and there were little copses here and there. Lots of contented looking cows (why wouldn’t they be with all that grass around) and the villages had vege gardens so no wonder the shops were somewhat lacking in supplies.
In summary we covered 255km along the way to St Jean. We have a date to finish the remaining 500km at some stage in the future. Can’t wait as it takes us thru southern France. The walk is a little tougher than the Spanish camino and the gites (refugios in Spain) are more expensive. But we missed a couple of monasteries so could have saved a bit with a bit more local knowledge.
Date Town Kilometres (cumulo)
28 - 29/6 Le Puy 0
29/6 Montbonnet 16.7
30/6 Saugues 44.0
1/7 St Albans 73.5
2/7 Aumont-Aubrac 88.0
4/7 Nasbinal 115.8
5/7 St Chely d’Aubrac 131.8
6/7 Espalion 155.8
7/7 Estaing 168.8
8/7 Senergues 194.2
9/7 Conques 203.3
10/7 Livinhac L’Haut 227.3
11/7 Figeac 255.8
So now what? Our ultimate goal is to get to Barcelona as we have a flight to Athens at some stage. We were now about three weeks ahead of our timetable so decided to divert to Rocamadour.
Rocamadour is another period piece about 150km north of Figeac. We got there by train and then lo and behold a nice lady gave us a lift into town from the station. We were so surprised at her offer we nearly gave it a miss. I mean Leah kept asking, “how much, what price?”, but it was for free!! So she drove us to Rocamadour and then to a gite about 7km away in the country. The gite was interesting – we had a small A framed room which may have been the chicken coop in the old days. There was another room close by which doubled as a kitchen. Quite a nice set up.
Walk back into town. Rocamadour (which means Rock of Adour) is quite surreal. It is a village perched on the side of a steep river valley. The houses, plus chapels, plus churches and cathedrals are built into the hill from about half way up right to the top of the valley. There is a chateau cum castle overlooking the town. Over to one side there is another area which was the old hospital – in pilgrims terms a place for travelers and the like. The name Rock of Adour derives from an old hermit who was supposed to have lived there back in the 11th Century. He was thought of as a remarkably holy man so a whole monestary and village was set up in his honour. The town also became important as a link in the pilgrims route to Santiago. Pilgrims came to be blessed at the Rock of Adour.
We walked down the cliff and into town with the churches etc towering above us. The town was packed with tourists and all the old houses and shops were fronts for either tacky souvenir places or cafes. No supermarkets at all so we had trouble finding something for dinner. I can’t remember what we did but we ended up with food somehow.
Anyway we trudged up the stairs to the chapel and cathedral complex. It was pretty steep going up and you had amazing views over the valley below. The chapel complex had been converted to a bit of a museum (I think that there were a lot of religious objets d’art in silver) and the cathedral had some great stained glass windows and a couple of wooden carvings of the Passion which were very good. I also have it in mind that we saw an ossuary but can’t clearly focus where or what.
We arrived in Madrid after a long flight from Mexico City. Straight away changed to an Air Nostrum flight to Marseilles in France. Air Nostrum is the regional airline for Iberia. The aircraft was a small Canadian made plane but quite comfortable and it didn’t fly too high so we could see the Spanish countryside. Well I did as Leah fell asleep!! Also a nice meal which she missed out on.
Marseilles airport is a fair way out of town to the west. We had to get a bus to our train station in order to get to Le Puy. Choices of train – a bit limited. Slower cheap trains had all departed so we were stuck with the TGV (to Lyon). Booked on one and then proceeded to miss it by less than 1 minute. I couldn’t believe it – by the time we walked from the ticket office to the platform they had closed the doors and the b …… train was off. Great start to France. But there was another TGV leaving 1 hour later so we re booked on that. Euro zone costs – a real wake up call. EU 100 for the train fare!!.
But the TGV WAS fantastic. It went very fast but you never actually felt as if you were doing anything more than just cruising. So into Lyon Par Duex station quick smart where we change for another train to St Etienne. St Etienne was a big town and from there we got a nice ¾ empty rail car to Le Puy. Now that was a nice trip – through the French countryside. We followed a river part of the way which gave excellent scenery.
Le Puy en Velay. The town of history. A period piece. Scenery to burn. The starting point of our pilgrimage. It was all of that. The old centre with its narrow streets, cathedrals, squares, olde worlde shops and the like – well they were quite stunning. And it had the almost obligatory chapel on a rock and a statue of Christ on another high point. We arrived late and I got into trouble as I did not have a place worked out for us to stay at. I had expected to arrive much earlier and use the time to tap tourist info. But it was closed so I made use of my impeccable French (sic) to check out on youth hostels. Yay. There was one in town – right in the old section close to the cathedral, but up a hill. Anyway it was OK – we shared a room with a dutch couple who were also walking the Route. We had a cheap dinner in town and followed with an early night.
Next day off to the Cathedral to book in as pilgrims. The cathedral was great and we checked in at the sacristry where a nun looked after us. Well should I say Bruno a French guy from Nevers translated for us. He was a wonderful find – we caught up with him along the way and were invited to his home in Nevers. We were tempted but it was out of the way. So after a bit of tooing and froing we got our passports and first stamps and a DODO book sort of showing the route and listing all the gites. We also “acquired” a map of France. Well Leah did in her usual style. No more need be said. We stayed and watched the service for a little while but then went out to get some lunch and buy some dinner. Who should we then meet at the internet café but Marc and Michelle; he a Belgium and she an American. They were off all the way to Santiago having started in Veselay. An interesting story – he intended to propose to her on the steps of Santiago cathedral once they got there. They slept in the cathedral annex in Le Puy which we regretted missing, not the least because it was free, and they got a meal. They talked to us about jet lag and tried really hard to get us to stay an extra night, but we were resolute in our determination to press on.
So off we went – just as it started to rain. Which didn’t last thank goodness. The camino is actually called the Chemin Podiensis in France. It is marked on hiking trails as GR (Grand Randonee) 65 and you have to follow red and white marks. No amarillo fleches in France which is a bit of a pity.
As now seems usual on our marathon walks, we had a steep uphill to begin. They always find me out on the first day. It is probably just breaking back into it. But the way out of Le Puy took us past some historic sites. An old fort cum castle on a bit of a ridge, an old tower on another high point. They seemed to love all the high ground in the early Middle Ages.
After the first few kilometers it wasn’t too bad and we had a straight run into Montbonnet.
Montbonnet was a small old town with no shops and only a small pub cum café which sold a modest variety of eats. We took a room at the local gite and had a meal there. It was pretty good and we caught up with the dutch couple we met back in Le Puy. But the price EU 48.00 for room and food – phew. A bit higher than we were used to on the Spanish camino.
It’s probably best that I deal with our walk as a series of highlights. It would be a bit boring to do things on a day by day basis. So here goes …..
For me first – Highlights
1) Chapel of St Roque and Look out – we got to this really small village which had a lookout on a rocky tor. I climbed up to a small chapel perched on the side of the hill. I mean it was really small. About 30 feet long and probably no more than 10 feet wide. The pews were lined up against the wall and the Altar looked like a tiny lectern. There was a visitors book there though so I entered up my remarks and my compulsory drawing of a Kiwi. Then up to the lookout which had been there since the 13th century. What views across the valleys and watersheds. It was easy to imagine a couple of soldiers with swords and spears keeping watch there.
2) Walk out of Monistrol d’Allier - a steep climb straight after lunch up past a chapel
dedicated to Mary Magdelene . The chapel was cut into a rocky cliff. The climb
seemed to on for miles and miles.
3) Aumont Aubrac – Leah had a couple of blisters so we stopped there for a couple of nights in a nice Gite. Big room with 20 Beds which we shared with an irish lass and our French friends who were traveling with a donkey. It carried all their gear whilst they walked in comfort. We and our irish lassie (Norah) had the room to ourselves on the second night. Marc and Michelle caught up with us here – they stayed in the monastery. We had already paid at the gite or we would have changed. Also met up with two Austrian priests (Thomas and Louis) who were going all the way to Santiago. Having started in eastern Austria what’s more. Thomas, the older and more senior of the two, had this huge fund of compellingly rude jokes which he proceeded to regale us with at dinner in broken english. They were filthy but very funny particularly as they sort of came out in a fractured way. We didn’t know quite what to make of it – after all they were priests and aren’t those guys supposed to be modest and reserved in their demeanour. Maybe it is a new trend ie the priest as a man of the people. Which brings to mind Jacob, a bearded Belgium who was limping the chemin. He had the biggest blisters (including one that was infected) we had ever seen and a doctor had told him to stop. So by way of compromise he arranged to get his pack sent on ahead each day so that he could walk?? unemcumbered.
4) Espalion – a town I really liked. We had great lodgings in this nice gite near the centre of town. Importantly the town had a decent supermarket and we could do our own cooking. Bliss. The old centre was excellent with the usual cathedral and 800m year old bridge. I love the way they built them back in the old days. A nice arch with a keystone, cobbles and a clear sense of history. There were old platforms by the river where people used to beat the leather after dyeing or something. Met Oliver and Erich, two Frenchmen here. Oliver had something to do with computer journalism. He gave me a couple of tips regarding anti virus software (not Nortons or Macafee!!) but blowed if I can remember what they are.
5) Estaing – another historic town close to Espalion. I am glad we did not miss this. We met up with MandM again and managed to go with them and book into the monastery. Two bedrooms with about 6 beds in each. Supposedly pilgrims only but I wondered about the French family that came in later. The good thing about this place was that dinner and breakfast were included and you paid by donation. We felt morally obliged to go to mass but didn’t stay for the singing. Actually the priests were very hospitable – I mean we had wine with our meal and as much to eat as one could within a prescribed period of time. We helped wash up. The acid test was morning when donations were called for. I think only Oliver and us put any money in the box. Pretty poor really as the others ended up being freeloaders. Even M-M. Estaing had a fine castle overlooking a bend on the river. It had some old bridges and nice historic walking tours. We ambled around all the back streets and I went down to the south end of town to check out the gite. It looked OK but I think that we had the better deal with the monestary.
6) Conques – a real period piece of a village. We arrived late on a Saturday and were lucky to find a bed in a small communal gite. We had the chance to go into the monestary but for some reason we turned that down. And then missed out later as it was on a first come first served basis. Conques itself is a real middle ages town complete with the obligatory cathedral. The Cathedral is dedicated to St Abbe de Foy a young lass who was matyred at 13 years of age for not renouncing her faith. She was canonized years later and a whole religious panoply developed around her. They had a museum in Conques which had some objets d’art dedicated to the saint. We saw photos of a gold mask crafted in the 12th century. It was a superb piece. They also had jewellery donated by various bishops and the like over the years. The cathedral was being set up for a TV show on Sunday so we couldn’t see inside too well. But the front arch over the door featured this amazing tympanan. Which is a religious carving in stone. This one which is quite unique and really well preserved shows what happens to all the goody two shoes (who go to heaven) and the bad guys (who end up in hell). I liked the depiction of hell. Horrible monsters with huge mouths into which the no goods are being pushed, devils burning others, yet others being led away thru’ the gates of hell. The whole thing is a play on the seven deadly sins (greed, pride, laziness, anger, lust ….) and I guess an attempt to show the peasants what would happen to them if they did not do as they were told. The artistry was supreme and we were doubly lucky as we were there when a guide was explaining the symbology to a group and we had a friend who translated for us. Conques was set in a narrow valley – a natural strong point and it had town gates, some of which have survived. Huge crowd in town and we were lucky to get a feed. Leah went down to the local camping ground and got the bare essentials at the camp store.
7) Livinhac l’Haut – we weren’t supposed to stay here but we missed a turn somewhere and ended up following this group of Frenchwomen around our destination to Livinhac. It was a small town with a gite run by the mayor, who also had the only pub in town. He was a bit of a hard case and tried to diddle me of my change for my beer. All these small places posed problems in terms of getting something to eat. Shops were all small and usually closed after 5.00pm particularly on a weekend.
8) Figeac – we decided to stop In Figeac and resume on the Podiensis at some other time. Figeac was a nice town and most importantly it had a railway station which would take us either north or south. We stayed at a small hostel up a hill in the north of the town. Not a bad place – we shared a room with two others but missed the chance to stay at a seminary. MandM overnighted there and we just missed them the next day. Figeac had a nice old cathedral and a monestary set on a small hill in the south of the town. Nice walk there thru’ cobbled streets. A more modern place than others we had stayed in so not too much to tell.
9) Lot department – we spent a few days walking thru’ the valley of the Lot. And across a sort of plateau. Really beautiful countryside and would have been even better if we had gone thru a couple of months later. All the sunflowers would have been in bloom and the grapes would have ripened. The fields were all well tended and there were little copses here and there. Lots of contented looking cows (why wouldn’t they be with all that grass around) and the villages had vege gardens so no wonder the shops were somewhat lacking in supplies.
In summary we covered 255km along the way to St Jean. We have a date to finish the remaining 500km at some stage in the future. Can’t wait as it takes us thru southern France. The walk is a little tougher than the Spanish camino and the gites (refugios in Spain) are more expensive. But we missed a couple of monasteries so could have saved a bit with a bit more local knowledge.
Date Town Kilometres (cumulo)
28 - 29/6 Le Puy 0
29/6 Montbonnet 16.7
30/6 Saugues 44.0
1/7 St Albans 73.5
2/7 Aumont-Aubrac 88.0
4/7 Nasbinal 115.8
5/7 St Chely d’Aubrac 131.8
6/7 Espalion 155.8
7/7 Estaing 168.8
8/7 Senergues 194.2
9/7 Conques 203.3
10/7 Livinhac L’Haut 227.3
11/7 Figeac 255.8
So now what? Our ultimate goal is to get to Barcelona as we have a flight to Athens at some stage. We were now about three weeks ahead of our timetable so decided to divert to Rocamadour.
Rocamadour is another period piece about 150km north of Figeac. We got there by train and then lo and behold a nice lady gave us a lift into town from the station. We were so surprised at her offer we nearly gave it a miss. I mean Leah kept asking, “how much, what price?”, but it was for free!! So she drove us to Rocamadour and then to a gite about 7km away in the country. The gite was interesting – we had a small A framed room which may have been the chicken coop in the old days. There was another room close by which doubled as a kitchen. Quite a nice set up.
Walk back into town. Rocamadour (which means Rock of Adour) is quite surreal. It is a village perched on the side of a steep river valley. The houses, plus chapels, plus churches and cathedrals are built into the hill from about half way up right to the top of the valley. There is a chateau cum castle overlooking the town. Over to one side there is another area which was the old hospital – in pilgrims terms a place for travelers and the like. The name Rock of Adour derives from an old hermit who was supposed to have lived there back in the 11th Century. He was thought of as a remarkably holy man so a whole monestary and village was set up in his honour. The town also became important as a link in the pilgrims route to Santiago. Pilgrims came to be blessed at the Rock of Adour.
We walked down the cliff and into town with the churches etc towering above us. The town was packed with tourists and all the old houses and shops were fronts for either tacky souvenir places or cafes. No supermarkets at all so we had trouble finding something for dinner. I can’t remember what we did but we ended up with food somehow.
Anyway we trudged up the stairs to the chapel and cathedral complex. It was pretty steep going up and you had amazing views over the valley below. The chapel complex had been converted to a bit of a museum (I think that there were a lot of religious objets d’art in silver) and the cathedral had some great stained glass windows and a couple of wooden carvings of the Passion which were very good. I also have it in mind that we saw an ossuary but can’t clearly focus where or what.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
South America
From Palenque in Mexico where we have just visited a fabulous mayan site. We got her from Chichen Itza another site & prior to that Cancun, a great resort on the Yucatan peninsular. We have also not long returned from 12 days in Cuba, an amazing experience. But I am getting ahead a little as (I think) my last epistle left off in Salvador Brazil.
Salvador was a great city with a good laid back atmosphere. We left there for a small town called Cachoeira which means waterfall in Portuguese. Cwas interesting for three reasons
1) I saw my one & only operational train in Sth America (not counting Metros or the graveyard at Uyuni Bolivia). A steam train whats more
2) Walked across this wooden bridge on whch EVERY plank was loose or rotten. You had to be so careful it was a real trial.
3) Saw cigars being hand made in this small factory. Its quite an art & the women were rolling & cutting & talking non stop. I guess that the process becomes automatic after a while. Cigars have quite a nice smell don´t they.
From there an overnight bus to the Brazillian highlands (Diamantina area) & a town called Lencois. On the way we had to wait in a big town Feria de Santana where they were having a festival. What a show!! All these floats would come by with a local band belting out all these popular songs. One after the other. And the crowd was huge. They would join in on the singing, they would clap, walk alongside - in other words have a great time. The street was lined with bars & food stalls & they were working overtime. WE sort of joined in - by being interested spectators. What a show though, noise, colour, families, young kids - a great night.
Lencois was a great little town. And for us , cooler than on the coast. It was established originally as a service town for a low key diamond mining industry. It´s now all to do wth tourism (trekking, rock scrambling, eco tourism etc). Great great area with all these waterfalls, mesas, buttes & narrow valleys. We stayed at a hostel & it was heaven. Desayuno (breakfast) was included in the room rate & what a breakfast. Buffet style so L & I were always first down & last to leave. The food selection (breads, cakes, eggs, fruits, juices, coffee) was better than a 4 star hotel. We pigged out to cover lunch & then did not have toeat too much in the evening. So we saved mucho pesos.
We did a trek in Lencois. Went for 4 days 3 nights to the Valle de Pati (pr. Patchy). An amazing valley about 100km from Lencois. It was amazing as it was a very narrow valley at the bottom of these incredibly steep cliffs (which we had to climb done!!). There were only about 20 people living in the valley, no running water (apart from rivers!!), no electricity & real primitive ablutions. There used to be 1000 there but times changed. However Mr Wilson & Dona Maria looked after us. She had this huge wood burner stove & her kitchen ceiling was covered in pots & pans. I joketh not - there must have been 50 -60 mainly pots & all as clean as a whistle. It was an awe inspiring sight but why she needed so many we never did find out. But her food was great. She could COOK & we never went hungry. Bit of an emphasis on beans & rice but when you have been out tramping all over the countryside then even tripe would look good. Well maybe that is stretching a point a little. Our bedroom was tiny & the bed was a mattress on a concrete base. We trekked to a huge waterfall on one day, then scaled a cliff the next to explore this unusual cave at the top. Unusual lbecause caves are usually at the bottom!! On the last day we walked 30 km to a small village called Kapao (pr. Kapong). Nice rustic sort of place in which a lot of hippies from Europe & the states are now calling home. We both swum in pools right under these rather large waterfalls - great fun. Also visited large caves & climbed up a very prominent butte.
So that was the Diamantina area. I would come back if only for the breakfasts.
Now off to Brasillia to pick up my passport & VISA card at the NZ Embassy. Brasillia was a nice well planned town. All the streets were numbered & the town was divided into Quadrants. So getting around was quite easy once you got the hang of the numbering system. NZ Embassy is in a class area & they had all that we needed. It was great to catch up with NZ papers again. They had the Dom so that was even better. But best of all to have the passport & feel like a real person again.
We flew from Brasillia to Manaus on the AMazon. Well actaully Manaus is on the banks of the Rio Negro. But who cares. The Rio Negro is big enough. We took a boat right acroos both rivers. What a trip. I mean the boat was a speed boat & the guy didn´t waste any time. But it took us 45 min to get across. THe two rivers are just so huge. You cant see bank to bank. It was amazing but the Brazilians had quite a large warship tied up at the port. We took a slow car ferry coming back & you could clearly see where the two rivers "joined". Actually they sort of run side by side for many miles. The black waters of the Negro form a very clear border with the murky brown Amazon waters. Quite a wierd thing to see.
Salvador was a great city with a good laid back atmosphere. We left there for a small town called Cachoeira which means waterfall in Portuguese. Cwas interesting for three reasons
1) I saw my one & only operational train in Sth America (not counting Metros or the graveyard at Uyuni Bolivia). A steam train whats more
2) Walked across this wooden bridge on whch EVERY plank was loose or rotten. You had to be so careful it was a real trial.
3) Saw cigars being hand made in this small factory. Its quite an art & the women were rolling & cutting & talking non stop. I guess that the process becomes automatic after a while. Cigars have quite a nice smell don´t they.
From there an overnight bus to the Brazillian highlands (Diamantina area) & a town called Lencois. On the way we had to wait in a big town Feria de Santana where they were having a festival. What a show!! All these floats would come by with a local band belting out all these popular songs. One after the other. And the crowd was huge. They would join in on the singing, they would clap, walk alongside - in other words have a great time. The street was lined with bars & food stalls & they were working overtime. WE sort of joined in - by being interested spectators. What a show though, noise, colour, families, young kids - a great night.
Lencois was a great little town. And for us , cooler than on the coast. It was established originally as a service town for a low key diamond mining industry. It´s now all to do wth tourism (trekking, rock scrambling, eco tourism etc). Great great area with all these waterfalls, mesas, buttes & narrow valleys. We stayed at a hostel & it was heaven. Desayuno (breakfast) was included in the room rate & what a breakfast. Buffet style so L & I were always first down & last to leave. The food selection (breads, cakes, eggs, fruits, juices, coffee) was better than a 4 star hotel. We pigged out to cover lunch & then did not have toeat too much in the evening. So we saved mucho pesos.
We did a trek in Lencois. Went for 4 days 3 nights to the Valle de Pati (pr. Patchy). An amazing valley about 100km from Lencois. It was amazing as it was a very narrow valley at the bottom of these incredibly steep cliffs (which we had to climb done!!). There were only about 20 people living in the valley, no running water (apart from rivers!!), no electricity & real primitive ablutions. There used to be 1000 there but times changed. However Mr Wilson & Dona Maria looked after us. She had this huge wood burner stove & her kitchen ceiling was covered in pots & pans. I joketh not - there must have been 50 -60 mainly pots & all as clean as a whistle. It was an awe inspiring sight but why she needed so many we never did find out. But her food was great. She could COOK & we never went hungry. Bit of an emphasis on beans & rice but when you have been out tramping all over the countryside then even tripe would look good. Well maybe that is stretching a point a little. Our bedroom was tiny & the bed was a mattress on a concrete base. We trekked to a huge waterfall on one day, then scaled a cliff the next to explore this unusual cave at the top. Unusual lbecause caves are usually at the bottom!! On the last day we walked 30 km to a small village called Kapao (pr. Kapong). Nice rustic sort of place in which a lot of hippies from Europe & the states are now calling home. We both swum in pools right under these rather large waterfalls - great fun. Also visited large caves & climbed up a very prominent butte.
So that was the Diamantina area. I would come back if only for the breakfasts.
Now off to Brasillia to pick up my passport & VISA card at the NZ Embassy. Brasillia was a nice well planned town. All the streets were numbered & the town was divided into Quadrants. So getting around was quite easy once you got the hang of the numbering system. NZ Embassy is in a class area & they had all that we needed. It was great to catch up with NZ papers again. They had the Dom so that was even better. But best of all to have the passport & feel like a real person again.
We flew from Brasillia to Manaus on the AMazon. Well actaully Manaus is on the banks of the Rio Negro. But who cares. The Rio Negro is big enough. We took a boat right acroos both rivers. What a trip. I mean the boat was a speed boat & the guy didn´t waste any time. But it took us 45 min to get across. THe two rivers are just so huge. You cant see bank to bank. It was amazing but the Brazilians had quite a large warship tied up at the port. We took a slow car ferry coming back & you could clearly see where the two rivers "joined". Actually they sort of run side by side for many miles. The black waters of the Negro form a very clear border with the murky brown Amazon waters. Quite a wierd thing to see.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Central America
CENTRAL AMERICA 2005
We arrived in San Jose the capital of Costa Rica from Caracas via Miami. Courtesy of American Airlines. The flights were OK but getting thru’ Miami International was an exercise in patience and fortitude. The Americans have gone completely overboard in terms of security. We were in transit for goodness sakes and only 2 ½ hours on American soil. But we had to go thru’ all the checks. Photos, fingerprints, X rays, some strange machine which sort of bounced you around and scanned you at the same time. Shoes off, belt off, jacket off, I was surprised that they let you keep some clothes on!! People with guns everywhere which is also off putting. Now they say, “would you rather a terrorist get into the country?” Of course not but I believe that they have taken things too far and quite frankly the terrorists are probably already in the States. The whole procedure is very time consuming and puts me off ever going back.
Anyway we arrived at San Jose Airport. An easy way thru’ customs and we were met outside by an American who persuaded us that his hacienda was the best thing since the Hilton. We thought , “why not, after all he drives us into San Jose and we get accomodation straight off” Leah negotiated a reduction so off we went. But not to San Jose. In fact we ended up north of the airport outside a town called Alluella. His hostel was quite nice –we had a pleasant room with a balcony and we had breakfast thrown in. We spent two nights there, Leah bought our dinner at the local tiendas and life was good. The house backed onto a bit of native bush and you could walk down to a waterfall. The owner whose name escapes me was one of the funniest guys I have ever met. He had an amazing repertoire of one liners and kept us totally entertained.
Until the son of the gardener was murdered by his uncle not 100 yards down the road from us. It was at 10.00pm in front of everybody: totally unbelievable and all over a debt which hadn’t been repaid. Apparently the young guy had borrowed his uncle’s car and then did some damage to it. He did not pay for the repairs, hence the debt. But I think there was more to it than that. There was talk of drugs and drug dealing which seems to me to be a more likely scenario. The police hadn’t caught the uncle by the time we left and I often have wondered since what happened to him.
We took a bus one day up to an active volcano (Volcan Poas) just north of where we were staying. Nice trip and the Costa Rican countryside is very lush but well developed. Farms, market gardens and coffee plantations everywhere. We walked up to the crater rim. It was huge and smoking and inpressive. It gets quite active at times but we struck it when it was pretty low key. Also trekked around to a lake in the side of the mountain. Highlight was the performance of a couple of chipmunks who were very tame. They would jump on you and take food out of your hands.
Then it was off to Volcan Arenal in the north of the country. We got a lift down to Alluella and picked up a local bus from there. It got really full. But a superb drive thru’ the mountains to …………. where we changed. The road was windy but the views out over the forests and farmland were tremendous. The only down side was that the bus was packed. And really hot. And really stuffy.
Lago Nicaragua and Isla Omatepe
One of my second level must do’s around the world was Lake Nicaragua and the Ometepe Islands. Reasons:
1) the lake was proposed seriously as an alternative to the Panama Canal. I wanted to see what made it so attractive an option.
2) The lake was famous for freshwater sharks. Sadly they are now feared to be extinct as the Dictator Somoza allowed the Japanese to come in and wipe them out
3) The lake is one of the biggest in the Americas
4) The island is in fact two volcanoes which just seem to rise sheer out of the lake. I had seen photos many years ago – they looked awe inspiring.
So we got a boat from the nearest Port (San Jorge) after a hairy bus ride from Granada and sailed across. The boat was ancient and full of the locals. Definitely not the tourist option and it was crowded. We arrived at Moyagalpa and found accommodation there. A nice little town with connections to most parts of the island. The island itself is merely two old volcanoes which rise straight out of the sea. Volcan Concepcion (1600m asl) and Volcan Madera (1300m asl) with nice cone like shapes. Omatepe was really lucky during the civil war. It was left pretty much alone and so everything is as it has been for a long long time. The island has a few waterfalls and has been fairly intensively cultivated on the lower slopes. Most people are poor and I suspect that there is a strong non cash economy. Most of the money would be from tourists.
We got ourselves into our usual cheap accommodation. Not too bad – double bed and a very adjacent ensuite. The locals cooked over an open fire and as wood is reasonably scarce they don’t like guests cooking there. We ate out but one night Leah wanted to dine in. Great consternation but they finally allowed her to cook her ….. (I have forgotten what it was).
The thing that got me about the town was when it rained. The main street was a hard dirt road and went straight uphill to the inevitable church. The rain turned the main drag into a river. A really fast running deep river which you crossed at your peril. It was quite amazing to watch. Rubbish from the top of the hill was washed down and you had to watch out for that as well. Cars and buses cam down and they had to be so careful. I mean they could have aquaplaned as easy as …..
We decided to do a tour around the island. So next day it was on a small bus and off along the western coast to a coastal park (chaco Verde) that we had been told about. Lots of monkeys, nice beach and great forest walks. We were let off at the road down to this resort and guess – the heavens opened. The road (alias dirt track) turned from dusty to mud in about 10 seconds flat. Out came the wet weather gear but it was almost too little too late. We had to cover 1.5 km in a torrential downpour dodging huge puddles, mud pools and running water in all directions. Arrived at this lodge like drowned rats. I must have looked terrible but all the people there were interested in was selling us something. I was happy to oblige – beer and fish and chips. Well the beer was fine, the fish OK but the chips were very ordinary. Stringy, cooked too long, soggy - they don’t know how to make good chips in Latin America. It was getting late so we decided to stay the night and use the remainder of the day to explore the so called park. We actually met another couple there – Anna from Bedford and Hywell from Wales. They were volunteers working in the northern area of Nicaragua. They were trying to help the locals with eco tourist initiatives up there. I think that she was helping them with English lessons He worked further north right up in the mountains and I think was more involved in engineering projects. Maybe water based – not a lot of good potable water in the rural areas. They joined up with us for the walk and it happened again. Half way around the rain came down. So we all got wet and we only saw one miserable looking howler monkey. I mean who wouldn’t be miserable; stuck in a tree with rain pelting down and a bunch of crazy tourists probably stopping you from finding cover somewhere. Saw a couple of decent sized spiders, a few falcons and a few frogs but not much else. Jungle was a bit on the thin side as well.
Back to the hotel and guess what – it stopped raining as soon as we got in. The beach looked fine and if my memory serves me correctly Leah and Hywell went for a swim. She said that the bottom was quite muddy and the lake was shallow. I was surprised to learn that it is only 30m asl. No wonder they wanted it as an option for a canal. I think that parts of the lake are quite deep so no problems for big ships. In fact it was the route of choice prior to the opening of the Panama canal. You would boat up the Rio San Carlos across the lake to (I think) San Jorge. Then a train to SanJuan del Sur on the Pacific coast and away to the Californian goldfields. Spanish galleons also used it as did all the pirates who would come in and sack Granada at periodic intervals.
Our room was quite good and comfortable and we managed to get most of our gear dry.
Next day it was off further around the island. Our friends told us to head for Magdalena a small settlement on the sides of Volcan Maderas. So we got two buses to a place called Santa Cruz. We then walked to Balgue and then tramped UPHILL to Magdalena. Magdalena was an alternative lifestyle farm. I think that they grew organic coffee and a few other cash crops. A few Americans there – escapees from George Bushes America. You could also use it as a start point for a climb to the crater. It was threatening rain so we gave that a miss and had something to eat. Leah was quite tempted to stay a night but we did have to get back to Moyagalpa and Granada so off we went. Tramp downhill (much better) and then a bus back to Urbaite where we had to wait for a connection. Well, a connection one and half hours later.
Now what happened in town that night. That’s right; there was this rather good band playing in the main street. They must have attracted nearly everyone in the town and put on some really good local music. They also got the local kids up to answer questions on the stage and win a small prize. The whole thing was rather good. And the group was reputed to be one of the best folkloric in Nicaragua.
Copan
Copan was a Mayan site on the border of Honduras and Guatemala. I had never heard of it before but it got a really good write up in the Lonely Planet so off we went. It was good. A very compact site but well excavated (unlike many other sites around). We teamed up with an American who had a guide. So we got all the history on the site as well as some of the guides interpretations of events. He supposedly was a Honduran archeologist who had worked on this and other sites (and knew them all!!). He gave us an interesting walk around and a quite informative talk. There were a number of stellae (large carved rocks) which had the original mayan codex carved on them. The codex was all related to the local kings who had names like Monkey IV, Rabbit, Jaguar and so on. The codex also encoded their calendar which was quite amazing. They in fact had two calendars – a sort of everyday one (20 months @ 18 days per month and a 5 day special period) and the priests calendar which had 200 days. The 5 days referred to above were considered really unlucky and (I think) that they believed in a cycle of 52 which is a common denominator between the two calendars. So the everyday calendar was 365 days!! No leap year but I think that their astronomers would have been smart enough to work out that there was a one in four year discrepancy with their calendar. The amazing thing is that the above calendars are common throughout all of pre Hispanic central America. More on that later.
The thing that struck me was the absolute ingenuity of those who decoded the writings. The codex has no basis for comparability with anything we are familiar with but someone was smart enough to do it. And there were no historical clues. Copan was abandoned long before the Spanish came through.
Copan had all the classic central American features. Pyramidal buildings, ball courts, stellae, small canals, temples, passageways (which cost extra to enter) and a nice ambience. Stonework was magnificent and the carvings were all on a grand (small) scale. I bracketed (small) as we have not yet talked about Chichen Itza, Plaenque or Teotehuacan. It was a religious centre and was supported by a population of peasants who lived locally. I think that they found a few people who were buried here and somehow they deduced that Copan declined because there was a prolonged famine. Was it overpopulation or a more demanding priestly class? I forget what our guides theory was. But I think he said that the skeletons showed signs of starvation. Now why did they not find skeletons of peasants? Well, peasants were probably not buried with any particular care and towards the end the suggestion is that they all took to the hills.
Cuba
One of Leah’s first choice destinations. I wasn’t that interested but am glad that I went after all. We booked return tickets in Cancun on a local airline (Mexicana). It was a package deal ie flights plus three nights in one of Havanas so called top 5 star hotels. We decided to stay for 12 nights so had to make other arrangements after the hotel was finished.
Arrived at the Airport fairly late (we didn’t leave until late) and then were held up outside Customs as one of our bus party was being interrogated by Cuban police and customs. So we did not get to Hotel Florida until after midnight. I got Cuban convertibles at the Airport ATM which was the first taste of their crazy currency system. Tourists are supposed to transact in Convertibles (roughly 1 USD) whereas everyone else is required to use the local currency (pesos 25 Pesos = 1 Convertible). But as you can imagine everyone wants convertibles so the pressure is on the tourists at all times. We were not supposed to convert our money to the local currency (Leah did!!) so everything costed us 25 times more than the local paid.
The Hotel was in the old part of Havana (Havana Viejo) which was good. The old section is quite run down but you could see that with a bit of money it could be made into a spectacular area. We did a walking tour and there were many highlights. Cathedrals (all closed, religion is frowned upon in Cuba), bars frequented by Hemmingway, Revolutionary museums, waterfront and main plaza. We also went through their top suburb – Miraflores. In reality it was pretty ordinary. Most places looked quite dilapidated and uncared for.
We also walked around a lot ourselves. Partly to try and book train tickets to Santa Clara but also to see how Cubans lived
Chichen Itza (CI)
A really famous mayan site on the Yucatan peninsular. As with Lago Nicaragua this would be high on my list of second level “must do’s” around the world. Very close to a first level, but one can’t be greedy. Chichen Itza was one of the many sites visited by the original Conquistadores, even before Cortes came along. As with Copan I think it was abandoned
by the time the Spanish got there.
We set ourselves a bit of a task to get to CI. If I remember rightly we got an early bus from Cancun to CI, aimed to spend the day there then another bus to Merida and from there an overnight bus to Palenque. I mean that was all about saving a nights accommodation.
We arrived in San Jose the capital of Costa Rica from Caracas via Miami. Courtesy of American Airlines. The flights were OK but getting thru’ Miami International was an exercise in patience and fortitude. The Americans have gone completely overboard in terms of security. We were in transit for goodness sakes and only 2 ½ hours on American soil. But we had to go thru’ all the checks. Photos, fingerprints, X rays, some strange machine which sort of bounced you around and scanned you at the same time. Shoes off, belt off, jacket off, I was surprised that they let you keep some clothes on!! People with guns everywhere which is also off putting. Now they say, “would you rather a terrorist get into the country?” Of course not but I believe that they have taken things too far and quite frankly the terrorists are probably already in the States. The whole procedure is very time consuming and puts me off ever going back.
Anyway we arrived at San Jose Airport. An easy way thru’ customs and we were met outside by an American who persuaded us that his hacienda was the best thing since the Hilton. We thought , “why not, after all he drives us into San Jose and we get accomodation straight off” Leah negotiated a reduction so off we went. But not to San Jose. In fact we ended up north of the airport outside a town called Alluella. His hostel was quite nice –we had a pleasant room with a balcony and we had breakfast thrown in. We spent two nights there, Leah bought our dinner at the local tiendas and life was good. The house backed onto a bit of native bush and you could walk down to a waterfall. The owner whose name escapes me was one of the funniest guys I have ever met. He had an amazing repertoire of one liners and kept us totally entertained.
Until the son of the gardener was murdered by his uncle not 100 yards down the road from us. It was at 10.00pm in front of everybody: totally unbelievable and all over a debt which hadn’t been repaid. Apparently the young guy had borrowed his uncle’s car and then did some damage to it. He did not pay for the repairs, hence the debt. But I think there was more to it than that. There was talk of drugs and drug dealing which seems to me to be a more likely scenario. The police hadn’t caught the uncle by the time we left and I often have wondered since what happened to him.
We took a bus one day up to an active volcano (Volcan Poas) just north of where we were staying. Nice trip and the Costa Rican countryside is very lush but well developed. Farms, market gardens and coffee plantations everywhere. We walked up to the crater rim. It was huge and smoking and inpressive. It gets quite active at times but we struck it when it was pretty low key. Also trekked around to a lake in the side of the mountain. Highlight was the performance of a couple of chipmunks who were very tame. They would jump on you and take food out of your hands.
Then it was off to Volcan Arenal in the north of the country. We got a lift down to Alluella and picked up a local bus from there. It got really full. But a superb drive thru’ the mountains to …………. where we changed. The road was windy but the views out over the forests and farmland were tremendous. The only down side was that the bus was packed. And really hot. And really stuffy.
Lago Nicaragua and Isla Omatepe
One of my second level must do’s around the world was Lake Nicaragua and the Ometepe Islands. Reasons:
1) the lake was proposed seriously as an alternative to the Panama Canal. I wanted to see what made it so attractive an option.
2) The lake was famous for freshwater sharks. Sadly they are now feared to be extinct as the Dictator Somoza allowed the Japanese to come in and wipe them out
3) The lake is one of the biggest in the Americas
4) The island is in fact two volcanoes which just seem to rise sheer out of the lake. I had seen photos many years ago – they looked awe inspiring.
So we got a boat from the nearest Port (San Jorge) after a hairy bus ride from Granada and sailed across. The boat was ancient and full of the locals. Definitely not the tourist option and it was crowded. We arrived at Moyagalpa and found accommodation there. A nice little town with connections to most parts of the island. The island itself is merely two old volcanoes which rise straight out of the sea. Volcan Concepcion (1600m asl) and Volcan Madera (1300m asl) with nice cone like shapes. Omatepe was really lucky during the civil war. It was left pretty much alone and so everything is as it has been for a long long time. The island has a few waterfalls and has been fairly intensively cultivated on the lower slopes. Most people are poor and I suspect that there is a strong non cash economy. Most of the money would be from tourists.
We got ourselves into our usual cheap accommodation. Not too bad – double bed and a very adjacent ensuite. The locals cooked over an open fire and as wood is reasonably scarce they don’t like guests cooking there. We ate out but one night Leah wanted to dine in. Great consternation but they finally allowed her to cook her ….. (I have forgotten what it was).
The thing that got me about the town was when it rained. The main street was a hard dirt road and went straight uphill to the inevitable church. The rain turned the main drag into a river. A really fast running deep river which you crossed at your peril. It was quite amazing to watch. Rubbish from the top of the hill was washed down and you had to watch out for that as well. Cars and buses cam down and they had to be so careful. I mean they could have aquaplaned as easy as …..
We decided to do a tour around the island. So next day it was on a small bus and off along the western coast to a coastal park (chaco Verde) that we had been told about. Lots of monkeys, nice beach and great forest walks. We were let off at the road down to this resort and guess – the heavens opened. The road (alias dirt track) turned from dusty to mud in about 10 seconds flat. Out came the wet weather gear but it was almost too little too late. We had to cover 1.5 km in a torrential downpour dodging huge puddles, mud pools and running water in all directions. Arrived at this lodge like drowned rats. I must have looked terrible but all the people there were interested in was selling us something. I was happy to oblige – beer and fish and chips. Well the beer was fine, the fish OK but the chips were very ordinary. Stringy, cooked too long, soggy - they don’t know how to make good chips in Latin America. It was getting late so we decided to stay the night and use the remainder of the day to explore the so called park. We actually met another couple there – Anna from Bedford and Hywell from Wales. They were volunteers working in the northern area of Nicaragua. They were trying to help the locals with eco tourist initiatives up there. I think that she was helping them with English lessons He worked further north right up in the mountains and I think was more involved in engineering projects. Maybe water based – not a lot of good potable water in the rural areas. They joined up with us for the walk and it happened again. Half way around the rain came down. So we all got wet and we only saw one miserable looking howler monkey. I mean who wouldn’t be miserable; stuck in a tree with rain pelting down and a bunch of crazy tourists probably stopping you from finding cover somewhere. Saw a couple of decent sized spiders, a few falcons and a few frogs but not much else. Jungle was a bit on the thin side as well.
Back to the hotel and guess what – it stopped raining as soon as we got in. The beach looked fine and if my memory serves me correctly Leah and Hywell went for a swim. She said that the bottom was quite muddy and the lake was shallow. I was surprised to learn that it is only 30m asl. No wonder they wanted it as an option for a canal. I think that parts of the lake are quite deep so no problems for big ships. In fact it was the route of choice prior to the opening of the Panama canal. You would boat up the Rio San Carlos across the lake to (I think) San Jorge. Then a train to SanJuan del Sur on the Pacific coast and away to the Californian goldfields. Spanish galleons also used it as did all the pirates who would come in and sack Granada at periodic intervals.
Our room was quite good and comfortable and we managed to get most of our gear dry.
Next day it was off further around the island. Our friends told us to head for Magdalena a small settlement on the sides of Volcan Maderas. So we got two buses to a place called Santa Cruz. We then walked to Balgue and then tramped UPHILL to Magdalena. Magdalena was an alternative lifestyle farm. I think that they grew organic coffee and a few other cash crops. A few Americans there – escapees from George Bushes America. You could also use it as a start point for a climb to the crater. It was threatening rain so we gave that a miss and had something to eat. Leah was quite tempted to stay a night but we did have to get back to Moyagalpa and Granada so off we went. Tramp downhill (much better) and then a bus back to Urbaite where we had to wait for a connection. Well, a connection one and half hours later.
Now what happened in town that night. That’s right; there was this rather good band playing in the main street. They must have attracted nearly everyone in the town and put on some really good local music. They also got the local kids up to answer questions on the stage and win a small prize. The whole thing was rather good. And the group was reputed to be one of the best folkloric in Nicaragua.
Copan
Copan was a Mayan site on the border of Honduras and Guatemala. I had never heard of it before but it got a really good write up in the Lonely Planet so off we went. It was good. A very compact site but well excavated (unlike many other sites around). We teamed up with an American who had a guide. So we got all the history on the site as well as some of the guides interpretations of events. He supposedly was a Honduran archeologist who had worked on this and other sites (and knew them all!!). He gave us an interesting walk around and a quite informative talk. There were a number of stellae (large carved rocks) which had the original mayan codex carved on them. The codex was all related to the local kings who had names like Monkey IV, Rabbit, Jaguar and so on. The codex also encoded their calendar which was quite amazing. They in fact had two calendars – a sort of everyday one (20 months @ 18 days per month and a 5 day special period) and the priests calendar which had 200 days. The 5 days referred to above were considered really unlucky and (I think) that they believed in a cycle of 52 which is a common denominator between the two calendars. So the everyday calendar was 365 days!! No leap year but I think that their astronomers would have been smart enough to work out that there was a one in four year discrepancy with their calendar. The amazing thing is that the above calendars are common throughout all of pre Hispanic central America. More on that later.
The thing that struck me was the absolute ingenuity of those who decoded the writings. The codex has no basis for comparability with anything we are familiar with but someone was smart enough to do it. And there were no historical clues. Copan was abandoned long before the Spanish came through.
Copan had all the classic central American features. Pyramidal buildings, ball courts, stellae, small canals, temples, passageways (which cost extra to enter) and a nice ambience. Stonework was magnificent and the carvings were all on a grand (small) scale. I bracketed (small) as we have not yet talked about Chichen Itza, Plaenque or Teotehuacan. It was a religious centre and was supported by a population of peasants who lived locally. I think that they found a few people who were buried here and somehow they deduced that Copan declined because there was a prolonged famine. Was it overpopulation or a more demanding priestly class? I forget what our guides theory was. But I think he said that the skeletons showed signs of starvation. Now why did they not find skeletons of peasants? Well, peasants were probably not buried with any particular care and towards the end the suggestion is that they all took to the hills.
Cuba
One of Leah’s first choice destinations. I wasn’t that interested but am glad that I went after all. We booked return tickets in Cancun on a local airline (Mexicana). It was a package deal ie flights plus three nights in one of Havanas so called top 5 star hotels. We decided to stay for 12 nights so had to make other arrangements after the hotel was finished.
Arrived at the Airport fairly late (we didn’t leave until late) and then were held up outside Customs as one of our bus party was being interrogated by Cuban police and customs. So we did not get to Hotel Florida until after midnight. I got Cuban convertibles at the Airport ATM which was the first taste of their crazy currency system. Tourists are supposed to transact in Convertibles (roughly 1 USD) whereas everyone else is required to use the local currency (pesos 25 Pesos = 1 Convertible). But as you can imagine everyone wants convertibles so the pressure is on the tourists at all times. We were not supposed to convert our money to the local currency (Leah did!!) so everything costed us 25 times more than the local paid.
The Hotel was in the old part of Havana (Havana Viejo) which was good. The old section is quite run down but you could see that with a bit of money it could be made into a spectacular area. We did a walking tour and there were many highlights. Cathedrals (all closed, religion is frowned upon in Cuba), bars frequented by Hemmingway, Revolutionary museums, waterfront and main plaza. We also went through their top suburb – Miraflores. In reality it was pretty ordinary. Most places looked quite dilapidated and uncared for.
We also walked around a lot ourselves. Partly to try and book train tickets to Santa Clara but also to see how Cubans lived
Chichen Itza (CI)
A really famous mayan site on the Yucatan peninsular. As with Lago Nicaragua this would be high on my list of second level “must do’s” around the world. Very close to a first level, but one can’t be greedy. Chichen Itza was one of the many sites visited by the original Conquistadores, even before Cortes came along. As with Copan I think it was abandoned
by the time the Spanish got there.
We set ourselves a bit of a task to get to CI. If I remember rightly we got an early bus from Cancun to CI, aimed to spend the day there then another bus to Merida and from there an overnight bus to Palenque. I mean that was all about saving a nights accommodation.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Congohas & Rio South America 2005
It´s been a while since update 2 & a lot has happened so I may not get up to where we are at present, which is Costa Rica & the cloud forests in the north.
A lot has happened - some great, some not so great, a few really bad & a couple of remarkable coincides.
I think that I left off last time on Ouro Preto the gold mining town in Brazil near Belo Horizonte. Well the first of the coincides happened there. Walikng up a steep hill to a church built by the black slaves we spotted a guy who had been with us the previous year on our Salt Plains trip in Bolivia. Quite incredible - Paul is from Argentina & he was on his annual leave. To meet him there was amazing. We spent time at a couple of museums in OP (on dealing with oratorios was great) & then departed for a place called Congohas. There we marvelled at some amazing sculptures of the prophets carved by a guy who had lost the use of his arms. He tied the hammer & chisel to his arms & proceeded to create these incredible life like figures. He also did a number of scenes from the Passion (Last Supper, Christs flagellation, carrying the cross etc) by carving all the chahacters in a sort of plaster. They were housed in these small chapels & we were just amazed at the quality of the work. Just hope that the photos come out.
Down to Rio & the city of all my troubles. But a great place all the same. fantastic location which we best appreciated from the top of the mountain which has the statue of Christ (Cristo Redentor). You could see all around & got a great idea of the harbour & how well sited the city is. We scouted out the beaches (Ipanema & Copocabana) - lots of sultry maidens with the skimpiest bikinis I have ever seen. Actually it seemed that all the broad butts had the pieces of string & the better proportioned (to NZ male tastes anyway) were a bit more modest, but not much. I think that the beach was pretty good as well. They had a great system with the roads in the area. One road was blocked off so that people could promenade up & down adjacent to the beach. And lots of the locals were doing just that. A whole section was devoted to beach soccer, volleyball & sort of soccer volleyball ie where the hands & arms cannot be used. God they were good & no wonder Brazil has soccer talent coming out it´s ears.
Next off to a soccer match at the Maracana, RdJ´s Wembley stadium. The teams were Fluminese & Vasco de Gama & it was a real local derby in every sense. The atmosphere was frighteng just getting to the ground. Each teams supporters were simply looking for a fight & one broke out every few seconds as we pushed & shoved to get into the stadium. People were throwing these huge firecrackers into the crowd - they went off with an explosion like you wouldn´t believe. As soon as a scuffle broke out the police would charge in - on horse back with batons waving. Too bad if you got in the way. Other times they would wack away on foot & the crowd would scatter in all directions. If you fell over you would have been crushed. I was pickpocketed (about $ 8 plus my entry ticket) but I could no have done a thing about it. The crowd was just too tight & full on to move or realise what had happened. Lots of others were groped & had cameras stolen soI was not alone. No crowd control whatsoever.
Still the game was superb with fantastic skills from both sides. The crowd was Fluminese one end & Vasco the other. You had to know which section you were in (Vasco for us) & made sure you supported the right team. Otherwise .... well I will leave it to your imagination. On the way out it was fights all over again but at least there wasn´t quite the crush & feeling of utter helplessness.
We went to a free concert (Lenny Kravitz) on Copocabana Beach. We thought OK the crowd will be fairly big so lets get there early. Well we did & were 40 m from the stage at 5 pm. The show was supposed to start at 8. Crowd not too bad until 6 & then wow. People poured in as a continuous stream. It just got worse & worse, tighter & tighter. Drugs in all directions, booze, drunks, food sellers, you name it, it was there. And Lenny did not show at 8, or 9 or even 9.30 at which point we gave up. We were being pushed & shoved, it was raining so we took off. It took us nearly an hour to cover 75m to get out. I have never seen a crowd like it. Someone said next day that there were 500,000 people there - I can believe it. And Lenny finally got going after 10.30. So talk about Brazil time!!
What next - Leah did a visit to the Favelas, the supposed slum areas of Rio but it didn´t seem so bad. I pottered around the Botafoga area & saw a couple of museums. We visited a good market in the Ipanema area & went on numerous bus rides which always give you a good view of the city.
We then took off for Isla Grande south of Rio. Bussed down & then a local ferry across to the island. I caught a chill on the bus. Open windows were the air con & the air blowing in coupled with a bit of a headache did not do too much for me. So I had a quiet day on the island whist Leah investigated what were reputed to be the best beaches in Brazil. Quite a nice place though with a laid back ambience.
Then back to Rio to get a bus up north to Porto Seguro. Disaster for me as my Passport & most other documents were stolen off the bus. Some scurvy individual disguised as a bus employee came onto the bus with blankets & used those as cover to steal my day pack whilst I was down the back getting some water. I was away from my seat for no more than 30 sec & Leah was in any event sitting right alongside. But neither of us noticed the guy. Who does when he looked part of the furniture. What a disaster - tourist police checked all passengers baggage but the thief had gone.
The sequel will have to wait unfortuately as my time is up.
A lot has happened - some great, some not so great, a few really bad & a couple of remarkable coincides.
I think that I left off last time on Ouro Preto the gold mining town in Brazil near Belo Horizonte. Well the first of the coincides happened there. Walikng up a steep hill to a church built by the black slaves we spotted a guy who had been with us the previous year on our Salt Plains trip in Bolivia. Quite incredible - Paul is from Argentina & he was on his annual leave. To meet him there was amazing. We spent time at a couple of museums in OP (on dealing with oratorios was great) & then departed for a place called Congohas. There we marvelled at some amazing sculptures of the prophets carved by a guy who had lost the use of his arms. He tied the hammer & chisel to his arms & proceeded to create these incredible life like figures. He also did a number of scenes from the Passion (Last Supper, Christs flagellation, carrying the cross etc) by carving all the chahacters in a sort of plaster. They were housed in these small chapels & we were just amazed at the quality of the work. Just hope that the photos come out.
Down to Rio & the city of all my troubles. But a great place all the same. fantastic location which we best appreciated from the top of the mountain which has the statue of Christ (Cristo Redentor). You could see all around & got a great idea of the harbour & how well sited the city is. We scouted out the beaches (Ipanema & Copocabana) - lots of sultry maidens with the skimpiest bikinis I have ever seen. Actually it seemed that all the broad butts had the pieces of string & the better proportioned (to NZ male tastes anyway) were a bit more modest, but not much. I think that the beach was pretty good as well. They had a great system with the roads in the area. One road was blocked off so that people could promenade up & down adjacent to the beach. And lots of the locals were doing just that. A whole section was devoted to beach soccer, volleyball & sort of soccer volleyball ie where the hands & arms cannot be used. God they were good & no wonder Brazil has soccer talent coming out it´s ears.
Next off to a soccer match at the Maracana, RdJ´s Wembley stadium. The teams were Fluminese & Vasco de Gama & it was a real local derby in every sense. The atmosphere was frighteng just getting to the ground. Each teams supporters were simply looking for a fight & one broke out every few seconds as we pushed & shoved to get into the stadium. People were throwing these huge firecrackers into the crowd - they went off with an explosion like you wouldn´t believe. As soon as a scuffle broke out the police would charge in - on horse back with batons waving. Too bad if you got in the way. Other times they would wack away on foot & the crowd would scatter in all directions. If you fell over you would have been crushed. I was pickpocketed (about $ 8 plus my entry ticket) but I could no have done a thing about it. The crowd was just too tight & full on to move or realise what had happened. Lots of others were groped & had cameras stolen soI was not alone. No crowd control whatsoever.
Still the game was superb with fantastic skills from both sides. The crowd was Fluminese one end & Vasco the other. You had to know which section you were in (Vasco for us) & made sure you supported the right team. Otherwise .... well I will leave it to your imagination. On the way out it was fights all over again but at least there wasn´t quite the crush & feeling of utter helplessness.
We went to a free concert (Lenny Kravitz) on Copocabana Beach. We thought OK the crowd will be fairly big so lets get there early. Well we did & were 40 m from the stage at 5 pm. The show was supposed to start at 8. Crowd not too bad until 6 & then wow. People poured in as a continuous stream. It just got worse & worse, tighter & tighter. Drugs in all directions, booze, drunks, food sellers, you name it, it was there. And Lenny did not show at 8, or 9 or even 9.30 at which point we gave up. We were being pushed & shoved, it was raining so we took off. It took us nearly an hour to cover 75m to get out. I have never seen a crowd like it. Someone said next day that there were 500,000 people there - I can believe it. And Lenny finally got going after 10.30. So talk about Brazil time!!
What next - Leah did a visit to the Favelas, the supposed slum areas of Rio but it didn´t seem so bad. I pottered around the Botafoga area & saw a couple of museums. We visited a good market in the Ipanema area & went on numerous bus rides which always give you a good view of the city.
We then took off for Isla Grande south of Rio. Bussed down & then a local ferry across to the island. I caught a chill on the bus. Open windows were the air con & the air blowing in coupled with a bit of a headache did not do too much for me. So I had a quiet day on the island whist Leah investigated what were reputed to be the best beaches in Brazil. Quite a nice place though with a laid back ambience.
Then back to Rio to get a bus up north to Porto Seguro. Disaster for me as my Passport & most other documents were stolen off the bus. Some scurvy individual disguised as a bus employee came onto the bus with blankets & used those as cover to steal my day pack whilst I was down the back getting some water. I was away from my seat for no more than 30 sec & Leah was in any event sitting right alongside. But neither of us noticed the guy. Who does when he looked part of the furniture. What a disaster - tourist police checked all passengers baggage but the thief had gone.
The sequel will have to wait unfortuately as my time is up.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Argentina
Well we are now in Rio de Janiero. Covered an awful lot of ground since my last E so hear goes.
I think that I left off back at Santiago after our trip up north Chile with Mark. Leah & I then went down to the Argentinian lake district for a few days. We went to Bariloche, a town about 1000km south of Santiago. It is famous for a number of things
1) lakes - really pretty with many many old swiss style wooden houses. The las
kes reminded me a little of the Queenstown area but there were many more of them.
2) Chocolate - really famous for chocolate, they have these big supermarkets that sell nothing but chocolates in all shapes & sizes. And the real deal - none of this watered down Cadburys stuff. We tried some - the budget version of course & it was great.
3) Skiing - Argentines premier ski resort. Not a patch on Queenstown but not bad for all that.
4) Nazi´s - supposed to be the place that the Germans fled to after WW2. Well I did not see old Adolf in a wheel chair so maybe not. The area had a real German feel though with all these wooden houses
Anyway it was a great place to visit. We got our usual cheap accom & explored around catching most of the sights. Including Hotel Llau Llau an old hotel built at the head of the lake. talk about 1930´s opulence - it was just fantastic. Chandeliers made of deers antlers, leather seats, views to die for, but the tarrif. We won´t talk about that.
Then on south to a hippy town called El Bolson. We had a really relaxing time there. Caught a craft market - one of the best we have struck and also visited an organic farm. In Argentina I hear you say. The land of the pampas & vast herds of walking Big Macs. Well it is true. Not a big place but they did do things organically, including blackberries which we consumed at a great rate of knots. I knew my Galatea blackberry prickles would come in use one day. Leah also had a tango lesson at a local Restaurant where some people were putting on a tango show. Very good but I don´t think that L will be strutting her stuff back in NZ.
Then it was back to Santiago, a few days to say good bye to Mark¨& then off to Sao Paulo. A little sad to say bye to Mark - who knows when we will see him next.
Sao Paulo is a huge hige city. 17 million & I can believe it. vast poverty which we saw a little of on the way in on the bus from the airport. Shacks (& that is complimentary) alongside this fetid river. You could see toilet waste going in at one point & people washing at another. No power, hot beyond belief so how do they survive? Huts were made from corr iron, straw, palm fronds - anything they could get their hands on I guess. I shudder for the kids. What sort of future awaits them?
Anyway we had two days there, explored some of the safer places in the centre & were glad to be off to the Iguassu Falls. Safer is a little relative I guess. Everywhere you walk you are tripping over people who are sleeping on the pavements. Including quite young kids. And this is in the Centro so what is it like in the poorer sections.
The Falls were fantastic. We saw them from both sides - Brazillian where you could get up nearly underneath the main stream & then the Argentinian where you got views from all points ie at the top, middle section & at the base. The Falls are on the Iguassu river which is a tributary of the Parana. And yet the Iguassu is huge (2.5kmwide). So how big must the Parana be. The mind boggles. We got pretty wet from the spray which is part of the experience. Its hard to describe the sight of this water crashing over the cliff. In a couple of places the river is channeled so you gert these huge cataracts - the noise is mind blowing & the feeling of power is ... well you just have to see it. We boated onto an island directly under the falls & got spectacular views there as well.
Well after that it was on a bus & off to the Pantanal an area the size of the Low Countries near the paraguay border. We stayed at Campo Grande & got a tour to the jungle from there. Tour wasn´tgreat. Very amateurish, everything had to be push started (including an old Ferguson tractor which I swear was the same as ours in Galatea). Still we did horseback riding in the swamps & marshes. That was good until we passed a dead horse. How did it die, we asked. Bitten by a frog mouthed snake was the reply. Well that got us thinking. Then another horse carcase. Another snake victim. Then a sheep which was pretty sick, with vultures floating around it. Another snake bite? Well yes. So by this time we were riding with our arms above our heads & standing in the saddles. And we then had to do a walk in the same sort of area. I can tell you we walked very close to our guide & made sure he had cleared the way. But we saw lots - capabaras, alligators, howler monkeys, vultures, macaws, toucans, lots of ants & the usual swarms of mossies, deer, small wild dogs, agoutis, hawks, small eagles, jabiru storks, frogs & the like. It was much better than the Amazon. Went fishing but caught nothing. And tried to survive the heat (tremendous) & humidity (unbelievable). We also saw a life & death struggle between a 3 ft tree snake & a fairly large frog. I put money on the frog to get away but after 3 hours it became a meal. What a fight. the frog tried everything - twisting, jumping, blowing itself up, pulling, croaking for help, but the snake just hung in there & gradually wore it down. Nature at its most basic & we have it on video. So a good time if a little rustic.
Back to Campo Grande & from there we took a 30 hour overnight bus ride to Belo Horizonte & a small gold mining town called Ouro Preto. What a trip. Saw two truck smashes on the way, one in which a whole truck load of grain was spread all over the road, the other coal was everywhere. Bus was pretty basic so I got no sleep & was tired tired by the time we hit OP. Also had a bit of the bad tummy (drinking water with ice in Campo Grande - bad mistake) so that didn´t help. But OP was a place out of a 17th C time warp. All the streets were cobblestoned, the houses were as they were 250 years ago & they had all these fabulous churches & museums. We spent a lot of time visting these places & saw colonial art & sculpture at its very best. One church had over 400 kg of gold on its decorations. Went into an old gold mine - what a claustraphobic experience which was bought & mined by ´´free negroes. I couldn´t believe that they got only 15grm of gold for every tonne of rock. Also visited the Minerals Museum where they have probably the best collection of mineral samples in the world. It was superb & really well presented which helped. What also helped was that we tagged on behind a tour in which the guide spoke in english. Now hows that for a bit of kiwi you know what.
I am sorry but I am going to have to sign off here. I am being kicked off this computer so the rewst of OP & Rio will be for the next Installment.
Suffice to say we are both fine (the runs excepted of course) & enjoying things.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Pantanal Maracana Chapadas Manaus Tepuis South America 2005
SOUTH AMERICA 2005
As the old song goes “we are on the road again”. Another One World Round The World ticket this time traveling in an easterly direction. First stop Chile and Mark. We had a great start in Auckland where Lan Chile upgraded us to Business Class. Which we proceeded to take full advantage of. Especially me with the wine. I could see us being on rations on our travels so I drank a bit by way of recognizing my coming period of abstinence.
Now I hear you ask, “why did we take off so soon after our first trip?” Good question and the answer is because we had not a lot of better things to do. We went down to Nelson to see if we could settle there. It did not quite work out as I could not get work and we couldn’t find a property we really liked. As it turned out we saw the place we may settle on but it’s potential did not sink in until we had left NZ. In some ways we left for the wrong reasons ie we did not sort ourselves out in NZ or anywhere else for that matter, and travel became the line of least resistance. But we had many adventures and mishaps and saw marvelous things over the 8 months we were away. So I am glad we went and we made decisions mostly on what we want to do medium and long term whilst away. So that was good as well.
Mark was up north to Caldera with his girlfriend Cecilia when we arrived. So we had a couple of days in Santiago and the Leah took off for the Atacama and San Pedro. She flew to Antofagasta and got buses from there. I had been there last trip and did not want a repeat so stayed in Santiago for a few days. And tried to keep cool in Marks flat. Impossible though. I then got an overnight bus to Copiapo and met all of them there. Great to see Mark again and to meet Cecilia. She was Novia sized and very brown ie tanned. Apparently a sun worshipper.
Mark had purchased a car a Subaru 4WD which wasn’t too bad. It chewed up the oil and I often wish Mark would take a little more interest in vehicles. I sometimes think he believes that cars clean themselves, they run on fresh air and lubrication is something that rhymes with procrastination.
Northern Chile
Bariloche
Sao Paulo
Iguassu
Pantanal
The Pantanal is a huge wet savannah type area on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The Paraguay river sort of runs through one side with lots of smaller tributaries. It was a recommendation from the Lonely Planet so we bussed there after spending time at Iguassu. A long night trip from Iguassu to Campo Grande (CG) with lots of stops. I always have trouble sleeping on buses and it wasn’t particularly comfortable. In other words it wasn’t a luxury coach – sort of a mid level affair, more for the locals.
We arrived in CG mid morning and after a bit of toing and froing we booked a trip to a ranch in the Pantanal. It was just after the wet season so there was still lots of water around which was supposed to make things interesting. The eastern side of the Pantanal was given over to beef production as it was a little drier. We were heading to an area quite close to the Paraguayan border and a town called Corumba.
However before we took off I went with the tour operator to the local police station where we put in a report regarding the stolen camera. God, what a place. I really felt uncomfortable. All these evil looking cops hanging around – they looked as bad as the crims. I am sure that if I had tried to do the business on my own I either
• Would not have gotten anywhere and probably been chucked out, or
• Had to pay a fortune in bribes and the like
So the tour guy was incredibly helpful and I did get money back from the insurance company although I often wonder if they translated the Police Report.
We got a bus to a drop off point in the Pantanal. Another long ride but quite good as it was dead flat and you could sort of see how all these huge beef ranches worked. The ratio of cattle to acreage must be quite low as the herds did not seem so big. But I think that the Pantanal is not that fertile: the ground is wet or soggy a lot of the time. We were picked up in this old Land Rover type thing. It was pretty beaten up but made for a thrilling ride in to the ranch.
Actually the trip was great – we saw an awful lot of fauna on the way in. Mainly as it was evening and all things come out to play. Lots and lots of caiman, a herd of capybaras, wild pigs, foxes, bats and eagles, large lizards and other things that I can’t quite recall at the moment. Our hostess spoke good English – she was a Chilean from Punta Arenas who had spent some time in the South Island. Amazing to meet her in Brazil. She was really nice and helpful and was married to one of the ranch operators.
The trip in got interesting once we turned off the “main” road and traveled on this dirt track into the ranch. There was a whole heap of surface water everywhere and we spent most of the time trying to pick the best way through. A lot of fun. Even better over the last stretch where the water was pretty deep. They started up this old old tractor and hitched the truck to it. The tractor then towed the truck for about 4 – 5 kms to the ranch house. What a wild ride; the truck would slip and slide all over the place. In some parts the water almost came up in to the cabin it was so deep. And all along the way you could see caimen by the side of the path. They were about 5 – 6 feet long and they were just sort of laying there. Hundreds of them.
The ranch comprised of a main central building with kitchens and the like and a couple of bunk houses. No mosquito netting which was a bummer as they (mosquitoes) were everywhere. We had the front section of the bunk house and the others were all in the main part. Two really basic toilets and showers completed the picture.
Next day was exploration. We climbed onto horses and were guided through all the local waterways. A disconcerting start – there was this dead horse lying not far from the ranch houses. We asked “ how did it die?”. We were told, “oh, it got bitten by a frog mouthed snake on the nose. Horses and cattle are always getting killed that way”. Next question, “where are these snakes?”. “Oh, all over the place. In the water, the reeds and the paddocks”. A bit off putting for we gringos who were all perched on these vulnerable looking horses. I mean our legs were dangling in the water a lot of the time. Still off we went.
Actually it was a great ride. We did not see a lot of wildlife – we made so much noise that we would have scared everything away for 100km. But we did see lots of caimen, birds (jabiru storks, eagles, herons, vultures), some wild marsh deer and a few monkeys. At one point we all rode through a small swarm of wild bees. And they were wild. They stung a couple of horses (including Leahs), all the horses started bucking and galloping away and it took a huge effort to get mine back under control. I thought I was a goner. Horse riding is not a skill set that I have so for me anything over a slow walk is bad news. We spent most of the ride in water up to our knees which had us all watching out for these frog mouthed snakes and giant caimen. Even more so when we passed the skeleton of another horse, another victim of you know what!!
What else did we do? A fishing trip in the local river in motorized canoes. We only caught a few fish but it was a great ride. The fish we caught were quite large – I can’t remember what they were called. There were red piranha (the dangerous variety) in the stream but we didn’t see any. I thought that we were going to be stuck there though at the end of the trip. Our guides had parked the truck at the bottom of a small muddy rise. Well cometh the hour they could not drive it back up the slope. I recall all of we men (tourists included) having to get on the back and push like crazy. I think that finally by some minor miracle a local tractor came along and gave us a tow out. We all then went off to a waterhole on the main road and had a swim. Actually the water (a light brown shade) was quite warm and refreshing. We took the place over from a few turtles.
An evening walk was also interesting. Our guide caught a small caiman so we all gathered around, with the women thinking about their next handbag. I felt a bit sorry for the poor creature. It was then off into the bushes to find a sheep that was staggering around and looking pretty sick. Guess what? Yes, another victim of you know what apparently. We saw bats, some owls, a few other birds and a small armadillo (I think). I mainly remember being attacked by a never ending clouds of mosquitoes.
What else happened? Most evenings were spent talking in the dining room area. There was very little light in the bunk room so once you settled there it was sleep time. The showers were an experience. Water straight from the local swamp, I think. I only had one shower and counted the swim as another. Leah much the same. Toilets were dirty and smelly, but what is new. All in all though the Pantanal was a good experience. I would have liked to have seen a bit more wildlife but we probably did better than most. Some tours apparently stay in relative luxury and end up seeing very little.
Our stay at the ranch would not be complete without a description of nature at its …. best? I was busy doing my laundry one morning when I spotted this long skinny snake (not a frog mouth!!) stretched out nearby. On closer (but not too close) investigation I saw that it had latched onto this frog. The snake obviously was not of the poisonous variety – I mean why hang on otherwise. But it was the start of a long battle. The snake had hold just in front of the frogs back leg. The frog tried everything to get free. It tried to hop back to the water, it twisted and turned, it put a leg on the snake and tried to lever itself off, but to no avail. It actually got free twice but each time the snake struck so quickly that the frog had no chance to hop clear. Well the old frog started to get tired and at stage the snake started to work its jaws around towards the frogs mouth. Easy to see that it was going to suffocate the frog by completely covering its mouth and nostrils. Well that led to the last ditch effort by the frog. It puffed itself up to almost double its normal size. It did that twice and escaped both times. But as before that old snake just struck back and reattached itself. As soon as it did so it was back working its way towards the mouth. Well finally the snake got all the breathing things covered up and it was quickly curtains for the frog. The snake then proceeded to swallow the frog whole. Just like you would imagine an anaconda or boa swallowing a large pig or something. A real life David Attenborough experience and I think that Leah has some video of the same.
Our trip out to meet the bus from Corumba was interesting. We traveled out with a young couple from the UK. He proceeded to demonstrate some Brazillian fighting style (Chacoheira or something) at the bus stop. That was a style developed by the African slaves and is based on the use of legs and feet; on the basis that their hands were tied. He was very good, but we saw better in Salvador de Bahia later. So it was back to Campo Grande, overnight in the local hostel in which Leah had a heated debate with the owner (over the tarrif if I remember rightly) which she won. My abiding memory is our meal at a local kilo restaurant. A kilo restaurant is where you are charged by weight. So you select your food, it gets weighed and you then pay on a per kilo basis. Leah negotiated a special price for a vege only meal and I had the works ie meat and al. It was a great experience – the waiter would keep on coming out with all these different types of meat on a spit. You had to point to the bit you wanted and he would cut it off and put it on your plate. So I had different portions of beef, pork, salami and sausages presented for my consideration. Yum – but I probably did not do my iron count much good that night.
Next day it was on a bus to Belo Horizonte (BH) and Minas Gerias, over 24 hours away
Minas Gerias
The bus trip to BH was the usual long long tiring affair. It was broken by a couple of accidents involving trucks. The first was where a truck carting what looked like flour had rolled and the flour had gone everywhere. The truck was a huge mess and the road was covered. Did anyone slow done though? No way – it was onwards and upwards and full throttle. The second truck was carrying a cargo of coal and it was the same story. Huge mess but the local drivers have a “take no prisoners” attitude.
The countryside was pretty, very rural with what looked like large coffee plantations. Towns were generally small and thin on the ground. Weather – hot and steamy outside but within the bus the air con was on full blast. It actually got quite uncomfortable and everyone ended up with blankets. We were warned about Brazillian air con and they were right!!
The city of BH went on for miles. It is Brazils third city after SP and RdJ. A very mean dangerous looking place. I think our route in was through from the east and traversed the lesser ‘urbs. Lots and lots of shanty town type places, all very muddy and dark away from the road. We arrived not long before dark so did not see all things on the way in to the bus station – and probably just as well.
BH’s bus station was not pretty. Walking around late at night to get from one platform to another is NOT a good idea. Lots of sleazy looking characters and dark alleys do not make for a pleasant experience. You have to be particularly careful with your packs etc – you cannot leave them alone anytime. We were trying to get a bus to Ouro Preto the historic gold town in Minas Gerias (MG). It took us some time to sort it out and I never felt safe for one minute. I think Brazillian bus stations are best handled during day light hours and even then things can still be fraught.
Still and all we finally got our bus and were away. We traveled through some of the main streets to get out of town. I know it was late but it seemed that everywhere there were
• Gangs of young tough looking guys hanging around, and
• A veritable army of police, all armed to the teeth
Quite frankly in Brazil you are not sure in the above situation who you would trust at a pinch. Twice I saw the police handcuffing some young guys against a wall. A real dangerous situation – (say) three police would be doing the cuffing whilst two or three would be standing alongside with guns drawn and pointing. I guess that they would not have hesitated to blast away at the least provocation. I was glad to be out of there.
Rio de Janeiro
We stayed at a Hostel International place in Botafoga, one of the better suburbs in RdJ. They advertised a football game in the Maracana Stadium so how could I not go. Maracana; one of the great stadiums around the world. The South American Wembley stadium. Cost me 75 Pesos and Leah at first did not want to come. However some other girls were going and they persuaded her otherwise.
Anyway it was in a small mini bus and off to the ground. Little did we know!! The closer we got the thicker the crowds. And they were in the main young rough looking males. Even at a couple of k’s from the ground you could feel the tension and menace. Before we all piled out of the van the guide gave us the message. “This is a dangerous situation, lots of fights, pickpockets, male macho, huge crush to get in so follow the driver very closely and make sure your valuables are safe”. He wasn’t just blowing smoke. The crowd was huge – the game was a local derby, Flamenco versus Vasco de Gama. Flamenco was the team from the rich side of town and hated by everyone else. So it was all on. We did as we were told and followed closely. There was no crowd control whatsoever. Everybody pushed and shoved to get in but frequently a fight would break out. As soon as that happened the Police on horses would charge straight into the crowd and start beating everyone with their batons. I mean they took no prisoners – it was bang, whack, pummel and no how’s your father or anything. Police on foot sort of tried to lend a hand but they were pretty ineffectual. The crowd was just too densely packed. They would surge and we got caught in the crush. I was pickpocketed then, lost my ticket (subsequently replaced) and about 10 Pesos in cash. I could not have done anything about it. I was hanging on to Leah and a 5 year old with arthritis could have turned me over without a problem. We later learned that a lot of other gringo’s were groped, lost cameras and money in the same crowd. Another really frightening thing were the firecrackers. Or small bombs – at least that’s what they sounded like. Some idiot would throw one of these things into the crowd and wait for the explosion. Incredibly dangerous as it would do serious damage if it landed on you. The noise when it went off – you would think you were in Baghdad. So a real adventure? getting in.
Finally in our seats thinking our troubles were over. But no we had to figure out which part of the ground we were in ie were we at the Flamenco end or the Vasco end? I cocked it up as Flamenco scored a great goal early on and I started to clap. Stopped real quick when it was obvious no one but no one around me was clapping as well. So discretion being the better part of valour I was careful to cheer for Vasco after that. The crowd were a pack of nutters. One half of the ground Flamenco supporters – the other half Vasco. Huge crowd; about 70,000 people and you could have drawn a line between them straight through the halfway line and up both sides. The supporter demarcation was that clearcut. They egged each other on, traded insults and the noise when either one or the other scored was incredible. Smoke bombs, flags, singing, can throwing: it had the lot. I wish that I could recall Vasco’s team song. Vasco were leading 2 – 1 for most of the second half so there was this continuous chant going on. In fact it was quite catchy.
But the football was sublime. The skill level was amazing – I can see what they mean by Brazil skills now – and it was attack, attack all the time. They wanted to score goals, which is the point of the game. And someone told me that these two teams are near the bottom of the Brazillian premier division. Hard to believe that anyone could be that much better. The game ended 2 – 2, two players were sent off and plenty of shots on goal. So a connoisseurs delight and the draw probably satisfied everyone. No major dramas getting out. In other words it wasn’t a bloodbath. We assembled back at our van, had to wait a while for everyone to turn up and also for the traffic to clear. Then off back to the hostel.
What a night!! It had everything. Would I go again? Probably, but I would be more careful and not go in until the crowd had sorted itself out. I thought that the game was just so much better than those I had seen in Europe. The latter games are all about scoring first and then defending furiously for the rest of the game. In Brazil its all about scoring goals… period.
Chapada
The Chapada is a national park area sort of north west of Salvador. We bussed there from Salvador via a place called Cachoiera and Feria de Santana. For stories on those two towns see Salvador de Bahia.
We arrived mid afternoon in Lencois a small village at the south eastern end of the park. Lencois was a great little place. It was originally a centre of the diamond mining but has reverted to an adventure tourist place. Lots of hostels, hotels and backpacker type places. Leah did her usual investigation cum bargaining exercise and we ended up in a very nice place near the bus station. We had our own room overlooking the river valley with en suite bathroom and toilet. Perfect!!
And the breakfasts. Well joy unlimited. All the hostels in Lencois had some sort of competition going to see who could do the best breakfast. And our place was recognized as being one of the best. Leah and I were first down every morning and last to leave. They were continental and buffet so we could eat as much as we liked. So now the menu ……..
We had fruit, breads, cakes, eggs, cereals, sliced hams and salamis and unlimited coffee and tea. The cakes were infinite in their variety and really yummy. What a way to start the day. Breakfast, lunch and the better part of dinner!!
As I said Lencois was small town but doubled as a local centre. Outlying villagers came into town once a week for a market day. Naturally Leah went along and bought/bargained for our fruit and vegetables. So dinner was sorted most days we were there. Markets were quite small but colourful and probably a more representative affair than those in bigger cities.
Lencois was also positioned right alongside a small river. We followed a trail upstream and came to these fantastic cascades. A big rocky area over which the river tumbled. The rocks were in a staircase fashion with plenty of deep holes into which the water disappeared and then reappeared further on down. The locals all did their laundry here and it was quite a sight. Further upstream we came to a waterfall with a bit of a swimming hole. Again very picturesque. The water was a browny colour a bit like those on the Abel Tasman. But quite swimmable.
We took a one day tour around the local highlights. A long drive and then a climb to the top of a local mountain (butte style). Great views in all directions and a few interesting creatures on top. Then a walk in a large cave after a steep descent into a narrow ravine. Quite good. Then the blue cave and swimming hole (a bit ho hum) but I had a short swim. Actually the water was surprisingly cold but it had just come out of an underground lake so no wonder. Finally we walked into a waterfall with a good swimming area. A bit tricky as you had to swim against the current to the bottom of the falls. If you lost it you could have been swept downstream and over another set of falls. I am not a strong swimmer so I stuck close to the side of the river for sure. But once at the base of the falls it was great. You could hang onto a small ledge and let the falls splash all over you. Amazing feeling. Eco Tours organized that one dayer so we used them to arrange a 4day/3night trek to the Vale de Paty (pr. Patchy)
So it was off the next day with our two guides Roger and Vanessa and their dog Brisa. Met a Swedish girl on the way who was staying in Capau (pr Kapong) – she loved it there and did not want to go back to Sweden. More on Capau later.
After a long drive through a small town called Palmeria and then a rough road to Guine, we had a 12km walk into the Vale de Paty. Quite a steep climb to start and then an easy trek across open countryside. We had lunch at the rio Negro, and it was black. Our guides lugged all our food in. The next section of our walk took us to the wall, the edge of the Vale de Paty. Vale means valley in Portuguese. This place was more like a ravine!! We could see some houses away at the bottom of this steep cliff down which we had to descend. Just a few houses though. In the old diamond days the valley had over 1,000 people living there. I think that the diamonds were alluvial so that they had to have small dams and water pumping operations all over the place. It was a pretty costly process apparently. The discovery of the Kimberley mine in South Africa killed these operations really quickly and the people left soon after. I think Roger said that there were only 6 families remaining in the valley now. And all related to each other. No power, no mod cons whatsoever.
Well we climbed down into the foot of the valley and then a hard trek to our base. We got there just after dark which made for an interesting last kilometer. Muddy tracks and the dark don’t go together too well.
Mr and Mrs Wilson were our hosts. Actually I think he was something like Wilson de Silva and she was Dona Maria but they were known as Mr and Mrs Wilson to all the travelers who stayed there. They had two buildings, one a sleepout and the other their kitchen, dining room and a couple of bedrooms (all rooms very small). We had one of them – it was tiny. The ceiling was low and all lighting was with candles.
I loved her kitchen though. It had a large old wood burner, some cupboards and the roof was covered in all these pots. I have never seen so many. There would have been at least a hundred. And all in such a sparkling state of cleanliness. They had a vege garden, banana palms, chooks, pigs and I think also a cow or two. So necessarily self contained. If they wanted anything from civilization they took mules into the local village (or Dona Maria walked – at least 30 km there and back). Their nearest neighbour was two kms away.
Mr and Mrs W. were in their 60’s I would guess. Both as brown and Indian looking as you could imagine. She had no teeth and most of the time she looked pretty grim. As if she carried all the worlds troubles. But when she smiled her whole face lit up. That was a sight to see. And she could cook. We had great meals with much variety – and healthy. Mr W. always seemed to be in a cheerful mode.
Day two involved a trek of around 22km to one of the many very high cachoieras (waterfalls) in the park. We had a slow but definite climb to the top of the valley walls, a long walk to the edge of another valley and thence to the waterfall. It was a sight – I think over 300m high. A straight drop to the bottom. I could not get myself to look over the edge but Leah and Roger did it as if there was nothing to it. They said, “come and look at all these wonderful butterflies”, but I took their word for it. Plenty of water in the falls which made it even more spectacular.
We had lunch by the feeder river, then a swim, then trekked back to Mr and Mrs W for dinner. Long day as we sidetracked to the old chapel and lodge. Well, lodge may be a bit complimentary. It is just a large room where trekkers can sleep. Minimal facilities. The chapel is very small but still in good condition.
Day 3 was a climb to the top of a steep butte which was very close to our accommodation. We looked at the climb and thought it was impossible. It was straight up!! But off we went, Brisa as well. I thought that if a dog can do it so can I. It was steep and a real rock scramble in parts. Roger and Vanessa were very good. They were always telling Leah where to put her feet and helping her on the super steep bits. We got to the top to be confronted by this large cave which went right through from one side to the other. So we had superb views over the north east on one side and to the south west on the other. After we traversed the cave R and V then pointed to this small rocky outcrop and said, “that’s the true summit, why don’t we go there”. Now they were trained rock climbers so it was easy for them. For us …… well a real challenge, but we did it and sat on top of the high point. What a great feeling of achievement. The only downside; I scraped my bum on some sharp rock and ripped my travel pants in a somewhat embarrassing place. Going down was just as hard as going up. We no sooner got back than it was off up the river past a series of waterfalls. There were about three that we past and we stopped at the fourth and largest. There was this big pool at the foot of the falls and we all had a swim. The water was super cold so I didn’t stay in long but it was refreshing. Back home for Mrs Wilsons amazing cooking.
And then full moon. Now that was a sight. The sky was entirely clear and the moon rose over a promontory on one side of the rock that we had just climbed. What a sight. The suns reflection gave it a quite ethereal effect and at 9.30pm it was almost as light as day. As the moon poked up above the rock the sky around it turned blood red. The moon itself was a bright cream colour. Wow, I was gobsmacked. We do not see sights like that in our light ridden environments in Australasia or Europe. Maybe in the outback of Oz but certainly nowhere else. It was worth putting up with the mossies to see. Leah missed it as she was having a shower at the time.
Day 4 was walk out day. We were aiming to get to Capau which was 36km away. And with a climb back up the side of the valley on the way. We said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Wilson. She smiled profusedly – probably happy to see the gringos go – we got some great photos of her and Mr Wilson but they were subsequently lost!! (see Guatemala). The walk out was actually pretty straightforward. We made very good time, so much so that R said we were very fit for our age. Good training for the French camino, I thought. 36km was one of the longest daily walks we had ever done.
Capau was a sleepy little village. It had only about 200 inhabitants but had a growing reputation as an alternative lifestyle type place so a number of gringo’s lived there. We only saw one – the Swedish lass we met on the way in. But the beers were most appreciated I can tell you. R and V left us here. They were going to walk back to Lencois at night time. 16km of tricky and rocky tracks. I thought that they were crazy but we couldn’t change their minds. Leah quite liked the look of Capau and would have stayed a few days. However the bulk of our gear was back in Lencois and we had to get to Brasillia to pick up my Credit Card and passport so we had to move on. A late bus to the next village up the line and then another even later bus to Lencois saw us tumbling into bed at midnight.
Manaus
Manaus is a large city (2.5 million) located on the junction of the Amazon and Rio Negro. People think that it is on the Amazon but it is actually on the north bank of the Rio Negro a little upstream from the confluence.
Manaus has been one of many must do places for me from way back. I remember reading about is as a kid. A rubber town surrounded by impenetrable jungle with all those exotic animals – jaguars, monkeys, snakes, birds, piranhas and the like. And also ferocious Indians with poison tipped darts and healthy appetites. That was the perception at age 8, the reality 50 years later was somewhat different.
The rubber has gone, the place is huge (2.5 million people), the jungle is miles away and there ain’t no animals or Indians. But it looked exotic especially down by the wharves where they had lots of river boats lined up for all points north (Rio Negro), east and west (Amazon) and south (Madiera and many others).
We arrived in Manaus after a Varig flight from Brasilia. The airport is a bit out of town so we bussed in and found a sort of hotel in the centre of town close to the docks. By sort of hotel I mean that it served a number of functions and we seemed to be the only gringos. I would guess that it quadrupled as a bar, a brothel and a nightclub. I can attest to the bar and nightclub but am relying on the weight of circumstantial evidence for the brothel. Anyway it was OK if a bit noisy.
Manaus has seen better days. We spent some time at the docks looking at all these river boats. They were all sorts of shapes & sizes. It would have been easy to climb on board for a trip either up or down river, or along many of the huge tributaries of the Amazon. But accommodation was going to be a really small cabin (probably very hot & stuffy) or a hammock on deck. Most travellers take a cabin, store & lock their gear in it & then sleep in a hammock. But you have to be quick to get one apparently. People claim them ages b4 the boat is due to depart. The hammocks are all close together so you can't have any element of modesty about you!! Not for us (this time anyway). All the docks are floating; necessarily so as the Amazon/Rio Negro can rise by 50 feet during the rainy season.
Manaus has a great Opera House built at the height of the rubber boom. It is in the centre of town on a bit of a hill. We did a tour & it is a most impressive building. Italian marble in the foyer, english oak for some of the wooden fittings, beautiful red carpet in the main theatre & a fantastic intermission area with spectacular chandeliers, & some nice paintings. It is cheap for the locals to attend performances but they do not put on too many these days.
We stayed close by the Opera House to watch a local dance company perform the "Stabet Mater". They were all very athletic & very good, made more so because it was all for free. All in all a great afternoon.
Spent some time wandering around the streets, particularly the areas where the markets were. It seem that markets are the same the world over. Lots of stalls selling all manner of stuff, but not a lot of produce.
Next day we traversed the Amazon. A bus to the boat wharf & then a fast boat across the Rio Negro & the Amazon. Now the boat was FAST (say 30mph) but it took 45 minutes to get from one side to the other. It is really hard to appreciate just how wide the rivers are. And the Rio Negro lives up to its name. It IS black esp when compared with the Amazon. Its flow is so strong you have this definitive black/ brown border where the two systems come together but do not merge. Just amazing. We stopped for while at this small village on the other side & had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. The old proprietor was so pleased to see his name in lights that he gave us extra & a free dessert. The food wasn't bad either. We went back across on a ferry - very slow; it took us over two hours to get there. But we could see the Amazon/rio Negro "border" very clearly. And all the huge weed banks around the point where they both come together. I was also amazed to see good sized warships tied up at a wharf juts down stream from our landing. Warships on a river? But we also saw large freighters steaming up river so all things are possible I guess.
Venezuela
Roraima.
Probably my highlight and one of the first among equals of places I had wanted to visit around the world. Arthur Conan Doyles “The Lost World” finally come true.
First things first. We arrived in Santa Elena de Urien (SEdU) by bus and taxi from Manaus via Boa Vista. SEdU was the place where you organize tour. They do not allow independent travel onto Roraima any more after some Israelis snuck up there, got lost and one of them died. We hosteled at ………. And then went to see if we could book a tour. Lots of agents but not a lot of tourists as it was coming up to the wet season. We could have gone as a couple at a vast cost but we wanted to be part of a group. Safety in numbers I guess
We finally got onto this german guy who had the only tour going with a group. Cost us a fortune and I had the dubious pleasure of taking out over one million bolivars from the local bank. Wow, I felt that everyone in town was watching me on the way back and just waiting for me to get off the beaten track so they could accost me. I was glad to get back to his office I can tell you. We had a great group – nine in total including 2 x kiwis (guess who), 2 x poms (Jim and Kath), 2 x swiss (Thomas and Susanna), an Aussie (Wayne) a Dutch lass (Nina) and a Venezuelan. Our guide was Alex and we picked up porters in a small village (Paratipui) at the end of the road (or series of connected potholes!!). We left early next day so for us two nights in SEdU.
Four wheel drive to Paratipui where we picked up our porters. They carried all the food, tents and some of the sleeping gear. The day was fine so the tepuis (Roraima and Kokenan) were perfectly visible. What a sight – these huge sheer rock cliffs rising out of the countryside and perfectly flat on top. They looked as if you could reach out and touch them but in reality they were a hard two days hike away.
First day was 14km where we tented close to a fast running river. There was a small kitchen there where Alex cooked up whilst we all pitched our tents. Nothing too eventful apart from a church built in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t a clue where the people come from to worship; it would have been at least 10km away from the village. The countryside was rolling, no jungles or anything but no great evidence of cultivation. It seemed a little bit like slash and burn. A few cattle around but not much else. And the damned tepui seemed no closer!!
Off early next day. Now we learned a great trick to cross rivers on this trip. No need to get your boots wet. Just take along a spare useless pair of socks and wear those. It worked a treat. The river was pretty quick and wide but we crossed no trouble. Then it was on to base camp. The second river crossing was more of a challenge. It was fed from tepui Kokenan and a high high waterfall. They had painted lines on one rock in the river. Sort of like Plimsoll lines on a boat. If the water level was higher than the top mark you were not supposed to cross. More on that later. But on the way up to Roraima the level was OK and we crossed without too much trouble.
Leah and I went on ahead and arrived at base camp first, by at least half an hour. Time for us to have a swim in the local small swimming hole and also clean up. The only wash I had for the whole trip. Well, until the final day anyway. Being first we had the choice of tent sites and got the best. Usually the best is the site closest to the nearest friendly bushes for those moments when one had to be alone. The toilet facilities were pretty ordinary. If you can call a walk in the bushes a toilet facility.
Still we walked 16km and we were now close to the base of Roraima. Now it loomed over us and when you looked up you really wondered how you were going to get up. It was a sheer cliff.
Day three and the day of the climb to the top. A 4 ½ hour slog. Again an early start and after the aforementioned water hole it WAS straight up. Actually it was a great climb. We trekked through low jungle in the first stage and then got onto the mountain proper. We then traversed across the face of the cliff for quite a while following a rocky path until we got to a sort of waterfall area. Lots of water gushing down from the top. The rocks were very slippery and shingly at this point; it was a bit dangerous, you had to watch your feet and the damned waterfall at the same time. And don’t look too far down as the cliff just disappeared downwards into mist and cloud. Once through the waterfall area the climb wasn’t too bad. You followed a crevice up at an angle. The crevice was a bit like a narrow gully and you couldn’t see the edge of the cliff. It took us about 5 hours to scramble up and all the others were waiting at the top.
What a sight at the top though. We walked to the edge and looked over. You could not see the bottom. There was a huge layer of mist and clouds that we had come through. It was quite surreal. The jungle and farmlands had disappeared. The top of Roraima was like an island in a sea of clouds. The top itself was rocky with lots of little gullies, ravines, banks, flat areas, strange shapes and stranger plants. Our mate Wayne was in heaven. He is a botanist and he and Alex proceeded to tell us about all the plants (mainly small orchids) as we tramped through to our “hotel”. I could not get over being here. It was as I imagined it would be. From a long way away the top looks flat. However once there it is very different. The top is very rough and broken. You have many gullies, quite high points, watercourses and some small sandy beach like areas. The whole scene is rocky, some with really weird shapes, and plants which only survive in crevices and the like. There is a small black frog up there. It has the unusual habit of wrapping itself up in a ball and rolling down hill when escaping from enemies. Could never quite work out who its enemies would be though as we did not see anything else.
The hotel was merely a sandy ledge with an overhanging rock which gave some protection from the rain. The ledge was barely wide enough to take our tents and we slept on a slope which didn’t help. But I think ours was the best position. We had to sort of skirt around all the others to get to the cooking area. Very tricky. And the toilet?? was through a crevice between two large rocks and out onto a flat area. You then had to find a private spot to do your business. Definitely NOT the sort of thing you would want to be doing in the middle of the night. AND Alex forgot the toilet paper so Leah and I had our tissues and a small roll which I was smart enough to bring. I tell you we had to be very sparing in what we used.
Our water was in a small water hole about 50 m away across a lot of large loose rocks. The bath was a pool through the crevice I referred to before and across a flat rocky area. I never used it and I don’t think that Leah did either. Some of our group went exploring whereas we stayed behind and scouted around the immediate vicinity. Now that fact that we all took off to a greater (or lesser extent) gave Alex his opportunity. He found this tarantula skin close by (they shed their skins periodically) and stuck it inside Nina’s tent. I mean the thing looked like a real tarantula. It was huge and hairy, and he never told us that there were spiders on the top. So back we all come for dinner. We all gravitate back to our tents first and then ….. there was this unholy scream. Nina emerged at the speed of light and nearly fell off the side into a bushy swampy area. Her Venezuelan mate wasn’t too far behind I can tell you. We all cried out, “what in gods sake has happened? Is a snake inside the tent? Is there a huge moth or something?” Well when Alex emerged with this spiders skin I nearly went the same way as Nina. It was huge, ugly, hairy, grotesque, life like – everything that a Hitchkock movie would be all about. It looked so alive!! Needless to say there was a considerable reluctance on both Leah’s and my part to be first back into our tent that night.
Anyway we made it through the night and woke up to a reasonable looking day. But that changed when we started on our walk. We aimed to do the Eye on the World, some waterfalls, the desert, the ravine and a climb to the highest point. A full days tramping. It started raining after about half an hour and didn’t stop for most of the day. I loved it but I must have been the only one that did. The Eye was a narrow slot right on the edge of Roam that you looked through to get a view of the neighboring Tepui Kokenan. A fantastic sight but spoilt a little as there was a lot of mist around. (We saw photos later which showed the view down the side and across – awe inspiring. Sheer drops for 1000m). There were a group of waterfalls all together which we had to descend. A bit dangerous as the track was so wet. The falls were getting larger by the minute as the rain came down. The ravine is normally dry and barren. We got there with it in full flood. A really amazing sight. You had this very large waterfall (a bit like the Huka falls) with water then rushing down these series of cascades into the ravine. The rain was feeding the whole system; you could see it running off the rocks straight into this short large river which then went over the falls, down the rapids and into the ravine, then over the edge. The system would disappear as soon as it stopped raining. The desert wasn’t. Normally a flat sandy area but today covered in water. Our climb to the top was fairly easy and a great photo opportunity at the top. Lots of photo’s which woe woe, we no longer have. That is another story. As I said I loved it. The rain made the top just so different and a very exciting place. The rain stopped when we were climbing to the top. So we could see how quickly everything dried out. It is solid rock after all so the water has only a few places to settle.
We started back down the next day. An early start as we had to get back to camp number 1. Nina and her mate must have been fated as they had a live tarantula cross the down hill path just in front of them. We were just ahead so how we missed it I will never know. Probably just as well. However we saw an ant eater like thing (coatamundi) in the base camp which everyone else missed. Our adventures happened when we got to the two rivers. It had started raining on Kokenan and the first river rose by about 2 - 3 feet whilst we were getting from shoes to socks. You could almost see it happening. Remember the white lines. Well the river level went from Mark 2 to 6 in about 5 – 10 minutes. Mark 7 was the no go point. Leah was not keen on crossing with her pack so I did it twice. It was an exercise and much more difficult than when we did it a couple of days ago. Tepui Kokenan had this really high waterfall which was the feeder to this river. Normally only a moderate amount of water but when it rains – well it has to be seen to be believed.
So we were anticipating problems with river 2, right next to our campsite. We were correct. It started pouring down just as we got to the crossing. Alex took Leahs pack (just as well) and we both crossed with minimal wet weather gear on. The rain was just so hard we would have gotten soaking wet while we changed. I think Leah had her green jacket on but I was drenched through and through. We were not out for too long either but it made no difference. I was the proverbial drowned rat. The kitchen never looked so good. Got changed in front of everybody – you can’t stand on privacy in these situations and dry clothes and socks were bliss. Some local had also walked all the way from the village with beers for sale. At reasonable prices as well. So life went from rather ordinary to something a whole heap better in very short order. I can’t remember how we got our tent up. I think that it must have stopped raining later and we erected it then. The tent was huge and unwieldy and hard to erect.
Next day a fast walk out to Paraetepui, a few beers, some photo shots and it was back to Santa Elena. On the way we came across an anteater. Poor thing – Alex went racing after it and drove it back to us in the Van. It was so stressed that it just lay down at one stage. We finally took photos and sent it on its way but not a great thing to do. Also saw villagers in the fields at termite nests. They were collecting the termites as food. The termites had these large swollen abdomens filled with a sort of honey like substance. Good eating apparently after they had been fried. They showed us some – I will take their word for the eating qualities!! Also lots of large butterflies would fly up in front of the van. They were all sorts of shapes and colours. Some quite spectacular.
So that was Roraima. For me a true highlight. Not too many tourists take the trip so it is as yet unspoilt. But numbers are increasing and I can see a day when it becomes corrupted ie hostels, maybe helicopter flights to the top, proper toilets (possibly a good thing), lots of less sympathetic trekkers and more commercialization in general. It will be a sad day when those sorts of things happen. It must not become another Macchu Picchu.
As the old song goes “we are on the road again”. Another One World Round The World ticket this time traveling in an easterly direction. First stop Chile and Mark. We had a great start in Auckland where Lan Chile upgraded us to Business Class. Which we proceeded to take full advantage of. Especially me with the wine. I could see us being on rations on our travels so I drank a bit by way of recognizing my coming period of abstinence.
Now I hear you ask, “why did we take off so soon after our first trip?” Good question and the answer is because we had not a lot of better things to do. We went down to Nelson to see if we could settle there. It did not quite work out as I could not get work and we couldn’t find a property we really liked. As it turned out we saw the place we may settle on but it’s potential did not sink in until we had left NZ. In some ways we left for the wrong reasons ie we did not sort ourselves out in NZ or anywhere else for that matter, and travel became the line of least resistance. But we had many adventures and mishaps and saw marvelous things over the 8 months we were away. So I am glad we went and we made decisions mostly on what we want to do medium and long term whilst away. So that was good as well.
Mark was up north to Caldera with his girlfriend Cecilia when we arrived. So we had a couple of days in Santiago and the Leah took off for the Atacama and San Pedro. She flew to Antofagasta and got buses from there. I had been there last trip and did not want a repeat so stayed in Santiago for a few days. And tried to keep cool in Marks flat. Impossible though. I then got an overnight bus to Copiapo and met all of them there. Great to see Mark again and to meet Cecilia. She was Novia sized and very brown ie tanned. Apparently a sun worshipper.
Mark had purchased a car a Subaru 4WD which wasn’t too bad. It chewed up the oil and I often wish Mark would take a little more interest in vehicles. I sometimes think he believes that cars clean themselves, they run on fresh air and lubrication is something that rhymes with procrastination.
Northern Chile
Bariloche
Sao Paulo
Iguassu
Pantanal
The Pantanal is a huge wet savannah type area on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The Paraguay river sort of runs through one side with lots of smaller tributaries. It was a recommendation from the Lonely Planet so we bussed there after spending time at Iguassu. A long night trip from Iguassu to Campo Grande (CG) with lots of stops. I always have trouble sleeping on buses and it wasn’t particularly comfortable. In other words it wasn’t a luxury coach – sort of a mid level affair, more for the locals.
We arrived in CG mid morning and after a bit of toing and froing we booked a trip to a ranch in the Pantanal. It was just after the wet season so there was still lots of water around which was supposed to make things interesting. The eastern side of the Pantanal was given over to beef production as it was a little drier. We were heading to an area quite close to the Paraguayan border and a town called Corumba.
However before we took off I went with the tour operator to the local police station where we put in a report regarding the stolen camera. God, what a place. I really felt uncomfortable. All these evil looking cops hanging around – they looked as bad as the crims. I am sure that if I had tried to do the business on my own I either
• Would not have gotten anywhere and probably been chucked out, or
• Had to pay a fortune in bribes and the like
So the tour guy was incredibly helpful and I did get money back from the insurance company although I often wonder if they translated the Police Report.
We got a bus to a drop off point in the Pantanal. Another long ride but quite good as it was dead flat and you could sort of see how all these huge beef ranches worked. The ratio of cattle to acreage must be quite low as the herds did not seem so big. But I think that the Pantanal is not that fertile: the ground is wet or soggy a lot of the time. We were picked up in this old Land Rover type thing. It was pretty beaten up but made for a thrilling ride in to the ranch.
Actually the trip was great – we saw an awful lot of fauna on the way in. Mainly as it was evening and all things come out to play. Lots and lots of caiman, a herd of capybaras, wild pigs, foxes, bats and eagles, large lizards and other things that I can’t quite recall at the moment. Our hostess spoke good English – she was a Chilean from Punta Arenas who had spent some time in the South Island. Amazing to meet her in Brazil. She was really nice and helpful and was married to one of the ranch operators.
The trip in got interesting once we turned off the “main” road and traveled on this dirt track into the ranch. There was a whole heap of surface water everywhere and we spent most of the time trying to pick the best way through. A lot of fun. Even better over the last stretch where the water was pretty deep. They started up this old old tractor and hitched the truck to it. The tractor then towed the truck for about 4 – 5 kms to the ranch house. What a wild ride; the truck would slip and slide all over the place. In some parts the water almost came up in to the cabin it was so deep. And all along the way you could see caimen by the side of the path. They were about 5 – 6 feet long and they were just sort of laying there. Hundreds of them.
The ranch comprised of a main central building with kitchens and the like and a couple of bunk houses. No mosquito netting which was a bummer as they (mosquitoes) were everywhere. We had the front section of the bunk house and the others were all in the main part. Two really basic toilets and showers completed the picture.
Next day was exploration. We climbed onto horses and were guided through all the local waterways. A disconcerting start – there was this dead horse lying not far from the ranch houses. We asked “ how did it die?”. We were told, “oh, it got bitten by a frog mouthed snake on the nose. Horses and cattle are always getting killed that way”. Next question, “where are these snakes?”. “Oh, all over the place. In the water, the reeds and the paddocks”. A bit off putting for we gringos who were all perched on these vulnerable looking horses. I mean our legs were dangling in the water a lot of the time. Still off we went.
Actually it was a great ride. We did not see a lot of wildlife – we made so much noise that we would have scared everything away for 100km. But we did see lots of caimen, birds (jabiru storks, eagles, herons, vultures), some wild marsh deer and a few monkeys. At one point we all rode through a small swarm of wild bees. And they were wild. They stung a couple of horses (including Leahs), all the horses started bucking and galloping away and it took a huge effort to get mine back under control. I thought I was a goner. Horse riding is not a skill set that I have so for me anything over a slow walk is bad news. We spent most of the ride in water up to our knees which had us all watching out for these frog mouthed snakes and giant caimen. Even more so when we passed the skeleton of another horse, another victim of you know what!!
What else did we do? A fishing trip in the local river in motorized canoes. We only caught a few fish but it was a great ride. The fish we caught were quite large – I can’t remember what they were called. There were red piranha (the dangerous variety) in the stream but we didn’t see any. I thought that we were going to be stuck there though at the end of the trip. Our guides had parked the truck at the bottom of a small muddy rise. Well cometh the hour they could not drive it back up the slope. I recall all of we men (tourists included) having to get on the back and push like crazy. I think that finally by some minor miracle a local tractor came along and gave us a tow out. We all then went off to a waterhole on the main road and had a swim. Actually the water (a light brown shade) was quite warm and refreshing. We took the place over from a few turtles.
An evening walk was also interesting. Our guide caught a small caiman so we all gathered around, with the women thinking about their next handbag. I felt a bit sorry for the poor creature. It was then off into the bushes to find a sheep that was staggering around and looking pretty sick. Guess what? Yes, another victim of you know what apparently. We saw bats, some owls, a few other birds and a small armadillo (I think). I mainly remember being attacked by a never ending clouds of mosquitoes.
What else happened? Most evenings were spent talking in the dining room area. There was very little light in the bunk room so once you settled there it was sleep time. The showers were an experience. Water straight from the local swamp, I think. I only had one shower and counted the swim as another. Leah much the same. Toilets were dirty and smelly, but what is new. All in all though the Pantanal was a good experience. I would have liked to have seen a bit more wildlife but we probably did better than most. Some tours apparently stay in relative luxury and end up seeing very little.
Our stay at the ranch would not be complete without a description of nature at its …. best? I was busy doing my laundry one morning when I spotted this long skinny snake (not a frog mouth!!) stretched out nearby. On closer (but not too close) investigation I saw that it had latched onto this frog. The snake obviously was not of the poisonous variety – I mean why hang on otherwise. But it was the start of a long battle. The snake had hold just in front of the frogs back leg. The frog tried everything to get free. It tried to hop back to the water, it twisted and turned, it put a leg on the snake and tried to lever itself off, but to no avail. It actually got free twice but each time the snake struck so quickly that the frog had no chance to hop clear. Well the old frog started to get tired and at stage the snake started to work its jaws around towards the frogs mouth. Easy to see that it was going to suffocate the frog by completely covering its mouth and nostrils. Well that led to the last ditch effort by the frog. It puffed itself up to almost double its normal size. It did that twice and escaped both times. But as before that old snake just struck back and reattached itself. As soon as it did so it was back working its way towards the mouth. Well finally the snake got all the breathing things covered up and it was quickly curtains for the frog. The snake then proceeded to swallow the frog whole. Just like you would imagine an anaconda or boa swallowing a large pig or something. A real life David Attenborough experience and I think that Leah has some video of the same.
Our trip out to meet the bus from Corumba was interesting. We traveled out with a young couple from the UK. He proceeded to demonstrate some Brazillian fighting style (Chacoheira or something) at the bus stop. That was a style developed by the African slaves and is based on the use of legs and feet; on the basis that their hands were tied. He was very good, but we saw better in Salvador de Bahia later. So it was back to Campo Grande, overnight in the local hostel in which Leah had a heated debate with the owner (over the tarrif if I remember rightly) which she won. My abiding memory is our meal at a local kilo restaurant. A kilo restaurant is where you are charged by weight. So you select your food, it gets weighed and you then pay on a per kilo basis. Leah negotiated a special price for a vege only meal and I had the works ie meat and al. It was a great experience – the waiter would keep on coming out with all these different types of meat on a spit. You had to point to the bit you wanted and he would cut it off and put it on your plate. So I had different portions of beef, pork, salami and sausages presented for my consideration. Yum – but I probably did not do my iron count much good that night.
Next day it was on a bus to Belo Horizonte (BH) and Minas Gerias, over 24 hours away
Minas Gerias
The bus trip to BH was the usual long long tiring affair. It was broken by a couple of accidents involving trucks. The first was where a truck carting what looked like flour had rolled and the flour had gone everywhere. The truck was a huge mess and the road was covered. Did anyone slow done though? No way – it was onwards and upwards and full throttle. The second truck was carrying a cargo of coal and it was the same story. Huge mess but the local drivers have a “take no prisoners” attitude.
The countryside was pretty, very rural with what looked like large coffee plantations. Towns were generally small and thin on the ground. Weather – hot and steamy outside but within the bus the air con was on full blast. It actually got quite uncomfortable and everyone ended up with blankets. We were warned about Brazillian air con and they were right!!
The city of BH went on for miles. It is Brazils third city after SP and RdJ. A very mean dangerous looking place. I think our route in was through from the east and traversed the lesser ‘urbs. Lots and lots of shanty town type places, all very muddy and dark away from the road. We arrived not long before dark so did not see all things on the way in to the bus station – and probably just as well.
BH’s bus station was not pretty. Walking around late at night to get from one platform to another is NOT a good idea. Lots of sleazy looking characters and dark alleys do not make for a pleasant experience. You have to be particularly careful with your packs etc – you cannot leave them alone anytime. We were trying to get a bus to Ouro Preto the historic gold town in Minas Gerias (MG). It took us some time to sort it out and I never felt safe for one minute. I think Brazillian bus stations are best handled during day light hours and even then things can still be fraught.
Still and all we finally got our bus and were away. We traveled through some of the main streets to get out of town. I know it was late but it seemed that everywhere there were
• Gangs of young tough looking guys hanging around, and
• A veritable army of police, all armed to the teeth
Quite frankly in Brazil you are not sure in the above situation who you would trust at a pinch. Twice I saw the police handcuffing some young guys against a wall. A real dangerous situation – (say) three police would be doing the cuffing whilst two or three would be standing alongside with guns drawn and pointing. I guess that they would not have hesitated to blast away at the least provocation. I was glad to be out of there.
Rio de Janeiro
We stayed at a Hostel International place in Botafoga, one of the better suburbs in RdJ. They advertised a football game in the Maracana Stadium so how could I not go. Maracana; one of the great stadiums around the world. The South American Wembley stadium. Cost me 75 Pesos and Leah at first did not want to come. However some other girls were going and they persuaded her otherwise.
Anyway it was in a small mini bus and off to the ground. Little did we know!! The closer we got the thicker the crowds. And they were in the main young rough looking males. Even at a couple of k’s from the ground you could feel the tension and menace. Before we all piled out of the van the guide gave us the message. “This is a dangerous situation, lots of fights, pickpockets, male macho, huge crush to get in so follow the driver very closely and make sure your valuables are safe”. He wasn’t just blowing smoke. The crowd was huge – the game was a local derby, Flamenco versus Vasco de Gama. Flamenco was the team from the rich side of town and hated by everyone else. So it was all on. We did as we were told and followed closely. There was no crowd control whatsoever. Everybody pushed and shoved to get in but frequently a fight would break out. As soon as that happened the Police on horses would charge straight into the crowd and start beating everyone with their batons. I mean they took no prisoners – it was bang, whack, pummel and no how’s your father or anything. Police on foot sort of tried to lend a hand but they were pretty ineffectual. The crowd was just too densely packed. They would surge and we got caught in the crush. I was pickpocketed then, lost my ticket (subsequently replaced) and about 10 Pesos in cash. I could not have done anything about it. I was hanging on to Leah and a 5 year old with arthritis could have turned me over without a problem. We later learned that a lot of other gringo’s were groped, lost cameras and money in the same crowd. Another really frightening thing were the firecrackers. Or small bombs – at least that’s what they sounded like. Some idiot would throw one of these things into the crowd and wait for the explosion. Incredibly dangerous as it would do serious damage if it landed on you. The noise when it went off – you would think you were in Baghdad. So a real adventure? getting in.
Finally in our seats thinking our troubles were over. But no we had to figure out which part of the ground we were in ie were we at the Flamenco end or the Vasco end? I cocked it up as Flamenco scored a great goal early on and I started to clap. Stopped real quick when it was obvious no one but no one around me was clapping as well. So discretion being the better part of valour I was careful to cheer for Vasco after that. The crowd were a pack of nutters. One half of the ground Flamenco supporters – the other half Vasco. Huge crowd; about 70,000 people and you could have drawn a line between them straight through the halfway line and up both sides. The supporter demarcation was that clearcut. They egged each other on, traded insults and the noise when either one or the other scored was incredible. Smoke bombs, flags, singing, can throwing: it had the lot. I wish that I could recall Vasco’s team song. Vasco were leading 2 – 1 for most of the second half so there was this continuous chant going on. In fact it was quite catchy.
But the football was sublime. The skill level was amazing – I can see what they mean by Brazil skills now – and it was attack, attack all the time. They wanted to score goals, which is the point of the game. And someone told me that these two teams are near the bottom of the Brazillian premier division. Hard to believe that anyone could be that much better. The game ended 2 – 2, two players were sent off and plenty of shots on goal. So a connoisseurs delight and the draw probably satisfied everyone. No major dramas getting out. In other words it wasn’t a bloodbath. We assembled back at our van, had to wait a while for everyone to turn up and also for the traffic to clear. Then off back to the hostel.
What a night!! It had everything. Would I go again? Probably, but I would be more careful and not go in until the crowd had sorted itself out. I thought that the game was just so much better than those I had seen in Europe. The latter games are all about scoring first and then defending furiously for the rest of the game. In Brazil its all about scoring goals… period.
Chapada
The Chapada is a national park area sort of north west of Salvador. We bussed there from Salvador via a place called Cachoiera and Feria de Santana. For stories on those two towns see Salvador de Bahia.
We arrived mid afternoon in Lencois a small village at the south eastern end of the park. Lencois was a great little place. It was originally a centre of the diamond mining but has reverted to an adventure tourist place. Lots of hostels, hotels and backpacker type places. Leah did her usual investigation cum bargaining exercise and we ended up in a very nice place near the bus station. We had our own room overlooking the river valley with en suite bathroom and toilet. Perfect!!
And the breakfasts. Well joy unlimited. All the hostels in Lencois had some sort of competition going to see who could do the best breakfast. And our place was recognized as being one of the best. Leah and I were first down every morning and last to leave. They were continental and buffet so we could eat as much as we liked. So now the menu ……..
We had fruit, breads, cakes, eggs, cereals, sliced hams and salamis and unlimited coffee and tea. The cakes were infinite in their variety and really yummy. What a way to start the day. Breakfast, lunch and the better part of dinner!!
As I said Lencois was small town but doubled as a local centre. Outlying villagers came into town once a week for a market day. Naturally Leah went along and bought/bargained for our fruit and vegetables. So dinner was sorted most days we were there. Markets were quite small but colourful and probably a more representative affair than those in bigger cities.
Lencois was also positioned right alongside a small river. We followed a trail upstream and came to these fantastic cascades. A big rocky area over which the river tumbled. The rocks were in a staircase fashion with plenty of deep holes into which the water disappeared and then reappeared further on down. The locals all did their laundry here and it was quite a sight. Further upstream we came to a waterfall with a bit of a swimming hole. Again very picturesque. The water was a browny colour a bit like those on the Abel Tasman. But quite swimmable.
We took a one day tour around the local highlights. A long drive and then a climb to the top of a local mountain (butte style). Great views in all directions and a few interesting creatures on top. Then a walk in a large cave after a steep descent into a narrow ravine. Quite good. Then the blue cave and swimming hole (a bit ho hum) but I had a short swim. Actually the water was surprisingly cold but it had just come out of an underground lake so no wonder. Finally we walked into a waterfall with a good swimming area. A bit tricky as you had to swim against the current to the bottom of the falls. If you lost it you could have been swept downstream and over another set of falls. I am not a strong swimmer so I stuck close to the side of the river for sure. But once at the base of the falls it was great. You could hang onto a small ledge and let the falls splash all over you. Amazing feeling. Eco Tours organized that one dayer so we used them to arrange a 4day/3night trek to the Vale de Paty (pr. Patchy)
So it was off the next day with our two guides Roger and Vanessa and their dog Brisa. Met a Swedish girl on the way who was staying in Capau (pr Kapong) – she loved it there and did not want to go back to Sweden. More on Capau later.
After a long drive through a small town called Palmeria and then a rough road to Guine, we had a 12km walk into the Vale de Paty. Quite a steep climb to start and then an easy trek across open countryside. We had lunch at the rio Negro, and it was black. Our guides lugged all our food in. The next section of our walk took us to the wall, the edge of the Vale de Paty. Vale means valley in Portuguese. This place was more like a ravine!! We could see some houses away at the bottom of this steep cliff down which we had to descend. Just a few houses though. In the old diamond days the valley had over 1,000 people living there. I think that the diamonds were alluvial so that they had to have small dams and water pumping operations all over the place. It was a pretty costly process apparently. The discovery of the Kimberley mine in South Africa killed these operations really quickly and the people left soon after. I think Roger said that there were only 6 families remaining in the valley now. And all related to each other. No power, no mod cons whatsoever.
Well we climbed down into the foot of the valley and then a hard trek to our base. We got there just after dark which made for an interesting last kilometer. Muddy tracks and the dark don’t go together too well.
Mr and Mrs Wilson were our hosts. Actually I think he was something like Wilson de Silva and she was Dona Maria but they were known as Mr and Mrs Wilson to all the travelers who stayed there. They had two buildings, one a sleepout and the other their kitchen, dining room and a couple of bedrooms (all rooms very small). We had one of them – it was tiny. The ceiling was low and all lighting was with candles.
I loved her kitchen though. It had a large old wood burner, some cupboards and the roof was covered in all these pots. I have never seen so many. There would have been at least a hundred. And all in such a sparkling state of cleanliness. They had a vege garden, banana palms, chooks, pigs and I think also a cow or two. So necessarily self contained. If they wanted anything from civilization they took mules into the local village (or Dona Maria walked – at least 30 km there and back). Their nearest neighbour was two kms away.
Mr and Mrs W. were in their 60’s I would guess. Both as brown and Indian looking as you could imagine. She had no teeth and most of the time she looked pretty grim. As if she carried all the worlds troubles. But when she smiled her whole face lit up. That was a sight to see. And she could cook. We had great meals with much variety – and healthy. Mr W. always seemed to be in a cheerful mode.
Day two involved a trek of around 22km to one of the many very high cachoieras (waterfalls) in the park. We had a slow but definite climb to the top of the valley walls, a long walk to the edge of another valley and thence to the waterfall. It was a sight – I think over 300m high. A straight drop to the bottom. I could not get myself to look over the edge but Leah and Roger did it as if there was nothing to it. They said, “come and look at all these wonderful butterflies”, but I took their word for it. Plenty of water in the falls which made it even more spectacular.
We had lunch by the feeder river, then a swim, then trekked back to Mr and Mrs W for dinner. Long day as we sidetracked to the old chapel and lodge. Well, lodge may be a bit complimentary. It is just a large room where trekkers can sleep. Minimal facilities. The chapel is very small but still in good condition.
Day 3 was a climb to the top of a steep butte which was very close to our accommodation. We looked at the climb and thought it was impossible. It was straight up!! But off we went, Brisa as well. I thought that if a dog can do it so can I. It was steep and a real rock scramble in parts. Roger and Vanessa were very good. They were always telling Leah where to put her feet and helping her on the super steep bits. We got to the top to be confronted by this large cave which went right through from one side to the other. So we had superb views over the north east on one side and to the south west on the other. After we traversed the cave R and V then pointed to this small rocky outcrop and said, “that’s the true summit, why don’t we go there”. Now they were trained rock climbers so it was easy for them. For us …… well a real challenge, but we did it and sat on top of the high point. What a great feeling of achievement. The only downside; I scraped my bum on some sharp rock and ripped my travel pants in a somewhat embarrassing place. Going down was just as hard as going up. We no sooner got back than it was off up the river past a series of waterfalls. There were about three that we past and we stopped at the fourth and largest. There was this big pool at the foot of the falls and we all had a swim. The water was super cold so I didn’t stay in long but it was refreshing. Back home for Mrs Wilsons amazing cooking.
And then full moon. Now that was a sight. The sky was entirely clear and the moon rose over a promontory on one side of the rock that we had just climbed. What a sight. The suns reflection gave it a quite ethereal effect and at 9.30pm it was almost as light as day. As the moon poked up above the rock the sky around it turned blood red. The moon itself was a bright cream colour. Wow, I was gobsmacked. We do not see sights like that in our light ridden environments in Australasia or Europe. Maybe in the outback of Oz but certainly nowhere else. It was worth putting up with the mossies to see. Leah missed it as she was having a shower at the time.
Day 4 was walk out day. We were aiming to get to Capau which was 36km away. And with a climb back up the side of the valley on the way. We said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Wilson. She smiled profusedly – probably happy to see the gringos go – we got some great photos of her and Mr Wilson but they were subsequently lost!! (see Guatemala). The walk out was actually pretty straightforward. We made very good time, so much so that R said we were very fit for our age. Good training for the French camino, I thought. 36km was one of the longest daily walks we had ever done.
Capau was a sleepy little village. It had only about 200 inhabitants but had a growing reputation as an alternative lifestyle type place so a number of gringo’s lived there. We only saw one – the Swedish lass we met on the way in. But the beers were most appreciated I can tell you. R and V left us here. They were going to walk back to Lencois at night time. 16km of tricky and rocky tracks. I thought that they were crazy but we couldn’t change their minds. Leah quite liked the look of Capau and would have stayed a few days. However the bulk of our gear was back in Lencois and we had to get to Brasillia to pick up my Credit Card and passport so we had to move on. A late bus to the next village up the line and then another even later bus to Lencois saw us tumbling into bed at midnight.
Manaus
Manaus is a large city (2.5 million) located on the junction of the Amazon and Rio Negro. People think that it is on the Amazon but it is actually on the north bank of the Rio Negro a little upstream from the confluence.
Manaus has been one of many must do places for me from way back. I remember reading about is as a kid. A rubber town surrounded by impenetrable jungle with all those exotic animals – jaguars, monkeys, snakes, birds, piranhas and the like. And also ferocious Indians with poison tipped darts and healthy appetites. That was the perception at age 8, the reality 50 years later was somewhat different.
The rubber has gone, the place is huge (2.5 million people), the jungle is miles away and there ain’t no animals or Indians. But it looked exotic especially down by the wharves where they had lots of river boats lined up for all points north (Rio Negro), east and west (Amazon) and south (Madiera and many others).
We arrived in Manaus after a Varig flight from Brasilia. The airport is a bit out of town so we bussed in and found a sort of hotel in the centre of town close to the docks. By sort of hotel I mean that it served a number of functions and we seemed to be the only gringos. I would guess that it quadrupled as a bar, a brothel and a nightclub. I can attest to the bar and nightclub but am relying on the weight of circumstantial evidence for the brothel. Anyway it was OK if a bit noisy.
Manaus has seen better days. We spent some time at the docks looking at all these river boats. They were all sorts of shapes & sizes. It would have been easy to climb on board for a trip either up or down river, or along many of the huge tributaries of the Amazon. But accommodation was going to be a really small cabin (probably very hot & stuffy) or a hammock on deck. Most travellers take a cabin, store & lock their gear in it & then sleep in a hammock. But you have to be quick to get one apparently. People claim them ages b4 the boat is due to depart. The hammocks are all close together so you can't have any element of modesty about you!! Not for us (this time anyway). All the docks are floating; necessarily so as the Amazon/Rio Negro can rise by 50 feet during the rainy season.
Manaus has a great Opera House built at the height of the rubber boom. It is in the centre of town on a bit of a hill. We did a tour & it is a most impressive building. Italian marble in the foyer, english oak for some of the wooden fittings, beautiful red carpet in the main theatre & a fantastic intermission area with spectacular chandeliers, & some nice paintings. It is cheap for the locals to attend performances but they do not put on too many these days.
We stayed close by the Opera House to watch a local dance company perform the "Stabet Mater". They were all very athletic & very good, made more so because it was all for free. All in all a great afternoon.
Spent some time wandering around the streets, particularly the areas where the markets were. It seem that markets are the same the world over. Lots of stalls selling all manner of stuff, but not a lot of produce.
Next day we traversed the Amazon. A bus to the boat wharf & then a fast boat across the Rio Negro & the Amazon. Now the boat was FAST (say 30mph) but it took 45 minutes to get from one side to the other. It is really hard to appreciate just how wide the rivers are. And the Rio Negro lives up to its name. It IS black esp when compared with the Amazon. Its flow is so strong you have this definitive black/ brown border where the two systems come together but do not merge. Just amazing. We stopped for while at this small village on the other side & had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. The old proprietor was so pleased to see his name in lights that he gave us extra & a free dessert. The food wasn't bad either. We went back across on a ferry - very slow; it took us over two hours to get there. But we could see the Amazon/rio Negro "border" very clearly. And all the huge weed banks around the point where they both come together. I was also amazed to see good sized warships tied up at a wharf juts down stream from our landing. Warships on a river? But we also saw large freighters steaming up river so all things are possible I guess.
Venezuela
Roraima.
Probably my highlight and one of the first among equals of places I had wanted to visit around the world. Arthur Conan Doyles “The Lost World” finally come true.
First things first. We arrived in Santa Elena de Urien (SEdU) by bus and taxi from Manaus via Boa Vista. SEdU was the place where you organize tour. They do not allow independent travel onto Roraima any more after some Israelis snuck up there, got lost and one of them died. We hosteled at ………. And then went to see if we could book a tour. Lots of agents but not a lot of tourists as it was coming up to the wet season. We could have gone as a couple at a vast cost but we wanted to be part of a group. Safety in numbers I guess
We finally got onto this german guy who had the only tour going with a group. Cost us a fortune and I had the dubious pleasure of taking out over one million bolivars from the local bank. Wow, I felt that everyone in town was watching me on the way back and just waiting for me to get off the beaten track so they could accost me. I was glad to get back to his office I can tell you. We had a great group – nine in total including 2 x kiwis (guess who), 2 x poms (Jim and Kath), 2 x swiss (Thomas and Susanna), an Aussie (Wayne) a Dutch lass (Nina) and a Venezuelan. Our guide was Alex and we picked up porters in a small village (Paratipui) at the end of the road (or series of connected potholes!!). We left early next day so for us two nights in SEdU.
Four wheel drive to Paratipui where we picked up our porters. They carried all the food, tents and some of the sleeping gear. The day was fine so the tepuis (Roraima and Kokenan) were perfectly visible. What a sight – these huge sheer rock cliffs rising out of the countryside and perfectly flat on top. They looked as if you could reach out and touch them but in reality they were a hard two days hike away.
First day was 14km where we tented close to a fast running river. There was a small kitchen there where Alex cooked up whilst we all pitched our tents. Nothing too eventful apart from a church built in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t a clue where the people come from to worship; it would have been at least 10km away from the village. The countryside was rolling, no jungles or anything but no great evidence of cultivation. It seemed a little bit like slash and burn. A few cattle around but not much else. And the damned tepui seemed no closer!!
Off early next day. Now we learned a great trick to cross rivers on this trip. No need to get your boots wet. Just take along a spare useless pair of socks and wear those. It worked a treat. The river was pretty quick and wide but we crossed no trouble. Then it was on to base camp. The second river crossing was more of a challenge. It was fed from tepui Kokenan and a high high waterfall. They had painted lines on one rock in the river. Sort of like Plimsoll lines on a boat. If the water level was higher than the top mark you were not supposed to cross. More on that later. But on the way up to Roraima the level was OK and we crossed without too much trouble.
Leah and I went on ahead and arrived at base camp first, by at least half an hour. Time for us to have a swim in the local small swimming hole and also clean up. The only wash I had for the whole trip. Well, until the final day anyway. Being first we had the choice of tent sites and got the best. Usually the best is the site closest to the nearest friendly bushes for those moments when one had to be alone. The toilet facilities were pretty ordinary. If you can call a walk in the bushes a toilet facility.
Still we walked 16km and we were now close to the base of Roraima. Now it loomed over us and when you looked up you really wondered how you were going to get up. It was a sheer cliff.
Day three and the day of the climb to the top. A 4 ½ hour slog. Again an early start and after the aforementioned water hole it WAS straight up. Actually it was a great climb. We trekked through low jungle in the first stage and then got onto the mountain proper. We then traversed across the face of the cliff for quite a while following a rocky path until we got to a sort of waterfall area. Lots of water gushing down from the top. The rocks were very slippery and shingly at this point; it was a bit dangerous, you had to watch your feet and the damned waterfall at the same time. And don’t look too far down as the cliff just disappeared downwards into mist and cloud. Once through the waterfall area the climb wasn’t too bad. You followed a crevice up at an angle. The crevice was a bit like a narrow gully and you couldn’t see the edge of the cliff. It took us about 5 hours to scramble up and all the others were waiting at the top.
What a sight at the top though. We walked to the edge and looked over. You could not see the bottom. There was a huge layer of mist and clouds that we had come through. It was quite surreal. The jungle and farmlands had disappeared. The top of Roraima was like an island in a sea of clouds. The top itself was rocky with lots of little gullies, ravines, banks, flat areas, strange shapes and stranger plants. Our mate Wayne was in heaven. He is a botanist and he and Alex proceeded to tell us about all the plants (mainly small orchids) as we tramped through to our “hotel”. I could not get over being here. It was as I imagined it would be. From a long way away the top looks flat. However once there it is very different. The top is very rough and broken. You have many gullies, quite high points, watercourses and some small sandy beach like areas. The whole scene is rocky, some with really weird shapes, and plants which only survive in crevices and the like. There is a small black frog up there. It has the unusual habit of wrapping itself up in a ball and rolling down hill when escaping from enemies. Could never quite work out who its enemies would be though as we did not see anything else.
The hotel was merely a sandy ledge with an overhanging rock which gave some protection from the rain. The ledge was barely wide enough to take our tents and we slept on a slope which didn’t help. But I think ours was the best position. We had to sort of skirt around all the others to get to the cooking area. Very tricky. And the toilet?? was through a crevice between two large rocks and out onto a flat area. You then had to find a private spot to do your business. Definitely NOT the sort of thing you would want to be doing in the middle of the night. AND Alex forgot the toilet paper so Leah and I had our tissues and a small roll which I was smart enough to bring. I tell you we had to be very sparing in what we used.
Our water was in a small water hole about 50 m away across a lot of large loose rocks. The bath was a pool through the crevice I referred to before and across a flat rocky area. I never used it and I don’t think that Leah did either. Some of our group went exploring whereas we stayed behind and scouted around the immediate vicinity. Now that fact that we all took off to a greater (or lesser extent) gave Alex his opportunity. He found this tarantula skin close by (they shed their skins periodically) and stuck it inside Nina’s tent. I mean the thing looked like a real tarantula. It was huge and hairy, and he never told us that there were spiders on the top. So back we all come for dinner. We all gravitate back to our tents first and then ….. there was this unholy scream. Nina emerged at the speed of light and nearly fell off the side into a bushy swampy area. Her Venezuelan mate wasn’t too far behind I can tell you. We all cried out, “what in gods sake has happened? Is a snake inside the tent? Is there a huge moth or something?” Well when Alex emerged with this spiders skin I nearly went the same way as Nina. It was huge, ugly, hairy, grotesque, life like – everything that a Hitchkock movie would be all about. It looked so alive!! Needless to say there was a considerable reluctance on both Leah’s and my part to be first back into our tent that night.
Anyway we made it through the night and woke up to a reasonable looking day. But that changed when we started on our walk. We aimed to do the Eye on the World, some waterfalls, the desert, the ravine and a climb to the highest point. A full days tramping. It started raining after about half an hour and didn’t stop for most of the day. I loved it but I must have been the only one that did. The Eye was a narrow slot right on the edge of Roam that you looked through to get a view of the neighboring Tepui Kokenan. A fantastic sight but spoilt a little as there was a lot of mist around. (We saw photos later which showed the view down the side and across – awe inspiring. Sheer drops for 1000m). There were a group of waterfalls all together which we had to descend. A bit dangerous as the track was so wet. The falls were getting larger by the minute as the rain came down. The ravine is normally dry and barren. We got there with it in full flood. A really amazing sight. You had this very large waterfall (a bit like the Huka falls) with water then rushing down these series of cascades into the ravine. The rain was feeding the whole system; you could see it running off the rocks straight into this short large river which then went over the falls, down the rapids and into the ravine, then over the edge. The system would disappear as soon as it stopped raining. The desert wasn’t. Normally a flat sandy area but today covered in water. Our climb to the top was fairly easy and a great photo opportunity at the top. Lots of photo’s which woe woe, we no longer have. That is another story. As I said I loved it. The rain made the top just so different and a very exciting place. The rain stopped when we were climbing to the top. So we could see how quickly everything dried out. It is solid rock after all so the water has only a few places to settle.
We started back down the next day. An early start as we had to get back to camp number 1. Nina and her mate must have been fated as they had a live tarantula cross the down hill path just in front of them. We were just ahead so how we missed it I will never know. Probably just as well. However we saw an ant eater like thing (coatamundi) in the base camp which everyone else missed. Our adventures happened when we got to the two rivers. It had started raining on Kokenan and the first river rose by about 2 - 3 feet whilst we were getting from shoes to socks. You could almost see it happening. Remember the white lines. Well the river level went from Mark 2 to 6 in about 5 – 10 minutes. Mark 7 was the no go point. Leah was not keen on crossing with her pack so I did it twice. It was an exercise and much more difficult than when we did it a couple of days ago. Tepui Kokenan had this really high waterfall which was the feeder to this river. Normally only a moderate amount of water but when it rains – well it has to be seen to be believed.
So we were anticipating problems with river 2, right next to our campsite. We were correct. It started pouring down just as we got to the crossing. Alex took Leahs pack (just as well) and we both crossed with minimal wet weather gear on. The rain was just so hard we would have gotten soaking wet while we changed. I think Leah had her green jacket on but I was drenched through and through. We were not out for too long either but it made no difference. I was the proverbial drowned rat. The kitchen never looked so good. Got changed in front of everybody – you can’t stand on privacy in these situations and dry clothes and socks were bliss. Some local had also walked all the way from the village with beers for sale. At reasonable prices as well. So life went from rather ordinary to something a whole heap better in very short order. I can’t remember how we got our tent up. I think that it must have stopped raining later and we erected it then. The tent was huge and unwieldy and hard to erect.
Next day a fast walk out to Paraetepui, a few beers, some photo shots and it was back to Santa Elena. On the way we came across an anteater. Poor thing – Alex went racing after it and drove it back to us in the Van. It was so stressed that it just lay down at one stage. We finally took photos and sent it on its way but not a great thing to do. Also saw villagers in the fields at termite nests. They were collecting the termites as food. The termites had these large swollen abdomens filled with a sort of honey like substance. Good eating apparently after they had been fried. They showed us some – I will take their word for the eating qualities!! Also lots of large butterflies would fly up in front of the van. They were all sorts of shapes and colours. Some quite spectacular.
So that was Roraima. For me a true highlight. Not too many tourists take the trip so it is as yet unspoilt. But numbers are increasing and I can see a day when it becomes corrupted ie hostels, maybe helicopter flights to the top, proper toilets (possibly a good thing), lots of less sympathetic trekkers and more commercialization in general. It will be a sad day when those sorts of things happen. It must not become another Macchu Picchu.
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