Hop in your time machine!! Punta del Diablo, Uruguay

UPDATE:
Just as I posted my previous monster of a post about my upcoming trip on Korea, I saw that I had a draft from my trip 2 years ago in Uruguay.  I figured I might as well add it.  It doesn't seem finished (I remember the internet was slow and annoying), but here it is just the same.

On New Year's day, we woke up at around 9 to take advantage of free breakfast and pack up our things before checking out of our Montevideo hostel. Since our bus wasn't leaving until 4 in the afternoon, we decided to wander the city a bit more and at some point grab lunch. Little did we know that would be practically impossible!

We decided to walk out towards the beach area in town and sit in a nearby park and read. Once we tired of that, our tummies were grumbling so we figured we'd find a local eatery. It being Jan 1, everything was shut down. There was the odd convenience store that was open, as was the ice cream shop we had been to the previous day, but nothing to get an actual meal - not even McDonald's! After about an hour of walking, we finally found one restaurant open near our hostel. Not surprisingly, it was packed. Once we finally had some food in us, it was time to go to the bus station to take a 4.5 hour trip to our little beach village.

It was a mostly uneventful trip, but I found it to be quite warm. The sun was hot that day! We arrived in town around 8pm and trekked to our hostel on the other side of the quaint fishing town. When we checked in, we were told that guests staying in the suites, which we were, had the open to get their breakfast in bed every morning. And best of all, for FREE! We wandered into town and had a late dinner (or I should say late for us dinner since 10pm is a standard dinner time in South America) and ice cream. As a side note, I have to say, the ice cream down here is pretty good. Not as hard as it is back home, but not as soft as gelato. And it's nice and creamy. Matthew approves too.

We were both pretty exhausted so we went back to our hostel and fell fast asleep as we listened to the waves crashing only a short distance from our room. The next day, I wanted to be lazy and relax the whole day, since that was the intention of going to Punta del Diablo. We read in the hammocks that were on our room balcony (that overlooked the ocean - it was quite lovely!). Later in the afternoon, we finally managed to load up on the sunscreen and head down to the beach. It was quite nice, but the water was a bit too cold for me, so I mostly stayed on my towel. There were good waves and therefore many surfers too.

Iguazu Falls

Since my last post, a New Year has started, numerous international borders have been crossed and many, many photos have been taken. I blame a busy schedule and a lack of reliable internet connections for not having posted in just over a week. To keep this interesting, I will do one post for each stop over the last week so that it breaks it up to a well sized easy read.

So, to pick up where we left off: going to Foz do Iguacu, Brasil.

After a short, direct flight from Rio, we landed in Foz, checked into our hostel and took a bus straight to see the Brazilian side of the famous Iguazu Falls (the spelling of the name of the falls varies based on whether or not you're writing in spanish or portuguese, but I prefer it with a "Z" so the spanish version wins). It was suggested to us from many sources that we needed to see the falls from both the Argentine and the Brazilian side, and that it would take the better part of a day to do the Argentine side, where the Brazilian side would only take a few hours.

A couple of cheap bus rides later, we arrived at the falls. The site was well organized and the lines were efficient. We took one of the trails that runs along the canyon overlooking the falls that leads towards the "main fall": the devil's throat. It was all very spectacular. Part of the trail includes a walkway that goes out into the falls area and you get very soaked from all the water spray. Lots of good photo opportunities as well. I think that day alone, Matthew and I took a good 400 photos! As the park closed at 5, we had just enough time to walk the trail, go up the lookout, and then catch the very crowded bus back to town.

Once we got back to the hostel, we decided to take a dip in the small pool by the outdoor patio and bar. There, we met two other travelling couples, one from South Africa and one from Canada. We spent much of the evening hanging out and chatting with them. Others joined us throughout the night, but due to a poor memory, I don't remember details (sorry, peoples!). Nonetheless, nights like that are one of the main reasons I like to stay at hostels: you just never know when you'll make a new friend!

After a short sleep, we awoke to take another couple of buses and crossed into Argentina to see the falls from their side. The views were nothing short of breath taking. Every time you saw them, you thought "this is nice", and then take a picture. Two steps later, you'd say "wow, this is even nicer" and take another picture. This went on and on. We took another 400 photos! Thank goodness for 4GB memory cards!

After another dip in the pool, and a couple of drinks during happy hour (I think Caipariniha might be Matthew's new favourite drink), we had a late dinner of tasty beef and then hit the hay.

Our third and final day in Foz was spent crossing yet another border, this time to Paraguay. As I hope to see as many countries as I can in my lifetime, I figured this was likely my best opportunity to check this small landlocked country off my list. I had heard mixed things about the possibility of getting a visa at the border or even needing one at all, so Matthew and I decided not to take the chance of being deported from Paraguay and got them in Ottawa before we left for our trip. I had read a great deal that the city and country were unsafe and that we should really watch our things, but luckily we didn't encounter any real problems. I was unsure what to expect from Ciudad del Este since I'd only heard about the shopping there. Well, it turns out, the only things to do in the city is shop. The markets were a bit nuts and crowded - dare I say far more crazy than anything I experienced in South East Asia! You could buy just about anything there, however, that doesn't mean that things were cheaper. In fact, most electronics we looked at were more expensive than they are back home. Needless to say, we only bought a couple of souvenir shirts and my requisite magnets before crossing back into Brazil to do our final Brazilian souvenir shopping and getting an early night's sleep. We had an early morning flight to catch on New Year's eve to visit our next destination: Montevideo, Uruguay.

Things to do in Rio

After our first sleep in Rio, we decided (semi required) to spend the day on the beach since everything else was closed for Christmas. It was quite a lovely day to spend at the beach too! Hot, sunny and not a cloud in the sky (well, ok maybe a few, but they were way off in the distance). We rented a parasol umbrella for only $1.80, and it was the best money I ever spent! I can only imagine how red I would be now without it. We ended up spending about 3 hours on Impanema beach, which according to reports is a better beach than the more famous Copacabana beach. I thought it was really great. The sand was nice and soft and white; the water was warm; there was a nice breeze coming off the water; there was lovely scenery all around us as well as many beautiful people to look at (both of the male and female variety). So, our Christmas 2010 was basically spent lounging on the beach, reading, relaxing and catching some (but not too many) rays.

Once our water supply ran out, we decided to head back to the hostel for a quick shower then go for dinner. After much wandering, we finally settled on a tex-mex place where I had yummy tacos, and Matthew had fish quesadillas. After dinner and a quick nap at the hostel, we wandered over to the rocks that separate Impanema and Copacabana beaches to watch the sunset. It was quite nice and romantic. On our way back to the hostel, Matthew decided he wanted to try his first suco (juice) bar. He got Acai, and I decided to get melon. Then, he was keen on having dessert.

It was at this point that my stomach started to feel a little unwell. At first, we thought it was just being overly dehydrated because we had been out in the sun all day. But, not 10 minutes later, I was sick and lost all the tasty tacos I had eaten for dinner that evening. I decided to call it an early night and thought surely I would be fine in the morning. After all, we have a whole tour arranged to take us around the city and there were still lots more we wanted to on our last day in town! Oh, how naive I was...

Two hours later, the sickness at both ends started, and went every 20 minutes for the next few hours, then every 60 minutes. At 1am, we decided it must surely be food poisoning and asked our friend Google for any advice on how to deal with it. We were informed that it's one of those things that just has to pass on its own in a day or so. For the next full day - ALL of December 26 - I was laid up in bed being ill. Matthew was very good to me, brining me lots of water to help re-hydrate me, re-arranging our tour for the following day, getting the hostel owner to agree to keep the A/C on in the room during the day (I think I might have died were it not for that one!), and brining me a little food when I felt up to eat it. Now, I've never had food poisoning before, but as bad as it is on its own, you can just imagine how bad it is when you're stuck in a dorm room with 7 other guys and have a small shared bathroom down the hall to run to every time you're going to be sick! Needless to say, it was quite miserable. But I am grateful to Matthew for his help and kindness as well as to hostel owner Sylvia for her great hospitality.

Since all of Sunday was a bust for us, we had much ground to cover today. The city tour that we were scheduled to do yesterday was pushed back to today. So, we got to see Sugar Loaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer statue, the famous tile steps (who's name escapes me at the moment) as well as numerous other sights in Rio. We were quite lucky to get to see both the mountain and the statue as for the last couple days they were too heavy in clouds to see anything. Photos to come to Facebook soon (and also perhaps a few here). It was quite a full day and well worth it, I thought. I was able to get a couple of small souvenirs, but I still have yet to get my magnet. Since Impanema does not apparently have any souvenir shops (go figure!), I will have to hope that they have a few to purchase at the airport tomorrow morning before we leave for Iguazu Falls.

So that has been our Rio advenutre. Not at all what I had expected or would have really hoped (being sick anywhere is no fun!), but a good time nonetheless. I am glad to say that I have seen Rio, although, I think next time I will come during their winter season and will bring a bigger water bottle!

Here are my first attempts to post pictures to this blog. Geez, it took me long enough to figure out! Posted are two photos of our time in Chicago. One is of Matthew and I reflected in the Bean, and the other is of me posing with the great view of Chicago in the background while visiting the Hancock tower.

5 and counting!

We finally made it! I am currently writing this post from my bed at the hostel in Rio de Janeiro! I'll come to my first impressions of the city in a moment, but I should recap the extensive travels we went through in order to make it here first.

We departed Ottawa on time and made it into Chicago a half hour before schedule. This meant, we had a full 8 hours before our next flight. So, with our carry on packs, we took the train into Chicago's downtown and did everything I had hoped to do and more! We first went to Millennium park to see "the bean", then walked up the Magnificent Mile all the way to the Hancock Tower where we went up to the observation deck and had a great view and short audio tour of the city. From there, we wandered to Gino's East to try their famous deep dish pizza. My verdict: it was good (lots of gooey cheese), but the crust was dry and had a similar texture to cornmeal. Personally, I think Matthew's pizza is way better! We were able to do all of this and still had oodles of time to take the hour long train ride back to the airport, go through security again to catch our next flight. Overall, a successful and fun layover trip in the windy city! (Which thankfully wasn't that windy or cold - which is especially good since we had minimal winter clothes on!)

After an uneventful flight to Miami (which I mostly slept through), we went out on a hunt for dinner. I have to say, Miami airport fails in the food department. We looked at the terminal map and decided to go to the opposite end of the terminal from where we landed because it was closer to our departure gate and the restaurants looked better to us. But when we finally arrived, all of the advertised restaurants we boarded up and labelled "coming soon", causing us to trek all the way back to our original location in the airport. I was not impressed. As our next flight to Buenos Aires was an over night flight, I decided it would be best if I was extra comfy. So, just before we started boarding, I changed into my pyjama bottoms, charged up my ipod and took a half a sleeping pill. Not 10 minutes after take off, I was sound a sleep and didn't wake up for a solid 6 hours. Half a pill, sleep music, an eye mask and a comfy pillow are really the keys to getting a good night sleep on a plane! The combo has worked well for me so many times!

We had another long layover when we arrived in Buenos Aires, which is good since it limited our stress of having to make a connecting flight. We had a longer than usual interaction with immigration because we weren't technically staying in Argentina and so shouldn't have to pay the $75USD they charge Canadians upon arrival. After explaining our situation to a couple of friendly agents, they stamps our forms and sent us on our way to check in for our flight to Rio. We grabbed lunch, read in uncomfortable chairs and basically chilled for 4 hours. When our plane was finally due to start boarding, there was hardly anyone at the gate. There were only 14 people on the entire flight! The plane was an A330 (a fairly large one) and so they decided to move every one up to business class! It was really great! I highly recommend flying TAM airways!

We arrived in Rio and almost immediately I began to sweat up a storm and my hair started to frizz. It's really humid here, even at 10pm. We went through customs and immigration without any issues, but while waiting for our luggage, I did see a few cases of "When plastic surgery goes bad". It's hard not to stare and wonder why. Anyhow, we then went out to find a cab to take us to our hostel. Had we not arrived at 8pm, we may have taken a cheaper bus alternative, but we thought, given the time and the amount of stuff we have to carry, it would be smarter to just cab it. Our cabbie negotiated a price with us before we left and it was the same price the hostel told me it would likely cost so I was satisfied. We got into the back and I discovered that my seatbelt was broken. Normally, I wouldn't be so concerned, but Brazilian drivers seem a little crazy. Our cabbie was going very fast and many people seem to change lanes quite erratically. I thought it was quite telling when our cab driver blew past a cop car going 20 km over the speed limit and he did nothing. From what I could see of the city itself though, even though it was dark, it looked very nice. Our hostel is in Impanema which is a nicer part of town and not far from one of the best beaches (or so I'm told - will find out for sure in the next day or so!) The cab driver was very helpful and got us to our proper hostel. The hostel itself is nice and the owner, a woman named Silvia, I believe is a bundle of energy. She was quite the hostess when we arrived and made us feel quite welcome. They had prepared a christmas dinner for the guests tonight so we got to enjoy a nice free (if not cold) meal. After our long day, it was much appreciated!

So that is an update on this trip. I would also like to point out that this now is officially the 5th continent that I have been on! Only 2 more to go! But, those are for another time. I think I'll stick to enjoying this one first!

One more sleep!

It's been well over a year since a big travel adventure and I am happy to say that I am now packed and ready to go! Tomorrow Matthew and I will begin our trip which will take us to 4 countries in South America. We will have a very early start to our day (wake up around 3:30am!) and will spend the first 36 hours getting from Ottawa to our first official destination: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will be quite the trek just to get there but I am optimistic that we will have a fun (and hopefully low stress) time. Keep checking back here as I will be bringing my laptop with me to update my blog as we go! Comments are always welcome! :-)