Pai (Thailand) to Luang Prabang (Laos) by road and the slow boat

Putting our luggage on the tuk tuk to go to the boat office

Funny sign in a shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I thought that travelling in Bolivia by bus was a bit of an adventure but I hadn’t reckoned on the roads in northern Thailand and Laos!  Our adventure to Laos started with the 8pm mini-bus from Pai that basically took us almost back to Chiang Mai (where we’d been before Pai) via the road with a million curves up and down mountains.  Even in an AC min-van it was impossible to sleep as our driver drove Michael Schumacher style around each corner (I was sat behind him and I saw him physically lean into every bend!).  We had a couple of toilet/snack stops at some 7/11 in the middle of nowhere before finally arriving at the guest house in Chiang Khong at 3.30am (instead of 2am).  The thought of having to get up again at 7am was not appealing but we needed to do that to cross the border to Laos and catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang.

Slow boat - day 1

We’d booked the bus and boat separately, rather than booking a bus and boat package from Pai.  Turned out this didn’t actually save us any money as planned and worked out exactly the same cost, oh well.  After exiting Thai immigration we crossed the river (which I guess is the Mekong?) to Laos immigration.  We filled in a couple of forms, attached a passport photo, paid our US$35 and had our Laos visas within 15 minutes (a proper full-page sticker visa, not just a stamp).  Then there was lots of hanging around for the boat to leave.  This gave us time to buy sandwiches (for some reason they sell baguette style sandwiches everywhere in Laos – probably for tourists but also a lasting influence from French colonial times) and marvel at the snake whisky on sale – yes, bottle os whisky with a snake and some herbs inside which is supposed to make men strong (whatever??!!).

Of course the boat didn’t actually leave at 10.30 and I think we actually got on our way about 12.30 but not before the boat was overloaded with tourists and local people.  We were all supposed to have allocated seats but this turned out to be a bit of a joke as people who paid the same as us for a seat ended up in the back engine room with one small window, sat on top of their bags and whatever else.  As you might imagine, these were the people who got off the boat after two days saying it was the worst two days of their lives.  We were lucky enough to bag a car seat each (yes, they literally had pairs of car seat placed in rows down each side of the boat that were not even fixed in) and our big bags were stowed in the hull of the boat.

Village by the river

The trip down the Mekong River was pretty amazing, even with all the smog you could make out the hills and mountains as we passed by.  We also passed by lots of small villages and picked up people and their luggage (including their motorbikes) and saw people going about their daily lives in and along the river – washing, fishing, sifting stuff (still don’t know what) and zipping up and down in little motorized boats.  It was obvious that people lived a subsistence life and the villages we passed looked pretty basic in terms of housing and facilities.

 

 

 

 

So how did we pass two days on the boat?  Well it was a combination of sleeping, watching the scenery, eating snacks, drinking beer, chatting with fellow passengers, braiding each others hair (apart from mine), making hemp bracelets and hair wraps (yes, I’ve become a handicraft hippie), taking silly photos, reading, listening to music and generally watching the world go by.

Beautiful sunset - day 1

The boat stopped for the night in Pakbeng where we were enthusiastically greeted by the guest house touts.  We accepted a lift on the back of a truck to one guest house and after a quick look around, agreed to take two twin rooms for 100 baht pp/pn, after all we were only here for one night.  After a delicious Indian meal (although Rebecca was a bit taken aback by the fact her curry had banana in it) we crashed early after not getting much sleep the night before.

Everyone learnt their lesson from the first day and got to the boat much earlier than the 9am departure time to grab a decent seat.  I felt sorry for the guy who’s girlfriend had slept in because they got their late and had to sit in the engine room again for the whole day (the second day is longer with a journey time of about 9 hours).  We got the last seats at the back of the open part of the boat, next to the toilets, engine and snack bar (selling crisps and beer).  I was very glad to have my ear plugs!

We passed another day much the same as the last and with more stunning scenery.  It was made slightly more eventful though when the boat started to leak (or something) and the boat lady (she seemed to be in charge) ran up to the boat driver and we had to turn of the engine and float to the shore and wait a bit.  With the water levels so low at this time of year it was easy to see how the boat could get damaged scraping on the rocks of the river.  Becky said they fixed the problem with a rag and a couple of knives and we were soon on our way again.

Enjoying the best things in life - Beer Laos and seaweed flavoured crisps

We were very grateful to eventually get off the boat in Luang Prabang.  Again we were greeted by a bunch of guest house touts and by luck more than anything we ended up in a nice little guest house about 15 minutes walk to the night market in a nice and quiet part of town.  Obviously we were lucky with our experience because we heard so many bad stories about the boat and the people who paid the same as us and had to sit in the engine room obviously got a bad deal.  That said, it was a great adventure and a wonderful way to reach a new country where the local beer (Beer Laos) is better and cheaper than Chang beer in Thailand.

Anoushka braiding Rebecca's hair

Snake whisky

Maria (with new hair braid), Ivan (from Argentine who we met at Laos immigration) and Anoushka

Beautiful sunset - day 2

Pai

Beautiful view across the river in Pai (you can't really see the mountains because of the smog from the burning of the rice fields)

Typical Pai art

Well, what to say about Pai?  It’s a small town in the Mae Hong Son Province in northern Thailand near the Myanmar (Burma) border.  It’s about 80km north of Chiang Mai and the road has more than 700 curves on it.  The Lonely Planet calls it the Khao San Road of northern Thailand and in terms of the number of backpackers and hippies you can see how it got that name.  Pai is a super chilled out place that is like a mini-paradise (if you are a backpacker or hippie or just want to chill out for a few days).  You can rent a riverside bungalow for £3 a night, there are lots of bars and chilled out places to go at night, cheap and delicious food, and a night street market.  There are also hardly any cars so everyone zips around on mopeds or bicycles, or you can walk around the town centre because it is really small.

We spent the weekend here doing a little bit of sightseeing and chilling out before our epic bus and boat journey to Laos.  As there were four of us (me, Rebecca, Maria (from Peru) and Josephina (from Chile)) going sightseeing so it worked out cheaper to hire a taxi for half a day to visit the Chinese village, temple and waterfall that are all just outside of town.  We thought our driver was quite funny until he asked us if we liked whisky and asked Maria if she wanted to go for a walk around Pai for 10-20 minutes that night.  When he asked how old I was I said that I was an old woman and he replied ‘I know’ – thanks very much!

The Chinese village was a bit odd because it is sort of in the middle of nowhere and kind of looks like a deserted Disney land version of some Chinese style buildings.  We played on the Chinese swing, walked around the castle/temple, ate some Chinese food before heading off to the waterfall.

As it’s the end of the dry season the waterfall was lovely but you could tell the water levels were low.  There were lots of Thai kids and teenagers splashing about and sliding down the rocks into the small pools at the bottom.  I’d read that Thai people are quite modest and go swimming in their clothes, and it’s true because everyone was swimming in shorts and t-shirts.  It was so refreshing to swim in the waterfall as it was such a hot day.  Of course I managed to slip on a slippery rock on the way out and fell flat on my bum and got my clothes all wet!

The castle/temple at the Chinese village

Crazy swing at the Chinese village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ate lots of super yummy food including new types of curry, more fruit shakes, more roti (this time banana, cheese slice and nutella – yum!) and also tried traditional Thai iced coffee.    We had to take a photograph of the ingredients because it’s super delicious despite the inclusion of margarine!

At the waterfall (me and Rebecca doing our best to look as super-white as possible next to the South American chicas)

We also did a lot of hanging out at our riverside bungalow and in the bamboo common area.  Josephina was a newly trained yoga teacher so I took my first yoga class in Spanish on the riverbank – bliss!  Our other yoga spot was on the grass under the papaya tree next to our bungalow.

The night market had a lot of hand-made products by local artists and designers, and there’s definitely a ‘Pai aesthetic’ to the products and souvenirs on sale.  We met an artist/writer called Moon Tree who made the most beautiful hand illustrated postcards and sold them on a blanket at the side of the road.

On our last day we went to a swimming pool/bar to hang out (some more) and escape the heat for a bit before taking the evening bus to the border with Laos.

Recipe for traditional Thai iced coffee

Taking silly photos...

Funny beauty salon

Me and Anoushka on the rickety bride across the river

 

 

Chiang Mai

The best fruit salad and fruit smoothies in Chiang Mai

We all stayed at Little Bird Guesthouse in Chiang Mai, which was super chilled and cheap.  The bonus was that it was right next to a little food market that had several fruit smoothie and iced coffee stalls.  There was one very sweet lady that sold the best fruit salad with muesli and yoghurt and my favourite iced coffee made with fresh coconut milk and a dash of cinnamon.  It was also opposite a laundry service so you (and everyone else and their dog) could see your clothes and undies hanging out to dry.

On our first day me and Becky headed off to do a walking trail and visit the main temples but we only got as far as the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Centre down the road.  The museum gave a good overview of the history of Chiang Mai but all of the interactives didn’t work and there were some dodgy mannequins in the street scene you could walk through.  Just before leaving the museum we discovered they had a free Thai painting class where you could learn how to paint flowers, birds and butterflies that are typically painted in umbrellas and fans.  Despite 3 years at art school I have to say my efforts looked like a five-year old’s but my butterfly wasn’t too bad.  Becky’s paintings were much better so maybe that’s why she’s a silversmith and I work in a museum with other people’s artistic creations!  It was super relaxing and a lot of fun though and the lovely Thai teacher had a little girl who also painted with us.  We also met an Irish girl there who invited us to a St Patrick’s Day party at the Irish bar near our hostel.

Painting class

My painting efforts

I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated St Patrick’s Day before but it seemed like a fun thing to do when you’re not in your own country and we also met some great people.  After the Irish bar we gate crashed the end of karaoke at bar Loco Elvis and me and Maria belted out a bad version of Bohemian Rhapsody with some random people before we headed back to the hostel.

The next day we managed to visit the main temples in Chiang Mai and were lucky enough to see some apprentice monks chanting and also go to a Monk Chat.  Monk Chats have been set up at some temples in Thailand (mainly Bangkok and Chiang Mai) so that foreigners can ask the monks questions about their daily routines, Buddhism etc. and the monks get to practice speaking English, so it’s meant to be something of an exchange.  The monk we spoke to was a bit too cool for school but we did find out that you can be a monk for any length of time (not sure if this is actually true – could you be a monk for a couple of days?).  Another monk also started talking to us but he was a bit mad (talking about snakes) and a bit creepy, so we decided to leave.  Only afterwards did we think of more questions, such as ‘can monks have mobile phones?’ (I saw one visiting a temple with his iPhone 4!!!).

The same temple had a garden filled with Buddhist(?) quotes fixed to trees.  Me and Rebecca got our fill of advice and took loads of photos.

Novice monks at the temple

 

Lots of advice...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the women’s prison (twice) for a traditional Thai massage.  For anyone that hasn’t had a Thai massage you have the massage fully clothed (in nice Thai cotton clothes) and it’s kind of a mix between lazy man’s yoga and acupressure.  It can also hurt a bit but you feel amazing after all that stretching.  When I say we went to the prison, we actually went to the prison shop across the road where they have a space for massage as part of the prisoner’s occupational training programme.  You can see Karl Pilkington’s visit to the women’s prison here and find out more about the reasons behind the programme here.

Riding elephants

Walking in the National Park

We also did two days of trekking in the Doi Inthanon National Park close to Chiang Mai with Maria (from Peru), a couple from Canada, three girls from Argentina, a couple and a guy from France, a guy from Israel and a French woman who lived in London.  Our first stop was the elephant camp where we took a ride on an elephant.  Rebecca and I had serious reservations about this beforehand and quickly knew once we got on the elephant that we were not too happy about how the elephants were treated and vowed not to do any more animal related activities on this holiday.  In the afternoon we trekked to a waterfall where we could swim and then on to our village camp for the night.  The landscape of the national park is quite hilly and the landscape very dry because we are in Thailand at the end of the dry season.  We also saw where the fields and land has been burnt, supposedly to regenerate the land for new crops.  In reality though the burning of the land creates smoke and pollution that means, at this time of year, the sky around Chiang Mai and northern Thailand is always cloudy and you can really feel the pollution in the air.

We stayed in lovely traditional wooden hut next to a hillside village for the night.  The guides organised for the children from the village to come and sing songs for us around a camp fire and in exchange we each had to sing a song from our country.  Our combined effort with the Canadian couple was pretty poor (we sang In The Jungle) but we had fun.

The second day of our trek took us back through the hills of the national park to another waterfall for swimming before we went bamboo rafting.  This was similar in style to the rafting I did in Madidi National Park in Bolivia and of course we all fell in the river at one point.  I got to have another go at navigating and even managed to steer us safely through some small rapids.  As we got to the end of the river we passed lots of riverside bamboo huts, which were full of Thai people eating and drinking around small tables.  There was even a basket pulley system in place for sending food and beer across the river.  The Thai children had a lot of fun splashing water at us as we passed by.

Wat Doi Suthep

After we got back to Chiang Mai we headed out for some drinks at the bicycle cocktail bar (where Becky sat chatting to a lady-boy without realising, much to our amusement) before going on to some other bars to dance the night away to international backpacker hits such as Danza Kuduro and Super Bass.

Of course, we also filled our days eating yummy Thai street food, drinking fruit smoothies and iced coffees and visiting the day and night markets.  After some shopping I had to post a box home, which was much less eventful that posting anything from South America because the post office was calm and organised (and run by a lady-boy).

Once we’d had our fill in Chiang Mai we decided to head to Pai, which we’d heard was a nice chill-out place and was sort of on our route further north to the border with Laos.  We took a small air-conditioned mini bus that took us up and over the super windy and hilly roads.  I don’t get travel sick and even I was feeling a bit rough by the time we got out of the bus 4 hours later in Pai.

Cute little garden at Wat Doi Suthep

Unusual silver temple with gold interior (women were not allowed in)

Me airing my once dirty but now clean laundry in public

 

Bangkok (Thailand)

First street food - green papaya salad - yummy and spicy!

After my flight was delayed leaving Sydney I ended up arriving in Bangkok in the early hours of the morning.  Fortunately, getting a taxi wasn’t any hassle (or a rip-off) and I got to the Smile Society hostel ok (what a cute name for a hostel).

Rebecca also arrived without any trouble (and with a little help from a lovely Thai person) and it was so great to see a friendly and familiar face again.  I was immediately laughing at all of Rebecca’s jokes and sarcastic comments and I could tell we were going to have a fun time in Thailand!

Coolest bag ever!

The same day we met Anoushka (from Jamaica) in the same dorm room and all headed out to the weekend market.  Going shopping on the first day of the trip probably wasn’t the smartest idea but the market was a lot of fun!  It was HUGE sold everything but mainly clothes and accessories for ridiculously cheap prices.  I dived straight into eating some street food to test my stomach of steel and had a green papaya salad and vegetable spring rolls, later washed down with a fresh coconut – yum!  For dessert we shared a typical roti, which is a pancake with egg and banana in the middle with condensed milk poured over the top – also yum!

First fresh coconut with Anoushka and Becky

After the market we found a little street bar and enjoyed some beers and good music (mainly Belle & Sebastian) and made friends with a Thai lady called Jenny and her friend Wai.  To get out of the bar we had to climb over the market gates and then we went to the Saxophone Bar to see some live blues and jazz music.  It was a pretty fun and crazy start to our trip and it was great to meet some lovely Thai people, even though Jenny told us not to trust Thai people every five minutes (s0 why we trusted her is anyone’s guess?!).

We spent the next few days in Bangkok visiting temples, the grand palace, the famous Kao San road, getting a foot massage, going to more markets and taking a cooking class.

Me and Becky spent half a day at May Kaidee Vegetarian Cooking School learning how to make various typical Thai dishes.  First we went to the market to buy ingredients, to taste some street food and to see how the rice paper rolls are made.  Our cooking teacher Ms Om was super enthusiastic and energetic so we had a lot of fun singing, dancing and taking photos while we were cooking and eating.  The food was super delicious and I realised that the right, fresh ingredients are the key because the actual cooking part was quick and easy for each dish.

Miss On our cookery teacher

Cooking Thai food with Miss On

Me and Becky also went to Monk Bowl Village to see traditional alms bowls for the temples being made.  These bowls are typically machine spun these days and only a few families in this neighbourhood in Bangkok are making them by hand.  It was a treat to see the bowls being made but the families live in relative poverty, which is why the Bangkok municipality is trying to encourage tourists to visit this area and buy the handmade bowls.  We bought a couple of bowls but not after much hilarity when I tried to explain that I needed to use a toilet to get my money to pay (my money was in my money belt under my dress, so I couldn’t get to it without lifting up my dress to waist height).  They thought I needed to go to an ATM so a lady got some keys and indicated for me to hop on the back of the scooter with her (no helmet, of course) and it was only after we drove off and I asked again about the toilet that she realised the misunderstanding.  Of course, everyone thought this was hilarious, me included, so we all had a good laugh and I got to use the toilet inside someone’s home.

We visited a various temples and the grand palace and I’ve never seen so much gold, gold leaf and gold paint in my entire life!  At Wat Pho we made a donation and wrote a message on a tile that would be later placed on the new roof of the temple.  We also saw loads of buddhas (mainly gold but also some emerald) and enjoyed the peace and quiet as we sat in the main temple spaces, which are all still active temples today.

The bar in the market

Our next stop was Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand so we decided to catch the overnight train.  We  managed to get beds in the second class sleeper carriage (no air-con but fans and windows that opened).  It might have been the pale green interior but Becky decided that the train looked like a prison train and took the bottom bunk with the window and I got the top bunk.  I’ve never taken a sleeper train before but this one was pretty cool, I thought.  Miraculously the train left 5 minutes early but this gave us false hope because we arrived the next day in Chiang Mai about 3.5 hours later than schedule.  It didn’t matter though because we passed the time enjoying the view as the train passed through lush green scenery and little towns.

You can see more photos on my Flickr page here.

Street vendors on Kao San Road

Tuk tuk driver - for once not asking 'where you want to go?'

Giant reclining buddha

Lots of beautiful gold buddhas

Grand Palace Bangkok

Australia (Sydney and Melbourne)

Being in Australia was kind of my holiday from the holiday and because of that I did mainly ‘normal’ things (and having a routine) like going to yoga, cooking, hanging out with friends, going to gigs rather than sightseeing.  I also drank a LOT of coffee…

So I decide that I’ll do an Australia page for my blog that will mainly be recommendations of places to eat or drink in Melbourne plus a post about our Great Ocean Road road trip in the camper van.

That means I can then get on with writing about and posting picture of my adventures in South East Asia, which might be fractionally more interesting than where I drank coffee (though there will be no shortage of food and drink photos from Sout East Asia…).

Here’s Jackie’s blog entry for Cordoba with some lovely pictures of the Jesuit Block that I didn’t visit, and also some nicer photos (and info) about Alta Gracia…

Jackie's mid life crisis gap year

I took another very comfortable and well-catered night bus from Buenos Aires to Cordoba. When dinner was served, I declined the offered Coca Cola (on the grounds that to me it tastes like the Devil’s cough medicine) and was offered red wine instead – result! The journey was shorter than I expected and we arrived at 6am, which seemed a bit too early to be turning up at my booked hostel. So I dozed in the bus station for a couple of hours only to find that there was an hour-long queue for a taxi when I finally decided to make my move.

The Jesuit block is a group of late seventeenth century buildings comprising the church and brothers’ accommodation plus the teaching buildings that were central to the Jesuit’s mission – now a school and university. The church has terrific a Baroque pulpit and altar and a semi-circular vaulted wooden roof that…

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Mi Buenos Aires Querido (second time)

Taking photos of the zoo through the fence

After my adventures with nature it was back to the big city of Buenos Aires.  Adriana was once again my excellent host (Mario was working in Mexico) and Mariale (Mario’s sister) was back from Venezuela.

I also met up with David (from London) and his girlfriend Adriana (from Buenos Aires).  We went to the botanical gardens, where they had a joint exhibition project with Buenos Aires and Maracaibo about green spaces (even though I’ve never really seen a green space in Maracaibo) and walked around the city.  We also went to see the amazing exhibition by Carlos Cruz-Diez (the most well-known Venezuelan visual artist, think Latin Bridget Riley and you get the idea) at MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano).  I managed to get in free with my ICOM card and I loved the museum.  Their permanent collection and temporary exhibitions programme are amazing, and its all housed in a beautiful contemporary building.

Roof top pool party in the rain

Hanging out in the plaza (Luiza, Wil and the French guys)

I tried to go to about four other museums but they were all closed for the holidays and re-opening in February so the only other place I made it to was the National Museum of Decorative Arts, which I enjoyed much more than I thought I would, especially their temporary exhibition of little Buddhas from South East Asia.

Someone in the hostel in Salta had joked with me that to have a good time in Buenos Aires all I needed to do was make friends with someone with a roof-top pool.  At the time I laughed hard about this but I laughed even harder when I went to a party with Mariale and her friends in an apartment with a roof top pool!!  Luiza (from Brazil and a friend of Mariale’s) was having a birthday party and it was super international with hardly anyone from.  Eventually the party got too loud so we all had to leave and we went to a club (that looked like an art/punk squat) where there was random karaoke.  To help celebrate Luiza’s birthday we belted out a few numbers before the club closed in the morning and then we went to the nearby plaza to hang out some more.  Seemed like everyone in Buenos Aires had the same idea as we met a couple of French travellers and a couple of punk guys from Uruguay. 

By chance I was still in Buenos Aires for Chinese New Year so me and Adriana went to check out the action in China town.  We had super yummy Chinese food (I was over the moon to get tofu) and Adriana bought a Chinese hat for Mario (not quite sure why he wanted one, or when he’ll wear it, but I’d like to see the photos!).  China town was packed with people watching street performances and dragon parades and there was a really fun atmosphere.

I was so sad to South America but at the same time I was super excited about seeing all of my great friends in Sydney and Melbourne again!

Karaoke time!

I got a lolipop with this face on it. I think he is an Argentine politician?

Yummy food to celebrate Chinese New Year

Mercedes and Iberos del Ibera (Argentina)

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) this shop in Mercedes selling my favourite Latin American chocolate was closed

On the way into Mercedes we passed the shrine to Gauchito Gil who is a bit of an Argentine Robin Hood and there are red road-side shrines to him all over Argentina.  The one near Mercedes is at the place where he died though.  He now is some kind of patron saint to transport so I bought a couple of red ribbons to tie on my bicycle and give to friends for their bicycles.

I stayed at a lovely little old guest house, and I was the only guest.  The owner was away so I was looked after by her friend, who was also my guide for the trip to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini and the Esteros del Ibera.

Crossing the rickety bridge to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

The lake in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

After enjoying a lovely breakfast surrounded by antiques in the shop attached to the guest house, we set off in the four by four, picking up a couple of teenagers along the way who were going to help with some work at the guest house that the owner had in the Pellegrini.  It was a long and bumpy ride but we all had a lot of fun sharing the mate and talking along the way.  Although I was a tourist I didn’t feel like I was on a tour as it was all quite casual and I got to chat to everyone on the way.

A boat trip to see wildlife is the main draw at the Esteros.  Unfortunately we arrived late morning and the boats tend to go out very early morning or late afternoon.  As I’d decided just to do a day trip it was looking like I might not get to go on a boat ride after all.  But this is South America and anything is possible!  After driving around the small town and asking a few of his friends when a boat might be going out again, my guide eventually found a boat going that I could join – result!

Considering it wasn’t the best time of day for spotting wildlife we saw loads of caiman, capybara, two wild deer, and lots of beautiful birds.  The scenery was spectacular and so tranquil.  After the boat ride I had my lunch at the picnic benches at the campsite where there was the most beautiful view over the Esteros.  I made my way back to the little guest house, in the scorching heat, for a siesta.  I’m terrible with siestas because left to my own devices I would sleep for four hours, or more!  This time I managed a couple of hours and later found out that the boys and my guide had been down to the river for a swim as they didn’t want to come into the house while I was sleeping.  I felt even worse when I got to chill out on the porch for a few more hours while the boys did more work cutting the grass.  We all shared some ice-cold mate (and prepared some for the journey) before setting off for Mercedes again.

On the way we stopped to look around the visitor center and walk along the howler monkey walk (we didn’t see any…) and then headed along the rough and bumpy road back to Mercedes.

Can you see the wild deer?

One of many beautiful birds

Once again the scenery along the way was spectacular and sharing cold mate was the icing on the cake.  We even saw gauchos (cowboys) moving their herds and when the boys spotted an armadillo at the side of the road we stopped to have a look.  I wasn’t quite expecting that they would jump out of the jeep to go and catch the armadillo!

Unfortunately, I can’t remember all the details, nor find info in English on the internet, about the American guy that owns large parts of the Esteros de Ibera, which has been quite controversial.   He would say it is to protect the landscape but local people feel the land is being kept from them and for profit.  Obviously its way more complicated than this (I wish my memory didn’t fail me so much) but my guide did also explain that pregnant women from Pellegrini are taken to Mercedes to have their babies so that they are no born in Pellegrini and therefore have land rights.  In less than 20 years there will probably be no more ‘native’ people from Pellegrini and the government could take the land and do with it as it pleases, forcing residents out to make way for developing tourism.

We got back to Mercedes in the evening so I could catch the overnight bus to Buenos Aires.  Finally, on my last bus trip in South America, I took a bus that provided a pillow and blanket and had a steward on board who brought me dinner when I got on the bus and breakfast before I got off.  Now I knew what I’d been missing (but also what the price tag was)!

Caiman 

What a view whilst eating lunch

Protest bannar in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini (translation: we're never going to forget that eco-tourism and a yankie pirate can perform their business in the Ibera, the inhabitants of Pellegrini we suffer the violent development of the lake and loose our right of access)

Protest banner in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

The guest house in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

Teenage boy with an armadillo

Gaucho with his herd

Capybara with a bird on its back

Corrientes (Argentina)

Architecture in Corrientes

I still didn’t feel like doing a massive long bus journey of more than 20 hours so I decided to stop off in Corrientes.  It sounded like a nice town and is known for its regional handicrafts.

When I got on the bus in San Vicente I realised that I had left my bit of guide-book and map of Corrientes at the cafe where I had dinner – doh!  I got a town map at the bus station then managed to find a taxi to take me to the square where I knew the hostel was but then I couldn’t find the actual door because I didn’t know the number – doh again!  So I took me and my rucksack off to the tourist information and they were super helpful.  They rang the hostel for me to check the lady was there to let me in and explained which street number (and door) it was.  They also gave me loads of useful information about Corrientes and how to visit the natural reserve of Esteros del Ibera.

I stayed one night in a lovely little hostel (and the only hostel in Corrientes with a dorm room) where I shared a room with a woman from Buenos Aires who was visiting her family.  Why she wasn’t staying with them, I never really found out, and we seemed to keep different hours so I never really saw her.  The lady that ran the hostel was lovely – she thought it was great that I spoke Spanish but thought I was completely mad for travelling on my own.

Woodcarver in Corrientes

Funny little car I saw in Corrientes

Corrientes has some lovely turn of the 20th century colonial architecture as well as a promenade along the river (popular for an evening stroll eating ice-cream) and a modern city centre.  I started off at the Museo de Artesanias Tradicionales Folcloricas, where once again there was an enthusiastic guide wanting to have a good old chat and make friends with a gringa.  I politely declined the offer of a tour of the town on his motorbike (I really just wasn’t in the mood for random enthusiasm after the night bus, and the guy was also a little bit strange).  The museum was small but had an interesting selection of handicrafts on loan from a museum in Buenos Aires.  As a museum employee from London I was introduced to the director of the museum (who was also enthusiastic but not weird) and she told me about the museum, explained some of the objects and introduced me to some of the master craftspeople who have studios in the courtyard of the museum.  Unfortunately it was still the holiday period so there was not many craftspeople working, only one wood carving student and her master teacher.  I bought a couple of souvenirs from the shop and headed off to find some lunch.

Delicious empanadas in Corrientes

Finding vegetarian food in Argentina outside of the bigger cities is a nightmare with the only options being not very good pizza and pasta, which I was already sick of.  Fortunately I came across an empanada place that had a great selection of vegetarian empanadas (baked or fried) and although not the healthiest meal it was nice to have something sort of resembling local food.

I also had some life admin to do in Corrientes, such as getting my washing done and sending stuff home (because I knew I couldn’t take .  Getting my clothes washed was easy but sending a parcel home was something of a challenge.  I went to the post office with my bag of bits to post home and there the challenge began.  In Argentina to send a box abroad that weighs more than 2kg you have to take it to a separate customs office for inspection (on the other side of town that is only open in the mornings Mon – Fri).  I decided to split the stuff into two boxes until I found out the cost!  And then I tried to pay with a card and the post office only accepts cash, so off I went to the cash machine (and to get some newspaper to pad out the box) before returning to post the actual box of stuff.  Oh, and did I mention that the staff in the post office were generally rude and unhelpful?!  All that said, the box did arrive at my mum and dad’s house in less than two weeks, so I shouldn’t complain.

Beautiful sunset in Corrientes

People on the beach next to an industrial plant in Corrientes

After a siesta I went and got ice-cream from Grido (can you see the recurring theme here?) and headed down to the promenade to take a stroll and watch the sun go down.  The sunset was really beautiful, brilliantly red and orange, and it was a good spot for people watching.

The next morning I was up early to get a bus to Mercedes to visit Esteros del Ibera.

Misiones (Argentina)

View from El Soberbio (Argentina) to Brazil on the other side of the river

Between Iguazu and going back to Buenos Aires is a little bit of a blur because I had to pick up the travelling pace somewhat and get a bit of a move on.  My flight from Buenos Aires to Sydney was booked for the 24 January and I didn’t want to change it again because I needed a deadline.  It would have been so easy to stay longer in Argentina, and especially Buenos Aires, but I knew if I stayed longer I’d have to cut short my stay in Australia and my travels in South East Asia and India.

Mocona Falls (difficult to photograph because they are so long and we were so close my camera would've got soaked)

Part of Mocona Falls

View as we were driving through the national park

After Iguazu Falls were so amazing, and after spending most of my time in Argentina in the cities, I decided that I needed more nature and waterfalls.  I’d read an article in the Guardian at Xmas about places to visit around Iguazu and I decided that I’d like to visit Mocona Falls in Misiones Province and do another short stay in the jungle/rainforest.  There also wasn’t much information about this part of Argentina in my guide-book, so I liked the idea of getting off the travellers trail for a few days.

I’d arranged to stay at Don Enrique Eco-Lodge for three nights but to save money I opted to travel there by public transport as far as possible.  I got a bus from Puerto Iguazu to San Vicente and then I was collected by car for the drive to Don Enrique via Mocona Falls.  It was a real treat to travel by car and the guy who collected me had his own tourist agency in El Soberbio and knew a lot about the area.

First stop was Mocona Falls on the Uruguay River because once you are at Don Enrique it’s too remote to leave unless you really need to.  I joined a group of Argentinian girls and a couple of Brazilian tourists for the boat ride to see the falls.  The boat ride was amazing and we got really close to the falls.  The river has a submerged canyon beneath the water but this only becomes visible at Mocona Falls where the water runs over the rim of the canyon.  Mocona Falls are the opposite of Iguzau Falls in that they are long and thin and only a few metres high.  If it rains too much then the water level rises enough that you can’t see the falls.  Given the amount of rain I’d experienced in the past few days, I felt lucky to be able to visit them.

I then went on a self-guided jungle walk in the Parque Nacional Mocona.  I didn’t see any animals but I had the place to myself to enjoy the scenery and nature.  After driving back through the National Park, drinking mate on the way, swapping the car for a 4×4 jeep and stopping to take photos on the way, we headed down the dirt road to Don Enrique and I understood why we needed the 4×4 and why it wasn’t possible to reach the lodge by public transport.  I’ve never been on such a rough and bumpy road, especially in the pitch black dark.  I was very glad to eventually reach the lodge and be shown to the most beautiful wooden cabin I will probably ever have the opportunity to stay in.  I hadn’t realised quite how luxurious the lodge would be (though the price should have been an indicator) so I made the most of the next few days relaxing, reading, walking, swimming and taking pictures of the beautiful surroundings.  There are only three cabins at Don Enrique – I was staying on one and then two Argentine families from Buenos Aires in the others.  Luckily I spoke enough Spanish to keep up with the conversations and everyone was lovely in explaining things and including me in the meal time discussions.  A nice touch at Don Enrique is that they serve amazing food around a communal table each meal time, so you get to spend time with the other guests.  For me it was fascinating to spend time with two Argentine families, who each had two children (one teenage and one younger) to find out more about typical life in Argentina.  As always, I think they thought I was a bit mad to be travelling on my own.

View as we were driving through the national park

My walking guide and my cabin

The walks were guided by locals and fairly strenuous because of the heat and all the hills.  My efforts were rewarded though with spectacular views, lush green forests and beautiful waterfalls.  I’ve also never seen so many butterflies in my whole life, and there were always birds singing in the trees.  In between walks I lounged on the deck of my cabin next to the river or went for a swim.

During my stay I also had the opportunity to visit a Guarani community.  Many of these local indigenous communities are closed to visitors but some have opened up to visitors as a way to earn some income and sell their traditional crafts directly to visitors.  I am always in two minds about these types of visits as they can feel very voyeuristic and intrusive (and you often wonder who is benefitting) but after talking to the owners of Don Enrique (who work closely with the local communities) and reading a copy of a letter that the Guarani communities wrote to the government about their situation, I felt that I could learn more about the Guarani people and their current situation by making a visit.  The letter I read was one of the most sincere and heartfelt letters I have read and in it the Guarani communities asked that they be able to lead their traditional life and for their land and the forest to be protected because it meant everything to them and their way of life.

After another ride on bumpy roads through amazing scenery in the 4×4 we arrived at the Guarani community.  I was met by the cacique (head of the community) who totally looked like a South American crusty punk (shaved hair around the top with a long bit at the bag tied into a pony tail, old trousers and t-shirt (minus the punk patches) and bare feet).  It was impossible to tell how old he was because he had a young face but there was something about him you could tell that he was older.  The community was made up of some simple mud brick houses with thatched roof, including one temple, and an open shelter area used as a kitchen/communal area.  There were several kids and woman about but they kept their distance.  I did feel slightly uncomfortable at this stage as it was clear that there wouldn’t be any opportunity to talk to/interact with the women and children, and it was very obvious that they lived a simple life as subsistence farmers.  Although I was told I could take photos during my visit, I didn’t feel comfortable about doing this, so only took pictures of the landscape.

One of many beautiful spots on the walks I did

A type of tree (sliced) at the Guarani community, though it's too fragile to use to make crafts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cacique took me on a tour and explained in Spanish (with Guarani translations for the plants and trees) about their way of life, the forest and how the plants and tress could be used for foods and medicines.  They also had some examples of traditional traps set up, with different ones designed to catch different types of animals – they looked very effective (if a little brutal).  I also got to see the different types of crops grown by the community (enough to live on but not to sell) including yuca, corn etc.  At the end I had the opportunity to buy some crafts made by the village and got myself a necklace and woven bowl.  It was nice to know that the money went straight to the community that made the crafts.

My private, natural swimming pool

 

Walking, walking, walking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My not very healthy but vegetarian dinner in San Vicente

One of many amzing butterflies I saw

After three super relaxing nights of luxury at Don Enrique it was time to leave the forest again.  I decided to get a bus from San Vicente to Corrientes and stay the for a night before heading off to Mercedes to visit the natural reserve of Esteros del Ibera.  The road out of Don Enrique by day was spectacular with the red clay road contrasting against the lush green landscape.  I was dropped off in San Vicente and my guide wondered what on earth I was going to do until by bus left at 11pm.  His suggestion was to go to the Casino because it was air-conditioned and safe.  I opted to take a long time eating another 1/4 kilo of ice cream, sit in the park (well, grassy area at the side of the road) reading my book until it got dark when I went to a cafe to get some food.  There are not really any gringos in San Vicente let alone female ones sitting reading a book in the park, so I was somewhat of a curiosity.  Finding something to eat was a challenge because the pizza place wasn’t serving pizza (the owners who could operate the pizza oven were on holiday so they were only serving burgers) and when I asked if there was anywhere I might get vegetarian food they all scratched their heads and told me it wasn’t possible.  Eventually I found a cafe where I could get cheese empanadas and chips (not exactly a healthy meal but vegetarian) and the owner even called me a taxi to get the bus station.  This turned out to be a total rip-off but it was dark and I didn’t want to walk.

I got a bit obsessed with taking pictures of nature

The deck of my luxury cabin overlooking the river and forest

My not very healthy but vegetarian dinner in San Vicente