Saturday, September 29, 2007

Buenos Aires: What's not to like?

Of all the cities we've been to on the trip, the one that will meet with the most universal appeal is Buenos Aires: Its a really beautiful, cultured and CHEAP city.

Food: Combine high quality French/Italian/Argentinian recipes and wines, farm-fresh ingredients, cuts of meat even larger than a good American steakhouse, and cut the price by 2/3. (3/4 si vous habitez en France).

Architecture: 19th century European architecture; brownstone houses with 15 foot ceilings; lots of outdoor cafes, parks and museums.

Infrastructure: Tree-lined cobblestone streets, large boulevards, a subway/metro system based on those found in Germany/Austria, lots of taxis and buses.

People: 90% of Argentinians are recent immigrants of European descent (various nationalities, including Italian, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, etc.) and have done a nice job of blending cultures while retaining their own identities.

Style: Those who take their cues from the fashionistas of Paris, Milan or New York will find themselves quite comfortable in this city. The shops in the neighborhood of Palermo looks identical to New York's Soho. And unlike Peru, there is no "native" clothing to be found anywhere.

So, what did we do? Walked around, ate a lot, drank a lot and slept a lot!


Freaky political coincidences
Both the US and Argentina have presidential elections coming up, so political information and posters are everywhere. But check out some really freaky coincidence regarding two candidates:

She:
- is a former attorney/current senator that will more than likely be the presidential candidate for one of the major parties;
- is a former First Lady (her husband is a former governor and president);
- met her husband in law school in the 1970s;
- is often referred to by her first name only (but occasionally with her maiden name);
- claims that she will bring change to a dysfunctional government.

If elected, she'll be the country's first woman president.

Who are we talking about? Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Mendoza: Ville de France en les 1970s

Bonjour, et bienvenue ma 2me post en Francais. Just a little bit of English beforehand.

Our journey from the Patagonia region of Chile to Mendoza consisted of 8 hours on bus (including 5 hours on one that reeked of spoiled-milk), an 8 hour layover in an industrial Argentinian town, and 2 red-eye flights. Believe it or not, this was the safest way to travel.

Arretter l'anglais

Je ne rappele pas France en les annes 1970s, mais je pense que Mendoza ressemble une ville typique de France de les temps.

Le ville est composee de rue de cobblestone, beaucoup de parcs, vignobles, et bonne restaurants avec menu Europeanne (et boeuf!!). Il y a magazins de France (Carrefour, 5 a Sec, Etam), et TOUT les voitures sont marques/modeles vieux de Francais. Nous avons vu beaucoup de Peugeot 404 et 504, Renault 11 et 12, Citroen 2CVs et Fiat 500s!!! Seulement 10% de voitures sont nouveau Peugeot 206, Renault Clios, Fiat Stilos et Chevrolet (Opel) Corsas.

For the Americans, think lots of 60s and 70s vintage French cars never exported to the US, as well as a lot of Ford Falcons, and the award-winning Renault Alliance, Encore and Fuego (yes, they actually run).

Beaucoup de residents sont Europeanne (Italianne, Espagnole, Francais), les persones sont blanche de peau. En une restaurant, un enfant a marche a mois, touched ma face et il dis "No blanco".

Pour les vignobles, nous avons pris une excursion sans guide de bicyclette (s'appele Bikes and Wines). Vous conduisez pour 12km et arret a 10 different de vignobles. Nous apprendons les raisins pour le vin Malbec (les specialites locale) est tres similiar a les raisin de le vin "Cote". Les rues sont beaucoup de traffic, allors c'est tres importante ne faire pas comme les Bretons et bois beaucoup!!! Mais, c'est tres jolie et tres bien.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Some more photos of Chile

Nous venons de mettre en ligne nos photos de la region des lacs au Chili.

Check out our photos of the lakes district in Chile... and us, climbing the volcano!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Fire and Ice

Well it's been a veryyyyy long time I haven't written in the blog. Believe it or not, we have been very busy. After spending a few days in Santiago, where I got pretty sick (stomach virus), we headed down to the lake district of Chile (9 hours by bus). Buses in Chile and Argentina are very numerous and quite comfortable. We stayed in a town called Villarrica and rented a car to explore the neighboring lakes, volcanoes, hot springs and mountains. One of the highlight of our trip was climbing the snow-covered Villarrica volcano, which took about 7 hours up and 3 hours down. We left early in the morning, supplied with waterproof clothing, crampons, backpacks, ice picks and a protective helmet. While extremely rewarding (it is not everyday that you get to see the crater of an active volcano), it was also very tiring to climb, in the snow, for that long. The inside of the crater was black, rocky, smoky (my lungs hurt for a couple of days after inhaling the fumes), and full of lava jumping up in the air every few minutes. Anyway, I think this will remain one of the most memorable experience of our South American trip (and not only because all the muscles of our body ached for the next few days).

After this, we headed down to Patagonia, where we explored the glaciers in Torres del Paine national park and around Puerto Natales by boat.

Now I am going to finish in French...

Apres avoir visite la Patagonie, nous avons traverse la frontiere entre le Chili et l'Argentine en bus. Ce fut une tres longue journee: 7 heures de bus, 8 heures dans la ville de Rio Gallerios et 5 heures de vol, avec escale, jusqu'a Mendoza ou nous nous trouvons actuellement.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Photos of Santiago and Valparaiso

Cela fait un sacre moment que je n'ai rien poste sur le blog. Je comblerai ce manque bientot. En attendant, voici nos photos de Santiago / Valparaiso.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Santiago: A throughly modern city set in a stunning backdrop

Coming from La Paz, which is as third-world as you can get, Santiago, Chile is nothing what we expected it to be. While not a beautiful city, its is thoroughly modern and would not be out of place in Europe or California.

Similar to Europe:
- The metro (subway) is identical to that in Paris, with the same carriages as "Les Lignes 1 et 6", ticketing system, and very similar station designs.
- The most popular vehicles are the Peugeot 206, Renault Clio and Opel Astra.
- The Autopistas (highways) use European signs and are comparable to France's Autoroutes in quality (and tolls!!!).
- While its not a terribly attractive city, walking in the streets has a distinctly European feel to it (we compare it to Berlin).

Similar to San Francisco:
- Geographically, the city is close to both the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains, making it excellent for wine production (whites in particular).
- The ocean, mountains, and wineries are all a 1 hour drive from the city.
- Its by far the most expensive city in South America, with the price of goods and services comparable to San Francisco.

Random thoughts:
- Que? Chilean Spanish has to be the most unintelligible version of the language out there. Lots of idioms, shortening of words, rapid speaking and mumbling. Think the combination of "New Yorker", Louisiana Bayou" and "Cockney" English.

- Since when did Samsung start making cars?

- 11 de Septiembre: We noticed Santiago has a road named "11 de Septiembre", although its not for the reason we initially thought.

Despite its long history of democracy, Chile has a vast divide between the wealthy and poor. To address this, in 1970, the people elected a Marxist socialist, Salvador Allende, as president. His goal was to improve the lives of the poorest Chileans by nationalizing certain businesses/industries and redistributing the wealth accumulated from the mining of copper. Well, a Marxist socialist running a Latin American country didn't sit too well with the US Government (especially with everything going on in Vietnam at the time). So, the US flooded the copper market, driving down the price -- which severely hurt the Chilean economy, as Allende didn't diversify the economy. As we all know, nationalized business + no wealth to distribute = no food + unhappy people protesting in the streets. So, on September 11, 1973, Army General Augusto Pinochet led a coup against the government, and claimed himself president. Pinochet, much like Stalin in Russia, greatly strengthened the country's economy, but through brutal rule, and the killing/torture of tens of thousands. Bottom line: We received very different answers when we asked locals about Pinochet. Some are thankful for his economic reforms; others can't forgive him for his brutality.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

"Coca Si, Cocaina No" vs "War on Drugs"

In La Paz, we visited the Museo de Coca, which, in Lonely Planet's words "gives an educational, provocative and evenhanded look at the sacred leaf and its uses". In a nutshell, the problem is coca leaves, which have been an integral part of Andean culture for centuries, is the primary ingredient in the production of cocaine.

The scientific community broadly agrees that the raw coca leaf is a mild stimulant that provides the following benefits, all of which are important for high-altitude living (such as in the Andes):
- Stimulates the respiratory system;
- Increases tolerance for work;
- Inhibits the development of platelets;
- Regulates the metabolism of glucose; and
- Does not inhibit the consumption of nutrients.

Today, Bolivians export coca leaves for major corporations, such as Coca-Cola (hence the name), and pharmas (for pain killers). But, its the primary ingredient for cocaine and crack, which is a pretty big deal. Bolivians counter that cocaine and crack isn't a problem in their country -- over 50% of the world's consumption is in the US.

The UN, US and Bolivian governments all agree the production of cocaine and crack needs to stop, but they have very different approaches to stopping it. As part of the "War on Drugs", the UN and US believes in stopping it at the source; and provides South American countries with millions of dollars in "development aid" (read: cash) and "trade agreements" (read: allows them to sell goods in the US) to facilitate the eradication of coca farms. In its place, the US Gov't teaches the farmers how to grow fruits and vegetables for export.

What is often not mentioned are the provisions that allow Coca-Cola and the pharmas to continue receiving their supply of Bolivian coca leaves -- just not the Bolivians!!! As you could imagine, the locals are none too pleased about this. Hence why the current Bolivian government is proposing to address cocaine use at the consumer level (a common slogan is "Coca Si, Cocaina No"). Their take is (my paraphrase) "coca leaves have been helping our culture for centuries -- don't eradicate the leaves just because a few bad people make cocaine out of it". The US counters "If Bolivian police didn't accept bribes to allow coca leaves to be used for cocaine production, we wouldn't need to eradicate them".

Sunday, September 9, 2007

La Paz and finals thoughts on Bolivia

La Paz:
Its a 3.5 hour bus ride from Copacabana to La Paz. Other than having to hop off and on the bus while a ferry takes the bus across the lake, its a reasonably uneventful trip.

Impressions:
- Walking around is tiring. The city is built in a bowl-shaped valley at an altitude between 9,951 and 11,930 feet and there are very few flat areas.
- Anyone who has lived in or visited India will feel right at home in La Paz. Between the noises, the buses, the traffic and the street vendors, there is so much controlled chaos.
- Like Copacabana, its cheap. We ate at the nicest restaurant in town; 3 course meal with wine was $9/person. A haircut was a $1.40, and spanish lessons are $3/hour. One could fly/stay here as a tourist and take lessons for 6 weeks, and it'd still be cheaper than taking lessons at Berlitz in New York.
- Saltanos - La Paz's answer to the donut: Take the pastry crust of an Indian Samosa, the filling of an Argentinian empanada and a little green chili. Sooo good, and it only costs about 40 cents.
- Crime is increasing: Check out what the US State Department and French Government websites say about Bolivia. While Marie felt reasonably safe, I was, at times, rather uncomfortable.
- Like many South American cities, shoe shine boys in the street are plentiful; however, La Paz's purveyors have an interesting twist: they all wear ski masks.


About Bolivia:

- Political Instability: Since its independence in 1825, Bolivia has nearly 200 different presidents. The latest, Evo Morales, is the first indigenous leader and a former coca leaf grower. Like Hugo Chavez and many other South American leaders, he is moving the country strongly towards the left, taking control of the petrol fields and other businesses.
- Modern, low-cost housing in Bolivia is often times constructed of bare brick and cement. Most westerners will think the buildings are unfinished (needs plaster, paint, etc.). But, the locals seem to like it this way.
- Global Warming: No country is more a victim of global warming than Bolivia. Much of the Andean glaciers, which supply the country's drinking water, and 80% of its electricity, have melted away. By 2009, scientists predict the demand will exceed supply. Doesn't help that its a landlocked country. While the rest of the world debates the effects of global warming, and the percentage of human contribution, this place is living it.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Our photos from Bolivia

Ca y est, nous sommes enfin a jour (ou presque). Nous venons de poster 2 albums photos de Bolivie:
- Lake Titicaca
- La Paz

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

New photos online!

Voici nos dernieres photos (2 albums):
- Machu Picchu
- Travel from Peru to Bolivia

Hello Bolivia: Copacabana and Lake Titicaca

After visiting Machu Picchu, we headed off to Lake Titicaca. The Lake shares a border with both Peru and Bolivia; however, we heard that Bolivian side was more interesting from a tourism perspective. So, we took a 10 hour "backpacker" train from Cusco to Puno, Peru (passing some of the most amazing landscape we've seen on the trip so far), spent a night in Puno and hopped on a bus to Copacabana, Bolivia.

Copacabana:
Copacabana serves as both the main border town between Bolivia and Peru, as well as the main tourist town for visiting Lake Titicaca. To be perfectly honest, the town isn't terribly exciting: all the restaurants are on one street and most have identical menus (lake trout, pizza, basic chicken and beef dishes). Lodging includes hippies on the street, backpacker dorms and one simple, but cozy hotel. But, it is the best place to go if you want to check out the lake. And its cheap!!! A 3-course meal with a glass of wine at the 2nd nicest restaurant is $8 per person with tip included!!! 2 pairs of wool gloves and hats will set you back a whopping $5.

One note about hippies: Both Cusco and Machu Picchu have a good number of hippies, but Copacabana takes the cake. Sooo many of these folks think they are the 2nd coming of Che Guevera (whom I commonly refer to as the guy on the t-shirt that rode the motorcycle). There was a young couple that sat next to us on the bus, whom we are convinced didn't shower or wash their clothes for least 2 weeks (ugh, the stench!). We also firmly believe we were the only visitors in city that has earned a paycheck.

Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol:
Let the record show that upon arriving at the lake, my Beavis and Butthead moment was much shorter than originally anticipated.

First thing that strikes you is the sheer size of the lake; at first glance you would think its an ocean!!! Second thing is the deep blue color of the water --- sooo clear and pure. The lake water is actually 1% salt -- which we learned is much less than oceans, but more than fresh water. Interestingly, while most have problems drinking it, the local fisherman boil it to make tea. Third thing is the elevation. The clouds appear to be quite low -- but that's because the lake and islands are at such a high elevation!!!

We chartered a boat to Isla del Sol (the spiritual home of the Incas) with Dougie and Louisa, a Scottish couple that took 2 months off to travel South America before starting their doctoral program. We hiked about 8km on the island, which doesn't sounds like much until you factor in the large elevation changes, and high altitude (4060m at the highest point). Turns out Dougie and Louisa actually hiked an alternate to the Inca Trail a couple of days earlier, and assured us the Isla del Sol hike and "Inca Stairs" from Aguas Calientes were as difficult as the Inca trek! Maybe we are in good enough shape to hike the trail? Eh, something to look forward to.

Marie thought the islands and lake reminded her of the Mediterranean Sea. So, if you enjoy that kind of thing, except a bit colder and a LOT cheaper, this place is for you.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Photos of Cusco online

Nos photos de Cusco sont maintenant disponibles. Attention aux ames sensibles (photos assez gores a la fin de l'album -- a ne pas regarder avant de passer a table).

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Photos from Lima

Nous venons de mettre en ligne nos photos de Lima.

More photos to follow in the next few days...