GUEST ARTICLE: I wouldn’t call Buenos Aires one of the most beautiful cities we’ve ever been to, but it was definitely one of the most interesting.

We were there for 5 days and barely touched it. What we did see was pretty impressive and the local food is delicious and certainly worth trying. The roughly 13 million people (minus us tourists) that live in the greater metropolitan area area of Buenos Aires was unbelievable – we’ve never seen so many people.

What a city, it’s massive! We arrived at around 7pm on a Friday night and had the chance to experience the rush hour traffic, something I would highly recommend you avoid.

Fortunately our taxi driver thought he was Mario Andretti and quickly weaved his way through a maze of streets until about an hour and a half later we finally arrived at our hotel in the district of Palermo.

You know it’s funny how drastic the change in scenery was, first we were driving through the most decrepit shanty town district that was crowded with derelict buildings and bars on every window. Then a few blocks over there were lines of beautiful condos and lush parks with sprawling green grass areas with flowerbeds all around.

We later discovered this juxtaposition was quite commonplace throughout Buenos Aires and most poor countries we have visited.

The Argentineans are a very proud people especially when it comes to their steaks. Which by the way I have to say are pretty close to the best that we’ve ever had.

If you’re looking for a great steak at a good price check out their local “Parrilla’s.” It’s a local eatery and from the outside looks very deceiving to what it actually has to offer – delicious. We had two fillet mignons, chorizo sausage, mash and wine for about $25AUD, you can’t argue with that.

The subway system is pretty old but it does the trick and it is super cheap, about 40cents per ride but it too is something to avoid during rush hour unless you feel like being a steaming sardine, yes it’s that packed and there’s no air conditioning.

I can’t even imagine what it’s like in the summer, yikes! Thankfully the cabs are also super cheap and can be found pretty much on every corner.

Our first sightseeing destination was the famous La Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried (‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ for those of you who don’t know who she is).

Before we entered the cemetery I noticed quite a few raggedy cats hanging about and once we made it inside we noticed heaps more. We saw about a dozen mangy looking street cats that have made the cemetery their home within the multitudes of the most beautiful sculptures and vaults we’ve ever seen.

We found out that within each of the massive family vaults there is usually an altar or dedication of some sort to the deceased and then stairs that lead to an underground area that can hold up to 40 family members – wow.

Another really cool district we went to is called San Telmo, the most ancient neighbourhood in the city. There is a massive pedestrian only street strictly dedicated to some pretty unique buskers, tango musicians and tonnes of shops and markets.

If you’re into antiques this is your place, I’ve never seen so many of those shops in one area. Unfortunately we never saw anything that took our fancy except this really cool mug made out of a cow’s hoof, now who wouldn’t want one of those. Merry Christmas Mom! Haha!

Also a great place to find empanadas the size of your head and yes steak, steak and more steak! This massive cobblestone street goes on for kilometres and eventually leads you to the downtown district.

The two pedestrian only streets were so packed that if you lost your place in what I call the cow cue, you had to step off to the side to time yourself back in. I don’t know how long these streets went on for but they had to have been at least a few kilometres each, yes girls – shopping, shopping and more shopping.

Next stop … Lima, Peru.

Hasta luego amigos!

This travel diary has been written by Rob Gower, a traveller who works part-time for a Sydney minibus hire company and enjoys travelling along roads less travelled!

If you’ve travelled somewhere off the beaten track, can write well and have good quality photos I encourage you to contact me and I’ll consider publishing your travel diary here including generous attribution and links back to your website as thanks for your contribution

GUEST ARTICLE: The flight from Santiago, Chile up to Calama only took two hours. From above you could see the drastic change in the terrain and soon the most arid desert in the world was below us. Stepping out onto the scorching black tarmac, our eyes burned not only from the brilliant sun but from the extremely dry air. After picking up our rental we drove about an hour southwest to our next destination – San Pedro de Atacama.

The smooth rolling hills and numerous volcanoes lined the long empty highway, and as the sun started to set the scenery became even more breathtakingly beautiful in colour and shadows. We soon found ourselves driving through an incredible sight called “Valle de la Luna or Moon Valley” .This place has rightfully earned its name; it literally makes you feel like you’re on the moon.

As we wound down through the valley we saw the little oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama. The town has kept its Spanish colonial influence and is literally made out of clay and stone, with numerous little dirt roads winding their way throughout. Every place looks pretty much the same, so you can imagine it was a treat trying to find our hotel – Casa de Don Tomas in the dark.

After using some dodgy Spanish for directions we came upon our humble abode and settled in for what I call the longest night ever! I have to say that was one of the most uncomfortable nights I’ve had, not because of the room (that was great) but because of the air being so dry. I swear I must have drunk about 2 litres of water during the night; I have never experienced thirst like that! Thankfully we soon acclimatised ourselves and were pretty much back to normal in a few days.

The next morning we did a walkabout throughout the town, what a cool little place! The dirt streets are narrow and lined with small boutique shops, restaurants, tour organizers and tonnes of hostals (hostels). The town has a really cosy feeling, the people are all very nice and of course the food didn’t disappoint.

We were really fortunate to also be there for the anniversary of the region, so we were able to see Chileans in their beautifully bright coloured traditional garb, fantastic! In the afternoon we hopped in our car and headed for a more intimate tour of the Valle de la Luna. It was all dirt road but thankfully for us and our poor little car, easily accessible.

The Valle de la Luna was formed about 22 million years ago and with years of wind and atmospheric conditions it has been transformed into an incredible myriad of shapes. Although incredibly beautiful it is also the most inhospitable corner on earth.

From San Pedro there are 4 roads, each heading out in different directions and to some pretty incredible sights. One day we ventured down another dirt road for about 30kms to check out some natural thermal pools we had heard about (Termas de Puritama).

We parked our car and started down a very steep and narrow road into a massive canyon. At first glance it’s hard to believe there could possibly be a group of thermals down there but we were soon proved wrong.

After handing over $5000 pesos each to our nice Chilean caretaker, we meandered down a little red wooden walkway in search of our first pool. With the sun at about three quarters down the lighting to this place was magic and so were the clear blue green pools. They were as natural as you can get with slippery fluorescent green moss rocks, gravel bottoms and little waterfalls surrounded by typical Chilean foliage.

The temperature was perfect in each one but let me tell ya, getting out was not treat, it was freezing!! When the sun starts to go so does all of that scorching heat and you soon start to really respect the drastic temperatures in the desert.

The next day we headed south to check out some lagoons. After about 60kms we came upon our first lagoon – Laguna Chaxa (Part of Salar de Atacama). This was another exquisite sight, amongst a massive salt crust were shallow lagoons harbouring hundreds of Chilean and Andean Flamingos, what a sight!!

Our next stop which was about another 50 kms south east was the Lagunas Miscanti y Meniques. Two of the most magnificently coloured lagoons situated 4000m above sea level nestled in the Andean Mountains.

The lagoons get their intense blue colour and stark white banks from the Volcano Meniques eruption 1 million years ago causing the stagnation of the water. The stark contrast of the lagoons, yellow rolling hills and the Andes is something I will never forget. To top it off we had a kodak moment when a herd of wild Alpacas started grazing in front of one of the lagoons – talk about a magic moment!

Today we did a last looksee and drove west toward A Paso Jama Argentina. After about 40kms we started feeling really woozy and breathless, we hadn’t realized we just did a gradual climb to about 5,000m above sea level – uggg. There is no way I would make it as a mountain climber! Besides having a touch of altitude sickness, yes you guessed it, it was totally worth it.

We saw a few more beautiful salt lakes with the odd flamingo and lots of wild Alpacas, Llamas, Vicuna (similar to Llamas) and one giant flightless bird called a Puna Rhea – excellent!

Oh and some other bird that nearly took my head off….I was peacefully taking some nice photos of some grazing Alpacas when all of a sudden I heard a loud screech and thrum of wings! What was my lesson learned you ask?

Well, for starters obviously watch out for nests, never wear thongs on gravel and never try running at an altitude of 5000m!! By the time I made it back to the safety of our car I had rocks the size of marbles stuck in my thongs and I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me!! Damn you bird!

Okay, so there’s the mega scoop on one of the coolest places we’ve been to so far. Judging from this whole trip in Chile so far, you really can’t go wrong here. For now I’ll let the pictures tell the rest, I hope you like them as much as I loved taking them (besides the bird incident). Next stop Buenos Aires, Argentina!!

Adios Amigos

This travel diary has been written by Rob Gower, a traveller who works part-time for a Sydney minibus hire company and enjoys travelling along roads less travelled!

If you’ve travelled somewhere off the beaten track, can write well and have good quality photos I encourage you to contact me and I’ll consider publishing your travel diary here including generous attribution and links back to your website as thanks for your contribution

GUEST ARTICLE: Ola! After leaving Santiago in our little tinbox we headed south (about 9 hrs) towards Pucón. It appears that the real Chile is outside of Santiago. Meaning very poor and nothing like what we western folks are used to, no big Ramada’s on every corner that’s for sure!

Chile – Volcan Villarrica closeup showing active smoke
credit: radzfoto

We stopped about halfway and tried to find a place to stay in one of the towns along the way. After passing through about 5 toll stations (which charge about $5 each) we picked a small town to look for a place to stay for the night. After a fairly quick 15 minute excursion to try to find a place to rest our heads, we were very unlucky.

Fortunately we were lucky to find a room in the next little city of Talca, also very rural, a word to the wise – make sure to book ahead!

Back on the road again we noticed the scenery changing from a multitude of various fruit trees to that of rolling green hills, horses and mountains. As we turned off to the Villarrica area we spotted an incredible sight! The Volcano Villarrica! Wow…really, it’s a perfectly shaped volcano, still brilliant white from winter’s snow and surrounded by the greenest foliage – spectacular.

Pucón is a picturesque quaint little town located at the bottom of this still very active volcano and adjacent to the very beautiful Lake Villarica. The feel of Pucón is very relaxing, I found it to be somewhat similar to that of Queenstown in New Zealand or Banff in Canada, but of course Pucón comes with a very intimidating volcano.

The people are all extremely accommodating and the food superb, especially the grilled beef – delish. And for breaky I was able to get 1kg of cherries or strawberries for $2.50 AUD!!

There are endless activities here to pass your time, multitudes of trails to walk, horseback ride, ski, canopy (zip lines), canyon, rapid ride and chill out in natural thermals. We decided straight off to check out a thermal pool we found online called the Termas Geométricas. It’s located about 100km from Pucón on the other side of the Villaricca Volcano.

The roads are excellent except for about the last 30km which is a rough dirt road winding up through some very beautiful Chilean mountainside. At first we were thinking, “what the heck are we getting ourselves into?!” but when we finally arrived…totally worth it. It was by far the best thermal pools we have ever been to. The Chileans have set everything up incredibly well.

We were firstly greeted with the delicious aroma of a warm campfire and a cosy red cabin offering homemade treats by two little Chilean senoras (we had the homemade caramel cake and pumpkin soup with homemade bread – mmm!). A small red wooden walkway wound itself up the crevice of the mountain accompanied with two waterfalls and 17 natural hot pools sporadically situated each with different temperatures to suit.

The main attraction in Pucón is to climb the volcano which takes about 9hours, we thought about it but unfortunately there is no guarantee for a view. On most days the visibility can be somewhat cloudy, so we thought better than being totally pissed after dragging our butts straight up through a mountain of snow and ice we’d rather admire Villarrica from below, no worries!

We did admire some of the Saltos (waterfalls) and a small hike through the beautiful Park Huerquehue. Just a little hint though…there are bugs flying in the bush out there about the size of bullets, I’m not too sure what they are, horseflies maybe? In any case I fortunately never had the opportunity of being made eaten, but only by acting like the Tasmanian devil on speed!

Today we went across a pretty dodgy suspension bridge that lead to a village of the Mapuche people, the scenery of course didn’t disappoint, and we had the opportunity of meeting a very nice Mapucho senora and we got a glimpse at a traditional Maphuche hut.

Unfortunately everything was closed, I guess we came at the wrong season? Or maybe the right season as I hear this place goes off in the December and January months.

Pucón is an absolutely fantastic place, we’ve had nothing but cosy wood fire sleeps, homemade eats and incredible sights. For this place we give double thumbs up!!! Mucho Gracias!! Tomorrow we head back to Santiago and hop on plane up north to Calama and then drive to the desert in San Pedro de Atacama…until then!

Adios Amigos!!

This travel diary has been written by Rob Gower, a traveller who works part-time for a Sydney minibus hire company and enjoys travelling along roads less travelled!

If you’ve travelled somewhere off the beaten track, can write well and have good quality photos I encourage you to contact me and I’ll consider publishing your travel diary here including generous attribution and links back to your website as thanks for your contribution

GUEST ARTICLE: Ola Amigos!! We’ve just finished our Santiago, Chile leg and loved it!! We weren’t sure what to expect in South America, it has been given sort of a bad rap from past histories, but we can honestly say we fully enjoyed every minute of it – throw away any preconceived notions and get over there!

The Chileans are super friendly, the food excellent and wouldn’t ya know it, for the first time ever we weren’t ripped off once! Go figure?! Having the Italian lingo in our back pockets also helped us out quite a bit – unfortunately there aren’t many Chileans that can speak English.

Santiago, Chile – Skyline & Andes Mountain Range credit: fahrenheit75

The flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Chile took us about 12 hours and a few days to get over a major case of jet-lag. Our accommodation at the Hotel Orly was situated in the Provendencia district, just outside of the city’s centre. The feeling on the streets was very laid back, shops open up sometime after 10am and stay open only until … well honestly I couldn’t say? It seems like they close when they like, somewhere in the late afternoon?

Lunch is a frenzy at 2pm and dinner starts around 8-9pm, now that took some getting used to, lots of snacking involved! But when it comes to snacking have no fear there is no end to the multitudes of treats – all types of delicious cakes, empanadas, and mote con huesillos (a very refreshing drink made with peaches and peach juice with cooked barley on the bottom, I know it sounds strange but – yum!).

The cost of things (in pesos of course) we found to be pretty well priced, we were able to go out for a pretty nice dinner and spend about $50AUD, that’s with two main meals and nice bottle of Chilean wine ~ perfecto!

A great place to go particularly on the weekends is an area called the Bellavista, Constiticion St. to be exact, and it is lined with a multitude of different restaurants. The next street over is strictly dedicated to night clubs and salsa bars – fun!!

So one night after having a wicked dinner at a little piazza in Constitucion we went over to check out the raging night life. The streets were teaming with people, music of all types blaring and a good time being had by all with giant cervezas in hand. The buskers were some of the coolest we’ve ever seen, one man salsa bands that spin faster than Michelle Kwan while still keeping their cool rhythmic beats ~ awesome!!

We didn’t stick around too long though, we were told by our hotel staff not to hang around the streets after a certain time and after seeing the amount of drinks being downed you could kinda see where that could end up ~ Olalay!

Santiago Chile – Subway credit: la_cola_de_mi_perro

We never once felt like we were ever in any danger even when we were on the subway and a fight broke out between some soccer fans, about 10 cops dealt with that situation asap, batons on full blow and the trouble makers dealt with within minutes, they certainly don’t fool around there!

Virgin Mary – San Cristóbal , credit:Diegosaurius Rex

As for tourist attractions, there are many. One day we went up in a cable car to San Cristóbal which gave a 360° view of the 6 million people living in Santiago and the breathtaking Andes surrounding the city. At the top was an old beautiful church (Santuario Inmaculada Concepción) and massive statue of the virgin Mary overlooking the city.

On another excursion we went to check out the local handicrafts at a wicked little outside market called Artesanos Los Domenicos.

The ‘artesanos’ are fantastic in a number of things like, copper work, leather bags, wood carving, pottery and fine alpaca knits, just to name a few.

The home-made Chilean food is something else, especially if you like corn (Choclo). One of their favorite dishes is called Pastel de Choclo, which is like a shepherd’s pie with a puréed corn crust baked in a clay pot, can you say yummo!!

In downtown Santiago are some massive pedestrian only streets lined with shops of all kinds and some of the famous ‘Coffee with Legs’ cafes. I’m not really sure what the attraction is to these shops, the girls wear a typical suit with mid thigh skirts? Normal for us, but I guess a real treat for the eyes for the Chileans?

We also saw a few protests, lots of salsa ranting and confetti throwing, all really friendly but we noticed the policia were always on the ready. Seafood is also really big and they can whip up a pretty mean fish with potatoes or one of the best seafood soups I’ve ever had ~ amazing!!

So amigos, if you’re up for some great ‘ankle expressing’, beautiful sights to the senses and booty shaking Santiago is the place!! We are now on the road in our little tinbox rental and off to Pucón (Southern Chile)….until then Adios amigos!

This travel diary has been written by Rob Gower, a traveller who works part-time for a Sydney minibus hire company and enjoys travelling along roads less travelled!

If you’ve travelled somewhere off the beaten track, can write well and have good quality photos I encourage you to contact me and I’ll consider publishing your travel diary here including generous attribution and links back to your website as thanks for your contribution