May 10, 2007 @ 10:00 am
Vienna, Austria - finally back home
Weather Conditions: around 20°C, cloudy
Servus from Vienna!
As promised, following a short status report: back home for already 1.5 weeks, I already feel kinda settled here. Although I have to admit that I had quite some ups and downs in the past 1.5 weeks.
I came back on Monday after a loooong journey - I didn't have any culture shock when I arrived in Vienna as I had it already in Cuba, where I spent my last day. Staying in an all-inclusive resort in Varadero with all the package-tourists... well, I guess I don't have to say more ;-) Anyway, safely reached home, unpacked my things, went to the hair-dresser and enjoyed being back with my pololo :-)
On Tuesday I had a family-gathering, which was nice as well. On Wednesday I went to work - for the first and for the last time as I'm leaving the World of TUI in Austria. It's time for a change and definitely looking forward to it!
The rest of the week I spent with sifting through my 12,000 pictures from Latin America, with getting in touch with my friends, with putting away the things from the trip that were still lying around... I felt quite good and relaxed during that time but Friday evening and on the weekend I had a huge down. I guess I realized for the first time that I'm REALLY back, that my trip is REALLY over, that I'm back to reality. It hit me quite hard... I was tired most of the time and a little bit floppy. Exactly at that time I was in Budapest visiting a very lovely friend of mine, Eszter. Her company and being not at home helped me to get over it... thanks Eszter for everything!
Since then I have the feeling it's getting better from day to day. I try to structure my day, work a little bit on this and that. I forgot to mention that I got released from work and now have 2 more months of paid holiday til I start my new work on July 1. So, I have some more time to adjust and slowly get back to business...
This was my last blog-entry for the time being. Thanks for following me virtually around Latin America - hope you enjoyed it and I hope I was able to inspire you to visit this fascinating continent as well!!!
I had a wonderful time, great experiences, stunning moments, got to know interesting new things, made new friendships,... this trip was absolutely fantastic! I still have my mouth open in amazement when I think back to this unique time, I feel privileged that I had the possibility to visit all these wonderful places. A time I will never forget!
Adíos y muchos besos,
April 27, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Going home...
Weather Conditions: Rainy, but still pleasantly warm
A big HI from Rio de Janeiro!
Rio de Janeiro - as long as I can remember I always wanted to visit Rio - and here I am!!! At the same time, Rio is the last "real" destination on my trip around Latin America... hard to believe but my journey has finally come to an end :-( Tonight (in a few hours) I'll start my long way back home: I'm going to fly from Rio via Panama to Havanna; going to spend an afternoon, a night and a morning in Varadero, Cuba before I board my last flight on this trip back to Vienna, where I'll arrive Monday morning.
The last week of my journey was really a great one and a perfect ending :-)
Sunday afternoon we flew from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú, a center for visitors to the Iguazú Falls. On the next day we visited the Argentinian side of the falls, which are surrounded by a great National Park with lots of trails and endless possibilities to get really close to the individual falls. Besides visiting Isla San Martin, from where you have good close views of the San Martin falls, we also did a boat tour on the Rio Iguazú, which was very wet fun ;-) However, not only the falls are worth mentioning but also the numerous colourful butterflies that were our steady escorts!
In the evening we crossed the border - left Argentina and entered Brazil. We spent the night in Foz do Iguaçu, the Brazilian counterpart of Puerto Iguazú. The next day, we paid the Brazilian side of the falls a visit, which offers superb panoramic view of the whole falls. Again an awesome, unforgettable experience!
In the evening we flew on to Rio de Janeiro, where we are right now. Well, about Rio de Janeiro - what shall I say? It's a great city in even greater surroundings! Rio definitely capitivated me from the first moment on - it's even more fantastic than I've expected!
From the Corcovado with the statue of Christ or from the Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), you can enjoy absolutely amazing views of the city! On the Copacabana, you can find all different kinds of people... a very interesting spot for observing people ;-) Even the city center with its historic buildings is worth seeing... and for the football fans, there is Maracanã Stadium, one of the largest sports centers in the world.
Rio de Janeiro - definitely a must-see city!!!
Right now, it's raining (for the first time in 17 days) really hard here - it seems Rio is crying with me that my journey is nearly over... Although I've to admit that I'm also looking forward to going home. I'm missing my family, my friends and especially my love Oli!!!
So, guys... that was my last blog-entry from my journey. I'll drop some more lines when I'm back home, telling you how I'm feeling back home.
Lots of love from Rio,
April 21, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Weather Conditions: rainy, cool
Hello all,
wow - another week has passed since my last entry. It's unbelievable how time flies - I only have one week left until I return home. 14 weeks have already passed - 14 weeks, can you believe it?!
Of the last 5 days, I spent 3 in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires and 2 in the neighbouring country Uruguay.
Buenos Aires - what a city, I always thought... well, it's not that I don't like the city but BsAs certainly doesn't meet my (probably too high?) expectations. For me, it's an "ok"-city but certainly not a "wow"-city. Normally I love cities but this time I already feel the urge going back to nature after only 3 days in the city. I don't know why... Maybe it's because we came here right after spending wonderful weeks in pure nature? Maybe the constant rain is to blame? The traffic here is sometimes overwhelming and the masses of people make me feel kind of uncomfortable... hmmm. Although I really like the restored Puerto Madero dock area with its 19th-century warehouses becoming restaurants and bars. I also like the Recoleta district - strolling along the magnificent Recoleta cemetery (where Eva Perón is buried), San Telmo with its cobblestone streets, antigues-shops and fleamarkets. La Boca, well-known for its brightly painted houses was indeed very colourful but also very, very touristy. Avenida 9 de Julio is one of the widest avenues in the world and the 67-m-high Obelisk were definitely quite impressive... but still, for me the city lacks this certain something. I'm definitely looking forward to flying to Iguazú tomorrow - I'm sure you've heard of the mighty Iguazú Falls!
As mentioned in the beginning, we also went to Uruguay, which is only a short distance away from BsAs.
Wednesday morning we took the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento (50 mins away) and then took a bus to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. I absolutely had no expectations regarding Uruguay in general and Montevideo in special, but I instantly liked the city. It's much more relaxed than BsAs, it's small and it has some really lovely spots. The various plazas in the Old City are really nice, the port area with its Mercado del Puerto is well worth a visit. My brother and I really enjoyed Uruguay's capital a lot. And yes, Montevideo is now the home of my camera :( The whole time during my trip I always was and still am very cautious with my belongings... but this time it happened. We were strolling along the shores of Rio de la Plata (which reminded me a lot of Havanna's Malecon, by the way), enjoying the lonesomeness (only a few fishermen were there, as well as 2 kids playing around) and taking pictures, as suddenly I felt something approaching me from behind... the 2 kids! They came running, snatched my camera out of my bag and ran away. We, of course, followed them but had no chance... What followed, well you can guess, we went to the police. Some of you, who warned me in the beginning of this trip, how dangerous South America is, might feel themselves confirmed in their warnings... Well, I personally don't blame "South America". It can happen everywhere in the world... those 2 kids just saw their opportunity and used it. Good for them, bad for me (luckily, I save my pictures every day). I'm not angry at them neither at me - it just happened and I can't change it anymore. Nevertheless, I'm still enjoying my trip and I still have good memories of Montevideo.
The next day, we went to Colonia del Sacramento - the only remnant of colonial architecture in this part of the continent. It's truly a well-preserved historical gem, which we enjoyed a lot as well. Narrow streets, colonial buildings, and reconstructed city walls - definitely a lovely town with lots of flair!
From there we returned the same evening by ferry to BsAs.
So, as I said before, tomorrow we're off to Iguazú (hope the weather gets better!!!) and after Iguazú we travel on to Rio de Janeiro - the last stop on my journey!
¡Hasta luego!
Yours,
April 16, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
El Calafate, Argentina - Escaping the winter!
Weather Conditions: cold but sunny!
Hi folks,
I thought I drop some lines before I head up north - escaping the winter :-)
Well, let me recount the past days: as I've mentioned the last time, we went to El Chalten in order to do some trekking at the Fitz Roy Massif there. Unfortunately that didn't work out as we have planned. The day we arrived in El Chalten was great - sunshine, blue sky! That made us hope that the next days will be the same to do our planned trekking. However, Patagonia won't be Patagonia without the constantly changing weather. The next day a furious storm blew us nearly away, so we decided to stay in the hostel and have a relax-day - not too bad, I have to admit :-) Hoping for a better next day, we went to bed. But as we woke up in the morning and looked out of the window, we saw that it got worse! Snow, snow and again snow! *grrr* All the trails were impassable, no hiking again :(
We decided to leave El Chalten as there is nothing else to do there... so here we are, back in El Calafate!
Today we made an awesome glacier tour in the NP Los Glaciares: we visited Glacier Upsala, Glacier Spegazzini, Glacier Onelli and Glacier Agassiz. In the beginning it was snowing kinda hard but at Glacier Spegazzini the weather suddenly turned (yeah, that is Patagonia!) and we had sunshine :-)) The day was absolutely perfect - glaciers are so fascinating!
However, I'm glad that we are leaving Patagonia tonight and heading to - hopefully warmer - Buenos Aires! Escaping the winter :-)
I'll get back to you in a few days again...
In the meanwhile, lots of love from the end of the world,
April 10, 2007 @ 11:00pm
El Calafate, Argentina
Weather Conditions: rainy, snowy, sunny, cold... everything!
Hey guys,
haven't written in ages - hope you all had a nice, looong Easter weekend! My Easter weekend was very special this year - I spent it in the NP Torres del Paine :-)
I don't know if you've heard of this National Park - it's undoubtedly one of the most spectacular and most beautiful parks I've ever been to. It's renowned in the world for its challenging trekking... there are about 250km of marked trails in the park. We did the most popular route, called "The W". We completed it in more or less 3 days (started Thursday around 3:30 pm at Lago Grey and finished it on Easter Sunday around lunchtime at Las Torres)... in between, well... we walked, trekked, climbed, stumbled along the way ;-) The first day was pleasant, the second was hard, the third was really long and the fourth day was horrible, but fantastic. You see, there are a lot of emotions involved in trekking the "W" ;-) I enjoyed myself most of the time; was speechless because of the stunning nature; was happy because of the great weather; was pissed off of climbing rocks; was sleepless because I thought our tent will fly away with the nightly Patagonian winds; was freezing in the tent during the night; was completely tired when I had to get up in the dark to climb rocks and was completely stunned to see granite Torres del Paine in the sunrise! What a trek, what an experience!
We also got to know some really nice people along the trek - thanks for your company!
NP Torres del Paine was - so far - one of the best experiences in Chile - I do warmly recommend to do this trek when you are in Chile - it's a wonderful trek in great nature!
On Easter Monday we finally left Chile... after 5 weeks here I was a little bit sad but happy at the same time. Eager to get to know a new country - Argentina, here I am!
We headed to El Calafate, the center for NP Los Glaciares. This is the second largest park in Argentina, 40% of it are covered by ice-fields. Already today we paid this National Park a visit - we visited Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the few glaciers in the world that is still moving. What a sight standing in front of its 5km long and 60m high wall! We also walked on the glacier itself and had a whiskey with glacier-ice :-) What I liked most were definitely the different shades of blue when the sun came finally out... again a highlight here in Patagonia!
Tomorrow we're heading to El Chaltén to do some more trekking in the surroundings of Fitz Roy. Trekking again... and I'm still enjoying it!
Guess that's it for now, gotta go to bed...
Besos from El Calafate,
April 4, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Puerto Natales, Patagonia
Weather Conditions: not bad for Patagonia :-)
Hey people,
I just wanted to tell you that I'm off to trekking in NP Torres del Paine from tomorrow on - so no internet-connection for me until Easter sunday or Easter monday.
Therefore, I'm wishing you already now a HAPPY EASTER and a very nice easter bunny ;-)
Love,
April 2, 2007 @ 8:00 am
Puerto Varas, Chile - waiting for my flight
Weather Conditions: foggy, chilly - but weather changes here every minute
anyway :-)
Hey guys,
time for a short update again :-)
Since my last entry, which I wrote back in Pucón, we continued our journey down to the South. Our first stop after Pucón was Valdivia, located quite close to the coast. We spent a relaxing day there, mainly strolling around the tree-lined, shady Plaza and along the river. We visited the University and its pleasant Botanic Garden. Of course, we also observed the on-goings at the bustling riverside market and the sea lions waiting for the fish-offal :-) The sea lions were definitely the highlight for me in Valdivia although I think that those animals were quite aggressive - and made the impression that they can get quite dangerous if you get too close to them.
The next day we travelled on to Puerto Varas, a popular center for visiting the southern lakes and all kind of outdoor activities - the perfect place for us :-)
During our time here, we went trekking in the NP Vicente Pérez Rosales at the foot of Volcano Osorno (2,652m). Again we enjoyed breathtaking nature, landscapes too beautiful to be true, and crystal-clear lakes (i.e. Lago Todos Los Santos). We actually wanted to do a 2-day-trek but as this would have been "off-the-beaten-path" it was definitely too expensive for us (as you have to hire a fisher-boat to cross Lago Todos Los Santos). Instead we rented a car the next day to explore the surroundings of Lago Llanquihue. We even drove up Volcano Osorno to a certain point, from where you can take a chairlift until the snow begins. So no climbing for us this time *hehe*
We also visited the waterfalls of Petrohué, Puerto Octay and Frutillar. Frutillar is like an open-air museum of a Bavarian village - German signs, German houses and German food everywhere :-) But hardly anybody speaks German here, the waitresses are all Chilean, wearing a Dirndl and probably having no clue about Germany ;-) However, the tourists that come here think that all of Germany looks like that, doesn't it? *hehe*
Yesterday was - for a change - an active day. We went rafting down to Río Petrohué - class 3-4 of 5 classes in total. Although the water was only 14°C cold, it was a lot of fun!
Well, and today in a few hours, we're heading down to Patagonia, where the real adventure will start (hard-core trekking in NP Torres del Paine). Definitely looking forward to that although I hope the weather won't be that bad! We actually wanted to take the ferry from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas (4d/3n) but Navimag (the ferry company) cancelled our ferry - so we'll be flying down there.
The next time, I'm writing my blog from the southernmost point of my journey, the end of the world!
Besos,
March 27, 2007 @ 21:30 pm
Pucón, Chile - time for bed
Weather Conditions: sunny, no clouds, simply perfect
Hello to all out there!
First of all:
I MADE IT!!!!!!
What is she so crazy about, you might ask yourselves... well, as mentioned in my last blog-entry, we planned on climbing Volcano Villarrica (2,831m) - and I've successfully reached the summit :-) We left our hostel at 4:30am and started climbing at 5:15am. We reached the crater at 10am. How I suffered in between, I'm not going to tell. However, I can tell you that I wasn't aware how much self-motivation and self-discipline I have :-) Walking on the ice/snow with the ice-cramps and the axe was definitely the hardest part for me... nevertheless, giving-up was never an option for me. I'd rather fight with my weaker self than letting myself being defeated by a volcano.
Standing on the crater and walking around the edge was crazy, but looking right into the crater, seeing the lava - the gateway to hell, as my brother called it - was even crazier... but definitely one of the most outstanding things I've ever seen! Although it was a great experience and a good way of getting to know my strength and discipline, I'll never do it again. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime-experience!
Today we didn't rest as you might expect... no, we did a hard one-day trek in NP Huerquehue. Steep slopes but picturesque lakes and lagunas along the way. Definitely worth the suffering but now I'm glad that the day is over - just a shower and off to bed I go *hmmmm*
Tomorrow we're heading on to Valdivia...
Un abrazo fuerte,
March 25, 2007 @ 6:15 pm
Pucón, Chile - in the Chilean Lake District
Weather Conditions: in the morning: raining; now: quite sunny
Hi from Pucón, Chile!
Since my last blog-entry from Valparaíso a lot happened - time flies by so fast!
From Valparaíso we traveled on by night bus to Los Ángeles - not be confused with Los Angeles, CA :-) After our arrival at 5:30 am, we took a bus to "Salto el Laja" - spectacular waterfalls where the Río Laja plunges 47m over the rocks. We found a small path that leads directly to the edge of the falls - from there we had a very close view of the falls...
After a while we returned to L.A. and took another bus to Angol. Angol is supposed to be the main gateway to National Park Nahuelbuta. This park is known for its spectacular views of both the Andes and the sea. Moreover you'll find Araucarias here, some over 2,000 years old, 50m high and 3m in diameter. Our intention was to take a bus to the park entrance and trek from there. Unfortunately the tourist office informed us that there are no buses going to the entrance outside January and February (the absolute peak season). However, they offered us to hire a car and driver for us to go there on our own... Why not? We soon found an available driver and everything seemed to be fine... seemed to be. We learned half an hour later that this alternative wouldn't work out either as the car is broken. The tourist office just said that they were sorry but there weren't any other alternatives to go to the park. This can't be true, I couldn't believe it. No other alternatives?! Before losing my temper, we left... we took the next bus to Temuco and skipped NP Nahuelbuta for good.
To avoid similar problems in Temuco, we rented a car for the next 2 days in order to visit NP Conguillio. What a great idea :-) We spent 2 wonderful days in NP Conguillio, one of the most popular parks in Chile... but again deserted outside January and February. Good for us as we had nearly the whole park to ourselves ;-) On the first day, we did the trail "Los Carpinteros", where we wandered through great, mystic woods with lots of Araucarias. Unfortunately the weather was only so-so (rainy, cloudy, chilly). Nevertheless, I enjoyed being in absolute nature - the air was so fresh and rich *hmmm*. We spent the night in our car on a campsite - was not as uncomfortable as I thought before :-) Moreover, we had a yummy dinner (we bought all the stuff in Temuco). The next day we started early for the next trek - called "Sierra Nevada". Not only the trek was great but the surroundings as well - simply beautiful! Lagunas surrounded by woods, in the distance rising high snow-covered Volcano Llaima and Volcano Villarrica - to beautiful to be true :-) What is also important, the weather! It was absolutely perfect - sunshine, deep blue sky and not a single cloud! A sight like this makes hard trekking so much easier ;-) After we've spent a wonderful day, we returned to Temuco the same evening. However, that was only the beginning of breath-taking nature - the show will go on!
We are right now in Pucón and we're planning a lot more for the next few days - today we visited Caburgua and Lago Caburgua; tomorrow we are planning on climbing up to the crater of Volcano Villarrica - with ice-cramps and all such stuff! Wow, I feel like Reinhold Messner ;-) The day after tomorrow we are going to visit NP Huerquehue... Please keep your fingers crossed for me for having good weather!
Guess that's all for today... wish me luck for tomorrow!
Love,
March 20, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
Valparaíso, Chile - opposite of Congreso Nacional
Weather Conditions: foggy, rainy, cool
¡Hola from Valparaiso!
Finally my promised blog-entry... my last week in Santiago was very nice and unforgettable :-) I had a really good time with my new-won friends... we, for example, went to the Roger Waters concert (ex-member of Pink Floyd), which took place at the Santiago stadium. We didn't have tickets so we listened to the music from outside. We brought some fruits, bred and red wine and had a nice picnic... until the police came and asked us to leave our place. As soon as we had left, they followed us and asked us about the bottle. They smelled at it (didn't they see that it was a bottle of wine???) and asked what it was... Well, we told them that it is Chilean red wine. Unfortunately it's not allowed to drink in public... so they forced us to throw away the wine - the good red wine!!! What a waste!
On Thursday I visited Nicole at her apartment, together we watched the movie "Babel"... well, I didn't like it too much.
Friday night I went out together with my colleagues from school - for one last time :( I really enjoyed my time with them - I got to know so many nice people during my time at the language school. Thanks guys for everything!
On Saturday I went on a day trip to the coast - we visited Laguna El Peral, Isla Negra (Pablo Neruda's house), Cartagena and San Antonio - a nice change from the city and the smog :-)
On Sunday morning, my brother arrived in Santiago - together we went sightseeing, I showed him around "my Santiago" :-)
Yesterday we travelled on to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. Valparaíso is Chile's most important port and Viña del Mar is one of South America's leading seaside resort. Unfortunately the weather isn't that good here (foggy, rainy, cool), so no relaxing on the beach for us :( However, tonight we're already leaving down to the south - to Los Ángeles and to National Park Nahuelbuta. I'm definitely looking forward to all the nature we're gonna see the next few weeks!
Good-bye for now... get back to you in a few days!
Hugs,