I just couldn't help but fall in love with the very European, yet still distinctly Latin American, cultural metropolis that is Buenos Aires. Thankfully, the beauty of travelling on a semi-flexible schedule is that you can decide on a moment-to-moment basis where the day will take you, and this meant that we stayed in Buenos Aires far longer than originally discussed. In fact, we booked only one night in a very cheap[...]
Aristo reads somewhere that there is rollerblading around a park in Palermo and becomes convinced that we must go, despite the knowledge that I am the clumsiest person in the world and will probably break my own face. I’m willing to give it a go, even though I am fully aware that I have no health insurance. What’s life without a little risk? Thankfully, it’s hot as tits outside and I a[...]
For what (at the time) promised to be a fabulous round of pigskin tossing by men in tight pants, Aristo and I plied ourselves with many a beer and trekked up to Palermo for a Superbowl party at a local bar. While football may not always be my game of choice, Seattle is my home city and I never miss an opportunity to shove its obvious superiority in everyone’s face. True to form, every Amer[...]
We arrive to San Telmo on a Sunday morning, just to find that the blocks surrounding our hotel are host to the bustling weekly craft/antiques fair. Aristo has to yank me through the crowds to our hotel, since I keep getting distracted by beautiful hats and assorted shiny objects. Once we re-emerge to enjoy the market, it’s in proper full-swing. The street is alive with tango dancers, dress[...]
The highlight of Mendoza, hands down: biking through the vineyards in Maipu. Only a 5AR, hour-long bus ride (on the 171, 172, or 173) into the countryside, Maipu is Malbec central. There’s a dozen or so wineries all within incredibly close range (45 minute ride to the farthest one and only a couple minutes to closer ones), so the thing to do is to bike along on your own little vineyard-cra[...]
We're pretty stressed about cash after our week in Argentinian Patagonia. It was a lot more expensive than the Chilean side and we just didn't budget well for it, so we catch the latest bus from Santiago to Mendoza to sleep for a night without paying accommodation. This is always our go-to plan when strapped for cash, and it’s brilliant, except when you arrive at 3am and have to sleep with all your valuab[...]
After our amazing experience in Torres del Paine, Aristo and I are both very eager to head back out for more trekking–this time, on the Argentinian side of Patagonia. We spend one well-deserved rest day at a nice hostel, taking hours-long hot showers and washing our dirt/sweat stained clothes, before we are off again on another bus. First we travel to El Calafate and spend a few days preparing[...]
After 3 months traveling through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil; trekking through both Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia and along the Inca Trail; volunteering in a medical centre and on a jungle conservation project in the Amazon; partying it up in Rio de Janeiro at Carnaval; biking through Malbec wine country; roadtripping through southern Bolivia and the Mars-like San Pedro de Atacama... I can truly s[...]