Serendipity!

I had booked into my hostel in Cordoba until today...but on Thursday night I made a split second decision to leave on a Friday night bus to Mendoza despite the invitation to go to Salta. I was tired of the humidity in Cordoba and wanted to get on with some physical activities after 2 weeks of sitting in a classroom.
I got to my hostel in Mendoza this morning and about an hour after I arrived a south african girl who is also travelling by herself arrived and we got chatting as the hostel receptionist explained the various excursions available to us. Turns out this girl is going on a 5 day horse-riding tour in the Andes and I was able to join the group...so excited about it! We're going to be camping out on the mountains..it's exactly what I wanted to do!

Serendipity! :)

http://www.pioneros.com.ar/english/horseback/cielingofamerica.htm

Buses, Bibles & Spanish lessons

Taking spanish lessons in Cordoba for 2 weeks. Took an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Cordoba. It was my first overnight bus so I dont have anything to compare it to - but it seemed a bit odd that there were bibles on each seat wrapped up in the blanket & pillow they give to you...it got even odder when the bus hostess handed to everyone a comment sheet, a welcome note & a copy of some verses from Romans 2!

5 days in Uruguay

Left Buenos Aires on Sunday night with Buquebus Ferries – v well organised. All the 3 hr ferries to Montevideo were full so we took the 1hr service to Colonia & then a 2.5hr bus to Montevideo. All went very smoothly. Got to Montevideo after midnight & no-one spoke English! Thank God for Alex. Got the 2.30am bus to Punta del Diablo, arrived 6am. Found hostel and had to sleep in hammocks in the garden until reception opened for check in.

Punta del Diablo is a really relaxed place...the main 'street' in the village is full of corrugated iron shacks brightly painted like in La Boca in Buenos Aires.



When we got there there was almost no other back packers around. The other tourists there were mainly Uruguayans & Argentinians, which made communication especially difficult for me & helped with my decision to go to Cordoba next and spend a couple of weeks learning Spanish. Spent Monday on the beach (where I have to admit I got a bit scorched). Monday night a big storm came in and lasted all day Tuesday so we just hung out in the hostel that day...did some reading and catching up on emails. Wednesday was another bright sunny and hot day, spent the morning at the beach, collected our stuff from the hostel and started the journey back to the west coast of Uruguay...Colonia del Sacramento.

Colonia is fabulous! I cant recommend it highly enough...my favourite place so far! It was very hot when we were there (30C in the shade) and it seemed like we had the place to ourselves the streets were so quiet. It's geared for tourists, in that in most places people spoke a few words of English, most shops/restaurants will accept argentinian pesos, dollars or euros as well as Uruguayan pesos, but none of it is in an 'in-your-face' manner. A very laid back spot and a super way to spend a couple of days...wandering through the picturesque streets, in cafes or visiting the beach (but the water is not great for swimming in).

Our hostel El Viajero (Hostel & Suites) were very helpful in putting me in contact with people to go horse riding with. If you want to go horse-riding in Uruguay then I cant recommend www.cabalgatasenuruguay.com enough. I was given a super horse called Naivo for the morning. First we went out to round up the cattle, then hacked out into the countryside. Passed through fields of corn & soya, saw farmers making hay bales and raced along the roads' grassy verges as fast as I dared go. Enrique & Sandra tailor the activities to suit your level and I was completely happy with the morning's ride. Uruguay is a beautiful country and I could happily have spent more time there but it was time to head back to Buenos Aires, collect the rest of my luggage from the hostel and organise some Spanish lessons in Cordoba...so after saying a fond goodbye to Naivo....Alex & I headed back to BA on the ferry and checked into our hostel in San Telmo for a final night in Buenos Aires.

A week in Buenos Aires

January 10, Sunday
Plane took off from Dublin without any problems, operations back to normal at the airport. Snowing lightly in Madrid when we landed. Bus transfer from Terminal 4 to Terminal 4S, not underground train as described on Madrid airport’s website.
After pulling an all-nighter to get packed, was wrecked & had slept from the minute the plane took off until the announcement to prepare cabin for landing. Subsequently starving when I arrived in T4S. Went to Harry J Beans burger joint, 1 large cheeseburger, chips & coke later (EUR 10 – pricey for a reheated burger & chips in Madrid but prob still cheaper than Dublin), am feeling a bit more awake. Still have 5 hours to kill though....
January 11, Monday
After an extra 2 hour delay in Madrid due to snowy weather, finally arrived in BA. Took a taxi to the hostel because had missed my shuttle connection due to the delays. Walked into the room and met a german girl called Alexandra who is travelling by herself as well. She invited me to “La Bomba” with some other people so off I went to a tribal music show 5 mins after arriving!
January 13, Wednesday
Lunch with Pablo in Puerto Madero. Explored the area on foot, visited the Frigate ship Sarmiento, Plaza de Mayo, Pink house, Florida & Lavalle shopping streets.
Back to hostel & room is full of Irish girls! Grainne/Isabelle/Anne/Gwen/Fran. One from P’laoise – knows the family. Tango lesson & milonga with Grainne/Isabelle at Confiteria Ideal – great fun.
January 14, Thursday
Lunch with Grainne & Isabelle in Palermo, cool little book shop/cafe at 1762 Thames. Bus tour of city with Anne/Gwen/Frances. Saw Recoleta, San Telmo, La Boca. All went well til Gwen’s bag was stolen at 9 de Iulio subte station :(. Met Pablo & Pablo & Kike from Accenture for dinner & drinks in Puerto Madero, asia de cuba club.
January 15, Friday
Fran’s birthday! Ladies that lunch had a picnic in the park to celebrate!
Irish girls Anne/Gwen/Fran left today for Mendoza. Isabelle, Grainne & I went out with the Accenture guys to a party of a friend of a friend, then to club Niceto in Palermo. Pretty cool spot, got home in the early hours.
January 16, Saturday
Isabelle & Grainne left for Bariloche today, and Alexandra arrived back from Iguassu. Went to another milonga, this time in Palermo, less touristy. Was great fun. Got spun around the dance floor by a little old man who congratulated me on staying upright at the end of the song!
January 17, Sunday
Checked out of hostel and went to ferry terminal to book our tickets to Uruguay. 1 hour ferry to Colonia del Sacramento then 2.5 hour bus to Montevideo with Bugquebus Ferries. From Montevideo we will take a 5 hour bus to Punta del Diablo.

12 Pubs of Christmas, Dublin

Carnage. Total Carnage.

A day trip to Petra

While in Egypt, I couldn't pass up a day trip to Jordan, to see Petra, the 8th wonder of the ancient world.

It turned out to be quite an adventurous day...which started at 4.30am...I awoke to the sound of banging & yelling at a door across the corridor from my own in the hostel. For some unfathomable reason, the security man was banging on this door and yelling in Arabic at the occupants. I assumed he was giving someone else a wake up call - I was expecting to receive the same treatment half an hour later, but I got up then anyway.

The previous evening, Jimmy, the guy on the front desk had told me that I would be called at 5am and he would take me to the security check point outside of Dahab to meet the coach to Petra. 5am came & went and there was no sign of Jimmy. The security guy had no english, I didnt have enough arabic and the security guide's sidekick would just smile at me & say 'yes'. After half an hour of trying to explain that I was waiting for Jimmy and did not want to hail a non-existent taxi from the street, I gave up and wandered out of the hostel complex. There was a 24 hour supermarket across the road and I went over to check if the guy there spoke english. By some miracle he did, I explained to him my problem and he came back across the street with me to talk to the security guy. The security guy explained that he was told to wake Jimmy at 4.30am (that was the banging & yelling from earlier) but there was no response from the room and he didnt know where he was or what was going on. I thanked supermarket dude who went back to his shop and I went back to my pacing.

Once back at his shop, supermarket dude told the story to a random passerby who also spoke english, he came in to me, and when I explained again that I was waiting for Jimmy, he said, ok, hang on, and then ran off down the street and around a corner. OK :-/ He came back with a phone & Jimmy was on the line! It seemed so amazing - I had given up all hope of finding Jimmy & our link to the coach.

Turned out Jimmy had not liked the room he had originally told the security guy he would be in, and decided to move, without telling anyone. We took off like a bullet down the road, at double the speed limit, to reach the coach in time. Got on the coach and slept like a baby all the way to the ferry port to Aqaba.

On reaching Aqaba, there wasnt enough room in the english speaking tour bus - so four indedpendent travellers (including me) ended up on the russian speaking tour bus.

After another 3 hour journey to reach Petra, we eventually got to walk down As-Siq and stand in front of the Treasury. I made an absolute fool of myself singing the tune to Indiana Jones - da da da DAAA, da da DAAA, da da da DAAA, da da da DA da...etc...

Petra was cool, but the 3 hours afforded by the day trip to explore was not enough & I would like to go back again, hike to the Monastery and just spend some more time there soaking up the atmosphere.

Before we were allowed back into Egypt, we were checked for Swine flu, by having our temperatures taken, by 2 guys in the full outbreak gear! I met up with some Dutch travellers who were also staying in Dahab, shared their bus back, which was much quicker than taking the coach I had that morning. On returning to Dahab a full 17 hours after departure, went to a fabulous fish restaurant for dinner.

A great day with some real Indiana Jones adventure :)

Egypt - week 2

Luxor

After the peace of our felucca journey on the Nile, Luxor was intense. 85% of Luxor's revenues come from tourists so you get hassled here quite a bit (although not as much as in Cairo, I'm told). First afternoon, I had a bit of a scare in an internet cafe when I thought I was being locked in, but I came to no harm and had a protector/saviour in a 12 year old boy named Karim :).

That first evening we went to see Luxor temple, went for dinner & then hit the silver markets for which Luxor is well known.



The Egyptian soccer team was playing that evening so all along the streets, TVs were set up on chairs/stools with lots of people crowded around shouting at the screen. When Egypt scored (what turned out to be) the winning goal, the proprietor of the shop we were in, ran out into the street to celebrate and when he returned, he made presents to all of us in the shop of silver Ankh charms (Ankh is the symbol of the Key of Life).



While in Luxor, we also visited the Valley of the Kings & the Valley of the Workers. The Valley of the Workers contained the village & burial sites of all the workers who lived & died while digging the Valley of the Kings' tombs. It was incredible (if a bit claustrophobic) to see the 5,000 year old paintings in the tombs that looked as fresh as if painted yesterday.

Our last morning in Luxor we spent at Karnak Temple which is enormous. We had a fantastic guide who told us the stories, scandals & intrigues surrounding some of the more famous & infamous Pharoahs of the time. I really enjoyed this temple.



After Karnak, we loaded our bags onto our bus for the 4 hour journey to Hurghada to meet the ferry to take us to the Sinai peninsula. When we got to Hurghada we found out the ferry was cancelled due to rough sea conditions so we had to board an overnight coach to Dahab. I didnt mind, it was good practice for South America (not to mention the return journey to Cairo!).

Dahab

Oh Dahab, Dahab, Dahab - I LOVED Dahab. After the few frenetic days in Luxor, Dahab was a really welcome oasis of calm & relaxation - with VERY little hassle on the street from vendors.
Dahab is a couple of hours north of Sharm-el-Sheikh on the Red Sea coast. There is plenty of diving to be done here, but if, like me, you are a land rat :) there's plenty of other stuff to do. Gorging yourself on yummy seafood, banana pancakes & milkshakes while sitting beside a fire reading a book, being one.

Mt. Sinai

2nd night in Dahab, most of our group opted to climb Mt. Sinai. I'm going to be lazy here & plagiarise Cayley's description of the night (which is spot on): "We woke at 11pm and drove two hours to the base of Mt Sinai to retrace Moses' footsteps. Battling the freezing cold we trekked in the pitch dark to an Arabic dance music soundtrack courtesy of our local guide. But it was worth it to see the magical sunrise! It was great to see a holy site that is significant to Christian, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim religions."

Snorkelling...

...is not for me! OK, maybe I'll give it one more try somewhere else..but next time I'll make sure to start in shallow water and not over a Blue Hole...
Last day of the organised tour, our tour leader arranged a jeep to take us out to the Blue Hole. A ramshackle, boneshaking, no suspension jeep seemed like a strange choice...until we suddenly left the paved road and took off across the edge of the desert following the coast to get to the Blue Hole site. It's not far at all from Dahab (less than 30 mins), but it really is a rollercoaster ride across rough ground, the only transport apart from jeeps like ours, are camels!

The Blue Hole is really close to the beach, you walk out along a little jetty, jump into the water and it's there below you! I could snorkel (technically) but I didnt relax enough to stop hyperventilating each time I put my face in the water. Looking into a yawning blue-&-getting-darker-into-deep-dark-black-nothingness chasm didnt help matters either, so I contented myself with sunbathing, feeding a camel water from a bottle & contemplating how lucky I was to still be alive :) while the others continued on their quest to see a tiger/lion fish (cant remember the correct name) or sharks (yeah, thinking of sharks didnt help me much in the water either).

Rock-Climbing

Originally I read about rock climbing in Jordan, but didnt have the time to go there to climb without sacrificing some of my Egyptian itinerary, which I decided I didnt want to do, so after some google searching I found Desert Divers in Dahab http://www.desert-divers.com/ and booked with them. I'm really glad I did it, it was great to get to do some climbing outdoors in warm weather, and it's one more thing ticked off the to-do list! I signed up for the 2 day beginner's rock climbing course.

Jenny was my instructor and was fantastically patient, kind, encouraging & entertaining all in one. We climbed different crags each day. Each day, I met Jenny & our driver, Mohammed at Desert Divers office and off we drove to Wadi Gnai. Mohammed was also our cook and would serve up the most amazing tahini I've ever had with warm pitas cooked over a fire in the desert while we climbed. The first day I found difficult, but by the end of the 2nd I was loving it and wished I had booked another day. Rock climbing is in its infancy on the Sinai peninsula, but Jenny is always mapping new crags & new routes, and I do not hesitate to recommed her services.