There is something about Peru...

I started to write this blog post over two weeks ago, and finished now. Only this means I still have a lot of catching up to do from Colombia where I am now. And let's see if I will elaborate my time in Peru later, being it a longer one than the other countries I have visited up to now.
Staying in Peru such a long time has a simple reason. For me it seemed a traveller´s paradise: great food, nice people, plenty of activities and sights you get nowhere else. Not that the previous countries did not have these, but somehow Peru just has a way of making you forget the pass of time. Without noticing I kept extending my stay in every city I visited. And also somehow it made me forget to write the blog... 

To sum up what I have been up to these weeks, I made a list of my personal highlights, which turned out to be 16. Here we go.

1. Seasickness at lake Titicaca

Last place I visited in Bolivia was Lake Titicaca which is the highest lake of the world´s large lakes, and the largest lake in South America. I was recommended by many to take a tour to Isla del Sol. I can tell you that I do not recommend that tour to anyone, at least with the agency I went. In the end we did not have a tour guide, so we were on our own on the island. On the way back we spent almost two hours in the boat getting to the Isla de la Luna, with the waves throwing the boat 

2. Walk on floating islands. One of the most impressive places I've been to was on the islands built on reed. How amazing is that people still live there, and even the houses are made of reed! And just like anyone, the kids take the boat to get to school on the main land every day... It was real fun to listen and see the "president" of the island demonstrating how the island is built. This tour was exactly what I needed after the horrible experience at the Isla del Sol.

3. Hospitals and some more hospitals. I personally think you only know a country after you see how the health care functions. In that sense I have been lucky to see hospitals in Bolivia and Peru. Then again, I have not been so lucky in staying healthy. Due to different kind of stomach problems I have had the pleasure to visit several doctors. In Bolivia they diagnosed me with a bacteria that would need antibiotics for several weeks and might take months to recover from. How thrilling...I was sure it was the milk shake - I should not have taken that milk shake two weeks ago. Or was it that one steak I had that was not well-done and I almost sent back to the cook but then changed my mind...?

In the end, it turned out they had made a false diagnosis. Only this I found out in Peru, as I went to do a re-check... Not many weeks after though I got a rotovirus and some other stomach bacteria, which this time was handled with only a couple of day's antibiotics. Might have been something I ate, or simply the sea water when I went surfing... But as the doctor said, at long travels like mine it is usual that you get traveller's diarrhea more than once. So, if hospitals would be on the top sights to be seen, I would have that covered.

4. Alpaca. Visiting Bolivia and Peru it is a must to eat an Alpaca steak (delicious!), be able to differentiate the living ankmal from llama (although very similar) and buy something made of alpaca wool. I myself bought a llama sweater in Bolivia and an alpaca sweater in Peru, hoping they will also serve me in Finland.

5. American tourists. The greatest insult I have felt is when somebody takes me for an American tourist. I hate to generalize, but the majority of the Americans have been rude or inconsiderate, either to other tourists, the locals or simply the environment. And they are loud. And oh my god their spanish accent...I do not know if I am more offended by tje fact that I would be considered a rude person or that I sound like them... Luckily, it has only happened to me once or twice that I have been asked if I am from the States. To conclude, I have to say I have real nice American friends myself, but somehow it seems that it is in South America that I happen to meet the most inconsiderate individuals...even one native American girl I met in Bolivia said the same thing, so it is not just me I guess.

6. Getting soaked at carnaval. In Cuzco I was happy to meet up with one of my friends from Finland and her boyfriend. Together we went around town on a Sunday that was a carnaval day. It did not take many blocks before we were sprayed, spray-foamed and attacked with water balloons. What did we do? Buy our own bottle of spray-foam, of course. It was war, be it children or adults, no one would be saved. The culmination was that I actually wrestled with one peruvian guy over my bottle of foam. This was after I ran after him, to revenge the fact that he had had a two-litre bucket full of water with which he ambushed me. The carnaval has no mercy. I returned to the hostel soaked down to my underwear, foam and spray colours all over. At least I got a sympathetic smile from the receptionist. 

7. Macchu Picchu. Oh, this cannot be explained. The ancient and abandonded city of the Incas (or the Guechuas, to be precise). My favorite spot so far in South America.

8. Waynapicchu. Waynapicchu definitely deserves its own point, although it was part of my Machu Picchu tour. I spent three hours climbing up and down, plus taking pictures. Amazing view of Machu Picchu,  although my feet were pure jelly after trekking the stairs. Which of course did not  have any safety rails. Why would it? If you wish to jump, what would be a better place to do it :P

9. Date invitations. This is a thing that keeps surprising me. Whistles and remarks on the street are a thing you cannot avoid, but getting so many date invitations, especially from the taxi drivers, is just weird. What is wrong with these people?? The funniest invitation happened in Lima, where a 60-year old man tried to set me up with his son, who he described to be "tall as a viking", smart, considerate and loving. I don't know what went into me, but for some reason I rejected the invitation. A part of me will always wonder that would that six feet tall, smart and loving peruvian guy have looked like...

10. Traffic. All over South America the traffic can be described crazy, but I feel like in Peru for the first time I started to adapt to it so much, hat even I started to cross the streets where you shouldn't or run against red lights. Many times it matters more to keep an eye on the traffic and the vehicles than the green lights... But than again, I was startled by a campaign add in Lima, where it said that three quarters of the traffic accidents happen to pedestrians.  Sadly, caution seems to be underrated here.

11. Peruvian cuisine. Not more needs to be said. You just have to try it. Be it ceviche, anticuchos (beef-heart slewers, my favorite! ), limeños or many of the other dishes or desserts,  there is something for everyone.

12. Miraflores, the staged scene of Lima. When I arrived in Lima amd Miraflores,  I felt like I had walked into a movie set up. No sign of poverty, clean streets and beautiful suburbs. Almost like the american dream, in miniature size only. It was striking, knowing how much there are poor people in Peru and even in Lima, in other districts.  The fact that the hostel personnel adviced me not to go to a certain district I was planning to walk through (for it being unsafe even during the day) shows that it indeed is not as rosy everywhere. None the less,  it was nice to relax for a moment and to enjoy the clean streets since don't know when...

13. Huanchaco and Trujillo. I did not make it more north than Trujillo in Peru in the end, but it definitely was a great place! Trujillo is a nice place with ots colonial style buildings, but I truly enjoyed Huanchaco, which was a small village right at the sea front. I did a couple of surfing lessons, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at the beach and made some friends with some locals. After Miraflores it was a wake up again to how the real people live. It is not as rosy, but nonetheless they enjoy their lives. The highlights of the area, however,  were the excavations on the several Moche temples there are. Well-preserved paintings that are 2000 uears old, not to mention the "Lady of Cao", a mummy of a female ruler.

14. Peruvian music. If Buenos Aires has its tango, Bolivia and Peru have their traditional folklore music. And although Cumbia is from Colombia, it seems to be deeply rooted in these countries too. The great thing was that in Huanchaco some of the people I got to know were part of a modern folklore band, and they had a live performance one nightin one of the pubs.

15. Islas Ballestas, sandboarding and pisco tours. I could write a whole blog post I think of each place I've visited,  including Ica. Staying a night in a lagoon in the  iddle of the desert,  seeing sea lions and a humoungous amount of birds at the  Islas Ballestas,  sandboarding (ok, even if it was on my stomach, but I call it sandboarding if it is down a dune at a 40 km per hour!), and getting to know the real pisco drink, how it is done and howit shshould be drunk.

16. Nazca lines. One of the things that still remains to be resolved: the huge drawings on the ground, in the desert of Ica. Be it the Guechuas/Incas or aliens, they are amazing. These can only be seen from a small aircraft that takes you up for an hour or so. Even a bit costly for a backpacker, I felt it was worth the money.

Bits and pieces of Bolivia

Here comes the promised bit on Bolivia! It is hard to know though where to start, as the country is so different to anything that I´ve seen before. Maybe it is just better to start from where I left off last.

After my three-day salt plain tour ended, I headed to Potosí, only three-four hour ride from Uyuni. The city is around 500 years old - that is, the streets, plazas and churches are pretty much the same as then, only of course the houses might have been renovated a bit. The fact that the city is five hundred years old might not be that strange, but given the way how it was built in a hurry (the silver rush - they say there was so much silver they could have built a bridge between the Americas and Spain), the city is really something worth seeing. There are these narrow winding streets which they say were built so to avoid the wind blowing, as it anyway gets really cold there. It is summer now and I was wearing a sweater throughout the day, so I guess they have a point.

View of Potosí and the Cerro Rico.

Just one of the steep streets of Potosí.

I decided not to go to the mines of Potosí, which are a big touristic attraction, as it was supposed to be both physically and mentally hard. Note that it was only a day or two after my horrible altitude sickness, and I was still getting breathless when walking up just two flights of stairs. From what I heard, the people in the mines still work in horrible conditions and the life expectancy is pretty low due to that and the contaminated air. Even though I did not see the mines, I got a glimpse of what it is in a small museum of the "Tio" - really supposed to be Dio, God, which the indigenous people could not pronounce correctly and which the Spaniards used to keep the miners scared so they would not leave the mines. I also went to see the "Casa de la Moneda" which displays the way the coins were printed five-hundred years ago. It has the only printing machine in the world from that era. Huge. Basically takes two stories of the building. And to hear and see how people had to work is just astounding. Makes you feel bad even though you had nothing to do with the colonalization. What was also interesting was that the dollar sign is derived from the sign they used for the coin in Potosí (PTSI written on top of each other)!

Chance encounters...

Last thing in Potosí I did was to go and see the oldest church of the city. I hesitated to go, as I had to wait two hours for it to open, which meant I would arrive even later in Sucre where I was going next. I am so happy I did go, as you got a great city view and I also earned a ride to Sucre! There happened to be an Argentinian couple with their Bolivian uncle waiting to see the same Franciscan church, and we started talking. The uncle lived in Sucre and they were visiting Potosí by car. Long story short, they offered me a ride! It was great to have a chat for the two and a half hour ride that we took, discussing the conditions, customs and politics of Finland, Argentina and Bolivia. What was even more amazing, they offered me to go with them the next day to the Glorieta castle just outside Sucre, so I also got a private ride there and company the next day.

Charming Sucre.

Sucre itself was from a completely different world comparing to the other Bolivian cities, with its white-painted facades and wide clean streets. What I also appreciated was that it offers quite a variety to tourists. Aaaand it is a lively student city! I spent five days in Sucre as it felt such an easy-going city. In Sucre I met up with a couple from the Uyuni tour, and we did a four-hour walking tour around the city which was really nice! It included a couple of museums, such as the textile museum, a viewpoint where you could see the city from and more facts about the city than my Spanish head could handle...


My second night in Sucre I had the pleasure to meet some young Bolivian guys. These are the best moments, meeting the locals, although you should always be aware of course, especially if you are a woman and alone. It was a thursday night, and as the carnaval time was closing up there was a "Día de compadres" which meant that the men partied together without their wifes, girlfriends. To make it fair, next week there was the ladie´s Thursday of course. Anyways, on this Thursday I went to dine alone at a restaurant (which I picked by the way solely for the Bachata they were playing!). Already when entering I could feel I was noted by the guys at the next table. And sure enough, it did not take more than five minutes before one of them came to ask if I wanted to join them. So, I ended up having dinner with five young and lively Bolivian 20-something year-old guys. We had a fun night talking about various things, and the guys kept bombarding me with questions so that I started wandering where on earth did they even come up with them. And what a joy there was when we realized that they too were business students! The funniest conversation though happened when we continued to the near-by plaza to have a walk and get some fresh air. And yes, I was aware I was alone with five young men. Even I know that it sounds pretty interesting to go for a walk with a bunch of tipsy Bolivian guys. It was not what I had planned for the night for sure. But maybe you could look at it this way as well: at a night when all the men were out drinking, I had five body guards at the Plaza to protect me :D

But so there I was, and one of the guys started talking to me about his personal dilemma of his skin colour - he was, indeed, lighter-skinned than the Bolivians usually. I do not know how he got to the subject since I only remember asking him about his girlfriend (this was a fascinating subject since according to the guys the girls there are highly possessive). We ended up talking about finding his true self within the society of Bolivia. And all this in Spanish, I keep surprising myself... In the end I got huge thanks and a remark that he now sees the world differently after having gotten a view of an outsider. Oh, and I also received an invite to a party next day. To which I actually would have gone, only if the guys would have managed to keep their promise of meeting me at the main square. Texting them later, it seemed that everybody was equally confused of what happened, and at least half of the guys had such a hangover they could not even go partying. Maybe it was better this way, and at least I got a fun night of "compadres"!

Bolivia, the land of the cute little kids, colours and smelly streets

Kids playing with waterballoons in Sucre.

In Bolivia there is carnaval time in the end of February and end of March. Even though it was not the carnaval week yet, people were already getting into the mood. This meant that kids were out everywhere throwing water-filled balloons at people and trying to hit you with shaving foam. Not to mention the water-guns the children were going aroung with! I was lucky not to have more than my shoe wet on one occasion, otherwise I succeeded in dodging those cute angel-faced but oh-so-bad-intentioned little kids. Throwing water seemed also to be a great way of flirting among the teenagers, and many times the passers-by just happened to be collateral damage. Another thing related to the carnaval are the colourful decorations they sell on every street corner, and also the dead baby llamas that are meant to be sacrificed.

There would have been a big Carnaval (a Unesco recognised one, actually) in Oruro, but I decided to skip it as I would have had around a week to wait and did not feel like killing time in Bolivia. So I continued my way to La Paz, the world´s highest capital. I definitely did not like it as much as Sucre. For me, I felt the only amazing thing was the location. But what a location! I cannot describe it, you have to see it to believe it. I was lucky to fly in to the city, to get a view of how the city is spread around the valley and the highlands...
 

Just a small glimpse of La Paz.

 Describing Bolivia is really hard. Based on my two weeks (of which about a week I spent being sick), I would say Bolivia is a lot of colours, Cholitas (the traditional-dressed ladies), suspicious hygiene, dirty streets but beautiful nature, folklore music, great traditions, and a nation still trying to find itself after being exploited and having lost a lot to its neighbouring countries. What definitely strikes the tourists first is the way in which a large part of the ladies are dressed, in traditional costumes and hats. The second I think is the height of the people. Sometimes it would be hard to tell a person´s age. At times this was not only due to their height, but also because the children many times acted just as grown-ups did - with low income even the children have to start taking responsibility in a way you would never think they would in Finland for example. If not by selling something then by taking care of their younger siblings. Sometimes both at the same time. Makes you really think what an easy childhood you have had.

To me it seems that the Bolivian people are very nice. Nobody really speaks English so I do not wonder why people sometimes find them unfriendly. Even I got the feeling that some Bolivians really are unfriendly, maybe because they are suspicious about the tourists. To conclude, I would say that Bolivia is not a bad place nor a dangerous one. Instead, it has a lot of originality and character that many other countries lack, even though it might not be that developed. Even so, I was happy to finally enter Peruvian soil after two weeks, such a different world it was.

Deserts, salt plains and higher altitudes

Having written the last blog post almost a month ago, I know I have a lot of catching up to do. I will continue from where I left off last and will just have to try my best to remember everything.

After my last blog post I chilled out in Santiago for some more days, visiting for example the Tupahue swimming pool on the mountain and some parks. Sometimes it is just good not to do anything for a couple of days, because sightseeing for days on end just gets boring. I also met an old friend from university times, which was great! She is working in Santiago at  the moment, and we ended up going to Valparaiso to meet some of her friends. So, I got one more night to see the nightlife in Valparaiso, which for sure I would not have done had I been there alone. The port city just turns a bit dodgy at night.

 

From Santiago I took a flight to the north of Chile, Calama, to visit this teeny tiny but VERY touristic town called San Pedro de Atacama. You would think that in the middle of the desert there is nothing, but there it was, this little buzzing town. Even some foreigners have been so infatuated by the place that they have stayed there to work. To give an example of how small the town is and what the atmosphere is like, I´ll tell you an incident that happened (and this wasn´t the only one!). On the first night I went to a restaurant which had a duo of guitar and percussion. Both guys, the other one Chilean and the other Spanish, were singing as well. The funny thing was that the next night I went to dine at another, much smaller place, and as the place was so full I asked to share a table with one guy sitting alone and it happened to be the Spanish percussionist! So, had a nice meal and a chat how he had ended up to play in San Pedro just a couple of months ago. 

The city centre of San Pedro.

Although incredibly expensive for a backpacker’s budget, San Pedro was wonderful in regards of both the people and the activities or tours you could do there. Already on the plane to San Pedro, I met a Chilean man around his forties, with a great sense of humor. We chatted for the whole way we travelled together which meant I had company for around the 5 hours of travelling from Santiago to San Pedro! At the hostel and the tours I also got to know absolutely amazing people. Guys, if you are reading this you know who and what I am talking about! And thanks to Sergio, Pedro and Patricia, I also improved on my Chilean accent, thanks guys! ;)

The salty Laguna Cejar in the middle of the desert.

Ok, about the sights then. In the city there is not so much to do, but you get full or half day tours to locations that are really close and definitely worth seeing. I think much nobody knows before going to San Pedro that there is actually a salt lagoon (Laguna Cejar) that has 30% more salt then the dead sea! That was definitely one of the highlights of San Pedro for me, as I have always wanted to go to swim in the dead sea. There are also small salt plains, geysirs (which unfortunately I did not visit due to my first traveller’s diarrhea), a so called moon valley and awesome look-out points to the desert. Also as there are no clubs in the town, people organize "desert parties" which means that there is a transfer to the valleys in the desert starting around midnight. I was really buggered as the one night we had planned to go there, the transfer did not work. So instead, we ended up going to the "beach" to have a party, which meant actually the river shore of a river that actually was dried up, hahahah... The last day I spent in San Pedro I went to relax at some thermals. Given that it is the Atacama desert, I was surprised how much water-related things there were to be seen…but nevertheless, and unforgettable experience, and I will definitely cherish San Pedro as one of my highlights from South America.

Sunset at Valle de la Muerte (death valley).

Higher altitudes and different shades of sickness

During the last past weeks I have also gotten my share of being sick, everything from stomach problems to altitude sickness. I experienced diarrhea already a couple of times in three weeks. Diarrhea itself I guess was to be expected at some point. After the second time only I started to get other symptoms too, so I went to see a doctor in Sucre (sorry to jump ahead in time - this was after already a week in Bolivia). Have to say that at least the hospital, even a public one, seemed to work amazingly well. Then again, I think everything in Sucre worked well in comparison to many other cities in Bolivia. Of course it has to be mentioned that it is very rare you will find a doctor who speaks english, but I was lucky enough to have walked in with my pocket dictionary, which came in handy in the waiting room. But yep, to the point. They found out I had caught a bacteria a bit similar to salmonella which spreads through dairy products. Actually this did not give me diarrhea but all the symptoms I thought I had due to diarrhea, even fever. So now I am on antibiotics, which I hate, but then again I am happy that this is being treated. Lesson learned: when in doubt, always see a doctor when travelling.

But this is not all. When I had a break from diarrhea, I got something else to keep me entertained, namely altitude sickness. From San Pedro I took a three-day tour to go to Bolivia and visit the Salar de Uyuni, world’s biggest salt plain. Before telling you the following, I want to say that the trip was absolutely amazing, the views were breathtaking and despite everything I highly recommend the tour to everyone! Just do not be as ignorant as me if you go.

So embarking on the trip to Bolivia, I thought I was prepared, having even bought coca leafs in San Pedro to relieve the symptoms you might get when rising to higher altitude. Turned out I was not. Personally, I blame the tourist agency for not warning us about what could and would actually happen – and I chose one of the most reliable ones! The thing was that during only one day, we rose up nearly 2000 meters, to over 4000 meters over sea level, on the very first day! Having looked up the recommendations later, to avoid symptoms you should not rise more than 500 meters a day. You do not get the symptoms immediately, so only by the sunset I started having a headache as did most of the other group too. For most people this is the only thing they get, but I was lucky enough to experience the nausea and vomiting too, which started in the night. At that point, I could have killed the tourist guide, whose only remark to my sickness was that “it’s just the altitude, you will feel better in a couple of hours once we go lower”. Lucky for him I did not even have the power to get out of the bed at that point. As for me, I was fortunate enough to be travelling with a wonderful group who helped me, felt for me and kept checking on me all the time. Thanks Nadia, Frank, Karin, Kevin, and Masako! Could not have wished for any better company to travel in! 

I do not know if it was the coca tea, the nausea tablet from Kevin or actually going to a bit lower altitude, but by lunch time I felt that much better that I could actually eat a little portion of rice. In the evening when we arrived to Uyuni I went straight to the farmacy to get medinice for the headache that still was bothering me. Uyuni was “only” 3600m high, so by the next day, with the help of the magic pills of the farmacist, I started feeling a bit more normal again. 

Laguna Blanca, one of the many lagoons...

Putting aside the one horrid night and the next day that took me to recover, the tour was spectacular. The feeling you have when driving through the desert and the mountains is just something you cannot explain. And you get a lot of lagoons. And I mean a lot. Telling the truth, I think after the third one the amazement factor was zero but I kept taking photos for the tour guide´s sake. I feel he was equally bored because every time when we arrived to a new spot, his words were "Chicos, llegamos aqui, pueden bajar y tomar fotos" (guys, here we are, you go and take fotos). But if you get a bit bored by the lagoons, the salt flat definitely blows your mind. Another thing that words nor photos can capture...

World´s biggest salt plain, as far as the eye can reach.

At the moment when I am writing this my trip to Bolivia is already over, but this country needs a whole different chapter. Will get on in soon though, I promise!

Chile and some reflections on the life of a backpacker

Entering a new country is always exciting. After Argentina I thought I had an idea of what to expect when coming to Chile. The thing is, you always have expectations, things that you read and the things that you´re told about the place. And after all, I had already lived three weeks in South America! But of course, the place will always have something else in store than what you´ve had in mind. And there is always that small culture shock you cannot avoid, no matter how much you prepare yourself.

Let´s start with the language (I personnally love comparing and listening to how people speak, it is such a deep part of the culture and even people´s personality). I had thought that I would have an easy time after finally gotten the hang of the argentinian accent. Oh how wrong I was. Chilean accent seems to be on a completely another scale of Spanish. Pronunciation is totally different, and of course people use a bit different phrases and even vocabulary. The good thing is that I at least have already gotten the hang of the everyday Spanish I need, so let´s say that it is only half as hard as I had it in Argentina. And it seems that learning to listen the new accent also gets easier all the time. Saying that, I still dread a bit what the language will be like once I get to Bolivia and Peru...

Also the atmosphere seems to be different here. It is hard to explain, but let´s say you can feel that you are in a different country. I was maybe expecting a bit more vibrant atmosphere than what it actually is (damn the stereotypes - of course not everyone dance samba on the streets :D). But then again, once you start to converge yourself in a conversation or you go and "compartir" (go out to eat and/or drink together), it is a totally different story. The people turn into this happy and sharing bunch. One thing that did NOT happen in Argentina but seems to be totally common thing in Chile, is that guys actually shout something to you on the streets. "Heyy, guapaa" or something alike is not unusual to hear. In Argentina you could maybe notice that the people did register you, but here they really let you know it. I think it was the first night that a car actually slowed down when I was walking on the street, and somebody rolled down the window and shouted me something, nearly giving me a heart attack. According to some Chilean girl I talked to at the hostel you should not feel scared, but of course you are not expected to answer either, just walk on (and maybe be proud of the attention). 

What else...I have to say I was a bit disillusioned by the plain architecture of Santiago (no offense, my chilean friends and Santiago fans!). I don´t know how I´d managed to imagine a completely different picture of the city. But it´s not that I do not like the city, it does have its highlights. Take the Bellavista area with awesome graffitis or the gourgeus Santa Lucia hill, for example. And I also went to dance salsa once already, an absolute blast! Over two hours without a break, you can imagine my feet were like jelly afterwards. Oh, and there I also got dragged into the first rueda of my life (salsa in a circle where you constantly change partners)! After the first shock it was incredibly fun.

I spent five days in Santiago before moving to stay at Viña del Mar, which is just next to the renowned port city Valparaíso on the coast. Awesome place, both cities. Valparaíso has an indescribable charm. The buildings, graffitis and hills are incredible. Viña del Mar, although only 15 minutes from Valpo, has a totally different feel. It is a clean and easy-going city, including lots of parks which have lead to the name "garden city". It also has a beach although the water is not warm enough to really swim in even in the summer. I was fairly lucky in my timing to visit the city, as there was some type of culture festival taking place. In Valparaíso there were a lot of art installations on the squares, and in Viña I got to see for example an dance of Rapanui, the people from the Easter Islands. Next I will still travel back to Santiago and from there on I hope to make my way up north.

Hostel life and other curiosities of the life of a backpacker

The hostels are of course an unseparable part of the backpacking life. Not surprisingly, the best side of hostels is the people. They are interesting, they have stories to tell and they are also interested in your story. The best is that you get great advice from the people on the road. That is also why I am not fixing my plans too early. Just looking at the map and picking a city can be fun too, but it is really nice to travel on recommendations from people who have actually seen the place and can tell you what it´s like. Of course, the people can turn into the worst side of the hostels too. Take for example a person who snores or just gets home at six am drunk and with no sense of how much noise s/he´s making. So far, I haven´t actually suffered that much from these things. Then again, I had an incident of one guy in the same room who started to flirt excessively. This really started to annoy me after a while, when he did not get my subtle hints that I was not interested. But in general people are really nice and polite in hostels, and extremely considerate! There seems to be these unwritten rules people follow which makes life much easier. And of course, you are allowed to open your mouth if something does not please you (although I have to say that I am fairly tolerant, as long as nobody messes with my stuff).

One funny thing about meeting people in hostels is the relationship you develop with them and how you get to know them. You basically know what nationality they are, where they are coming and where they are going, but it seems almost impossible to learn the names. When you speak with the people in your shared room, it is common to refer to the other people as for example "the girl from Argentina" or "the guy from Venezuela". The conversations you have with the people vary of course. You can get the normal chat about your travel itinerary, your life situation, the weather and even the economy of your country, and of course the differences of the place and your home country. The funny thing is, even these converstations can sometimes be incredibly interesting or hugely boring. Then there are the people with whom you just connect and end up talking for the whole evening, or what´s even better, end up doing stuff together. Of course you do not get these so often, but it happens. 

I noticed that around three weeks after starting my travel I had reached some routines and the things that had maybe seemed to be really annoying or time-taking were not so anymore. As one girl from one hostel said, I noticed I had finally turned on to "travel mode". There are a lot of signs for this. One is, for example, that you can sleep without anything bugging you. In Chile I noticed that even though I was in a room with four guys, having the window open and the traffic yelling all night, I still had a sound sleep. Another thing is that you get the hang of how to pack and unpack your bag. It is just like going to the toilet or having a breakfast. Of course the fact that I have a backpack of only 35 litres makes it a lot easier too. One more thing would be that asking for directions or "being lost" but still making your way through the city does not take you much effort. Orienting without a map has also gotten a lot easier. In about a day I can figure out more or less where is what, having my hostel as a base. And, I noticed I don´t worry about my passport or money all the time the way I did for the first week, although of course I still am being careful about them. At least these are some things that I noticed after a while.

In addition to meeting people at the hostel, you sometimes get into interesting encounters outside the hostel too. The most probable places are the cafes or restaurants, queues or even toilets. The funniest thing so far was my second night in Chile, when I went to eat at the famous Pio Nono street full of bars and mini restaurants or posadas, as they call them here. I had planned to dine alone, but happened to sit next to a table with four men who already had had a couple of beers and obviously were enjoying themselves. It didn´t take five minutes before they invited me to their table to have a drink, and I ended up dining with them. The guys were actually work mates - in a prison! So we had an interesting conversation about the criminals in Chile, some of the curiosities in Chile in general and of course about Finland. So, in conclusion I could sum up that when backpacking you never know who you are going to meet and what kind of day you are going to have when you get up in the morning!

Scouts, sights and mountains from Argentina

Having finally crossed the border to Chile, I guess it is time for my next - and last -  post from Argentina. 

About two weeks ago I met with the scouts of La Plata, and since one of them, Jose, even offered me a place to sleep, I ended up staying there almost a week (once more, thousand thanks!). We toured a bit in the city of La Plata, visiting for example the cathedral and the natural museum (fun practice for my Spanish again, with a tour through dinosaurs...). With Jose we made a couple of trips to the capital, to see some more tourist attractions and for me to take a class in tango. A couple of days we spent at the pool (thanks Eugenia!), chatting about the differences and similarities between scouts of Finland and those of Argentina. It is great how a hobby can bring people together. The second night I hosted a Finnish dinner for the scouts: makaronilaatikko - ok, nothing special but at least it was something new here. Another night we had a movie night watching the Finnish horror movie Sauna (which was a bit ironic given that that day had felt like being in a sauna, the real feel temperature rising over 50 degrees!). I have to say that after about a week of the temperature varying from around 28 degrees at night to nearly 50 degrees during the day, the heat really started to affect me. I didn´t feel like eating, didn´t feel like sleeping, and there was no use going to the shower... but luckily I had great company!

I really enjoyed La Plata, although of course it doesn´t have the same kind of attractions as the capital. What appealed to me was that it was more peaceful. It was like the rhythm of the city is completely different to that of Buenos Aires, which reminds a beehive, be it day or night.. Maybe it reminded me a little of my city Tampere, as it was about the same size. A funny curiosity at La Plata was that the streets do not have names, but only numbers - and they have additionally four diagonal streets crossing the city centre. In the end the city plan is actually really easy, but you can imagine me trying to find the hostel on the first day, without a map and only a bunch of numbers in my hand... The numbered streets are really an interesting thing considering that every other city I visited here since had names - and the same street names are basically used in every city (lack of imagination much?). For example there were tons of "Chile", "Peru", "Las Heras", "San Luis", "hipolito yrigoyen" etc.  

I had planned to go to Mendoza capital, but one of the scouts recommended San Rafael, which too was in the Mendoza district, a three-hour drive south from Mendoza capital. I took the chance and it was totally worth it - the place was adorable!!! A tiny peaceful village, and the only tourists I saw were argentinos - for example at my hostel I met three guys from Buenos Aires, and we chatted that day late into the night, talking about Finland and Argentina (Cheers Marcelo, if you´re reading this :). Also, I took a taxi on the first day (which I rarely do, even though the prices are pretty ok), and the driver, not more than 25 years, surprised me by asking about where I was, where I was going, how do you say "hey, how are you" in Finnish and so on. Last thing before my stop he asked if I had a boyfriend and if I would like to have a boyfriend from San Rafael. Although this really made my day, I politely declined.  

For tourists San Rafael has basically three things to offer: amazing scenery just a little drive out of the city, adventure tourism and wineries (loooots of them!). When I arrived I hadn't decided whether I would stay even two night, but I ended up staying three! One day I went to see one of the wineries, the other I participated in an excursion to the mountains, canyon and gorgeous river Atuel. That is also where I did rafting - which was really interesting since nobody spoke a word of English! When boarding the boat I started to recite in my head how does one say "help, hold on, let go" and other useful phrases if I actually fell to the river. Of course I didn't need any of those phrases and we had an absolute blast. As there were several sections of the river that were tranquil, we could even jump in the water or have a "guerra de agua" - war of water with the other boat that was rafting at the same time. During the day I got to know two really nice couples of about my age, with whom I once again got to chat about this and that. The other couple, although they didn´t know any english, actually knew several Finnish heavy metal bands, so I was an inmediate favourite! The third day I decided to spend at Valle Grande, a spectacular place by the River Atuel, which we had passed the day before on the tour. A great place to lie in the sun and have a dip in the refreshing river at any time, surrounded by the beautiful mountain-view. Here are a few pics from San Rafael and Valle Grande, just to prove my point:

In San Rafael for the first time I really noticed how I have started to understand the Spanish here, especially since nobody speaks English there. Even though I would lack words myself, I could still get the hang of what was asked from me or what people were talking about! It took a while to get used to the new vocabulary in the beginning. There are words they do not simply teach at school, or then there are words that are completely different from the Spanish of Spain which is of course what I had learned. Here are just a few examples from the top of my head: maybe = capaz (not quizas), hurry = apuro (not prisa), and the best is that "you are" is actually voz sos (not tú eres). Boludo is something good to know too, it can be used as a mild swear word or simply an added exclamation basically at any occasion, at least how I heard it used. But definitely the hardest part was learning to listen the accent, which to me has a bit of an Italian feel with the words being stretched. The hardest part of it was the fact that the letters y and double l are pronounced as "sh". And in Spanish those letters appear really frequently, so it was like every sentence was a battle in the beginning... The funny thing is that somewhere along the way I started to speak with that same pronunciation too. I hope it wears off now in Chile, or otherwise nobody will understand me :D. 

One last thing I will say about Argentina (although I think I have already mentioned this) is that the people really are awesome - so friendly and helpful. One of the guys at San Rafael asked me if I had felt lonely at times since I am travelling alone, and I realized it has been over three weeks and I haven't felt lonely at all! Fair enough, I've had a few contacts in Buenos Aires, but even them I didn't know beforehand! And it feels like there is always someone to chat if I feel like it. Telling people you're from Finland is a good ice breaker at any occasion. For those with whom I have made friends during my stay in Argentina, I send my best regards and loads of thanks! It is with melancholy that I leave Argentina, but now it is time to head toward Chile and continue the adventure.

First glimpse of Argentina

Finally I have the time and energy to write my first post from the road. It has been a nice eleven days and fairly busy, given I have been to three hostels around the city plus a camping site which was a good 400 kilometers from the city. At the moment I am writing this from La Plata, a province or a city of Buenos Aires (visiting some scouts, but I will write about that later). But, let's start from the beginning and the first impressions of Argentina. 

Firstly, the country welcomed me with an incredible heat (I think it was something around 35 degrees or more on the first days) and really friendly people. Buenos Aires is a lively city with more than 3 million people just in the capital area. The different areas of the city vary alot from upscale and fashionable Palermo to for example San Telmo or La Boca which have more a nostalgic feel of Argentina. It was still interesting to note that the architecture reminds pretty much that of Europe. No wonder it is said to be the Paris of South America. 

The economic situation, however, is pretty bad in the country. There are a lot of people who are unhappy with how things are (most of them poor of course), and some demonstrate their discontent for example by burning things on the roads, blocking traffic. The country is now regulating the currency change so that argentinos cannot withdraw anything else than pesos, and the exchange rate is therefore also pretty bad. Additionally the prices are fairly high, pretty much same as in Europe, only the price of meat and beer is lower. Other annoyance was the difficulty of using public transport. The busses are cheap but basically you need a card on which to load money (SUBE card). For me it was a pain in the ass to acquire this card. It took me a day and a half, including several visits to different kiosks and post offices, to find a place which actually sold the card. 

But then again, the people are really friendly - to give a few examples, when trying to catch the bus first time and failing of course without the card, another passenger behind me offered to pay me, after which I chatted with the bus driver about Finland for the whole 20 minute trip. The staff at the hostel invited me for an afternoon barbecue with them on the very second day. And when arriving to La Plata, I asked for directions from a lady, and after sharing a two-block walk after which we separated, she told me that if I don't find the hostel I am looking for, she had a spare bed which I could use. I can't imagine this happening in Finland. 

The argentine barbecue, called Parrilla, is one of the things Argentina is known for. My first week was all about parilla - it was my dish for each night.  Empanadas, pastries filled with meat or vegetables, are also a specialty, although I guess their origins are not in Argentina. And speaking about food, I cannot help but to mention the gelaterios - ice cream that is absolutely delicious! No wonder, because they were brought here by Italian migrants. Mate, on the other hand, is highly Argentine; a drink something between coffee and tea. Drinking mate is always a social gathering, where one serves mate, that is, filles and passes the same cup to each one at a time. 

Ok, in addition to eating, which definitely was one of my most expected highlights for Argentina, I have been soaking the atmosphere and also relaxing (although changing hostels has taken a toll on me too). On the third day of my trip we left to camp at the sea side for four days, at a little village called las Toninas. There were altogether six of us, two argentinos, two Europeans who live in Argentina, a French visitor and me. The weather was perfect compared to the unbearable heat of Buenos Aires, and it was great to relax at the beach. Evenings we basically spent making and eating parrilla, of course.

Now I will continue my day with a great bunch of argentine scouts,  let's see where the road leads next! 

Sitting, waiting, wishing...

Last night before The Trip begins! The new shiny backpack is packed and ready to go. I am hoping I have prepared enough, although the point of this whole journey for me was to plan as little as possible and prepare only the necessary.

At this point I would already like to thank everybody who have been giving me advice, sharing their contacts in South America and helping me out in any other way.
It has actually been really interesting to note what people think when you tell them you're going to travel for 4 months. 

Alone. 

As a girl. 

To South America. 

Some have questioned my sanity (including me at times) and I have gotten some really interesting comments, remarks and opinions from many people. The funny thing is that after all the warnings about diseases, robbers, raipers, and so forth, I am mostly worried about if they will let me pass through the boarding gates tomorrow. I have had more than one nightmare about that. Mostly though every one has been very supportive, and I thank you for that!

And so I embark on this once-in-a-lifetime journey across the sea, as did my great-great-granddad in the beginning of 20th century. Only whereas he joined the military in the US, I will make quite a different journey: backpacking through South America. Let's see where it leads :)