...and more Buenos Aires

Beautiful Buenos Aires

The city is spectacular - elegant buildings, green leafy plazas, miles of markets in bohemian San Telmo, bright corrugated iron and lattice buildings in La Boca, crazy 16 lanes of Av 9 de Julio, Casa Rosada (the Pink House - where Eva Peron addressed the masses - and btw it's completely impossible not to burst into "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" whilst standing in front of it) and a fast, cheap subway (Subte) with the original wooden carriages from the 1920s (as Bin and I watched it take off with arms and legs still hanging out the doors in peak hour one morning we simultaneously decided to walk). Absolutely glorious city ... I'll be back (after a few more Spanish and Tango lessons).

Life as a Porteño

Being in Buenos Aires during the World Cup is like being sucked up in a whirlpool of blue and white stripes, the city ground to a halt to watch the Pumas beat N Korea this morning, and as I sat and ate my medialunas (teeny little crossiants that are compulsory with coffee - they don`t even ask if you want some - it`s always how many?!) I got completely caught up in the fervour.
Later - walking around all day in a hyperglycemic haze (I have done some serious damage to the medialuna population) I realised that these people all smoke, only eat red meat (or food encased in pastry and/or covered in cream) and follow their team with a passion that surpasses anything I have encountered - and I became really concerned that the entire population are going to keel over with a heart attack by the finals ...
I am also amazed at their friendliness - especially to visitors attempting to murder their lovely language. Today I had two people (both bearing a striking resemblence to Antonio Banderas) come up and give me directions - and I wasn`t even LOOKING at my map - they just took it out of my hands and told me where to go, unfortunately my Spanish is so terrible I got lost and wandered (albeit quite happily) for hours, stopping frequently for cafe con leche e medialunas ..
I also tried yerba mate (kind of coca tea - people walk around sipping on it all day) through a silver straw from a gourd-like cup (the waiter had to demonstrate) accompanied by dulce de leche (caramelised condensed milk) on wafers .. need to learn Spanish for "help I`m developing diabetes" ...

The Complejo Tango - Buenos Aires

My hotel room sits above a theatre in an old building with 20ft ceilings, winding wooden staircases with wrought iron doors and heavy wooden shutters on the window.
Each of the eight bedrooms has a tango theme, either a famous dancer or musician - mine says "Jacinta Chiclana, Guapo nacido en este barrio" and my phrase book isn't any help.
The orchestra pit is about 3 feet from my bed and every night there is a tango show. I sit in the top lobby writing whilst women in elaborate dresses mill around me and guys in black with violins and piano accordians smile as they squeeze past. Coolest accomodation ever.
When Belinda arrives a few days later, we have our tango lesson (and get a certificate - which will go straight to the pool room!), a three course meal (with a steak I can cut with a butter knife), several bottles of Malbec and watch the tango cabaret ... Fabulous night ... and we had change from $60 ... I could live here ..

Ollantaytambo

A fine example of Inca town planning, Ollantaytambo is incredibly impressive, a huge fortress (one of the few places where the conquistadors lost a battle) with steep terraces (more bloody steps), is topped by a spectacular ceremonial area.

The Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley or Valle Sagrado is about 15 km north of Cusco. We stop at an Intrepid foundation project for lunch and to watch a community demonstration in traditional textile making - a small collection of curious toddlers and children play nearby as we watch the complicated process of dyeing, spinning and weaving. The women sit at the looms 12 hours a day, 6 days a week! They also make unbelievable quinoa soup and a searing salsa criolla mmm....

Anaconda!!!

To my disapointment (and most other's relief) we didn't get to see any anaconda while at the lodge, BUT (and huge thanks for Fredy for organising it and Dr Victor Velanquez Zea for letting me hug their boa) we stopped off at the Centro Ecologico Tropifauna next to the airport before we flew out of the jungle. The park rescues injured and threatened reptiles so I finally got to see my anaconda ... in the Amazon ... luckiest girl alive!!!

Piranha Fishing

At 5am, the jungle slowly waking, we hiked back to the river and quietly motored upstream as the mist lifted and the sun warmed our backs. We spotted caiman, dozens of birds and a family of giant otter - the rarest mammal of the Amazon - they grow up to 2m and there's only between 2 and 5 thousand left in the world. They fished and frolicked and made the weirdest barking noises.
We moored near a bank and tossed in our lines for piranha .. and waited ... and wiggled the bait ... and waited .. bloody elusive little buggers. We only caught one - well technically Jason also caught one but it fell off - and as I was distracted from my filming responsibilities (so sue me - I was in the AMAZON - how can you not be distracted ... there COULD have been Anaconda ..) ..we only have Belinda's word for it .. but no proof. I did get some good shots of the landed fish though - toothy little critter ...

Amazon Rainforest

Hot, steamy, lush - yep, it's the Amazon. We climbed up about 40 m to look out at the canopy dwelling monkeys and macaws...

A Lodge on the Amazon

..it was just a short flight to Puerto Maldonado, quick bus trip and then a boat ride up the Amazon to our jungle lodge ..
Hammocks, big comfy beds draped in mosquito nets, open sided bedrooms (which is why I woke to a screeching bat hitting said mosquito net at 2am..) and Elsa the bartender blending amazing cocktails (until 9.30 when the electricity is turned off and you have to shift to simple mixed drinks) ...and serving the best passionfruit icecream on the planet ... brilliant ... and a perfect way to recover from the trek ...

..post Picchu

It took almost 24 hours before we got to bed that night ... we caught a bus to Aguas Callientes (cute little town nestled in a deep valley about 8kms from Machu Picchu with a very tasteful snake water feature), then a train to Km82 and then another bus, finally arriving in Cusco about 2 am.
It was then I noticed my feet had swollen so badly I couldn't tell my calves from my ankles .. I HAD CANKLES!!! Belinda was reduced to hysterics and called them Shrek feet ...
I tried compression bandages - only I left a gap and a weird balloon of flesh bulged out making me look more Elephant Man than loveable ogre ..to add to the delightful look I was also dotted with bleeding insect bites and sun burnt ... very attractive .. it took three days for the swelling to go down ..

... more Pichu Pics