the flags goes down here in BA, because tomorrow i`m heading for Mendoza. where the finest wines of argentina are produced. also it is on the foot of the vulcan of aconagua, one of the higheest peak of South america. but first i want to share you some of my experience here in buenos aires.
mid- december is really not the best time to go to buenos aires. the humidity is very high and the heat is killing. and add some polution too and it`s a dreadful combination. although Buenos aires is really interesting to see, the different type of the barrios offer lot of attraction. and los porteños are nocturnal, so all activities started late in the evening.
pero heading for caminito in the evening isn´t really good idea. caminito is a placein the barrio of la boca. home of boca junior but also the poorest barrio in BA. so outside of caminito it`s a hell for las turistas. although the site it self is really nice to see. and it`s amazing how inventive people are and could make something out of nothing. it`s again some kind of reminder for me. to be inventive and find a solution for everything i will encountered.
and like now i`m choosing to smoke pipe tobacco above cigars because it`s mas economico. but being so young and smoke pipe, it doesnt match really well. And the people i met on the street still thinks that i smoke marihuana or crack. no no no it`s pure tobacco. it`s something that give me strength instead of make me feel sleepy and dizzy. sometimes i wondered if i was borned at a wrong era. i still wondered if i can get my pipe through the border. on chilean border vegetables, fruits and diary products are not allowed to pass the border. and also coca leaves but i think that`s only for people coming from bolivia.
bueno, that`s much later for now i`m still in argentina. and now i`m thinking to go to the World`s End. the very south part of argentina, there is a city called Ushuaia and it`s the end of the continent. but i`m seeking Sponsors to be able to go to Ushuaia:D
battery of camera is on the lowest end. so i have nothing, nada photos to upload. i do have a picture of my "graduation". so now i`m a spanish speaker on basic level. bueno, the spanish course is finish but on the tango lessons i`ve never had a time for it. because i need to made my homework everyday and after that i went to activities with the rest of the folks in the hostel. like go to a percussion performance. packed with people and the beat is incredible. or we had a asado in the patio of the hostel. or i cooked my own dinner and after that tired to do anything... just studying and going out.. so sadly no tango. And for now there are no tangos because of the holidays. AND i`m going to Mendoza at the 26th of december. so no more buenos aires and no tango i think.
but, now i`m still here in BA although with christmas on the way and with no idea how to celebrate it. but there are 2 friends stuck here in BA aswell ;).
bueno. i also want to say feliz compluaños para mi tia Ketut. tambien para mi abuelo en Indonesia. i might be busy but i always remember.
the time seems to fly... and by this i also want to thanks again to mr. R. Van Den Berg, for the effort you have done to send my credit card to buenos aires. i`ve received it in one piece and promise to not lose it again (except if its got eaten by the machine).
yeah what day is it today?? for me it`s monday the 15 de diciembre and the start of a school day. After travelling so long i don´t use to be at school and so waking up so early in the morning is a little bit hard. the class start at 9.00 am. yep, i´m attending a spanish classes here in Buenos Aires, it´s 2 blocks walking and only 2 hours a day so from 9.00 till 11.00, which then i have the rest of the day free to fill in.
but i do got some home work, so that need to be done first, and because BA is so big i have lot of options where i want to sit and have it done. today i choose for San Telmo. it`s an old neighbourhood with one some places the street are still from cobbled stones. and also the old rails from the tram. on the plaza it`s a lot of restaurants where you could sit down unders the shadow of the trees and have a drink and/or eat something. also there were tango dancers permorming in the middle of the plaza so it´s indeed very nice place to see and be seen. although it´s a bit touristic in some way.
yesterday at 0.00 we had a party in hour hostel, it was great and i didn`t know that the party here goes till 8.00 in the morning. hehe i`m not used to it. it was also a nice moment to sharpen my espanol. although on some kind of way i still used some portuguese words (he he discovered it today). but i do hope that it`s fade after a week of spanish school. Bueno,last thursday i went to the bar along with other guys. it´s call milonga here in BA. it`s place where people are practising the dance of milonga (a variation of tango) and also there were local artists performing folklore and musics that is a part of the tango scene.
I also want to try a tango class.... so Yvonne if you read this, I know a great place to learn some tango :) cheers. oh yeah, and if you want some great ice cream, got Dylan in Perú 1400+ i don`t know the exact adress but the ice cream is amazing. I also went to watch the movie of Che (el argentino) by benicio del toro. amazing movie.
I`m struck with a lot of bad karma at this moment. I really hope that the wave of bad karma is ended now, other wise i might not be able to bare it anymore... well on the other end of the scale there are a lot of very nice things happened last week. so it`s actually balanced everything in some way or another. every particle in this universe strived to it outmost streched position where it has the best configuration to be in balance. so yeah that`s about where i`m at this moment. Well let`s move to the better moments shall we, from 3 till 6 december i`ve spent a really fun and good time in Cabo Polonio. it really is something else. I`ve never seen such strech kilometers of beaches, dunes similar to the deserts and of course the sea lions whoms dominated the rocky end of the beach. I will miss the lights from the Al Faro illuminated the village with only 80 inhabitants (besides tourists and sea lions). spent my days walking around the playas, observing the sea lions and of course searching for fossils. But the most fun part was the nights, I`ve brought grappamiel to cheers things up, where we (the people in the cabo polonio hostel) preparing our food together. The first night was tortillas, that`s tasted really good and the second night was rice mixed with vegetables, and some fresh fish from Pablo. All tasted very good. but the ultimate night was the one that breaked my heart. (I`m trying to hold my tears now). I kinda orchestrated everything but the one who made such beautiful meals are you guys = Ana, Pepe, Yvonne and Monica. you have prepared the ingredients very well I just gave you the directions. yeah the ultimate night we had INDONESIAN food. we have made the corn cookies / bakwan and gado - gado. hehe you will thought how did i got the peanut sauce. we improvised it. here, in Cabo polonio there is a little supply of everything but we made the sauce from peanuts and cream (for whip cream). which actually turned out to have some similar taste.
It was really fun guys ...
but of course it`s not similar as one that mamita always made. Being here facing such of hard time made me realised how much I`ve missed home. Bueno.. let`s move on. the night ended up with lot of grappamiel (the nights are cold here in Cabo). had really really good time.
the next day went back to montevideo to catch the ferry on the next day.
7 december - present
Ferry... ehh lets`s skipped that saved it for another time. the next day is 8th of december. it`s the holy day of virgin mary all around the world. I`ve told you about this couple of time now. so I think you already now it. so I went to Lujan to see the image of the Virgin and to take a part in the ceremony, but before that i called mamita.. vos sabes todo no, mamichita. but in Lujan it`s the place that I realised that it was similar when Jesus met his mother on his way to golgota... well I do not want to used the name of god idly, but the situation is similar. On the road, faced a lot of hard time but the result would be something nice. som Mamicita be strong okay.. I am strong enough to bare this burden. the image of The Virgin of Lujan is very small, Something so small but though so strong. Although faced lot of hard time my faith is actually grew stronger and stronger since i`m here in SA. same to bear Grylls, his faith is what he only have when he is outhe there surviving in wilderness. that and his knife. also something that I`ve been using lot of time my swiss army knife, the small one though.
Image of Virgin of Lujan
Passion of christ. jesus encountered his mother
so yeah .. now I`m in Buenos Aires, Argentina and going to spend here A LOT of days maybe till next year. Buenos Aires is really nice spot to stay for a while. you know.. ¡ yo queiro descansarrrr!
day 39: 2 december 2009 I could add another great day in my trip. although I have been encountered lot of hardship, there is nothing that could beat some warm abrazo from some really nice people i`ve met here. although we knew each other only for a short time but Melisa and Felipe had gave me something that no money in te world could buy. So thank you very much for the really great culinair tour round montevideo, especially today i have felt to be a local gente. and also thank you for the present, it was muy rico.
ahora, esta muy difficile para mi por escribir mi emocionnes. primera ves a de viaje, yo encontro del ¨writers block¨. No se porque, tambles los emocionnes son mas fuerte. Pero, esta una experensia muy muy linda. ta, mucas muchas gracias por todo, Melisa y Felipe. y ahora yo puedo dicer. ´yo tengo amigos en Uruguay. el pais nada personas connosar. ´bueno, uno mas mi apreciada, muchas muchas gracias.
So i think not many of you could understand what i have wrotten (i have wrotten it by heart, so it`s not that correct). but yeah,today is one of the day that i will always remember.
tomorrow, i `m going to cabo polonio. there suppose to be no electricity or streamig water. So i do not know if there are any internet. so I ´m leaving for anoter adventure, wish me luck.
PS: i added some footer with the Birthday of the people I know, but I don`t know itbyheart so plese send me your birthday if it`s in the period from now till 3 may 2009. also had another gadget on the side., the best food of each country.
its still the same day but now i`ve walked through the city of montevideo and did some sightseeing. Montevideo has a very relax atmosphere. it`s kinda similar with Rio because of the waterfronts. but I must say it has more similarity to Helsinki, Finland. the city is a combination of new and old and it doesn`t breath a capital city at all. It has something of a provincial town feel. today I have bought my ferry ticket to Buenos Aires. I just want to secure a place so I will be in time in Lujan next week.
I have been in a mass yesterday, at the local church of Nuestra Senora de sacrada corazon. I must said it was very energizing experience to be a part of the pueblo. the mass is really different with the one i have been before. it was really intense. the words that i do understand were really touching and I like especially the sentence caminho de la vida (life path) , or `how we walk through the life´ it really reminds me of my travel so far.
the city of montevideo is really touching. to be here was a wise decision, it doesnt feel touristy at all and it really is charming. From the cathedral metropolitana till the mercado del puerto. the cathedral is maybe the most artsy and the most warm cathedral i`ve ever seen. and the mercado with the eat establishments ( all are top class and really cheap) is really kitschy. i have eaten a verry good fish drank medio y medio and have a dessert and cappucino and that`s for lesser than 30 €
maybe because Uruguay felt really European, that`s why not many european are visiting but it is really worth to take a look for a day or two.
Yay today it`s my birthday. so i have a reason to smoke my romeo y julieta. although i do not feel that today is a special day. it feel like any other day. maybe the downside of travelling.. anyway i`m going to check the city of montevideo and rush to Cabo Polonio. because I want to be in Lujan, buenos Aires at 8 of december because it`s the holy day of Mary and Lujan like Lourdes is a pilgrimage spot of South America
But first some special attention for Liselot Van den Berg. happy Birthday too and I wish you all the best and all the good things in the world. May this day be a special one for you too.
Good, for all of you that sent me a e-mail or comments. thank you very much for the attention. for one who didn`t, no thank :D.. hehe brigadeiro just joking. I know you all wish me the best and followed my journey, and I know you don`t forgot it. So I also want to thank you for all of your attention., as well.
Bueno, I´m going now and will give some update about the wonders of Uruguay mas tarde
In uruguay now en now i`m trying to track my budget everyday. it's not a vacation anymore :( i could see it already in the sky. there are no silverlinings only a big grey cloud. going to make this a short one because i just arrived here and had nothing to do, but i´m also kinda of tired so. Uruguay is almost the same as brasil. but here in montevideo there are lot more colonial buildings, it's almost similar to Porto Alegre (i have seen it a bit better). going to stay here for a couple of days because i just met a uruguyan girl in my bus, that have been in exchange program to brasil. always good to have a local guide, will definetly give a different perspective.
Really stupid of me to lost my creditcard.. escpecially because mastercard is the best way to pay in Argentina. now i need to look for ATM that accept maestro. here in brasil both mastercard and maestro is widely accepted, so not much to worry about. I lost it because of my own stupidity.. put the card somewhere in my bag and couldnt found it anymore.. i guessed it fell off and hid somewhere. turned the bag inside out and upside down but nothing. and i just realized at the day i go to Porto alegre. nothing to whined about it anymore, cancelled the card and wait for new one. but i still have alot of american dollars as back - up so i´m good right now.
Another experience to add in the list of reminders. just need to be more careful now. besides all of the missery I also have some good experience to share. I was waiting in the bus terminal for my bus to porto alegre. and when next to me was a girl carrying a rucksack. always curious for the story of other travellers. just asked her where she was going. turned out that she lived here in brasil for 2 years. she was from origin Spaniard from valencia but lives in france (really complicated). although she speaks english, we have talked with mix of spanish and portuguese.. talked about my experience of travelling here in Brasil mostly (i turned out to be a chatter hehe), so self - centered of me. really nice to be able to talked with some strangers. although i´m always careful with the one i want to talk to. After when i was boarding in to the bus got caught up in a conversation with a girl from new-Zealand. She also wanted to go to uruguay and travelling for in total 3 months and have seen Peru, bolivia, chile and argentina.
when we arrived in porto alegre. i went directly to buy ticket to uruguay. she also but she departed directly in the same day at 20.00 (28 november). In the terminal of Porto Alegre there were alot of people carrying rucksacks. and so we met another travellers. one Englishman and the other one was Irish (but lived in States for 13 years now). four of us decided to take a quick look of the city of Porto Alegre. but we ended up in a small cafe and had some beers till 15.00. a local postman was really kind to bought us the beer, if the postman didn´t paid for the beers it was a alcohol free day. after that we went to look for a internet cafe. but we got splitted up and we lost the new zealand girl. because the internet was expensive we decided to visit the cathedrale metropolitana. Really beautiful structure. Asked for some redemption and we went back to the praça to get more beers, bad wine and good caipirinha (it´s my last day here in Brasil). I think you all know how the british people appreciate alcohol ;). we need to run back to the bus terminal because the Englishman needed to get his bus on time. and again i lost something.. it was luckily my copy of passport. i plastificated it so, kinda worried but not that much actually. better lost a copy than the real one. Another amazing day here in brasil..
the city of porto alegre
Porto alegre is a mix of old colonial buildings and modern skycrappers. thats all actually. sorry i didn´t saw too much of the city, i saw alot of shopping malls and markets at the streets. otherwise i spent actually one day wasted (if you know what i mean) here in porto alegre. but gain alot of knowledge of NGO and UN woks so every day is another day fill with new people and another perspectives of the life in general. taking baby steps and sometimes leap forward to become a better person. hey i´m almost a year older didn´t i.
how are you all.. i heard that the weather not so very good (especially Holland). really shame because here is like 30 degree celcius the whole time. except in the state of santa catarina (city florianopolis) where they have continous rainfall and lot of erossion... i didnt know the exact word for the falling down dirt, but i think you all have heard about it. the heat right here is very strong and i´m wishing for rain now... but tomorrow i´m going to Porto Alegre, so rain down here doesn´t help that much.
THE FALLS
I still keep water as main subject but now moving to something else.: The Iguazu falls. que lindo, really stunning piece of art creating by the mother earth. you need to be here to see the wonder at it self, because pictures don´t speak that much, but i try to make a good story of it. directly after my 30 hours bus ride i went to the national park of iguazu. it´s about 30 km from Foz. in the park it self there are alot of trails and adventures to do. but i take the more touristic way, by walking the 1200 m trails to the main attraction: GARGANTA DO DIABLO. along the trail there are some mirantes (i dont know the word.. view something) where you could see the gigantic falls part by part. and after mas o menos 30 minutes walk you will arrive in the Devil´s Throat. and will definetly got wet.. if you walk to the sighting platform. After that there is a tower overlooking almost the whole fall where you could go up either by using the stairs or the elevator. but the sound of water really is overwhelming.
stupid finger ..it´s the garganta by the way
Near the falls there is a bird / ornithology museum.. but the bird are alive. so it´s actually a bird park. it contains almost every bird from around here (iguazu and surrounding), another part of brasil and also from pantanal (chance to see them at close range). especially the tucans, because in the wild they are hard to capture at a picture. note: this whole area is really touristic, i mean Foz and everythng around it. i was amazed to see the great amount of tourist (after weeks of not seeing one, except the ones in my group) and now is the low season, how about at the high season...
ITAIPU DAM & TRES FRONTEIRAS
another gigantic attraction here in Foz is the Itaipu hydroelectric plant. I believe it´s the biggest one in the world. but currently china is also building a hydroelectric plant near the yang tze river. it could be bigger than this but Ive read the article about it in portuguese from a magazine i bought here.. so maybe i could be wrong. anyway the biological refuge was closed that day (really bummer) because i could see a jaguar from close range. So i take the panoramic tour.. the special touristic route is expensive and i think it will be really interesting for Willem -Alexander but not for me. before we went to the dam we have to watched the mogie about the making of the dam. the movie makes it really clear that the dam is behemoth. really something to look forward.
took a view picture of the dam and listened to the same story i´ve heard and seen (from the movie) that´s all actually.. the dam is really huge but again it´s something you need to see with your own eyes. in the afternoon i´ve decided to see the three land marks. ive seen one in Holland so i want to campare it with the one here. haha, its not the same.. the point that the the three countries cross is in the middle of the rio parana and rio iguasu so if i swam to that place athan im in the center of the borders. bu there wasn´t any tourists... amazing.
PARAGUAY (CIUDAD DEL ESTE)
last day here in Foz do Iguaçu. Bought the ticket to Porto Alegre , RS. tomorrow at 19.00 so i have some times to see Puerto Iguazu (Argentina). after today i knew how to cross the border. and i add 4 stamps in my passport. Paraguay x Brazil = 2 -2. entrada and salida. in and out.. but i actually didn´t need to have an exit stamp from brasilian side. but now ive prolonged my visa by 40 days in brasil :D.
okay, ive land my feet on the paraguay soil.. so if everything according my plan i will see all of the south American countries except the one that have been colonized by English, Dutch and French.
but how was paraguay? IT WAS AWFUL. at least here in ciudad del este, the biggest shopping city in the South America. everyone tried to sell you something.the shop attenders are following you all around and watching you all the time, and sometimes haggle a bit (it was a shop for cryin out loud). most of the time i talked portuguese with them X-D, although they could understand it as well. most the things they sell here are electronica, perfumes and clothings (lot of counterfeits). i was almost seduced by the acer mini laptop for hard currency of 350 US dollar. not fell for that, but i did fell for the 35 dollar of cohibas, with mark of seals, imported from Cuba.... ahumm really going to save this ones for something specials. i did bought some souvenir (a leather pouch for my camera with paraguay on it and a bracelet) and a shirt to spend my last Guaranis (really awful money and i thought reais was awful). When i was in Ciudad del este i thought ´wow such poverty i´m going back to brasil´. really it was a terrible poor city. and It made me remind tho the words of that dude in SP about how poor paraguay was (and still is) . At least I saw another country other than brasil now.
on the bottom of the page you could see some pictures from chapada.
olaaaa, boa tarde. tudo bem?? sou bem, opoco dor a cabeca pelo muito longo viagem (30 horas).
yep, back from the other heaven here in brasil (i think everything in Brasil are heaven). Anyway, pantanal was amazing. in the beginning I was a bit worried, actually geoff and I, but everything turned out very well. hereby my thanks to Joel Souza and family for your hospitalities and great tour. and Alex and Marco & Fatima who gave us a really pleasant time in Pantanal North. yes I went to the northern site of pantanal, from Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso. it was about an hour to pocone and after that there was another 3 hours to reached the first pousada. the pousada had a really bad ambience didn´t liked it there. but it was the place where we need to spent 1 day and half for our boat trip and horse ride. boat trip was good we saw alot of birds and a capybara (that was really closed to the pousada). although that was also the first time we met another animal very famous here in Pantanal. I believe the name was : nosquito mosquito. billions of them, luckily they didnt have any malaria parasites. we also had a night walk to spot some snake and tarantula, we didnt have to walked very long because the italian couples found a snakes and tarantula at their room.
hehe, but we did walked abit to the tarantula territory, and found a big one (with huge fangs). We also spotted the stars, it was a really clear sky and the stars was sonderful. Also when we aimed ourspots to the waters we saw many red eyes poppin out the waters (caymans). boa, the next day we woke aup at 5 o clock for a lil early morning walk. We went to the watch tower to see the sunrise and also to hear the birds and the caymans burping. till Alex woke yup us yelling ´look an anteater´. wow it was an anteater next to us. amazing!! it was also the day that I heard good news from Alex (yayy moving top another pousada) but first horse back riding. really awesome to be gaucho in pantanal.
haha..... lost gaucho
okay after the swiss- german couple (ahumm, third time i met people from Swiss)are arrived, we moved to other pousada deeper in the pantanal to almost the end of the transpantaneira.. on our way we saw lot of caymans and capybara (duhh..). but one cayman lost one leg it was an awesome sight. the next Pousada I really like it. it was run by Marco and Fatima. there is no electricity lines to this part of Pantanal but marco have a generator which supplied a warm water and some Aircon in the evening. next day was another boat trip to the cuiaba river. we spotted some giant otters and some C&C (cayman and capybara). although this place was famous for the jaguar we didn´t saw any of them. well the next day, was also our last we went for a walk in the nearby forest / jungle. saw a horned owl, howler monkeys and brown capuchin. later in the day we ride back in the back of the pick -up back to civilisation. although BIG SURPISE... anaconda (young one) was on the road.. and later JAGUAR. and that was a big jaguar too.. that was a really wonderful closure of our adventure here in Pantanal.
jaguar... the time that i regret, i didn´t bought a better camera
After that i had really long bus trip; de: Cuiaba, MT para: Foz do iguaçu, PR. 30 hours in the bus!!! although from cuiaba to campo grande, I saw alot of emas and also some owls and eagle i hadn´t seen in Pantanal. Tomorrow the wonder of Iguaçu..
Muito Obrigado,
Christiano
WARNING. Anaconda photo on the very bottom ..
the famous woman breasts and hat mountains in the parque nacional chapada dos veadeiros
day 18 - day 22: (12-11-2008 to 16 - 11-2008) ola, bom dia, todo boa? retorno de ma boquinha aventura a chapada dos veadeiros. esta uma lugar bonita. agora eu est en Cuiaba. e a manha vaje en Pantanal.
okay how are you doing all. i´m back from the 4 days trip to the Alto Paraiso it was a heaven on earth. really amazing place to stay for a couple of days. the tour was amazing and the people ive met are great. All are brasilians so i couldnt spoke any english now, hehe. the people ive met there praised how well i could speak portuguese and only be here in Brasil for about 2 weeks. i think i could speak brasilian better than french (which i had learned for about 5 years). maybe i´m more talented in portuguese and spanish. anyway ive stayed in a amazing pousada, had a pleasant conversation with the boss of the pousada (he was shocked that holland is about 20 m under the sea level) and the first day in pusada i saw 4 tucanos.. amazing birds. in the chapada it self i did alot of swimming. really good and pure water. ive learned alot about cerrado plants (alot are medicinal) and one in particular was a cure for diabetes. Cerrado landscape is about similar to the savannah of Africa except it has less animals. if you have seen the movie of george of the jungle and you saw the big grassy landscapes with the hills.. yeah it´s kinda like that. anyway my adventure is going in fast pace now.... and please send me more money :))))). i´m staying in Pousada Ecoverde that´s run by Joel Souza and his family. a really pleasant place to stay and Joel is a amazing man. he has alot of interesses and could speak alot of language. Dutch aswell because he had listened alot to the Wereldomroep. Joel also run the tour to the pantanal. about R$ 200 a day, which make my pantanal trip alot cheaper than my chapada. another bummer is that there is no danger of malaria here in pantanal. so i´m dragging my malaria medicines for nothing. Photos will follow folks.. and because i´m off for pantanal this will be my last updated.
PS:i do som tirolevene... (gliding with 2 cables for about 800 m) amazing view but it was too short
notice that they pronounce the ´t´like ´ch´ it have been really difficult to me because i have spoken it like ´t´all the time
yup, still in goiania where now the tropical tempest is started. it´s raining liked 3 days in the row... but i really like the rain here. rain in here is cooling rain in Holland is freezing...hahaha. no, i´m not laughing at you (ahum). and it´s only short and heavy. Anyway, my bus leave to Alto Paraiso at 20.30 this evening. so now i kinda have the time to look for a rain poncho. and maybe this also would be my last update for now.. i´m going to stay in a pousada for 4 days, till Sunday and i don´t know if they have internet acces.
hmm good thing to let you know that backpaking is harder than it sound. here follow some tips for some of you if your planning to go backpacking (tips only for brasil)
1. follow the advise of the backpacking website.. bring a medium size bag (55 L max) and just few clothes. preferbly the fast drying ones. with my Lowe alpine travel trekker of 7o L, travelling with the onibus here in brasil is really unforgiving. they have a revolving door system to get through the seating area.. and the big bag tends to get easily stuck. and for clothes you could buy alot of clothes here cheaply. 2. don´t bring sun tan oil, lotions, soaps, any stuffs like that.. they sell those here for slighly cheapier prices. maybe good is insectrepellent.. i brought lot from home and didnt use it at all.which really add only more weights =/.
if I knew this, it´s gonna take alot of weights of my shoulders. Anyway, you could also say this is the downside of travelling. because if you have housed the big bag in a Guarda volumes or a hotel things are alot easier. but during the big movement, all the local will give you the `look´whick kinda irritating.
despited all of this i feel more homier now here in brasil.. i understand the language better and i tend to do things like the local. so I´ve survived the naturalization proces.
yesterday was also the first day i saw how people are actually poor here. if your going to a big shopping mall. you will see that prices of electronics and other stuffs are R$ 1000+. but the minimum salary of normal worker is like R$ 400 , - / month (amount that i´ve spent in like 5 days). thats why they give alot of credits and buy now, pay later. So actually behind that grandeur beautiful outside is a rotten inside like in Estados Unios. i really hope that brasil don´t collapse. because with the recently discovered oil source of around 80 billion gallon, (which make brasil one of the biggest oil producent) Brasil can lead the race of becoming the new economical power. That´s why i really support their idea of not joining the Opec (Saudi Arabia was proposing it), and rafine the oil by own power and sell the product.
Brasil overall is really good development country. Alot of University.. ooh i want to study here, climate is perfect, alot of facilities, lot of beautiful students.. but i maybe say that again if i visited the university of Buenos Aires =). and they spend alot of money in the scientific faculties ( physic, Chemistry, Biology). that´s result in the biggest producent of bio-ethanol in the world. and price of ethanol here is like E 0, 50 / L. benzine is E 0,80 / L. I hope they keep the staggering line and would defeat china in the race of world economy.
okay alot of big words.. hehe. but the 2 weeks i´ve spend here provided me with alot of information. and because i saw the daily life of the people here i gain more respect and my image of Brasil being poor country is totally vanished. I´ve never been more serene and could think so clear before, maybe because i have no stress.. anyhow step by step i´m heading closer to my goal.
one last final thing: different between Brasilian and Cuban.. erm not girls, but cigars. yeah i know smoking is bad, but i want to try cigar at least once in my life. The story started when i was in SP. i found a cigarshop accidently, which sold brasilian cigars for R$1 -2. and cubanas R$ 10+. later that night i have smoked the first cigar in my live (brasilian). Caipirinha in one hand, cigar on the other.. that´s how we do. really fun because the dudes in the hostels smoke cigarettes and they didn´t believe that it was my first time. i could understand why people like to smoke. the feel of somethings on your hand and the ambience create by it is amazing. for the difference between Brasil and Cuba is: brasil is wild and heavy and bad after taste, cuban is sensual and high class and no/slight after taste. i have 2 more cigars in the back pack. Guantanamera and Romeo Y julia. save one for after Machu picchu and the other at the end of my trip. Althoughhh, i hope i could grab cheap cubans in Venezuela... (By the way I haven´t smoke any cigars last few days, it´s easier to handle because u dont inhale it and the nicotine doesn´t stay that long in your body; i´m not sure though)
Final thing they have already started the Christmas preparation here.. a picture from the rodoviaria / shopping mall
thank you very much for reading my stories and following my journey. it have been a great outlet for me and a good wqay to record my experience. although i know that sometimes (or maybe all the time..) the words not that great, but any suggestions are welcome. for receipes it´s kinda hard for me because so far i´ve only eaten in the restaurant.. maybe later on i will try to put some if i´m more settled. THANK YOU
well.. still the same day but lot of informations richer now. i went to memorial of Cerrado.. (dumb of me didnt brought ISIC card, the one time it gonna work). anyway, memorial do cerrado is a really nice museum. the main museum exhibit the earths and the evolution of it (have seen it) and also lot of fossils that they have excavatted here in Goias. really nice to see and very educatting all. they also have like a open-air museum. with the replica of houses of the colonists and the indigenous people and the slaves.
and i went to Kiko at casa do walker aventura turismo. and i booked a trip to chapada dos veadeiros http://www.chapada.com/english/chapadaeng.htm. well it supposed to be energizing and a amazing place too see. the SA handbook of 2009 said that it´s also house alot of wildlife.. but so far i have heard no big mammal only alot of birds. the second time that the handbook failed in information, i was planned to throw the book away and go my own way. But maybe i need it someday. so i need to go to pantanal anyway. want to go to brazilian side of pantanal because the ecoturismo here in Brasil are better regulated than the rest of the continent (I believe). but it will exceed my time here in Brasil. which is good than i spend less days in the more expensive uruguay and chile. but the downside necessito falo Portugeuse.
chapada dos veadeiros http://baixaki.ig.com.br/imagens/wpapers/BXK3155_chapada-dos-veadeiros-cachoeira-almecegas-i800.jpg
I like it here in Goiania. its calm and cheap compare to SP and RJ and people are really nice. yesterday (sunday) i went to look for the Memorial de cerrado Museum and Casa do Indio. and I ended up in a ghetto (again). Funny was when i walked at the Av. Bela Vista, i could saw the huge cultural gap here in Brasil. on one side there were the beautiful condominiums and on the other side the more crappy houses. I found Casa do indio (although its actually Casa de saudé do Indio). but it was more a reservate than a centre for gathering of the indigenous people. I don´t really like it to visit reservate.... maybe the Indian themself tried to isolate themself from the rest (but why was the lock on the outside of the door, not inside). it was totally what i was expected (open space some houses, and not prison like compund) so i decided not to go in.. F* hypocrite, i know. but i want to meet Indian people in the amazon on the place where they belong. Memorial do Cerrado museum is the one i didn´t find. but i know where it is now. so i go to visit it today. i also have appointment with Kiko from Casa do walker (tourism agency). want to fix a trip to chapada dos vedeiros NP. a bit north east of here. the good thing now i´m here in Goiania is that i have some breathing space and i finally could finish my Art of War by Sun Tzu . the actual book it self is not to long to read but the commentary from the PLA general is more detailed and during the liberation campaign by Mao Zedong he actually used alot of tactic from this 2000 year old book. for meself it´s good to know that i sit here ideally on the focal ground (junction with easy acces) and it´s cheap. economy is a major point in war.
You must see the book as a metaphore. My campaign is my Journey here in SA. the battles are the places i visited and want to visit and economy is of course my budget. It´s gave me huge insight into management and that´s another goal i want to achieved. `know your enemy and know yourself´. boa... here is the map of Goias with Chapada mark as A. i hope to see some jaguar. because it´s what i want to see here in Brasil... it´s same as going safari in Afrika to see elephants and lions.
first thing: José, Si usted lee esto, la felicitación en sus cumpleaños. he tratado a le contactó por email. pero su email no trabaja. de todos modos, bom dia amigo.
here in the central plain of brasil is not much of the entertaintment. in Goiania shops are closed around 21.00 and it´s dead, which kinda creepy. yeah it´s been 2 weeks already. time goes fast isn´t it. and i´m actually started to exceed my limit here in brasil (the one i was planned, not my visa) so i kinda need to make a cut in deals, go to cuiaba to see Pantanal or Emas national park to see the bio- illumination of the termites. I really want to see Emas because it´s really amazing (from reading on my handbook and on internet) and pantanal is also in Bolivia so i could visit it later anyway (but the weather at this time is really good, dry not alot of rain). so yeah i´m having dillema right now. anyway, here is short summary of my 2 hours visit in the capital of Brasil: Brasilia. maybe you know maybe uyou don´t know, but Brasilia is the succesor of Rio as the capital of Brasil (yes, Rio de Janeiro used the be the capital). Anyhow because they need a more central place to reside the federal government, they have established brasilia. The city of Brasilia is really nice, it´s really clean and well maintained. the touristic attraction of the city is also on a walking distance which is really good because the onibus cost like R$ 3 (way to expensive). the most beautiful place i´ve seen is the Cathedrale metropolitane. it´s a church designed by brasil top architect, i don´t remember his name, but it´s a really beautiful building. shape like the thorn crown, full of lights and really modern and artsy. there is one monument that´s kind of bumped up, that was the monument national. it was nothing inside it only some cultural activity about mozambique, a good intention of the government to be aware of the origins of the peple in Brasil (the only nice thing were the chicks at the entrance ;). anyway walk down the arrow (Brasilia is build like bow and arrow) were the senatorial centre and the palace of justice. modern and artsy buildings. a couple hunderd meters more there was the palace of Lula ( the presidential palace) too bad i didn´t saw Lula himself. Brasilia is similar to Jakarta for the ones who have been in Jakarta. Searing heat and alot of cars. but Brasilia is much more clean. the most spectacular view is the trip to Brasilia. the rodoviario goes through the heart of cerrado. really amazing landscape. I love Brasil because of the landscape.
Continuing the cultural interchanging of idea, i went to the museum de goiania. the museum houses several fossils and some arts of the indegenous people who live here in goias. when i saw those pictures and arts and handycrafts of the india people i really want to visit one of the villages. but not here in brasil, i want to go to ecuadorian amazon. speak of which if you remember the girl from ecuador, who ive met in SP, she resides here in Goiania for a while. and it´s kinda hard to meet here because we only have e-mail as contact. Anyhow, kinda want to see her because i need someone to speak with and practice my espanol, no.
Bom.. finally i left SP. although in the end I like SP but only for Butantan and Liberdade. butantan you already know, but i went to Liberdade yesterday. It was the little Tokyo of Sao Paulo and the place i was looking for. at least it was used to be the little Tokyo, because it was mainly resided by the Japanese immigrants. but now it´s kind of mix between Japanese, Chinese and Korean. anyway it was still really nice place to see and walk around. muito boa, and the food was good too. it was a self service, por quilo (typical brasil) but the a la carte was the one I was looking for. Lamen Especial. big bowl of ramen and tasted really good. and in Liberdade i finally found my second battery for my camera. i walked through the city center and no one had it. and here in Liberdade, they have it (of course they have it, because they have half of japan right here. after that i went to the cathedral of Sé the biggest of South America. and it was reallly big. never saw cathedrale at this propotion. magnificent and grand. depois, it was time to leave SP. and had to goiania. a overnight bus ride. Took the executive but leito was almost the smae but cheaper. boa,.. for the next time. okay. Goiania is a big city.. similar to amsterdam (population wise) but at least it´s much smaller than SP. so far it´s really good here in Go, prices are cheaper compare to the biggest metrople in brasil and it´s more calm than RJ or SP... but it´s hot down here... i hope you guys don´t envy me becaues right now i could use some rain. anyway , today i found out that per quilo restaurant. especially brasilian food it´s really cheap. i should go eat there more. although as always it´s dominated by meat. good meat though, and they prepared them very well.
because yesterday the butantan institute was closed i need to go back again. I really want to see the research they were doing. and it was really important for me. it was also the first time that my ISIC card works. and it wasnt that surprising really because the institute is connected to the university and would of course give some discount to students. so instead of $ 3 i was paying like $ 1. 2/3 of the price. the institute has 3 prominent museums. the biologic museum, the microbiology museum and the historic museum. the museums were educative, informative and amusing at the same time. I really liked to walked around in those museums. and after I saw what the institute really does I gained respect for the achievement they make here in Brasil. I always thought that Brasil was 3rd world country, but even in the 19th century, the Institute was actually a State of the art. And it was equal to the europeans counterparts. really awesome was the snake collection they have there. different kind of snake, originated from the amazons and also from the rest of the world was exhibited in the biologic museum. In the historic museum, they have put the old instruments they used back in the 19th century. they even had their own elctron microscoop how cool is that. The microbiology museum is really clear and understandable even for the little ones (alot of Sao Paulo schools have their fieldtrip right here). it was really cool museum. because I know that some of You doesnt love Snake that much, I havent put any photos of my visit here. in fact I only put dome photos from my visit to Nossa senhora de conselacão cathedral. it was really beautiful and grand cathedral although itś not the biggest one here in SP. there is another one in the centrum, and itś also supposed to be the biggest one in South America. photo down below.
day 9: (3-11-2008) took a bit educational turn today, by going to Instituto Butantan. Took the bus number 701 to Butantan USP. but not knowing where i had to go out end up in a wrong place again. not far from the instituto though. The campus of USP is big, and different type (or maybe all) of the faculties are on the same ground. the Butantan Institute is close on monday so i couldnt catch a glimpse of the resarches they are doing around here. i especially would like to see the snake milking. 6 times a day the snakes are milked for their venoms. the institute was founded with the intention to research and to make anti-venoms for the snake bites here in the amazon. well i guess that was what they were doing. anyway, outside of the institute there was a big snake terrarium. and it was divided in 3 different area and each area hold different type of snakes in it but they were snakes that originated from the amazon like: Boa constrictor, cascavel and the jararacussu. Jararacussu and cascavel are poisonous. and the Boa not. The institute also has a nice garden, but it was close. anyway i'm going back to butantan again tomorrow. i really want to see the researches they are doing here. By the way, the hostel i'm sleeping right now is full with gringos. so no more spanish.. but i need to speak alot of portuguese anyway. and today i met a girl from the Swiss-german. she going to do a 5 months trip and just like me she started in Rio, in Itaguai near by Rio de Janeiro.
it's Sunday now.. and Sao Paulo in the week-end is kinda tense.Lot of social out casted inhibitors of this big city are wondering around at the city center. i didnt see them because today we needed to checked out of our hotel and thus i need to move my stuff in the next hostel.there was one thing though that we managed to see, because it was really close, it was the sunday market in the praça republica. its a market of arts. fill up with paintings, indian handycrafts, hammock (i want one but it's really bulky). anyway it was nice to wandered about. well after moving too the new hostel, I went to see the formule 1. and that was also the moment that Jose Luis and I went separate ways. Jose is going to back to Campinha, to his research, it was really great travelling around with him. And learned alot too.`Jose mucho gusto a calle con ti, hasta lluego a Foz de Iguazu.' oh yeah, yesterday we met a chica from ecuador, and she is rally symphatique. she is here in Brasil for her study, ecological (environtment)thing. I consider meself really lucky that i have met a lot of people from the hispanic part of the south america. it really help my spanish.. Jose and me mentioned lately, like it's been 6 days we hanged around.. and my spanish is from nada to mas y mas. FOOD in Brasil for the one who requested it: heavy on meat.. carne, carne, carne.. meat meat meat. we went yesterday in a restaurant chaurisso ( i dont know how to spell it) anyway, you seat, the waiters runned about with bunch of different type of meat and you just choose the one you like .. and you can do it the whole night (unlimited buffet)... :D. anyway here in Brasil meat is use in every dishes.. kinda tired of it so i went to eat japanese food today. Sao Paulo houses of the largest Japanese community outside japan. Most of them are descendant from the people working in the coffee field. so japanese food isn't that rare here in Sao Paulo. And you see lot of japanese people too.
back to Interlagos, the 30 reais for a ticket is not true. it's about 230 reais a piece. so similar as in Holland. but the ticket are sold out anyway, so i just go to look the race as any brasilians who live in the neighbourhood of interlagos, through the gaps in the fences. i actually stood at a good place. and could catched a glimpse of the cars. but itś not that good because i couldnt follow the race. but at the main entrance of the circuit there was a big screen where you could follow the race .. and with alot of people too. mostly Brasilians they really idolise Massa, and cheers and yell anytime they see him. Marvelous experience. especially when you here the 20 cars, 20 engines, hauling of their starting place. the sound of them is magnificent. before the race and after the race, it was raining. and not for a bit, itś now the raining season here in brasil so the rain was more like a heavy shower. but itś good because the rain is cooling down the temperature otherwise itś really humid and warm down here.
after the race i went back to the hostel. at least that was my intention. Portuguese is really hard to comprehend so i went out on a wrong place. it was a mall, a good mall too. but not knowing how to continue my trip is really frustating. and it was still raining and raining. and i was running out of day light... Sao paulo at night and especially in the week-end is really dangerous, so it was the first time in my trip that i felt a bit insecure. anyway i arrived back and safely in the hostel writing thing blog, SO EVERYBODY I'M OKAY. anyway i want to leave this city as soon as possible, next destination would be Goias near by Brasilia. but tomorrow still here in SP.
Miss you all back at home, especially after i talked through the telephone.
muy bien.. its the day we went to Sao Paulo. it´s a 1 hour ride so its not that punishing as the one to Santos. WOW.. Sao paulo is huge. you can feel that it´s really is a metropolitan. It´s the city that run the Brasil´s economy and you can really feel it. bueno.. bad news was, because the F1 was arrived here in Sao Paulo, the hostel we were planning to get into was totally booked. so with not much choices left we went to the next hotel.... a bit expensive but with 2 of us it´s a bit affordable. anyway it´s a nice hotel so nothing to complain about.... and i heard that the ticket for f1 here in brasil its about 30 reais (15 Euro) so maybe it´s worth a try to go and see it. anyway sao paulo is really intimidating in the beginning but one should really get use to it
Porto alegre is a mix of old colonial buildings and modern skycrappers. thats all actually. sorry i didn´t saw too much of the city, i saw alot of shopping malls and markets at the streets. otherwise i spent actually one day wasted (if you know what i mean) here in porto alegre
