Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Puerto Natales je male ospale mesto, kde potkate vetsinou cizince nebo mistni jak si nesou svuj hrnecek s kovovym brckem a mate. Ten piji vsude, v parku, v MHD, za chuze... Ale jeste nez opustime mesto zajedeme na soutok rek Parana a Iguazu kde lezi trojmezi statu Argentina-Brazilie-Paraguay. Puvodne jsme chteli jet na jednu z nejvetsich vodnich elektraren sveta Itaupu do Paraguay, ale pri pomysleni, ze by jsme v tomhle vedru museli minimalne 2x prekrocit hranici, vystat fronty, formulare, atd. jsme to zavrhli. Jeste ke vsemu predesly den byla na hranicich nejaka stavka a zpozdeni bylo az 7hodin...
Zbytek pobytu stravime uz jen u bazenu - tam je to pohoda, palmy sem tam preleti nad hlavou papousek, vychlazene pivo a k tomu hraje Jack Johnson nebo reggae...
Ja lehce a Janca vice spaleni pak vyrazime smer Buenos Aires. Asi jsme jeste nezminovali autobusy, dalkove jsou paradni. Luxusni kresla ktera se daji sklopit do uplne roviny, vlastni obrazovka, dobre jidlo a piti. Jen sampanske jsme odmitli...Takze i kdyz cesta trvala skoro 20hodin utekla rychle a hlavne jsme sedeli vepredu takze bylo na co koukat. Silnice je siroka, asfalt do cervena a vzdy se tahne az na obzor. Krajina je zvlnena, lesy jsou rozlehle a je to zajimava smes listnatych stromu, borovic a sem tam mezi nimi palma.
Do Buenos Aires prijizdime rano a hned pri vstupu do metra nas policajt varuje pred kapsari v oblasti kde mame bydlet...a hele, na stanici Lima /nejstarsi metro jizni polokoule, jezdi tu drevene soupravy/ se na me v davu lepi typek s bundou pres ruku a smatra v kapse. Smula - vsechno mam ve skryte kapse zevnitr. Po primem pohledu a odsoupeni dela jako, ze nic a na pristi vystupuje.
Je dopoledne ale teploty ve stinu uz kolem 30 k tomu 90% vlhkost vzduchu. Nic moc, ale presto obchazime hlavni pamatky a historicke centrum - Plaza de Mayo s palacem Casa Rosada, Obelisco /vysoky pilir na miste kde poprve zavlala statni vlajka/, stadion Boca Juniors - ptal jsem se na rozpis zapasu ligy, ale ani Boca ani River Plate v pristich 4 dnech hrat nebudou. Skoda. Vecer jeste koukame na poulicni tango.
Dalsi den mirime smerem na hrbitov Recoleta. Hrbitov je krasny, mensi nez v Milane, ale o dost zhustenejsi. Skoda, ze nas vedro vyhani do stinu. Alespon jsme zvladli najit a vyfotit hrobku Evity. Ve bohate ctvrti Recoleta potkavame hodne vencicu nebo vencitelu? psu. Nekteri jich maji i 10. Zajdeme do botanicke, ale je to takovy horsi park. Dublinske nesaha ani po kotniky.
Predposledni den v BA se rozhodneme vyjet na deltu reky Parana. Ta je tvorena spoustou mensich rek, ricek, potoku a kanalu a mezi nimi jsou stovky ostrovu. Na ostrovech jsou krasne rezidence se stromy ktere jsou velmi stare a mohutne, upravena zahrada nesmi chybet. Jediny rozdil oproti beznym bohatym ctvrtim je, ze jsou vsechny domy postavene na kulech pro pripad vysoke vody a misto garaze ma kazdy molo a lod. Vyjizdku lodi si moc uzivame nejen kvuli vyhledu, ale i pro stin a svezi vanek ktery konecne ulevi od otravneho vedra. Pokud bydlet v BA tak jedine zde, necelou hodinu do centra, zadny ruch, hluk a smog a vsude krasna priroda.
Dnes brzo rano preletame do Patagonie, predpoved kolem 10st a destivo. Nikdy by jsme neverili, ze se muzeme tesit na irske pocasi...


Puerto Natales is a small, drowsy town where you can meet only tourists or locals with their cup, metal straw and mate. They drink it everywhere - in parks, buses or when walking...
But before we leave the town for Buenos Aires we go to the meeting point of rivers Iguazu and Parana. This is where the borderlines of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. Originally we wanted to go and see Itaupu hydropowerplant, one of the biggest in the world. But it is in Paraguay and the prospect of crossing border at least twice in this heat is not very pleasant. Yesterday there was a strike at the border - delays up to 7hrs...
The rest of our stay we spend at the pool. Taking it easy - cold beer, palms, Jack Johnson and reggae...
Next day bit sunburned we head for the BA. Have not mentioned the long distance buses yet - they are perfect. Big cosy seat that goes nearly flat, own screen, good food, wine and champagne...So the 20hrs on bus are quite relaxing with really nice views. Road is reddish and always goes all the way to the horizon, forests are large with interesting mix of leaf trees, evergreens and palms.
We reach BA early morning. At the entrance to the metro a policeman warns us about pickpockets in the area where we are staying...and here it comes, at the station Lima /oldest metro of southern hemisphere, wooden carriages/ a guy with a jacket over his hand makes the try in the crowd. Bad luck /for him/ everything is in my hidden trousers pocket /thanks Craghoppers/. After I give him a stare and back off a step he looks like nothing happened and leaves at next station.
It is still morning and the temperatures reach 30, with humidity 90% not a great weather for a sightseeing...but still we manage to see the main sites and historical centre - Plaza de Mayo with presidential Casa Rosada, Obelisco /high white column in the place where national flag was raised for the first time/, Boca Juniors stadium - we checked the schedules but no football is on in next 4 days. Pity. And in the evening we go and watch a street tango show.
Next day we head for the Recoleta Cemetery where Evita has her tomb. It is very nice similar to the one in Milan, not so big but more compact. In this rich area we meet a lot of professional dog walkers. Some of them have 10 of them. Then we go to see the botanical gardens but it is just below average park. Dublin's one remains number 1 for us.
Last day of our stay in BA we decide to go and see delta of river Parana. It consists of many rivers, streams and canals embracing hundreds of islands. The islands are inhabited and everywhere you can see huge and gorgeous residences with big and old trees and gardens that get a lot of attention. The only difference comparing to ordinary rich area is that all houses are built on columns in case of high water and instead of garages everybody has it's own pier and boat. We are enjoying the boat ride not just for great views but as well for shade and pleasant breeze that relieves us from the oppressive heat. If living in BA this is the place - not even an hour to city centre, no rush, noise or smog and beautiful nature views everywhere.
Early in the morning we fly to Patagonia. Forecast 10degrees and showers. If someone told us that one day we'll be looking forward to an Irish version of the weather we'd call him mad...

Iquazu Falls (Argentina)

Sobota/Saturday 23.1.2010

Po rusne noci, kdy nas budila jak klimatizace tak rozjarili spolubydlici britove, jsme konecne v 6.30 vstali a sli snidat. Cekal nas totiz vylet na Iguazu Falls, ktere by mely byt novym divem sveta (podepisuje se tu za to petice..). Tesime se moc. Snidane v Argentine (tedy na hostelech a v autobuse) nejsou nic moc. Vsechno co je k mani je sladke. Hodne sladke cornflakes, marmelada a jeste neco hodne podobneho karamelu, ktery se maze na susenky. Jsem zvedava, kdy prestaneme snidat. Ale zpet k vyletu. Autobus stavi hned u hostelu a je to za 10 Argentinskych pesos tam i zpet. (cca 50Kc). Auobus nas vyhodi hned u vstupu, kde se kupuje vstupenka do Parku. Ta je za 85 Ar. pesos pro cizince. Kdyby jsme byli mistni, je to zdarma... Ale platime a vyrazime na vlacek, ktery nas doveze k hlavni atrakci ´´Paseo Garganta del Diablo´´ (Dabluv chrtan). Ve vlacku nam Ruda upustil fotoaparat a ten se rozsypal asi na 4 kusy. Vypadlo z neho i nejake sklo (Ruda rika cocka), soucastky z umele hmoty... No super, docela sok, protoze nas cekal cely den bajecnych scenerii. No nastesti si ho Janca vzala do parady a dala ho dohromady a zatim funguje. Uff!! Tak a vlacek se rozjizdi a naproti me sedi pani pruvodkyne, kterych je tu spousta. Destnikem mi posunula nohu za zlutou caru, aby se mi asi v tech 7km/hod (max. rychlost) neco nestalo. Vystupujeme/prestupujeme a nakonec vyrazime k chodnickum, ktere nas dovedou az k tem mohutnym vodopadum.. Spousta lidi se tu ruzne foti a taky tu vsude prsi voda, ktera je ale v tom vedru osvezujici. Voda je tu vsude zakalena a tak vodopady vypadaji jako nanukac s karamelem. Snad brzy stahneme fotky. Zatim se to nedari.. Po ceste fotime more motylku, kteri na nas sedaji a jsou krasni a vsude. Pak jeste mame ulovky ptaku, jestera, opice a neceho podobnyho myvalovi a opici s dlouhym nosem...(ty tu kradou detem jidlo) Pak jeste cely den prochazime po ruznych vyhlidkach na vodopady. Je tu toho dost na cely den chozeni. Bohuzel nejezdila lod na Isla San Martin, kvuli prilis vysokemu prutoku vody. Nakonec jsme vyrazili na Macuco trail. Na zacatku ale byl obrazek kobry a cedule, ze tu ziji nebezpecna zvirata... Po par minutach (30) jsme se ale otocili zpet. Priznavam, ze to bylo kvuli me, protoze jsem se bala ruznych pavouku, kteri nam viseli nad hlavama a taky tech hadu. V 16.20 jsme jeli autobusem zase do mestecka. Udelali jsme rychly nakup a hura na hostel a do sprchy. Uz si docela smrdime :)

Komentare od Rudy:
Fotak jsem nepustil, upadl sam a neslozila ho jen Janca, ale slo o spolecne usili. Ted kdyz jsou fakta postavena na spravnou miru muzu trochu priblizit jak jsem vodopady videl ja. Co se tyce Dablova chrtanu tak jeste ted mi beha mraz po zadech kdyz si na to vzpomenu. Masy a masy vody padaji ze vsech 3 stran do bileho neznama - takhle nejak si museli moreplavci predstavovat konec sveta kde veskera voda prepada pres okraj a mizi v neznamu. Druha trasa vede nad delsi cast vodopadu kde je videt dlouhatanska hrana pres kterou v kaskadach pada nekonecne mnozstvi vody a treti trasa vede dole pod vodopady kde se na tu nadheru da koukat zespodu a pri te prilezitosti se nechat poradne osprchovat. Nejdrive jsem mel pochyby jestli stoji za to tahnout se 2500km busem ze Sao Paula do Buenos Aires kvuli vodopadum, ale ted muzu rict, ze stoji za to sem kvuli tomu priletet celou cestu z Evropy! Muzete videt fotky a dokumenty nebo cist cestopisy, ale videt a slyset na vlastni kuzi je o nekolik stupnu vys.


Hello again - don´t mind the long text in Czech above - Jana got carried away and described all details of the day, I'll try to say the same in less words...we're now in Puerto Iguazu. Sharing room with 2 English guys that thought I am a Dubliner... Told them only 33% the rest is work of my ex-colleagues :) Not sure now if that's good for me or bad for you. Choose from it whatever you think is better...
We still haven't uploaded the pictures because cannot find a pc with working USB, we'll keep trying.
Today we visited Iguazu Falls. At the entrance the camera fell and spilled into 4pcs, fortunately works fine after we put it back together. Big ufff.
Easy way to describe the waterfalls would be - Wow! But I'll try to elaborate on that. There are 3 main trails you can take. One above the biggest waterfall called Devils Throat - masses and masses of water fall from 3 sides into the white unknown...this is the way vikings must have imagined the edge of the world where all water falls into the eternity. The second trail leads over the longer edge of the waterfall where you can see hundreds waterfalls merging into the cascades and wide river. The last one goes below the waterfalls where you can admire the beauty from below and get a proper shower. Boats didn't go today and the San Martin island was closed due to the high waterflow..pity
Everywhere is lot of bright and colorful butterflies that land on us and pose for the pictures. We also met some apes, lizards, birds and animal with long nose that steels food from the kids...
Then we went for the Macacu trail which goes through the jungle - we turned back after 30mins as Jana was bit afraid of big spiders hanging everywhere and signs of beware the snakes...
Originally we were unsure whether it's worth to go 2500km on bus from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires because of waterfalls. Now we know it is worth to fly from Europe to see it!

Sao Paulo (Brazil)

Let byl dlouhy, neco pres 12hodin, ale dalo se to vydrzet. Krome toho, ze jsem se polil cajem se nic zvlastniho nestalo. Imigrace po priletu probehla bez problemu a uz nic nebranilo tomu vyjet do mesta. Chvilku jsme hledali bus, ale po par posuncich s mistnima jsme nasli ten pravy - nic turistickeho, ale mistni MHD. Je to zvlastni pocit byt nekde kde skoro nic nerozumite a naopak, zatim jsme se vzdy kdekoliv bez problemu domluvili...
Je tu pekny vedro 30stupnu a vlhkost vzduchu kolem 60%, takze je to jeste porad dost namahavy cokoliv delat po tech nasich mrazech. Ale zpatky k busu - jede od letiste pres chudsi casti az na zacatek metra, vsude je neporadek, zacpy a dokonce vidime kolem jednoho mostu mensi slum...jak v tom nekdo muze zit...metro uz je pak bez problemu, je docela moderni, ciste a navigace je lehka.
Hostel mame ve vilove ctvrti Vila Madalena, je to z ruky, ale pekne, ciste a hlavne bezpecne. Po tom co se ubytujeme vyrazime na autobusove nadrazi sehnat listky do Iguazu. Az ted kdyz jsme bez baglu si vsimam jak na nas vsichni nenapadne koukaji - preci jen 2 uplne bili lidi nejsou bezny pohled. Ale vsichni jsou prijemni a snazi se pomoci. Sao Paoulo vubec neni na turisty nijak zvlast uvykle, zadne informace, pohledy, nic co je bezne vsude kam turiste jezdi.
Centrum mesta na nas nepusobi moc bezpecne ani zajimave, vsude jsou skupinky policistu minimalne po 4, po chodnicich se vali lidi mimo realitu a dokonce potkame typa obleceneho jen do pytle na odpadky. Zadne obchody, jen vysoke opryskane budovy. Po hodine nam to staci a ptame se nejblizsich policistu na cestu k metru. Ochotne nas prevedou pres rusnou ulici a doprovodi az do stanice.
Ctvrt kde bydlime je uplne jiny svet. Svet bohatych, dost bohatych a hodne bohatych. Vsude same vily v kolonialnim stylu obehnane vysokymi zdmi a mrizemi, uklizene ulice, hlidaci, soferi, parky s posilovanami venku...Potulujeme se tu cely den. Vecer jdeme do restaurace doporucene Ianem...a hovezi je bezkonkurencni! (nebo je to tim, ze jsme od snidane do 7vecer nejedli?).
To jak je Sao Paulo ohromne se da tezko popsat...ale jen tak pro predstavu, kdyz po 2dnech odjizdime, tak jedeme po dalnici 1.5h koukam z okna nez usnu a vsude kolem jsou jen same 20-30patrove budovy...holt 17 milionu lidi na jednom miste se jen tak neztrati

The flight was quite long, over 12hrs. It was smooth and besides me spilling tea all over me nothing interesting happened. Immigration after arrival was quick without any questions asked. For a little while we searched for a bus and soon were successful – local urban bus. It is very strange feeling being somewhere where you don’t understand anything and vice versa…so far we’ve never been to a country where we couldn’t use one of our languages.
It is hot summer here, 30degrees and humidity around 60% - so it is big shock to our bodies as we came from -15 and 4ft of snow…The urban bus goes from the airport through poor suburbs where we saw one of the smaller slums…how anybody can live there is beyond our comprehension.
Fortunately our hostel is in one of the better areas, it is not close to anywhere but it’s nice, clean and most important safe. After we meet our roommates (one of them travels and lives for last 2yrs from playing poker! Cool job if you ask me..) we go to town to get tickets for Iguazu Falls. Only now when we left the luggage at the hostel I can see how the locals are interested in us and give us hidden looks…2 white guys among all of them is probably not very common sight. But everybody we meet is nice and tries to help. The city centre doesn’t feel very safe neither interesting. Everywhere are groups of police men (4 at least), people in different reality sleeping in the middle of the streets and we even saw a guy dressed up only in black bin sacks…No shops just high faded buildings. After a while we ask nearest guards for directions and they take us over busy street all the way to underground.
Area where we live is different world. World of rich and very rich people. Huge villas with high walls, clean streets, private security, chofers, parks with outdoor gyms,…After a whole day spent here we go to the restaurant recommended by Ian (thanks!). And the beef is without flaw, one of the best I ever had (or was it that we haven’t eaten since breakfast?)
It is hard to describe how huge Sao Paulo is...I only realize it when we leave the city and go for 1.5hrs on speedway and all I can see is 20-30storey buildings…well the 17mio people in one place need to fit somewhere…