I've got a good one for you!

As you surely don't know, the inhabitants of the Buenos Aires Province are about to elect their governor. While many of them are in competition, like Filmus or Telerman, I think that one of them has the power to get the Province out of its economic, financial, and social stagnation. This guy is called Cherashny, and his proposition is simple: Sex, joins, alcohol and rock’n roll. It is pointless to say that if I had the right to vote in this country, I would definitively go for this bloke. GO CHERASHNY, GO CHERASHNY, YOU ROCK!

Sport headline!

The highlights of these last days were the trek on the Perito Moreno Glaciar, kayaking on the Gutiérrez Lake, the bike ascent of the Cerro Cathedral next to Bariloche, the trek in the fresh snow of the National Park Torres del Paine, another trek in the National Park Los Glaciares. It was very pleasant and in addition to breathe fresh air, I got to know nice people. I will mention Paula from Canada, Mike and Victoria (resp from England and France), my first friends from Bermuda: Nicola & Haly, Alexandra and Fernanda from Brazil, Chem from Israel, Shona, Dany & Raj from England, Stasy from Australia.
At the moment I am enjoying the tranquillity of a place called El Bolsón with Chem. There is basically nothing to do in this hippie village except reading which is exactly what I was looking for after so much sport.

Ushuaia or the end of the world.

After the intense experience of skydiving, I decided to chill in Ushuaia. The town itself is not very interesting, but the surroundings are incredibely wonderful and peacefull. On the first day I went to trek with two German girls in the National Park Tierra del Fuego. But after one hour, we got lost and decided to split. I took a shortcut trough the woods while they opted for going back to the starting point.
One the second day, and after a big party the night before I joined my Brazilian, Israeli and Engish friends, for a cruise on the Canal de Beagle. In addition to great landscapes, we saw sea lions and cormorans resting respectivly on their small island on the canal. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed as I did not see pinguins because they had left a month ago to Antartica.

Back in the business!

I finally could put online my pictures of Bolivia; even tough some of them are missing, it is worth to have a look. On the top of that this last days I felt like a bird falling from the sky at 200km/h. Indeed, I decided to try skydiving. Enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow I am going to Ushuaia and promise more stunning pictures.

Mes chers compatriotes!

En ce jour de victoire, je pense a tous ceux qui se réjouissent de la victoire de notre chouchou! Vive la république et vive la France.

On the road again

With my friend Pierre, whom joined me in Buenos Aires, we decided to rent a car for a week in order to discover the West of Argentina. This allows us to stop wherever we want, and moreover to go wherever we want!!! We left on Saturday, and after cruising through the flat Pampa we stopped for the night in Rosario. According to the Lonely Planet, this town is “one of those places that you never want to leave”. According to me it is one of those places where you don’t want to go. Well, we left the city and drove further west to “Estancia Santa Catalina”; a lovely Jesuit ranch founded in 1622. At the moment we are in Córdoba, and we should stay there for one day or two.

I’ll tell you a bit more

These weeks in Bolivia were absolutely delightful. I saw ones of the best landscapes of my globetrotter’s life. After Sucre, we stayed 3 days in Potosi. This town used to be one of the richest in South America thanks to the “Cerro Rico”, a hill loaded with silver. From there, we took a three days trip in Uyuni. The first day we drove through the 12000km2 salar: an endless sea of salt. It was absolutely amazing. The second day we saw lagunas peopled with flamingos. And the third days offered us a nice bath in a hot water laguna (after 3 days without showering).
Then we headed to La Paz, but shortly left to the Lake Titicaca, where we slept on a peaceful island called “Isla del Sol”. There we ate trout until exhaustion, accompanied with Bolivian wine.
Back in La Paz, we took a bus to Santa Cruz in order to catch our flight. And guess what? The very day of our trip, we read in the news paper that a bus, of the same company where we bought our tickets, had an accident on the same road that we will take, killing 33 people and injuring 20 others. Moreover after two hours of trip the customs stoped the bus and founded 400kgs of coca leaves in the bus. It is absolutely legal to carry coca in Bolivia but over 1kg you need a permit. Thanks god we arrived safely in Santa Cruz with 3 hours of delay.
After three sunny weeks in Bolivia I am back in Buenos Aires where it rains cats and dogs. But I joined my friend Pierre, and we should leave in the coming week to Uruguay.
I hope you are all doing well. Besos

Amigos

My computer could not resist the pressure of the 5000m of altitude, the screen went rogue! I am actually trying to fix it in order to put online all the pictures of my last days in Bolivia. I promise that it is worth waiting.
I am actually in La Paz and should go to the lake Titicaca in the coming days.
Suerte

A bit of adventure!

Bored of the monotony of Buenos Aires, I swiftly left to Bolivia with 2 girls – Carina & Gabriela. I met them 2 weeks before in a bar in BA. Thursday I joined them in Santa Cruz. This city is the economic engine of Bolivia, but it could be a town in Europe. We arrived at the middle of the “semana santa” (a very important event in a country as religious as Bolivia). Lodging in a hostel next to the cathedral, we attended to all the events: mass, ceremonies… It was interesting but nothing very exciting! Therefore yesterday we took a 14 hours night bus to reach Sucre; the former capital of Bolivia. The trip was a complete quilombo (a mess). People were sleeping everywhere: in the corridor of the bus and in the hold of the bus. I could not believe it at first sight.
Anyway, Sucre is a city settled at 2790m of altitude, with white houses, and clean streets. The majority of the population is indigenous, and speaks Quechua or Aymara. They are small, tanned and dressed in a very folkloric way (see pictures). Needless to say that I am miles away from Buenos Aires! The food is very good here, which makes my trip even more enjoyable. Oh I forgot to say that they are all chewing coca. Henry – by neighbour in the bus-initiated me to the ancestral tradition. I have to say that it is nothing extraordinary, and it has a very bitter taste. When coca leaves are chewed, the extracted juice result in insensitivity to hunger, cold, fatigue and pain. In the city we walked a lot and went to the Museo de Arte Indigena*** and to the Museo de la Libertad**. The first one was very interesting and dealt with the indigene culture, and the second one with the political history of Bolivia.

Escaping Buenos Aires

Hola chicos! I hope that everyone is doing well. This weekend I went to Cariló, escaping the rainy capital federal. With my flatmate Karla, we took a train from Constitution and arrived 7hours and a half later in Pinamar. The same trip can be done in 5hours in bus, and 3hours in car. Anyway, although I won’t repeat this experience, I really enjoy the trip as according to me, trains have a magic that none others way of transportation have. In Cariló, the “novio” of my flatmate Mario hosted us in a very design house (see pictures).
Moreover that being a vacation town for the inhabitants of Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires, Cariló is a town focus on ecology. The streets are not tarred, and deprived of public lights. To be honest there is not much to say about the 3 days out of Buenos Aires, as we just relaxed and enjoyed the tranquillity of the place.