Adventures in South America

[fountainhall]

Whilst South America is hardly a stop-over for most people visiting Thailand, and too far for most living here to contemplate as a holiday destination, I will jot down a few memories of my recent trip there – partly in the hope that some may decide to visit this most fascinating of continents, and partly because for those living in the Europe and the USA, it is really not so far away nor so expensive to get to.

For years, I have wanted to see at least part of the continent, ever since a brief trip up the Amazon and a long weekend in Rio. Not for the boys, I hasten to add – although the eye candy in Brazil was awesome and the nightlife of Buenos Aires is hot; for I am, I thought, strictly into Asians. I saved up for a lengthy trip because I find many of the natural wonders of this world so awesome, and South America has more than its fair share.

My goal was to see four – the stunning spectacle of the Iguaçu Falls, 275 waterfalls spanning almost 3 kilometers and three countries - Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina - that made Eleanor Roosevelt exclaim “Poor Niagara!”; the Torres del Paine National Park in the very south of Chile with a unique rock and mountain structure; the Perito Moreno Glacier across the border in Argentinean Patagonia, one of the largest in the world and one of the very few which is actually advancing; and finally, way up in the mountains of Peru, Cusco and Machu Picchu.

Since I splashed out on a few luxury items – the Salto Chico Hotel that is right in the Torres del Paine National Park and about 2 hours from the nearest village, and the Hiram Bingham train to take me to and from Machu Picchu – for the first time in a very long time, I spent half my time staying in guest houses and B&Bs. And this for me was an eye-opener, for I found truly wonderful accommodations in Buenos Aires, Iguaçu, Santiago and Lima at an average of only US$80. In my first stop Buenos Aires, the tiny 2-room guesthouse run by Kevin and Diego was like a floor in a Florentine palazzo I once stayed in 20 years ago. And no hosts could have been more charming, knowledgeable and helpful. Even when stricken by a bad tummy bug, Kevin thought nothing of taking me to the hospital, waiting for 3 hours whilst the tests were completed, and then to the pharmacy to get the medications.

In Iguaçu, I spent just 2 nights in a 3-roomed guesthouse appropriately named The Secret Garden. Slightly pricier, it made up for that by having complimentary drinks served in the garden at 7:00pm with so many canapés there was no need for dinner. In Santiago, the French-style small hotel was a steal at US$82 per night, whilst $70 in Lima’s Miraflores district was extraordinary. When I checked out of that Lima hotel at 5:30 for an early morning flight, knowing I would miss breakfast they had prepared a breakfast bag for me! Wonderful!

So much for the plug for guest houses! What of the four natural wonders? To describe Iguaçu is all but impossible. I saw it from both the Brazilian side (far better panoramic view) in the morning, and then from the Argentine side in the afternoon. That side has walkways right long the top of the falls that make them seem impossibly dramatic. One caution. If you are a US, Canadian or Australian citizen, you have to pay between US$70 and $130 to enter each country, so visiting both sides of the Falls can be expensive.

On the 3½ hour morning flight down from Santiago to the very south of the continent, I saw much of the Chilean Ice Field, the third largest on the planet after Antarctica and Greenland, including many of the major peaks and glaciers. Quite extraordinary! The beauty of the Torres del Paine National Park in that part of Chile is almost impossible to describe, and so I will let pictures do the talking. To wake up every morning to ‘that’ view of the wondrously-shaped granite peaks (about 3,000 meters high), to explore the countryside with guided treks and hikes (varying from extremely simple to long, full-day ones – you can guess which ones I took), and to be so far from other human habitation was another wonder.

The Perito Moreno glacier may only be a matter of 50 miles or so from the National Park, but it requires a long 8-hour roundabout trip and a border crossing to reach the nearest town in Argentina, El Calafate. The glacier itself is monstrously, awesomely large. As it expands each year, it eventually hits a landmass. When that happens, the glacier creaks and groans for months before finally splitting with thunderous crashing that goes on for days and can be heard 50 miles away.

Six hours up the coast, Lima has an interesting town centre, but not much else. It is, however, an essential starting point for the short flight into the mountains to Cusco, the centre of Spanish occupation of that part of South America. It is therefore packed with historical references, including being the town where the last Inca King, Atahualpha, was murdered by Pizarro. With that murder, the Inca Kingdom quickly died out.

Some generations earlier, Atahualpha’s predecessor had built Machu Picchu, the extraordinary citadel high up in the mountains and far from any other human habitation. Mind you, everything is that region is high up. Cusco is 3,300 meters (11,000 ft.) above sea level where the air has a lot less oxygen than at sea level. Friends advised me to spend the first four hours lying on my bed just reading before attempting any exercise. Bored with my book, I got on to gayromeo and discovered there are 110 members in Cusco, four of whom were on line (is it any wonder, I thought, that the Cusco city flag is a rainbow one!!). I ended up chatting with the most delightful 19-year old who wanted to meet up that evening. Mindful of the caution about exercise, I put it off for 24 hours, whereafter we enjoyed a most delightful two hours together.

The Hiram Bingham train uses carriages made for the Eastern and Oriental Express that plies between Singapore, Bangkok and a few other Thai cities. It made for a quite lovely 4-hour journey in each direction through the twists and turns of seemingly impossibly high gorges. Tourists then get on to Mercedes buses, fitted, I trust, with well maintained brakes, for a horrific zigzag ride up a dirt track mountain side road. At the last turn, there in front of you is that extraordinary ruin that is Machu Picchu. One thing photographs and postcards fail to convey adequately is how horribly steep those mountains are. At one point, our guide led us towards some steps with no handrail. On the other side was a sheer drop of at least 1,000 feet. Somehow, we all made it safely.

The day after that trip to Machu Picchu, I had to start on the long journey home. I wished I could have spent more time in Buenos Aires at the start, and in Cusco at the end, for both I found totally fascinating. I had started out on the trip assuming I would never visit again. Now I am weakening!

I used Air Miles to get there through Europe. A shorter routing is to go via Sydney to Buenos Aires on Qantas, or via Sydney or Auckland and then pick up the daily LAN Chile flights to Santiago - an excellent airline.

[Rogie]

Never having been to South America I have been toying with the idea for a while. Reading your excellent report Fountainhall has whetted my appetite no end.

How much roughly would you say it cost you in fees for visas? Is it better to get them all before you go or can they be (easily) obtained once you are there?

The photographs are wonderful. Any of you reading this comment, if you did not click on each photo to get an enlargement, shame on you - in addition if you click on the small magnifying glass in turn, each photo will expand to cover the whole screen. Taking the second from the last photo for example, when you do this you almost feel you are in that small boat ploughing through the spray! Magical.

[fountainhall]

Thanks Rogie. I am glad I have renewed your interest. If you are a UK citizen, you do not need visas for Brazil, Argentina, Chile or Peru. You automatically get 90 days on arrival at no cost. So I did not need to get any in advance. There are problems and considerable costs if you are a US, Canadian or Australian citizen, especially if you cross borders more than once.

You mention the little boats that go perilously close to the Falls. I chickened out of that trip, but here's another photo that shows what you'd go through!