journeywithmadonna

Another great hike _ those little places in the middle are actually good sized cabanas

We decided to continue with the National Parks and next stop was Puerto Varas, a great little town(population 25,000) within a half hour drive of Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales and it is truly breathtaking!  Volcanoes, lakes, lagoons and waterfalls all of which were difficult to capture with an ipad but you know the drill…..google for more!  We also stayed in a great air bnb hosted by Raphael’s – it was excellent!

Amazing trees along the hike in Conquillo

We had considered rafting as we had done, and totally enjoyed, in Costa Rica but when I saw this I chickened out and Jim didn’t try to convince me!

Our air bnb in Puerto Varas was on this lake and what a view we had – although this isn’t the view, just the volcano

Next stop Nacional Parque Puyehue which is known as one of Chile’s most popular parks and is well known for its hot springs.  The hot springs was part of our plan but that didn’t materialize because it was just like an indoor swimming pool and was not impressive at all – a little disappointing actually because we were looking forward to it after hiking.

NP Conguillo or Puyehue – not sure which! You’ll have to visit and let me know

National Parque Conguillo is where we hiked Sendero Sierra Nevada which went straight up, or that’s the way my heart interpreted it.  This park is well known for one of Chile’s most explosive volcanoes, Volcan Llaima, which last erupted in 2008-09 and forced the evacuation of several villages including the one we stayed in.  It was kind of errie driving in there but so glad we did as the hike was fabulous and the view which was supposed to be stunning was dampened by the clouds and mist as we were so far up.  Nevertheless it was worth the journey!

Cloudcover and mist almost at the top

Volcano ash

Finally we were ready for a break and decided to spend our last few days at a beach town, Algarrobo, population 8,600.  Our first night I am skipping over quickly as it was not so pleasant and we met the first Chilean we didn’t like – don’t even want to talk about it or him!  Pretty good record I’d say for five weeks – great people.  The next three days, however, we stayed at Marco’s wonderful air bnb and enjoyed his condominium and pool area as well as the fabulous beaches close by.   There will be no pictures of bathing beauties because much to our surprise the water was too cold – a few people in the water, and a few with wetsuits!   Here we had some great beach walks where we stopped for cappuccinos and tortas along the way…………and then had to walk a little faster and longer to try and balance things out – don’t think it worked!  Also worth noting that there is a little hamburger joint there called Mc Trump with a picture of you know who!   Interesting from the reviews, which aren’t great, you can tell most people don’t know who he is but one reviewer who gave it a 1 out of 5 said “make hamburgers great again!”

Walking the beach

View from our condo in Algarrobo

McWho?????If you think I’m rushing this blog you’re right as last night the internet went down and I couldn’t finish my last post – hoping I didn’t mix up the pictures of the Nacional Parques!  Now we are at the airport in Santiago awaiting our flight to Toronto and I’m on my last 10% of energy on my iPad so gotta type fast and download a few pics.   I had mentioned previously that the we didn’t find the food in Chile that great but today on the way to the airport we stopped in the small town of Casablanca, pop. 24,000, in the heart of wine country.  Marilyn and I were walking along apparently looking a little stunned when a handsome young man stopped on his bike to chat and thank God he had pretty good English.  He told us he spoke better Dutch as he had lived in the Netherlands for 7 years and was curious about Canada so we filled him in on what a great country it is.   He knew we were looking for a place for lunch and he recommended a little place called El Patio and so glad we took his advice.  It was the neatest little place and the waitress/owner spoke pretty good English which always helps.   When we were finished Jim told her it was the best meal we had since we came to Chile and her smile was literally from ear to ear.  It started with a mini quinoa burger and a fresh fruit juice, followed by a small piece of steak and bean salad and topped off with what she referred to as a small  dessert that was topped with blueberries and a shot of pisco – delicious!

El patio…..excellent food and service

That’s it folks – down to 2% and people are starting to line up for the ten hour overnight flight to Toronto – the three of us will be a wreck tomorrow!   It was another great trip and, as always, we’re so looking forward to being home even with the snow.   Totally recommend Argentina and Chile as travel destinations – we had a wonderful holiday and looking forward to seeing you soon………….especially little Caroline, her parents and Auntie Andrea, and of course other family as well.   Can’t forget to mention O’Reilly who’s  been having fun with Duffy and Daisy – thanks Linda and Pierre!

We’re absolutely loving Chile……..especially the people!   Here they actually stop their car to let you cross at a sidewalk – who knew this could be thrilling? Chile is known as the longest and narrowest country in the world (don’t think I made that up – read it somewhere!). It has a population of over 16 million, a third of whom live in Santiago. The people  are so helpful and of course we need all the help we can get especially when it comes to language and me looking at a map. Once the map comes out it seems they know I am incompetent and immediately stop and ask if they can assist – the answer is always “yes”!   The countryside is not only beautiful – it’s clean! and Chileans seem to take great pride in their country. One thing we’ve noticed over and over again is how fathers interact with their children. They are very engaged, extremely warm and affectionate and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s a son or a daughter. Lots of hugs and kisses and actually they welcome strangers with hugs as well. When we checked into our air bnb close to Pucon we were late as we had gotten lost, not the first time I might add!   Anyway the young men who were waiting for us welcomed us with a big hug as they showed us around. We decided to just stay in because it was getting late so we ordered a pizza and when I paid the young pizza delivery guy he smiled and again another hug came my way. Now I might add it was the most expensive pizza any of us have ever had, due to delivery charges we believe, so he was probably just thrilled that I paid him without arguing about the price! I could go on and on about other hugs but suffice it to say they’re a huggable group of people and we have quite enjoyed their huggable hospitality.

We decided upon leaving Santiago that our first day would be a driving day to get some miles under our belt, meaning Jim would drive a lot and Marilyn and I would assist as much as possible with directions…….we did a pretty good job overall, I might say!  As usual we did not have a reservation since we were not sure how far we would go but were headed somewhere close to Tome(5-6 hrs away) and were hoping to stay in a hotel/cabana in a quiet area outside the city.  Well things don’t always go according to plan and we ended up on a dirt road which slowed us down a fair bit.   But on we went . through Tome and to what we thought was a very quiet beach area, the little seaside mtown of Dichato.   The place was rocking with Chileans enjoying their Sunday afternoon/evening on the beach with family and friends.   Took us a while to find a little cabana in which to stay and it was pretty meagre indeed but the owner was lovely and was in the process of cleaning it as we came through.  Once we decided we would stay she gave us some  clean sheets, meaning ‘make your own beds’ and when we asked for towels we were told you have to bring your own, no exceptions!   Paper towels were all we had so we made do, cleaned up quickly as we had just been sitting in the car all day and went for dinner as it was already close to 8pm.  Slept well that night and up for an early morning walk on the boardwalk which was absolutely peaceful, very few people in sight and just a few fishing boats on the move.  The town was pretty well demolished in the 2010 earthquake and is still rebuilding – quite a beautiful place but we were keen to move along and out of our ‘towel less’ cabana and into our next air bnb where towels are provided – lots to learn on this journey!   Accommodation has been interesting and quite varied from air bnb, cabanas, small family run hospedajes and run of the mill hotels.   Some have been absolutely fabulous and others not so much, but no major complaints overall.   Like other places we’ve been in South America, Asia and India the dogs run wild and are quite plentiful.  You can tell a ‘pet’ from a ‘homeless dog’ as they tend to be groomed and are often with their owners, sadly not unlike humans.   The street dogs, however, are usually quite mangey but very harmless and don’t bother you – they just hang around and sleep all day.  At night, however, they party and even at some of our best accommodation we’ve been awakened on several occasions by their night fights and barking – getting used to it!  The food, especially the steak, is not as good as Argentina but some of the fish has been fabulous – salmon, hake, sea bass and another white fish I cannot remember the name of.  Also Jim tried some traditional Chilean meals, notably curanto(seafood, pork and vegetables simmered for hours) and Pastel de choclo(ground meat topped with corn puree and baked in earthenware dish).    They were OK, not great so not ordering again.  We haven’t enjoyed the empanadas as much here as in Argentina but maybe we’re just tiring of  them.  Basically they don’t seem to use spices and herbs so things are a little bland for our taste although I read that this is changing due to many requests.  One night Marilyn and I shared the ribs which came with oven baked potato skins which were delicious.  The ribs, however, were actually a chunk of ham bone and very disappointing – once again, probably lost in translation!

Next stop, Pucon, which is as close to a ‘ Banff ‘ as I’ve seen – meaning it is a wonderful tourist trap!   We were a few kilometers outside the town in a great air bnb but on a very busy road so walking into town for dinner was quite difficult(that’s where we ordered the expensive pizza).  On our second night we decided  to pick up some steak and veggies and had a barbeque – excellent but we all agreed the steak was nowhere near what we experienced in Argentina but Marilyn’s salad was excellent.  It was near Pucon that we hiked our first National Parque called NP Villarica and from then on we were looking for NPs because they are fabulous.   So here’s the story in pictures as I do not want to get too ‘wordy’ and put you to sleep!

Parque Nacional Villarrica

PNV extends from south of Pucon to Chile’s border with Argentina. The Volcan Villarrica, 2847m high, is known as its crown jewel and it certainly is. This was a three hour hike up and was worth every bead of sweat!  There were major eruptions three years ago and it was smoldering very lightly when we were there……..but no eruptions, thank the Lord

Next stop Ojos del Caburgua where the waters flow underground for three miles before coming out to form the waterfall…….quite a beautiful spot!

Ojos del Caburgua

Stopped for a coffee and torta at a little place outside of Panquipulli, seemed like in the middle of nowhere but soooooo good!

The island of Chiloe was worth a visit and it was here that we had some great fish and a fabulous hike in Parque Nacional Chiloe and a few pics to try and show the beauty.  Spent three days here in Castro, about 30,000 people, and stayed in a parafito which is a house on stilts in the water – picture does not do it justice!

Walking in Nacional Parque Chiloe brings you to magnificent beaches with great surfs and wonderful forests

Jim enjoying the surf

Walking towards the beach

Parafitoes – houses on stilts! We stayed in one of these for three days and it was fabulous. Sunrise was beautiful and witnessing the full moon at night was exquisite!

Last stop on Chloe was to see the……..

Penguins! Can you see them when you enlarge the pictures – so cute and so small!

Great boat ride to see the penguins

We had a great look and a good view but the ipad doesn’t have a zoom, I don’t think!   Anyway it was a beautiful day and a super boat  ride with a very entertaining guide who was thrilled to hear we were from Canada as he lived in Banff for a while and wanted to tell us all about it…….and we wanted to listen as he could speak English!

Our very humourous Chilean penguin tour guide

Headed off the Island and back to the mainland as this is as far south as we go.   Initially we were hoping to spend some time in Patagonia but that will have to be another trip!   Stay tuned as we hear there are more magnificent parks ahead and the plan is to visit and hike our way back to Santiago!

Penguin beach

Great bus ride through the Andes

The bus ride through the Andes was amazing and so glad we decided to travel to Santiago by bus rather than fly, although there were times when you were holding onto the edge of your seat.  You should be able to see why from a couple of pics below!

Welcome to Chile…..we were in the front seats, top of the bus but the windshield was cracked and there was a glaze of some sort on the window so not great for taking pics

Hold onto your seat….we’re going down and around for 24 switchbacks

We’re halfway there!

What a fabulous shot!

……and you’re right I did not take that picture, but some other Canadian did,  and I downloaded it from their site.  This was a ride where you had to look to see what was ahead but at the same time were afraid to do so especially if you have a fear of heights as one person in our party of three did…….keep you guessing on that one!  Our stop at the border between Argentina and Chile was much better than expected and only took about an hour so we arrived in Santiago around 5pm and off to our Air BnB for checkin and an early night where we ate in and had to switch from malbec to carmeniere…….not bad at all!   Our first day in Santiago was a little low key touring around Plaza des Armas where there was loads of entertainment by street musicians and it was unbelievable how good they were……..you could go broke as you threw pesos into everyone’s guitar case, hat, or whatever way they chose to collect.

What a great trio…….made you want to dance in the streets!

and there were many more singing Jimmy Hendrix on one corner, Cat Stevens on the other and then a group of six doing jazz…….loads of fun!  We enjoyed Santiago more than we thought we would and were kept busy everyday by our tour guide, aka Jim, who ensured we saw many areas of the city on foot.  We hiked through Barrio Brazil where we had great pastries, barrio Concha y Torro where we passed on the great wine of the same name because it was too early in the day, Barrio London and Paris where we did not shop, Bella Vista where we did a little shopping and of course visited a few parks, had some fabulous ice cream etc.   We were just too busy in this great city for me to take notes so here’s a few pics to show you a little of what was going on.

Catedral Metropolitana is in Plaza des Armas and is the city’s largest Catholic Church…….a 15 minute walk from our air bnb

Cerro Santa Lucia is a wonderful old park that was once a strategic defence point when Santiago was founded in 1541 – what a walk we had with a gelato to follow!

View from Metropolitana de Santiago

The three of us taking the gondola down from Metropolitana de Santiago

Oh my God what a park it was and we rushed it!!!!    If we had known we would have taken a whole day to discover all it had to offer……but maybe next time……or you can add it to your ‘to do’ list.  The park was “developed between 1903 and 1927 as the lungs of Santiago, encompassing the hills……Previously bare and dry, the park was reforested with native plants and trees from across Chile and further developed with trails, picnic areas, swimming pools, a cultural center, and a cable car.  It is now the city’s recreational center and home to the Zoological Nacional, and offers sweeping views of Santiago and the Andes.” ……….at least that’s what our travel guide says!  What a fabulous place it was and if you go take the full day at least!

Next stop, Valparaiso, founded in 1543 and was then the Pacific’s greatest port in the late 19th century.  Now it is a UNESCO world heritage site and very much a tourist trap but one we totally enjoyed!  From our apartment we had to walk to the subway, take the metro to the Turbus station and then a bus to Valparaiso which took us just over two hours.  Once we arrived in Valparaiso we had to walk to take another bus before we could begin to enjoy this great old city.  We spent about five hours on foot touring around, taking the funicular up to great heights, walking down and then up again as it is a city of hills much like St. John’s is in many ways.  We had a super lunch, visited Pablo Neruda’s Foundation(Chile’s most beloved literary artist and 1971 Nobel prize winner for literature), walked the streets and hills before we headed back to Santiago for a much longer bus ride due to an accident that slowed things down on our return.  Arriving home around 8:30 pm we decided it was a night for pizza so we stopped to pick one up at a pizzeria close to our air bnb.  The young man serving us was practicing his English so we chatted a bit and when he found out we were from Canada he was quite interested and switched to google translation on his i-phone so conversation could be a little more in-depth.   He had applied to come to Canada through an imigration program that brings Canadians to Atlantic Canada and was happy to learn we were from there, at least Jim and I are…….and of course we informed him Marilyn was from our capital city of Ottawa.   I cannot remember now what my question was but when I typed it into google translation he waited a while and then started to laugh and began typing the following message.   It went something like “google cannot understand your question as you type, ie. talk, too fast and your question is too long”……….not the first time I have heard something like that!   What a delightful young man he was and we departed wishing him  good luck as he is on a lengthy waiting list and says he will go to Canada or Australia, whoever will take him first………..kind of hope we do!    And with that we’re ready to leave this wonderful city of approximately 5 1/2 million people and head south.   Here’s a few pictures of Valparaiso and do take note of the fabulous murals…….they are everywhere!

Marilyn overlooking Valparaiso

Doorway mural

Debating whether to walk up or down!

Murals are everywhere

And so good night!   We have now picked up our rental car(not the red one in the mural) and head south tomorrow so will be in touch in a few days/week to bring you up to date on what we see happening in Chile…….hope all is well.

Next stop Puerte Iguazu and Iguazu National Park which includes the world famous falls!    We flew to Puerto Iguazu, population around 85,000, which is about 18km away from the park entrance.  The park was established in 1934 mainly to protect the falls and the surrounding sub-tropical jungle.  According to the pamphlets the  falls are the worlds most dramatic and straddle the border of Argentina and Brazil with over 250 cascades that rumble for a couple of kms over cliffs.  We decided not only to see the falls by hiking into the top but also by taking the boat in and seeing them from the bottom.  This means the boat goes right under and through the falls which of course means you not only get soaking wet but have moments of panic as you can’t see and hope the captain is truly in charge of what he’s doing, which he was or I wouldn’t be typing these words.   Excitement for sure and because the area gets so hot it doesn’t take too long before you’re dry again.   No picture can do the falls justice mainly because there’s no sound but I did my best and of course you can google for more!

One day there is truly enough unless you’re into loads of hiking and then you can come back the next day and hike the jungle, but I didn’t like the way they said “hike the jungle” as I wasn’t sure it meant hiking out.  On our day two we walked the town of Iguazu and must admit there’s not a whole lot to see except for the three frontiers where you are standing in Argentina, looking to the right to see Brazil and to the left towards Paraquay – pretty neat actually!

Standing in Argentina and looking towards Brazil and Paraguay – intersect at Rio Iguazu and Parana Rivers

Apparently there’s no dry season in Iguazu and due to all the rain there are great rainforests surrounding Puerto Iguazu so it is actually quite lush.  On our second day there it did rain quite a bit even during our walk so we headed back to our apartment, Ocio, which we really liked and we all read our books and had a nap.   By suppertime it was clear again and off we go for dinner, and once again Jim and I had the tenderloin and Marilyn tried the fish…….and of course Malbec.

Spent most of the next day travelling by air between Iguazu and Mendoza and due to  flight delays we did not arrive at our air BnB until 11pm and were quite exhausted.   Our wonderful landlord, Carlos, was introducing us to the apartment in terms of the hot water, wifi, how the stove works, where everything is, the damage deposit, etc. and this was all in Spanish.   The three of us were dazed and the more we said “no comprehende” the harder he tried and went on and on until we wanted to kick him out of his own place!   Finally he left and once again I wish I had taken Spanish as a second language and actually paid attention.   We all have the little phrase books but not finding them too helpful so we struggle along with many surprises along the way.

Our first day in Mendoza was a slow start in that we didn’t get out until 10:30 but managed to cover quite a bit of territory on foot.  One of the highlights was the walk to Cerro de Gloria(Hill of Glory) which is a tribute to General San Martin and his army who freed Argentina.   It was a long walk with several discussions about our crappy map, the lack of road signs, some discrepancies among the three of us in terms of where to go ie. right, left, straight or home to bed, asking people for directions and not really understanding but nodding and smiling and you get the drift.  Anyway Jim finally tried to confirm with a man who was getting into his car that we were on the right track when the guy offered to drive us up the hill.   My response was “no gracias”(the extent of my Spanish) when Jim said “get in the car” which we did and off we go for quite a while and up this extremely steep and long hill and we were so grateful when he stopped the car at the very top and let us out.   Who said grey hair and sweat pouring down your brow isn’t attractive?  What a thoughtful guy he was.

Tribute to General San Martin and his army

Continued on with our walking tour of Mendoza and then out for dinner and you guessed it ‘more malbec’ – trying to find one we don’t like – no luck so far!

On day two in Mendoza we thought we would do a wine tour/tasting but the one that was recommended was $250US dollars a person, translated to $750 US approx. for the three of us which was roughly a thousand dollars Canadian and that buys an awful lot of Malbec!  You guessed it, we opted out and decided to go to a small winery on the outskirts of the city that Jim had found and was highly recommended on trip advisor.   We walked for over an hour to find out when we got there that it was closed for the day – life goes on, more wineries ahead.  We decided to take the tram back into central Mendoza and while waiting for it we met an older lady, ie.older than us, who helped us figure out the train schedule and although she didn’t speak very good English she spoke excellent French, as well as several other languages so she and Jim sorted out the details…….in broken French, Spanish and English.  She was delightful and told us a bit about her life, father from Syria, mother from Lebanon and in fleeing the war all those years ago she had lived in many places and spoke several languages but not English and what she described as her terrible French was much, much better than our terrible Spanish.   She came to Argentina because she fell in love with, and married, a man from Mendoza and has lived there ever since although she is now a widow.  I told her my brother-in-law’s family was from Lebanon and she asked me the sur name and she smiled and went on in great details about Mansours but I wasn’t sure exactly what she was saying but it all sounded very positive as she seemed quite happy.  Her name was Jeanette and I told her my friend was Jeanette Mansour and she smiled once again and indicated she knew Mansours way back when and it was a very common name from Lebanon.  As we got on the very busy train there was a group of  adolescent boys in team football uniforms who found it quite humorous that we were talking in English, and attempting Spanish, and as it is with adolescence everything like this sounds funny and so they chimed in asking questions with Jeanette translating.   So there was much laughter and as they were very interested in Canada there were lots of questions.  As we departed they told us to watch the next world cup and be sure to cheer for Argentina as they were going to win……..and others listening on the tram agreed!

Our last evening in Argentina was spent enjoying dinner at a very old Argentinian restaurant that came highly recommended on Trip Advisor and by a couple of locals we also asked.  Argentina has a strong Italian influence and so Fluente y Flores had a menu that had Italian and Argentinian dishes and was excellent.  So with that we say “good- bye” to Argentina and what a great country it has been to visit.  We enjoyed the food, the people,  the weather and need I say it……..the Malbec and would highly recommend it as a tourist destination.  One minor challenge hardly worth mentioning, except it might save your life, is crossing the street at crosswalks.  They don’t want to stop!   So you have to start out as the traffic is rushing towards you and pray that they’ll see you and take pity on your life.  Although we didn’t encounter street begging too frequently it is worth noting that poverty here, like many places we’ve been, is an issue and by some government estimates almost a third of the population live below the poverty line.  President Macro’s goal is “zero poverty” but we know how long we have struggled in Canada to reach a similar goal.  In  Buenos Aries we saw a lot of homeless people not too far from our residence but did not notice this as much in the smaller cities.  We always felt safe and never felt threatened in any way other than crossing the street and on occasion when I tried too hard in my broken Spanish which was spoken way too fast and sounded nothing like any language they ever heard before!  So  it’s time to go and as the song says “Don’t cry for me Argentina”………..as we’re on our way to Chile!!!!!

What a great city! Every day we’ve walked for hours starting out in temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius at 10am and back between 4-5pm when temperatures were in the mid twenties…..just perfect! On our first day we looked at the hop on, hop off buses as we have enjoyed that in other cities but quickly decided ‘nah’ as we had six full days here and thought we could do it on foot and really cover the territory…….and we have! Don’t want to bore you silly so I will give you a quick run down on daily events and places visited with a few pics from the many barrios, ie. districts of Buenos Aries.  Let’s start with Recoleta cemetery, otherwise known as City of the Dead, also referred to as a ‘silent theatre’ because Argentina’s most powerful citizens are buried here and it is imagined that they are all still characters in a theatre(google for more details).  Artists of all sorts, generals and presidents are all buried here but most tourists, including us, come to visit the resting place of Eva Perron, better known as Evita.  There are more than 6400 tombs and it is said to be a symbol of Buenos Aries golden age, 1880-1930, when BA was one of the world’s richest cities.  It took us quite a while to find Eva Perron’s family vault (Duarte) and once we did it was one of a few that were covered in flowers.

Next stop, San Thelmo which is one of the oldest districts in Buenos Aries and is known mainly for its Sunday market………which would take a month of Sundays to cover because it is massive.  There are sections with nothing but antiques, sections with clothes, modern day creations, wine, food etc. and whatever you’re looking for you’ll find it here.  Plaza Doreigo has many eateries, cafes and bars and it is here that Jim had his first ‘choripan’ which is basically a chorizo sausage on bread and even though it was Jim’s I can tell you it was fabulous as I had the first bite!   It was also here we experienced our first taste of tango as we watched an older couple gracefully dance to live music – quite beautiful!

Marilyn and I bought new hats at the market in San Thelmo

Jim meets new friend in San Thelmo – hope he’s not getting tired of female company because we have quite a journey ahead

From San Thelmo we head to La Boca which is known as the working class area and can be quite noisy on ‘match days’ and today is one of those days but not until quite later.  This is the home ground of La Bombonera, the Bocca junior soccer team, and is also known for its colorful houses and tango.   We had not planned to go to a football game, as that’s what soccer is called here, and were somewhat relieved when I heard from our nephew Ian about his experience.  He was here several years ago, went to a game and said he became a little anxious as it became very rambunctious in the stands and fans were throwing stuff around and shouting…….don’t need that on my vacation!

Colorful houses in La Boca

M Tango in La Boca

The next barrio we decide to visit is Puerto Madero on the Rio de la Plata riverbank.  Construction of this port began in 1887, took a decade to complete and although it was considered an engineering feat at the time it quickly became obsolete as cargo ships grew in size.  As a result a new port was built in 1926 and Puerto Madero became one of Buenos Aries most degraded areas and remained that way for  most of the 20th century.  However in the 1990’s a massive regeneration project began and today it houses offices, restaurants, private universities and fancy hotels(where we are not staying as our budget does not allow!). All of the streets in Puerto Madero are named after famous Argentinian women and the main walking bridge connecting both docks is called Puerte de la Mujer(women’s bridge).  It is a rotating footbridge, also a swing bridge, was completed in 2001 and is a homage to women – pretty neat, eh!  Apparently Puerte Madero is considered to be one of the most successful water front renewal projects in the world and we totally loved the area.  From here we headed to the Sur Ecological Reserve and had a fabulous walk with many Argentinian families and of course tourists, like us.

Sur ecological reserve

Puerte de la Mujer….which in English means women’s bridge

Next day on to Tigre, about 28 km north of BA, population approx. 31,000 and gateway to the Parana Delta.  Tigre gets its name from days gone by when tigers/jaguars were hunted in the area and fortunately for us we didn’t even get a glimpse.  It is truly quite a tourist trap but so worth the train trip from BA, the boat ride on the Delta as we viewed many mansions and houses on stilts(ready for the next flood.) It is also worth noting that I am not the first Madonna to visit the area…….you can google the other Madonna for more boring details if you’re interested!

Parana Delta…Tigre

Our last day in BA was spent visiting its largest barrio , Palermo, home to the Japanese Gardens which is one of the largest of its type in the world.  One word describes it – spectacular!

Beautiful Japanese Gardens

Next stop in Palermo was the Evita Museum which is housed in a 1923 mansion and is totally devoted to Eva Peron, formerly Duarte.  I will not go into great detail as you can google all that and I need to go to bed!  But it is worth noting what an incredible job she did in social work as she fought not only for the rights of women, seniors, the  homeless but also for a health care plan, minimum  wage, paid vacations and pensions for the working class.  When she died at the age of 33 of cervical cancer millions attended her state funeral although tragedy followed………go to google!

An amazing woman!

They were quite a team!

So we’re done with Buenos Aries and what a great city it is.   We totally enjoyed are week here, walked more miles than we thought possible on these aging bodies, drank some great wine and have to admit that the beef is definitely the best.   On our first night here we were so exhausted we went just around the corner from our air bnb for a bite to eat and as I mentioned earlier in the blog had the best steak in years.   We thought we would go again on our last night but it was nowhere to be found……..walked and walked and walked but no luck.   So made do with one of the oldest restaurants in Buenos Aries, El Greco.

Good bye Buenos Aries and thanks for the great week!

Leaving the snow behind!

Off to a rocky start…….or should I say “a stormy start”. About two hours after we checked in on line last night I heard my ipad go ‘ding’ and there was a message informing us that our 6:20 pm flight to Toronto the following day had been cancelled. We immediately called AC and after a half hour on hold we managed to get on a flight leaving at 12:45 so needless to say I had a late night and poor sleep as I crossed those last minute things off my ‘to-do’ list. Woke up to a beautiful day, finished packing and off to the airport we go……thank you Roz! Because of the schedule change we now had a ten hour stopover in Toronto so Jim suggested we hop the train into Toronto, take a walk, visit the Royal Ontario Museum and then go out for supper. Great idea I thought but AC had another plan for us as our flight from Moncton continued to be delayed due to bad weather in Toronto. So we sat, had a cup of tea, took turns going for a walk and played with our ipads and finally took off. By the time we get to Toronto the sun is starting to set but we’re totally sick of airports so decided to take the train downtown anyway…..and so glad we did! Haven’t been to Toronto in years so it was fun seeing the CN tower at night, walking around the Royal York pretending we were staying there although I think the knapsack gave us away. Finally just walked to a pub, had a bite to each, then another walk and back to the airport to catch our flight. Took this picture of Jim in the snow and hope that we won’t be seeing any for a while!

Back to the airport to await Marilyn’s arrival only to find out she too is delayed and is stuck in Ottawa’s storm……..but within an hour or so she arrives and close to midnight we board.   Excited we are but also pretty tired and by the time we arrive in Argentina, via Santiago, we have been on the go for almost 30 hours and I remind myself once again that I am getting too old for this!   Arrive at our air bnb in the centre of the city, put a few things away, complain about the heat(already!) and go out for a quick bite and we luck out!   Just around the corner there’s a little hole in the wall and we were too tired to walk any further so we go in and because we can’t speak Spanish we order what the waiter recommends and end up with the best steak we’ve had in a long time.   As you probably know Argentina is very well known for it’s beef and wine but more recently land has been turned over to soy production.  It’s the eighth largest country in the world by area and has a population of  approximately 43 million, 97% are of European descent and not sure about that other 3%.  Anyway on our first night we’re all very happy with our steak and malbec  and we crash!

Our first day in “the most cosmopolitan city in South America”, ie. Buenos Aries, starts off with heavy rain, thunder and lightening and I am almost relieved as it slows down our start and we take our time getting ready for the day and hope it clears up…..which it did late morning.  Our tour guide, Jim, gets out his map and Marilyn and I blindly follow along as we have no set plans and the weather is a little shaky so we decide not to stray too far from our apartment and basically explore our neighborhood and area -picture below is the view from our deck.

Buenos Aries

First stop is the bank as we need to change money and are informed that because it is a long holiday weekend, Carnival, the bank is closed and won’t open again until Tuesday.   So we wander around and eventually find a ‘cambio’  with quite the line up so we do our business and go for coffee now that we can pay……and then I pinch myself to remind myself that we are now in Buenos Aries!   BA, the capital, has a population of about 3 million with the area around expanding to about 13 1/2 million.  It is best known for three things: football(soccer), tango and matte and I will tell you all about them as we move along.  After coffee we wander through Plaza de Mayo, the largest square in BA which has been there in some form or other since 1580 and is home to spectacular architecture which includes many government buildings and loads of history.  We start off with Casa Rosada, the Pink House often referred to as the Red House but definitely not to be confused with the White House although it is the government house and office of the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri.  From there we’re off to Catedral Metropolitano in Monserrat which is the main Catholic Cathedral and is the Cathedral from which Pope Francis preached before he got his big promotion!  It has been rebuilt several times since the 16th century and is definitely one of the most important structures in this country where over 90% of the population are nominally Roman Catholic but less than 20% practice regularly.

Walking Buenos Ariea

The Pink House which some refer to as the Red House but not to be confused with White House

Marilyn at Cathedral Metropolitana – a magnificent Building and former Cathedral of Pope Francis

That’s it folks as I can no longer lift my feet and need to drag them home to rest…….but stay tuned as there’s lots more to come in this magnificent city!

Please don’t ask me to pronounce it, as I still can’t say it, and I have to look it up every time I type it.   But Anuradhapura is in the North Central Province of SL and is an ancient capital famous for its well-preserved ruins and was the centre of Theravada Buddhism for centuries.   It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a population of over 50,000.  We stayed here for two nights and it was the beginning of our wind-down and resort experience as it had a lovely swimming pool and we had two cottage-style rooms right next to it.   Arriving mid-afternoon we decided just to relax, swim, nap – you get the idea and by 5 p.m. we were revived for happy hour and supper which was quite yummy.   Early the next morning we were off to see the oldest tree in the world, apparently, and again it was the Bodhi tree where Buddha was enlightened.  The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree(sacred fig tree) grew from a branch taken from the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India where Buddha attained enlightenment more than 2300 years ago.  The tree has died of course but a new tree propagated from the original now stands in its place in Mahamevnawa Park in Anuradhapura.  It is said to be the oldest living human planted tree in the world with a known planting date.  Every day thousands of pilgrims visit the Jaya Sri Maha and we were happy to be among the many men, women and children who were bringing flowers, rice and other gifts the day we were there.   Many were meditating, saying prayers and were just happy to be within its reach.  Buddhism is the main religion of Sri Lanka and it is estimated that 70% of the population are practicing Buddhists.

This was our last temple to visit – we’re done with temples and removing our shoes, which is mandatory, but also means walking in the hot sand and burning our feet.  Also mandatory is proper dress, i.e. no sleeveless tops or skirts that are knee length or above, or shorts for men that are not to the knees and we certainly respected their customs with no questions asked – on occasion this was not the case with some tourists.  We’re done with forts, UNESCO world heritage sites, archaeological digs, climbing rocks, tuk tuks and are ready just to relax on the beach.  So we’re off to Bentota and the Wunderbar Beach Resort for a few days of rest and relaxation before we head home to winter.  Sri Lanka has been a great place to visit and not really what we were expecting……..although I am not really sure what I was expecting!  It is a beautiful country although it is still reovering from the civil war which just ended in 2009.  The people, for the most part, have been very kind and welcoming and no doubt tourism is becoming increasingly important.  We have not met any Canadians or Americans in Sri Lanka and most tourists seems to be from Eastern Europe, Russia, Germany, England, Holland  and France – a lot closer for them than for us.  Poverty is still an issue, more in the rural areas I understand, but doesn’t seem to be as  obvious as it was in India but of course the population is so much smaller.  I don’t think we were ever approached by small children or mothers with babies begging for money.   I was expecting Sri Lanka to be a little more like India but it is not.  First of all it is definitely cleaner and this you notice right away.   Traffic is crazy but not as chaotic as India and on occasion they actually will stop at a crosswalk.  The food, although tasty, is not as good as in India as they seem to use fewer spices, I think.   A few facts I found that are worth noting to point out the differences even though the countries are only 30 miles apart.  If you were born in Sri Lanka you would live 8 1/2 years longer than if you were born in India.  There would be a 43% less chance of being unemployed, and you would make 62% more money.  There would be a 15% less chance of being murdered and a 68% less chance of getting AIDS.  On the other hand you would consume 52% more oil, use 28% less electricity and spend 44% more money on health care.  There would also be a 79% less chance you would die in infancy.  The people seem to be very proud of their country and on many occasions would ask “You like Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka good for you?”  The weather has been very hot here, more like southern India which is also cleaner than the north.  Overall our accommodation here has been better than in India and a whole lot cleaner.  So the two countries are not that similar but both have been fantastic places to visit! Our final few days have been on the beach and have been super relaxing.   A few pictures to point that out!

Tomorrow is flight day and we have to leave our hotel at 9:30 pm to catch a 2:20 a.m. flight from Colombo, SL via London and on to Halifax – yup it’s gonna be a very long day indeed!  But it’s been so worth it and feel very fortunate for having had this fabulous experience with two great friends, and guess what, even after six weeks together we’re still friends!  And, as always, love coming home to our special piece of the earth and more thankful for it this time after having seen so many less fortunate than us.  Getting very excited to see Andrea, Kathleen, family and friends and especially to see this little one, who turned one year old while we were away, very soon!

And of course can’t forget this guy who’s been hanging out with Linda and Pierre and no doubt getting excellent care – hope he’ll come home with us!   See you soon.

Kandy, located in  mountainous and thickly forested central Sri Lanka, has a population of over 125,000 and was a three hour train ride from Colombo.  It is a pretty city wrapped around a lake and our accommodation, Greenview Holiday Resort, was 9kms outside  and was excellent.  The first day we arrived we had a swim, relaxed around the pool, had a nap and enjoyed supper at the resort.  Following a good sleep and breakfast  we hired a car and driver who took us to a few viewpoints, then the tea museum for a tour and cup of tea.   It was really quite interesting and housed in an old tea factory that was truly a beautiful building.

Breakfast at Greenview resort,

That’s tea growing in the hills and if you look closely you can see the tea pickers – picture taken from tea museum

This was followed by a visit to the Temple of the Tooth, another Buddhist temple which is a world heritage site and located on the lake in Kandy(do google for more!)  Gotta admit I am getting a little tired of temples but what was amazing to me about this one was the crowds, especially the thousands of children lined up in their little white uniforms, very well behaved and so interested in who we were by asking questions such as “what’s your name?”, “where you from?”  Amongst ourselves we jokingly said “they must think they’re lined up to visit the tooth fairy” (forgive me Buddha!) as the excitement was pretty high.   A few pictures to show you.

 Following our temple visit we took a very well-deserved three mile walk along the lake before we returned to our ‘home of the day’ for a swim, short nap, happy hour and supper.  Headed out early in the morning for Dambulla and Sigiriya and whatever excitement awaits us there!

We depart at 9am and whatever plan we make the night before  it often gets changed in the morning and sometimes by our driver.  This morning our driver informs us that on the way to Dambulla we ‘must’ make two stops – first at a Hindu Temple and next at an Ayurvedic herbal garden…….and we’re off.  Sri Muthumariamman temple is in Matale and that is our first stop.  We cannot go in because of a celebration but we can pay a small amount to wander around the outside, which we do.  Our driver asks us our family names, buys three small candles and informs us he can go in and make a blessing for each family while we wander around.  He returns a short time later, smudges each of our foreheads and gives us a little packet of dirt which he says we must spread around our house after we’ve eaten a vegetarian meal and it will bring us good luck and happiness.  I put it safely away hoping I remember what to do when we return and also hoping that Air Canada doesn’t seize it.  All in all we think that was pretty thoughtful of him and below are a few pictures – one of him with his buddies Jim and Yves and a couple of this extremely colorful temple.

Next stop was the Old Village Spice and Herbal Garden where we were given the 1/2 hour tour by an Ayurvedic herbalist who did seem quite knowledgeable and overall it was very interesting.  At the end of the tour, however, you are brought to their shop where herbal medicines were available for sale and not surprisingly were quite expensive.  We were certainly interested in a couple but found them to be way overpriced especially when you had no idea really of whether or not they would be helpful……also aware that they had to be inflated because our driver had to have his cut for bringing us there.   That’s the way it works in India and Sri Lanka whether you’re buying gems, silk, cushions, medicines and as we later found out, beer!

Next stop Dambulla where we visited the Rock Temple which was another amazing site. We had to walk up 350 steps in the sweltering heat of the day to visit temples in separate caves and take the pictures below which do not do it justice……but google does!

Next stop, Sigiriya, to a little place we found on the internet called Sigiriya Regal Residence – what a gem!  A small family business where they have built two separate rooms, cottage style, and they offer bed and breakfast and if you wish a home-cooked supper and it’s so clean.   We had supper there both nights and it was delicious!

Happy hour!

We were very happy there for two nights and their son was our driver for two days as we toured around.  Our first day we spent in Polonnaruva, 1 1/2 hour drive away and you guessed it more temples and a major archaeological site, UNESCO($25US), which we toured around for a few hours, once again in the heat!  A few more pics!

One more stop in this part of Sri Lanka brought us to Sigiriya Rock, another UNESCO world heritage site($30US) and sometimes referred to as the 8th wonder of the world.  This was a climb of 1200 steps, quite challenging so we were off at 7am so as to avoid the heat of the day.  Sigiriya rock is described as a “unique landscape city, created in the 5th century A.D. by King Kashyapa embracing a 200 meter rock out crop and is surrounding with nature driven architecture composed of buildings, pathways, terraces, ponds, paintings and sculpture. ”  We all agreed it was a mini Machu Pichu!  All we can say is thank God we went early not only because of the heat but because on our way down the place was swarming with tourists, and it was only 9:30a.m.   As we looked up to where we started our climb,  they looked like ants and had to be five or six abreast and moving at a snail’s pace – sometimes we make really good decisions!   Here are a few pics which definitely do not do it justice but they’re all I got.

Next stop Anuradhapura and will fill you in on that later……gotta run!

Hard to believe we have been in India for over a month as time has flown by!  There was never a dull moment, and sometimes we wished there were a few because at times our senses were totally overwhelmed with the noise, the smells, the sights and many mixed emotions.  India, as a vacation destination, is definitely not for the faint of heart and in no way has it been relaxing but it has been an experience second to none.  A few years ago I read Katherine Boo’s book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and although I knew it was non-fiction there were many times when I thought this could not be the case.  Boo was a staff writer for the New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work at the Washington Post and had lived in India for about three years while researching and writing her book.  It is about an area of Mumbai called Annawadi which is a slum built on swampy land close to the airport and high-end hotels.  The citizens who live there are trying to survive an economic downturn as they scavenge garbage, raise families and deal with corrupt officials and a very corrupt criminal justice system.  While reading this book you become close to the characters and, as mentioned, believe their world cannot be real.  After being here for a month I no longer question that reality and wonder how these people will ever rise above their poverty and as Boo asks in the extension of the title “deal with death, life and hope in an under-city”.  In an earlier post I mentioned that our guide who showed us the astrological museum asked us our signs because he believes so much of what happens in our lives is related to the day we were born and the alignment of the moon and the stars.  What about the environment you are born into I asked him and he immediately started talking about their current Prime Minister,  Modhi, who was born into poverty and at the age of 64 became the leader of their country.  I remember reading an article in the Globe and Mail a few years back when Modhi first became PM so I googled him and he indeed was born into an impoverished family and his mother washed dishes and cleaned for other people.  Modhi has been quoted as saying that “…poverty was the first inspiration of my life, a commitment to do something for the poor.”  In this country of 1.3 billion people with major environmental issues, poor air quality, corruption, education and health challenges, just to name a few, he sure has his hands full.  On top of that half of India’s population are under the age of 25 and every year ten million young people enter a work force that is corrupted by politicians, bureaucrats and criminals.  One of our guides expressed hope that Modhi could begin to make a difference but that people have to be patient as change cannot happen quickly.  Modhi is reported to sleep three hours a night and starts his day with yoga for discipline – he will need all the help he can get!  So glad we came, ready to leave and hope that the young people we met and talked to are right, in that change will come with patience and determination…….power to the young people!

This is the result of a half hour ride on a tuktuk in a city with sweltering heat and poor air quality. But don’t worry Jim, Dawn and Yves helped me clean up before they would be seen with me in public and after they cracked up laughing!

So we say good bye to India and Hello to SRiI LANKA!!!  The plane trip was not uneventful like the others, and about half way there we hit turbulence that came upon us very suddenly and everyone was looking to each other for reassurance that all would be OK.  No doubt it didn’t last long but was enough to shake the passengers and crew up and I am sure many were quietly saying a prayer except for the young woman sitting next to Yves who was in a teary state with her head buried in her boyfriend’s lap until we landed!   We were all thrilled and interestingly enough we were met by a fire truck but not sure if this was related or not.  We disembarked to 30 degree weather and immediately I began to sweat!  Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, wasn’t really on our radar but several months back Yves suggested that given we were so close why didn’t we stay a little longer and tack it on…….so we did!  Sri Lanka has struggled through a 30 year civil war which ended in 2009.  It has a population of just over 20 million although it is not much bigger than Nova Scotia and is approximately twice the size of Vancouver Island – those are numbers we can relate to given that Jim and I are living in NS and Dawn and Yves on Vancouver Island.   We started our Sri Lanka journey in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s financial capital and its largest city with a population of around six million.  We booked a two bedroom, two bathroom air bnb and were thrilled with the location and how clean it was.  We were overlooking the beach(five minute walk) but again swimming not recommended.  We ate home a couple of times here, even though it was take-out, which was a pleasant change but on our last night we ate at Barracuda which was on the beach and recommended by our host – excellent!

A little dark but dinner at the Barracuda was excellent

Jim and Yves helping local fishermen pull in their boats during our beach walk

We also visited many tourists spots like the National Museum, Museum of Natural History, Dutch Hospital, Galle Face Green but the highlight was the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple which is one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka.  It is very beautiful, as hopefully you can see from the few pictures below, and is visited by members of a variety of religious faiths.  It has apparently been instrumental in establishing the Buddhist Temple on Statin Island and two others in New York and Tanzania.  The temple, although very busy, was a very spiritual place with many people meditating, saying their prayers, spending time with a friend or quietly wandering around – definitely worth a google!

The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha found enlightenment

It is quite interesting how we stumbled upon the Temple although it was already on our list of places to visit.  We had gotten a little lost and decided to go into the Hilton to ask the concierge for directions assuming English would be spoken.   The young woman who was assisting us had excellent English, spent some time with us and then gave us a map and came out to the street to show us directions.   While we were discussing what to do first, this very pleasant young man must have overheard us say the ‘temple’ because he said “I show you” and indicated he worked at the Hilton, was on his lunch break and was headed to the Temple because of the big Buddhist celebration today with all the dancing elephants.   It was starting in five minutes and “come, come” and we were off!   He was walking, and talking, very fast and with much excitement as he and Dawn were in the lead with Yves behind and then Jim and I.   We rushed for about ten minutes and then he suggested we get a couple of tuktuks because of traffic issues, so we did, and within five minutes found ourselves at Gangaramaya Temple with him as our guide.  He told the tuktuks to wait to bring us to the dancing elephant celebration after our temple visit.   Paid our way, took off our shoes and wandered through the Temple and then began to get suspicious thinking he was just too kind, how long was his lunch break, etc. etc.etc. and if you are thinking we were in the middle of a scam you are right! But my blood pressure has already begun to boil as I reflect back so I will not continue to type and the story can be finished when we next see  you and you ask about the dancing elephants!  I am calling it ‘the sting’ as we refused to accept the terms of the leading man but in reality it once again raised the issue of  ”Who can you trust?’ other than you’re gut!      But we don’t care as we’re off again tomorrow for an early train ride on Sri Lankan Railways to Kandy which is in the mountains and is famous for its tea plantations – no doubt we will have a cuppa!

And the yoga hunt continues!  I decided to get there early and arrived by 7:50 knowing that yoga teachers are always early preparing for their class, getting things set up, etc.- not so much in India!   The place is pitch black but the door is open so I go in and walk down the long, dark corridor and halfway down I feel a little vulnerable and shout “anyone here?”  Silence, not a creak, so I turn around and head outside where it feels a little safer.  In a couple of minutes a man comes out of the building and says “you here for yoga mam” to which I reply with a smile”yes” but have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach thinking “Oh no, not again!”   And then I hear “teacher coming mam”……….excellent!   A few minutes later a couple about my age come in, wander around and then look to me for answers and I reassure them that there is yoga and that the teacher is on her way.   The man looks at his watch, rolls his eyes and says to his partner “typical”.  It’s now 8:00 when a young woman comes running through, right past us and shortly thereafter returns asking “Is there yoga?” and we all tell her that the teacher is on her way.  So here we are the four of us waiting for the teacher so we chat about who we are, why we’re here, etc. and then realize we’re all Canadians – the older couple from Toronto and the younger woman from Quebec.   When the younger woman hears I am from NS she says “where” and when I say Amherst she smiles and says she lived there for six months ten years ago.   Her boyfriend,  now ex-b, was with the Ramblers hockey team so she lived there with him – what a small world!    Next we note that the caretaker is on the phone chatting it up with someone and then comes our way and says “on her way”.   We all smile, continue chatting and then the Ontario couple start to leave when a motorbike arrives with four yoga mats……and the teacher.  So off we go down the long dark hall to a concrete room that is very hot and I begin to believe it’s hot yoga I have signed up for because I am already sweating.  The man from Ontario wants to leave but his partner convinces him to stay so we all lie down on the yoga mats and focus on our breathing, stretches, sun salutations, fish pose, bridge pose and then  I peak at my watch and realize I have to leave…………..Namaste, I exit quietly – glad I came and was able to work on leaving my NAVs behind-what a challenge!

Next stop, about two hours later, Kumarakom which is famous for its backwater tourism and is very well known for houseboat experiences so of course we had to try it.  Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is set in an Aaymanam village, which adjoins Kumarakom, and the success of this novel has caused great success in tourism for this area.  I brought it on our trip and now Dawn is enjoying it – interesting read especially when you’re here.  It is so peaceful here and we’re all thrilled just to relax for the rest of the day, go for a walk, read our books, have a nap and prepare for our boat cruise tomorrow.  Hopefully the pictures will show a little of the beauty!

Jim watching the houseboats from our balcony

These beautiful houseboats are constantly cruising up the river……some small, some large! Can’t wait to go tomorrow

After having a relaxing evening, an OK supper and breakfast our driver picks us up to bring us to our river excursion on the houseboat.    We pay our bill, take a little motor boat out to the houseboat and find ourselves the only ones aboard!  There are three crew aboard who introduce themselves and they immediately bring us coffee, fruit basket and water and tell us just to relax, which we immediately did.   For four hours we cruise along the river enjoying not only our experience but also that of others on houseboats and locals doing their washing, enjoying their day playing with their kids, going to Church services as we just realize it’s Sunday afterall!   A few pictures to tell more.

Dawn and Jim relaxing up front on the Pamba River cruise

Left hand side picture is of our chef who prepared us one of the best meals we’ve had in India and in my opinion the best fish as the rest hasn’t been great.   The food kept coming which was a great surprise as we were really only expecting some rice and a couple of curries…..delighted we were!  The picture below the chef is of the local ferry boat along the river which makes many stops picking up locals and dropping them off.  Last picture is of our ‘crow visitor’ who surprised Jim and Yves, watched them closely and then swooped in to take one of their snacks!  It was a great day and one we will remember for years to come.  Headed back to Kumarakom for supper and an early morning start to Periyar.

We start off early as we’re in for a four hour drive to Periyar National Park which is known for its wildlife sanctuary especially elephants and tigers.  The drive was extremely slow and at times quite unsettling as they drive crazy here and the bigger the vehicle the more power they have and we’re not so big…….all those local buses, dump trucks and tour buses are in charge – we forge ahead.  But we’re ahead of little cars and Tuktuks on this beautiful drive through the mountains as we see tea plantations, rubber tree farms and spice farms.  We arrive in the middle of the day, tour a spice plantation and learn loads and head out for a walk and supper.   The next day we tried to do a boat ride early in the morning in hopes of seeing tigers and elephants as they come to the water but no luck as the water level is too low.   So we take a jeep ride into the mountains, visit an elephant sanctuary and in the afternoon do a three hour guided walk through the park.

Jim and Yves overlooking Lake Periyar

Jim and Yves enjoying the jeep ride and the views

Notice the baby elephant we saw in the park

By then we’re pretty tired, have an early supper and turn in as we have to be up by 5:30 a.m. as we’re headed to the airport for the next leg of our adventure.  Hard to believe we’ve been here for a month and it’s already time to leave and yet there’s so much to say but too tired to say much else at the moment.  India, for us, was a place like no other and now we’re looking forward to Sri Lanka and the adventures that await us there.  We’re feeling so lucky for having had this experience and thrilled that no one got sick -looking forward to more.  Stay tuned!