Destination Three- Argentina (Buenos Aires)

Hi, now that its getting closer to me going away (flying out on Monday =O) I felt that I should get on with the updates.

Ben is leaving on Saturday 17th September, leaving me in Buenos Aires by myself for five days. I have dreamed of going to the Big BA since I was tiny, and to be fulfilling this dream is amazing;

Argentina has an amazing history which has left it with a rich culture including the famous Tango and, of course, red wine and beef!!! I am looking forward to seeing the Tango shows in Teatro Colon and street dance at the Avenue Florida, although it doesn't sound like the friendliest of places for vegetarians!!!

Argentine history is well known for Eva 'Evita' Peron whom to me is a major influence and intriguing figure, she dies in the 1952 at the age of 33 from cancer having risen from an illegitimate family in the Patagonia, to being the first lady of Argentina and heading the still in power Peronism party. The peronist party believed that the rich should share with the poor, and her beliefs lead to the then largest social reforms seen on a global scale, she earned the nickname of 'Evita' (Little Eva) for her seemingly angelic intentions, in the long run the name spawned the theatre musical Evita. Her death led to one of the most weird posthumous political histories whereby her embalmed body was stolen by the following dictatorship, hidden in attics and cinemas before finally being buried in Germany under an assumed name. Finally in the 1970's her husband came back in power and brought home her body before he himself died. She is now buried in the Recolata cemetery where I will be visiting on my journey, and I will also be visiting her home and museums;

 

I am now packed for my travels, and will hopefully get enough time to update the blog for Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Atlanta before I go but I dont think I will get through them all (sorry =(!!!) however I will update properly what I am up to as soon as I go, with photos and stories of my time in Arequipa etc.

Speak Soon Guys =D

Destination Two: Peru

So, Ben and I are spending the largest portion of our time in Peru and therefore most of our touring will be in the massive, yet sparse country. Geographically the country is fascinating for its changing landscape; Desert, Rain forest, Mountains and Oceanic area are all there with their associated climatic differences.

We land first in Lima, the capital city of Peru and will spend a number of days here with the hope of acclimatisation to the climate and to the massive culture shock of the fact that Lima has one of the worlds largest shanty towns and hence this wealth difference will be an issue which will be presented to us throughout our stay in Peru, as the pictures shows, in one city you can have the lowest and poorest people near the highest and wealthiest people;

After a few days in Lima we will then be getting a TWENTY-FIVE HOUR bus to Arequipa in the south of the country. Here we will be spending around 28 days. Arequipa is Spanish for 'White City' as a result of the use of volcanic rock for building material; the city lies at the base of three huge active volcanoes!!! Probably not a good idea with my track record in Geography and already having one disrupted holiday due to the Icelandic volcano last year =(. Arequipa has a more reliable climate with nice temperatures of around 25 degrees (Celsius) all year round, and is located just hours away from Colca Canyon (worlds deepest canyon) and around six hours away from Cuzco; the entrance to the Inca Trail;

I expect we will work in the project five days a week, and spend the weekdays on tours around some of Peru, I plan NOT to walk the Inca Trail as it would probably kill me!! But we are going to get a steam train with a glass roof to the one day trail (relatively flat) which will be better for time and will not leave me ill ha ha!!!! To see Machu Pichu is a dream I've been waiting for years to do, and I hope to spend quite a long time there when we eventually get to it. Ive just found out that it is 100 years today since Machu Pichu (the lost city) was rediscovered, quite an apt time to go I think lol!!

After the project and hence the homestay finishes, we head to Bolivia, which will hopefully be my next update =D See you soon!!