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Rio de Janeiro
I flew from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, about 3 hours north. I added Rio to the trip kind of at the last minute, and I’m so glad I did! New country, new currency, new language, Portuguese instead of Spanish. What I did on my last trip to Rio In 2009, 16 years ago, I went on a trip ending in Rio. There, I went to Christ the Redeemer statue, and to a football game at the Maracana stadium. And, I tried to go hanggliding. Tandem of course! I found Paolo, recommended in my Lonely Planet guidebook back then. We talked on a couple of mornings, but the wind…
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Buenos Aires
We went to the airport in Bariloche for a 2 hour flight north to the capital, Buenos Aires. We landed at the domestic airport, situated next to the Rio de la Plata, widest river in the world. You can cross this river by ferry to reach Uruguay. Buenos Aires is known for its European culture, architecture, food and nightlife. And tango. Recoleta Cemetary We did a city tour, stopping at Recoleta Cemetary. Here, the deceased elite of the country are stored for eternity in mausoleums designed by famous European sculptors. Families own the gravesites, and are responsible for their upkeep. Some sites crumble from neglect, likely since the family has…
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Bariloche and the Lake District
We left Pucon for a long day of buses, borders, and fabulous views, arriving in Bariloche about 10 pm. There seems to be no easy way to get here, so we used a combination of public bus and private van. We passed amazing views of volcanos and gorgeous lakes along the way. We are now in Argentina, in the foothills of the Andes mountains. Estancia The next morning we set off for an estancia, or ranch, outside the town. After breakfast, our host talked to us about mate, the national drink that everyone in Argentina drinks, and its social importance. Everyone has their own mate cups, and shares the straw…
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Pucón
We arrived in Pucón, adventure capital of Chile, shortly after sunrise. Pucón is known for its stunning natural landscape, with volcanos, lakes, waterfalls, and thermal springs. The national park containing it is at the north end of the Patagonia region of southern South America. It’s a ski town in winter. The area is dominated by the Villarrica volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Latin America. My view of it from the bathroom window of my room was the best! National Park tour We hopped in a van for a tour of the area. First stop was at the top of a waterfall, where we had to hike down to…
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Valparaiso
Valparaiso, a major port, is just 100 km or so from Santiago. It should only take an hour or so to get there, right? We went there by public bus. Buses in South America are generally very comfortable, and so was this one, except for one thing – the air conditioning was broken down. The bus driver told our tour leader that it had cooled off a bit, from 40C to now only 33C. We were in the top of the two level bus, and it was suffocating. And we hit a 2 hour traffic jam, caused by a traffic accident, and holidayers from Santiago late in the afternoon on…
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Santiago
Santiago to Buenos Aires I’m finally going on this trip with G Adventures. Check it out at Highlights of Chile & Argentina in Chile, South America – G Adventures. I had it booked for spring 2020, and we all know what happened then. Cancelled due to covid! When rebooking as soon as I could in early 2021, I switched to a trip to Italy. Europe started their covid adventure months before South America, and so came out of it much earlier, and I made the right call. So now it was time to get back to the original plan. The trip starts in Santiago, Chile, and ends in Buenos Aires,…
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Back to Albania
Tirana The next morning we set off to the Albanian border nearby. The building there was pink, painted with flowers, which seemed a little odd. We passed many small bunkers, some of the thousands built during the reign of the paranoid Enver Hoxha. Along the way were towns with factory buildings, abandoned after the fall of communism in 1991. One small town decorated its crumbling factories by painting thousands of ladybugs on them. We passed through the city of Elbasan, once contender for capital city. A highway was built through the city and has somehow turned into a free-for-all, with kilometre long traffic jams paralyzing the roads for hours at…
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Macedonia
Lake Ohrid town Finally our stop at the most beautiful lake in the Balkans, Lake Ohrid. This is a holiday spot for locals, but it’s now October, so not too busy. Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest and deepest lakes in the world. It’s an ancient settlement that is a UNESCO heritage site. It is also famous for being home to 366 churches, one for each day of the year. Most are no longer operational. Macedonia has been more expensive than Albania or Kosovo, and Lake Ohrid is the most expensive place in Macedonia. But it’s still very affordable. In the town, we walked along the cobbled streets to…
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Macedonia
Lake Matka We took a morning trip to Lake Matka, another scenic artificial lake. The dam and hydroelectric power plant were built in this deep canyon in 1938. The sides on the canyon are lined with several caves, and a few medieval monasteries. We took a boat ride to the Vrelo cave. You walk up to the entrance, then down once inside, to see one of the deepest underwater lakes in the world. After exploring the cave a bit we got back on the boat to cross the lake, then scrambled up to a path along the cliffs leading us back to our starting place. Once back at the start,…
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Kosovo to Macedonia
Prizren Still staying in Prizren, we set off the next afternoon for a rustic wine tasting a short drive out of the city. By rustic, I mean standing in a small dark cellar. We tried generous samples of whites, roses, and reds, accompanied by sumptuous charcuterie boards including goat, sheep, and cow cheeses. We all agreed the whites were really good, the rest were inoffensive – that’s what Australians call good but not great wine apparently. Also included was raki tasting. Raki is the traditional drink of many countries in eastern Europe, and is a by-product of the wine making process. The grape skins and other fruits are used, and…