I can't even come close to doing justice to our experiences in the last week in this space but I'll do my best and you'll have to imagine the superlatives yourselves.
we began in Santiago, which is a city in two parts -the old and the new. This really sums up so much of Santiago. It is a city with a history of strife. wars and the military abounded and it is rocked by a major earthquake every two decades. Buildings are often in four parts and our guide was proud of one building that had stood for over 100 years.
As for wars, South America is riddled with them, often driven usually by foreign powers and dictators. Imagine a war that kills 80% of the male population of a country? That happened to Paraguay.
Santiago is filled with statues to famous generals and as they've had so much strife there's hardly a street corner in the old town that doesn't sport some general on a horse.
The next day we headed to Rio and found ourselves staying in a really cool area of the city, just back of Copacabana Beach. Our apartment was an old establishment, with little in the way of facilities but rich with character. Mind you, when you were having your third cold shower you could have swapped some character for comfort.
We were just across the road from a wonderful park and the Brazilians used it night and day, to relax in, play soccer, walk dogs, play cards etc. I mean literally night and day. The first night they were playing soccer until 1.30 am and they were setting up a market by 4.30 am that morning.
The city traffic was utter bedlam. Apparently, this is pretty normal, but while we there the bedlam reach targeting new heights. Brazil was hosting a major climate conference (I think Julia Gillard attended) and they shut down whole sections of roads for dignitaries. I've never seen more men in suits standing around doing feckall.
I know this email is getting long already so I'm going to end it soon, but I might as well do it on an amusing note. Using the toilet facilities in brazil to do anything serious, is a major challenge. The pipes are now and water pressure low so you're not supposed to flush toilet paper and waste together. Can you see the problem? You can throw the paper in a bin besides the toilet but this is not something I could ever warm too. To help alleviate this they provide you with a hose beside the loo to squirt yourself clean. Maybe if you've grown up with this it all works beautifully but for a beginner all you end up doing is spraying the ceiling and creating an unpleasant stinging sensation in parts unmentionable. and another thing. You have to go regularly, otherwise, toilet paper or not, you're guaranteed to have a rather horrifying toilet experience.
we began in Santiago, which is a city in two parts -the old and the new. This really sums up so much of Santiago. It is a city with a history of strife. wars and the military abounded and it is rocked by a major earthquake every two decades. Buildings are often in four parts and our guide was proud of one building that had stood for over 100 years.
As for wars, South America is riddled with them, often driven usually by foreign powers and dictators. Imagine a war that kills 80% of the male population of a country? That happened to Paraguay.
Santiago is filled with statues to famous generals and as they've had so much strife there's hardly a street corner in the old town that doesn't sport some general on a horse.
The next day we headed to Rio and found ourselves staying in a really cool area of the city, just back of Copacabana Beach. Our apartment was an old establishment, with little in the way of facilities but rich with character. Mind you, when you were having your third cold shower you could have swapped some character for comfort.
We were just across the road from a wonderful park and the Brazilians used it night and day, to relax in, play soccer, walk dogs, play cards etc. I mean literally night and day. The first night they were playing soccer until 1.30 am and they were setting up a market by 4.30 am that morning.
The city traffic was utter bedlam. Apparently, this is pretty normal, but while we there the bedlam reach targeting new heights. Brazil was hosting a major climate conference (I think Julia Gillard attended) and they shut down whole sections of roads for dignitaries. I've never seen more men in suits standing around doing feckall.
I know this email is getting long already so I'm going to end it soon, but I might as well do it on an amusing note. Using the toilet facilities in brazil to do anything serious, is a major challenge. The pipes are now and water pressure low so you're not supposed to flush toilet paper and waste together. Can you see the problem? You can throw the paper in a bin besides the toilet but this is not something I could ever warm too. To help alleviate this they provide you with a hose beside the loo to squirt yourself clean. Maybe if you've grown up with this it all works beautifully but for a beginner all you end up doing is spraying the ceiling and creating an unpleasant stinging sensation in parts unmentionable. and another thing. You have to go regularly, otherwise, toilet paper or not, you're guaranteed to have a rather horrifying toilet experience.
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