Sunday, 29 January 2012

Argentina- first stop Puerto Iguazu

After travelling for a long time we finally arrived to Buenos Aires(BA). Instead of doing as the rest of my class: going to the beach in Argentina, I decided to explore Argentina on my own. I decided to start with Iguazu falls. It was only an 18 hr busride away. Luckily I got help from a very kind lady I met on the flight to BA with both getting to the bus station, buying the ticket and lots of tips about traveling in Argentina. For those of you who does not know, I do not know a lot of Spanish.

The buses in Argentina are nothing like any buses I've been on before. There different kind of classes and they are all great. The classes are semi-cama, cama and super-cama. The more you pay the more your seat can be like a bed. Food and drinks are included and depending on the company sometimes there is wine and bingo=) There is always movies showing, but sometimes in Spanish.

After getting a good nights sleep for almost the whole ride it was amazing to get out of the bus and be outside for the first time in days! Lovely and hot. A girl I met on the bus, Mai, were also looking for a hostel and together we found Bambu mini. The hostel was nice, and the staff was amazing! Friendly and very helpfull:) It is a hostel I would reccomend anyone. It didn't have a pool though, but the sister hostel had one we could use:)

I spent 3 days at the waterfalls. The first day I only managed to see the Devils Throat, but on the second I saw everything else on the Argentinean side. I had good company on the trip with Mai and her friend Augustin. The waterfall is amazing; the sound, the amount of water, the power of the water, just everything. Being high season the park was full of tourists and one had to spend a lot of time quing to get good photoes and it wasn't possible to walk very fast. On top of that is was very warm! That is something I like=)
An other thing I noticed at Iguazu was that everyone was carrying around with a thermos and a matching cup with a straw in it. I understood that this was the famous mate I had heard about. I knew this was a big part of there culture, but I hadn't got a clue it was this big!

One of the best things of the park was actually a 3,5 km walk to a tiny waterfall with a natural pool underneath where one could go swimming. Very idyllic. AND on the way down the trail you can see lots of animals. The most exciting thing I got to see was monkeys=) They are so cute and it so much fun to watch them jump from tree to tree.

The third day I went on a tour to the brazilian side of the waterfall, dam Taipu and to Paraguay. I almost lost my tour that day: I shared a room with two aussies and a guy from Wales, of course it ended in a night out. It didn't help that Augustin also seemed to be a party person=) And so the reseptionist had to wake me up when the tourbus arrived to pick me up. Luckily I was ready to go in no time=)

Dam Taipu was amazing to visit for a nerd like me! It was so huge and produces so much energy it is almost difficult to imagine. This is the worlds largest dam, or second largest, I think there is an argument between this dam and a dam in China. In Paraguay I was told to not go anywhere but the main street because that would be dangerouse. The guide didn't speak any English so I am very thankfull for meeting Eduardo on the tour. He was a mexican who knew both Spanish and English and translated all I needed to know on the tour. Paraguay is the place to buy electronics very very cheap!

Photoes from my first couple of days in Argentina=)

The devils throat

Ran into Anne and Cecilie from my class and Annes boyfriend - a nice surprise:)

A powerful shower...

The hungry and annoying animals...

Slow trains, walking was faster





Mai was good company when I visited the park


Augustin and his butterfly


What kind of meat do you want? And how do you want it? medium?

A roundabout in Paraguay:S

The main street 

the most important shop to visit!

Dam Taipu

Happy!

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Finally skiing again, my favourite activity!

Before Christmas there were little or no snow and therefore I did not get to ski much. Luckily I went to visit my brother who lives a place with a lot of snow, and there I got my first skiing experience in almost two years. It was amazing! AND hard. It took a while to get in contact with the muscles that had not been used for ages.
The nature was amazing, the stillness and the feeling of being all alone; just me and my skies - I loved it=)

After being in Argentina for 3 weeks I couldn't wait to go skiing again and just a day after returning to Norway I have been skiing. Although I enjoyed it, it wasn't all a pleasure. After only a couple of kilometeres my body started acting weired and soon I realized I had to go to the car to lie down. When I finally made it there I was pretty scared, but after I while I got better and realized it had to have been the temperature difference between Norway and Argentina that was giving my body a hard time. I think there must be approximately 45 degrees Celsius in difference. I managed to do some more skiing before we went home though very slow and carefully.

Here are some photoes from when I was in Meråker and from a race my brother participated in. It felt good to go to a race again. They are arranged early in the day during weekends and it takes a lot of time and effort, but the atmosphere and the competition is so worth it=)


Could this be a dam? Yes, I am a nerd...

A lot of exercise requires a lot of rest...=)

Morning exercise; real early or just winter?

The biathlon athletes had already had shooting traingin, one could smell it:)

Sunrise

My brother is so kind that he prepares my skies, I am too cold to do so

My dad prepares many pair of skies before the race. I think he is glad only one of us continued..:p

Warming up

Tarjei in action!