Buenos Aires

Mi querido Buenos Aires! I was already worried I wouldn´t make it to Buenos Aires today. We went out yesterday in Santiago and came home very late...so just trough online check-in I made it to get my flight.....puuuuuh!But I got here and gonna have a beautiful time here in BS! :-)
It`s like I said a few days ago. Perfect weather, friends, best meat, tastiest wine....can`t complain. I visited Boca, San Telmo, Recoleta and Puerto Madeira so far. Especially Boca and Recoleta is supernice.

The colourful El Caminito in Boca

Palacio Municipal am Plaza 5 de Mayo

Main shopping area at Calle Florida

Santiago

I arrived well in Santiago de Chile yesterday evening and checked into the Chimba Hostel. Perfect decision. It´s in the heart of Bella Vista and I got to know all hostel people during wine tasting :-)
Had a great time yesterday! The next day we went up the mountain to catch the view over the city. Great with the Andes in the background. :-)

Great time with the Chimba travellers

Santiago de Chile with the Andes behind

Colonia Tovar

Close to Caracas is a little colonial Town founded in the mid eigtheenhundreds by a group of german settlers. Colonia Tovar still says of itself "A piece of Germany in Venezuela". At the weekends it´s crowded of Venezuelans visiting the german style buildngs and try out some typical german dishes. Is typical german food really sausage? I still can´t believe that...
Best of all: they have their own brewery! :-)

Colonia Tovars church. In front Café Kuhstall

Visibly german architecture

The local beer: Cerveza Tovar

Caracas

I almost didn´t make it to Venezuela as security at the Medellin airport was so tight. I got into the plane more than 10 min delayed...puhh.
Also the start in Venezuela wasn´t easy. I couldn´t cash money as a foreigner and needed to go into the bank, cue up and fetch money at the counter - with passport and fingerprints of course. Very secure....
Arriving in Caracas was...hmmm...also not very traveller friendly. I still don´t have a city map and traveller hostel just don´t exist. The one called "Backpackers Hostel" is just the cheapest hotel that tries to rent its crappy rooms through its name.
But finally I found good value and could start exploring the city.

First impression of Venezuela in Caracas´ Metro

Everywhere Hugo Chavez slogans

View over the city from the Torre del Oeste, Venezuelas highest scyscraper

Medellin

Unfortunately I had only 2 days left for Medellin. Too short to explore that pretty city. The arrival at night showed illuminations high up the hillsides. Shortly after I could see the whole city at night from the Mirador Poblano at a private fairwell party.
Fortunately I could stay at Annes place who we got to know in the Tyrona National Park. Handy coincidences! ;-)

Plaza Botero in Medellin

Old american schoolbuses in front of Columbias only Metro

Juli and Anne in the Metrocable

Bogotá

Bogotá´s a great city! We didn´t expect it that great. The locations between the hills is fantastic and you can catch some great views over the whole city from the Montserrate Church uphill. Also the part of Candelaria, the old town, is really pretty and keeps us strolling around.

Unfortunately Martin has to leave today at noon for getting back to work in Munich. Has been a great time again travelling together again.

Bogotás city center from the Montserrate church

Plaza Bolívar

Mit Angela, Martha und Ivan im Café Rio del Amazona

Barranquilla

At first we didn´t like Barranquilla that much but when we got to know some locals and went out with them we changed our mind. Really cool to see all the people training for the Carnaval that gonna be Barranquillas highlight that year. We even got whitened our faces with maiz-flower to get some more taste of the Carnaval! Fun!

Training for the big show

Party with Marta and Karina

Whitened and with a typical, coastal style sombrero

Cartagena

Cartagena is as beautiful as everybody says. We arrived yesterday night and strolled around in the narrow streets of the old part of the city. Today we´ve been spending totally exploring the city. Greetings from Columbia!

Historical part of Cartagena

Jumping dolphin at the Oceanario on Rosario Island

Playa Blanca close by Cartagena

Tayrona National Park

The National Park of Tayrona at the carribean side of Columbia is famous for its beautiful beaches. And very right, they ARE beautiful. Even though the water is not as warm and turquoise as in Belize for example, we enjoyed the beachlife. We also visited the ruins of Pueblito, an ancient city in the jungle of the Park.

Beach of "La Piscina"

Al Cabo Beach

Description in Pueblito

Taganga

After leaving Shakiras city Barranquilla we went straight to Taganga, a little fishing town where also heaps of people spend there holiday....we arrived exactly in between the high season of public holidays. Nevertheless we enjoyed the carribean again and did some really cheap diving with a bavarian dive school.

Martin and me at Taganga Beach

Brasses at El Pato divesite

Spotted moray

Goodbye Ecuador!

Hola a todos!

After exactly 4 weeks in Ecuador we´re leaving today at noon . We gonna fly out of Quito via Bogotá to Barranquilla where we gonna spend a week at the carribean coast of Parque Tyrona and Cartagena.

Hope to hear from you soon! Hasta luego!

Climbing Chimborazo (6310 m)

After a bit of acclimatization at Urbina we went with our guide Ivo Veloz to the first of the two refugios for the normal route up the highest mountain Ecuadors.
From that first one it was only 200 m highers to the Whymper Refugio at 5000 m where we had some dinner and a few hours of sleep. Shortly before midnight we started to climb up. You can´t imagine how hard it was climbing up to the top. Unbelievable! But right after sunrise we made it. Standing on top of the second highest peak of Chimborazo with 6267 m with perfect weather conditions and a sensational view made up for all the pain. Another four hours down and we arrived exhausted but happy Riobamba and another few hours later Quito.

By the way...the Chimborazo is due to the equatorial buldge the closest point to the sun on earth, closer than Mt. Everest!

The Chimbrazo with 6310 m from Riobamba

Chimborazos shadow from the top

Finally up the second highest peak with 6267 m

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve we went back to Baños. Our Hostel "Santa Cruz" was an amazingly well equipped place that would offer almost everything a traveller could need. We got to know Adrian and Steffi from Switzerland and spent with them the last evening of 2006.

A very nice ecuadorian custom is that every family prepares a puppet filled up with old stuff like old clothes, etc that represents the old year. Those puppets are burned at midnight. Interesting to watch!
The following day we went to the thermal springs in the Baños de la virgen and then left for some higher places to adapt for the climbing part to come.

Viejos for being burned at midnight

With Adrian and Steffi from Switzerland

Live concert at Baños for New Years Eve

Natural thermal water at Baños de la virgen

Riobamba & Nariz del diabolo

Riobamba is famous for the starting point of the famous trainride on the Trans-Andean Railway to Alausi and down the Devils nose, a masterpiece of railway construction those days. We had to get up early and only with quite a bit of luck got tickets that day. The ride on the roof was very touristy but quite an experience....

Parque Maldonado with Riobambas Cathedral

The train with the Devils Nose in the background

Passing a bridge on the Trans-Andean Railway

Baños

Baños´a quiet touristy town surrounded by mountains. All tourists do tours like rafting, biking or hiking in the area. We rented Mountainbikes and did some downhill biking to Puyo. On the way we could visit several waterfalls like the famous Pailón del diabolo. After that waterfall the downhill mostly ended and only with a lot of effort we made the last 30 km to Puyo.

Downhill biking the way to Puyo

Pailón del Diabolo

Grilled guinea pig for special days