Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Montevideo
Nous logeons chez la famille d´un ami de Paul, adorable, qui nous fait decouvrir cette ville, a l´oppose de Buenos. Ici, tout est tranquille et calme en comparaison! Et puis nous sommes bien entoures!
De plus, contrairement a Buenos qui n a pas vraiment de plages (bon quelques unes a cote de l´aeroport...), toute la ville est balneaire, avec du sable fin et des filets de beach volley.
L est est incroyablement cossu, avec des gardiens a chaque intersection de rue. La touristique vieille ville, Ciudad Vieja, craint un peu la nuit et le week end.
De plus, contrairement a Buenos qui n a pas vraiment de plages (bon quelques unes a cote de l´aeroport...), toute la ville est balneaire, avec du sable fin et des filets de beach volley.
L est est incroyablement cossu, avec des gardiens a chaque intersection de rue. La touristique vieille ville, Ciudad Vieja, craint un peu la nuit et le week end.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Colonia
Quelle rupture avec Buenos Aires, cette ville sur le bord de mer, avec ses petites ruelles, ses maisons pittoresques aux murs de couleurs vives, son port de plaisance!!! Pour la premiere fois, nous nous sentons en vacances.
Apres 3h de vagabondage, et une "milanesa completa" (sandwich enorme) dans le ventre, nous prenons le bus pour montevideo, ou des amis d amis de Paul nous attendent et nous emmenent dans un resto tres sympatique.
L accent espagnol est different de l argentine, car les "ll" se prononcent "ch" et les s ne se prononcent pas toujours.
Apres 3h de vagabondage, et une "milanesa completa" (sandwich enorme) dans le ventre, nous prenons le bus pour montevideo, ou des amis d amis de Paul nous attendent et nous emmenent dans un resto tres sympatique.
L accent espagnol est different de l argentine, car les "ll" se prononcent "ch" et les s ne se prononcent pas toujours.
Iguazu
17h de bus (sans arret) a partir de Buenos Aires et nous voila devant un paysage de terres rouges, de palmiers et de lianes. L air y est humide et lourd. La terre rouge incroyablement glissante (pour info, les particules d´argiles sont plates et s´orientent pareils, c)Pas de doute, le nord de l Argentine est bien tropical!
Le parc national (40 pesos par personne) fait prendre au visiteur des petits parcours dans la jungle avant d arriver aux cascades.
Celles ci sont incroyables et offre un spectacle grandiose, notamment l attraction principale, la "garganta del diablo".
Nous avons adore, malgre une pluie diluvienne qui nous a trempe et retrempe.
Apres 8h a Iguazu, c est reparti pour 20h de bus pour buenos aires, puis 1h de bateau pour arriver a Colonia, une ville touristique de l Urugay.
Buenos Aires
Ces cinq jours a buenos, en partie passes au consulat et au commissariat suite au braquage, nous ont permis quand meme d avoir un bon apercu de la ville.
Ce qui nous a le plus surpris, c est la vegetation luxuriante, la beaute des arbres la bas.
Les portenos (habitants de buenos) sont chauds et directs. Et arrogants, mais on s en est pas rendu compte, venant de france.
Les coins les plus chics de la ville, Retiro et Recoleta, ne sont pas sans rappeler Paris. Les rues sont plutot etroites, les facades hautes. Il y a des gardiens partout. On y trouve nombre de marques europeennes chics, de Christian Dior a Nespresso.
Pour sortir, c est Palermo ou San Telmo (eviter le sud vers la Boca cependant).
Par contraste, la Boca est un coin tres craignos mis a part la rue a touristes, ce n est pas non plus un bidon ville comme a cote du terminal de bus de Buenos, mais vraiment a eviter (a moins d y aller nu et encore).
Buenos a un rythme de vie plutot trepidant, tant dans les rues pietonnes que chez les automobilites, qui sont rois et on priorite sur tout.
Globalement, cette ville nous a plu.
photos a suivre...
Ce qui nous a le plus surpris, c est la vegetation luxuriante, la beaute des arbres la bas.
Les portenos (habitants de buenos) sont chauds et directs. Et arrogants, mais on s en est pas rendu compte, venant de france.Les coins les plus chics de la ville, Retiro et Recoleta, ne sont pas sans rappeler Paris. Les rues sont plutot etroites, les facades hautes. Il y a des gardiens partout. On y trouve nombre de marques europeennes chics, de Christian Dior a Nespresso.
Pour sortir, c est Palermo ou San Telmo (eviter le sud vers la Boca cependant).
Par contraste, la Boca est un coin tres craignos mis a part la rue a touristes, ce n est pas non plus un bidon ville comme a cote du terminal de bus de Buenos, mais vraiment a eviter (a moins d y aller nu et encore).
Buenos a un rythme de vie plutot trepidant, tant dans les rues pietonnes que chez les automobilites, qui sont rois et on priorite sur tout.
Globalement, cette ville nous a plu.
photos a suivre...
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
bad news in buenos....
After a correct flight (one hour delay for Air Comet, two for AA), we arrived at Buenos at one in the morning, tried to sleep in the aeropuerto.
People were clearly focusing on our bikes...and it is understandable! We´ll tape them so that they don´t look as nice. Buenos was freezing and hosting a marathon.
We found a good hotel in the centre (recommended by Lonely Planet), could not take our bikes though, so we spent 3 hours trying to find a place...unsuccessfully! We finally put them in a paying car park.
Then we slept, headed for la San Telmo and la Boca. Dangerous place, but there were few people, it was a sunny sunday afternoon afterall. The streets were pretty appalling, plenty of small groups of children sitting in front of creepy corridor and backyards. We headed for the river to be in a safe area, this is when we heard guys whistling at us, we ignored them, a girl told us to go back, that it was impossible to go ahead...(she probably was with them in fact)
We started walking back, a guy walked ahead, and threatened me (i was carrying a red bag) with a gun. At first i thought it was a fake, for a few seconds, and hesitated. i knew i had passport and visa in my belt, and wanted to make him believe that i had everything inside. He pointed the gun at my leg. Gave him the bag, with my camera, memory cards and fleece jacket...then Paul had to give his wallet...with passport and credit card...
People were clearly focusing on our bikes...and it is understandable! We´ll tape them so that they don´t look as nice. Buenos was freezing and hosting a marathon.
We found a good hotel in the centre (recommended by Lonely Planet), could not take our bikes though, so we spent 3 hours trying to find a place...unsuccessfully! We finally put them in a paying car park.
Then we slept, headed for la San Telmo and la Boca. Dangerous place, but there were few people, it was a sunny sunday afternoon afterall. The streets were pretty appalling, plenty of small groups of children sitting in front of creepy corridor and backyards. We headed for the river to be in a safe area, this is when we heard guys whistling at us, we ignored them, a girl told us to go back, that it was impossible to go ahead...(she probably was with them in fact)
We started walking back, a guy walked ahead, and threatened me (i was carrying a red bag) with a gun. At first i thought it was a fake, for a few seconds, and hesitated. i knew i had passport and visa in my belt, and wanted to make him believe that i had everything inside. He pointed the gun at my leg. Gave him the bag, with my camera, memory cards and fleece jacket...then Paul had to give his wallet...with passport and credit card...
Thursday, 25 October 2007
[SvN] My gear choice
We are going to travel light. Very light, with only 40L of storage capacity at the rear and a small handle bag and nothing else. Why? Because we'll move faster and there will be less things to get stolen. This entails limited changes of clothes (3 boxers, 3 pairs of socks, 3 Tshirts).
Those German websites are reliable, have been used by hundreds of cyclists and hard to beat pricewise...
- bike carrier: tubus (logo expedition) on bike-components.de
- Ortlieb bike bags (Bike Back Roller plus, 20L): outdoorworks.de
Those German websites are reliable, have been used by hundreds of cyclists and hard to beat pricewise...
- clothes: Décathlon Quechua (very good and cheap brand but don't be surprised if those are made by kids in China or Pakistan).
Le Vieux Campeur (V.C) are quite expensive compared to online shops, but you can have a 20% discount if you know someone from l'Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, or if the company agrees to help you with your expedition (you then have to submit your project).
- sleeping bag: for -15°C, the Alta from Helsport is one of the best synthetic sleeping bags for quality-price (125 euros). OK, it is a bit heavy and large, but it is still worth it (V.C)
.
- tent: Tadpole 23 from The North Face, good 2.5kg three seasons tent that has proven worthy in Norway, photo (V.C)
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Airline tickets [SvN]
With Paul and Thomas, we tried to book cheap tickets to South America, via websites such as Kayak.com, cheaptickets.com.
However, trying to buy tickets from TAM airlines, allegedly a good company, proved very tricky as their website did not work, nor their phone number. We somehow managed to buy tickets, but those were cancelled the following day because TAM did not confirm to the provider that there was room on the flight...
We finally chose the really cheap option: flight with Air Comet from Paris to Madrid, and from Madrid to BA with Aerolinas Argentinas (which belongs to Air Comet). However, those companies have the bad reputation of being always late (3 to 4 hours on short flights to one full day on longer ones), loosing luggages for 6 weeks(with no excuses and a relunctancy to refund anything) and bad service (Spanish only). This is why the price is so low. We'll see!
Flight Paris-Madrid-Buenos Aires, saturday 3 november 2007.
A safe solution to bring bikes on the plane:
Vélo-avion, 1912. Photo by Jacques Henri Lartigue.
Après des heures de galères sur le net, avec le site et le téléphone de TAM Airlines qui ne marchait pas, nous avons finalement opté pour des billets low-cost Air Comet pour Paris-Madrid et Aerolinas Argentinas pour Madrid-Buenos Aires. Réputation d'être toujours en retard, de perdre les bagages, le tout sans jamais s'excuser. Nous verrons bien!
However, trying to buy tickets from TAM airlines, allegedly a good company, proved very tricky as their website did not work, nor their phone number. We somehow managed to buy tickets, but those were cancelled the following day because TAM did not confirm to the provider that there was room on the flight...
We finally chose the really cheap option: flight with Air Comet from Paris to Madrid, and from Madrid to BA with Aerolinas Argentinas (which belongs to Air Comet). However, those companies have the bad reputation of being always late (3 to 4 hours on short flights to one full day on longer ones), loosing luggages for 6 weeks(with no excuses and a relunctancy to refund anything) and bad service (Spanish only). This is why the price is so low. We'll see!
Flight Paris-Madrid-Buenos Aires, saturday 3 november 2007.
A safe solution to bring bikes on the plane:
Vélo-avion, 1912. Photo by Jacques Henri Lartigue.Après des heures de galères sur le net, avec le site et le téléphone de TAM Airlines qui ne marchait pas, nous avons finalement opté pour des billets low-cost Air Comet pour Paris-Madrid et Aerolinas Argentinas pour Madrid-Buenos Aires. Réputation d'être toujours en retard, de perdre les bagages, le tout sans jamais s'excuser. Nous verrons bien!
Friday, 12 October 2007
Welcome to Cyclotrek_the blog! [SvN]
Well, the blog needs to start somewhere...this should enable us to stay in touch during our trip in South America, with you all, dear friends, next of kin and strangers. This blog is temporary in the sense that a proper website will probably be created once we are back, a bit like this one, but in better.
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