Rowan y MP

You know who we are. We're your friends and family and we're travelling in South America. These are our adventures.

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Je ne veux pas trop me plaindre de la chaleur, mais 47.6 c'est comme un peu trop chaud à mon goût! #travel #hot #buenosaires #argentian http://ift.tt/1jIST89

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Back in the land of bife de chorizo (steak) and medialunas (croissants)!

We crossed over from Puerto Varas in Chile to Barlioche in Argentina by bus. Thankfully, this crossing is only a few hours long (not like the 17 hour crossing we took to get in to Chile), and is very scenic.

Bariloche is a small outdoor adventure (skiing in the Winter, rafting a trekking in the Summer) town, with a really nice vibe. MP was feeling a bit pregnant, so I did the Circuit Chico bike ride by myself. It's a beautiful 25km hour bike ride which goes via lakes, lagoons, beaches, and lots of hills (it took my about 5 hours, including stops for swimming, eating, and a beer).

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In Puerto Varas, we finally got off our bums and did some physical activities! Puerto Varas is at the very north of the Chilean Pantagonian region and it's known for it's volcanos. One day, we went on a bike ride and brought our lunch for a picnic at a lookout that was about half way between Puerto Varas and Frutillar (yep, it's Strawberry Town if you translate it!) The next day, we went on a kayaking trip in the National Park. In total we kayaked for 5 hours and thanks to Rowan, I (MP) got to be towed part of the way back because the winds were too strong. I still had to row! We were surrounded by 2 volcanos, and technically, one of them is active and could explode at any given moment. A bit freaky, but no one in the town seemed worried, so it's all good. We may it back alive.

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Mon souvenir favori à date... Watermelon Shoes!!! #travel #argentina #shoes http://ift.tt/18QwHaw

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Ça serait pas Noël sans une tourtière, même si on est à Buenos Aires! http://ift.tt/18KAO81

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Un cafe con leche y dos medialunas, por favor! Every. Single. Day. http://ift.tt/1bSvD0I

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We went to Valdivia with the only purpose being that we would do a tour of the Kuntsmann Brewery. Instead, we did a tour of a submarine museum, saw an awesome fish, fruit and veggie market surrounded by enourmous sea lions and we did have dinner at the brewery where we tried samples of all their beers, but, saddly, no tour for us. We almost wished we stayed a bit longer, because it's a very gorgeous town with way more to see and do than we though, including an amazing dinner-type café that we managed to visit twice in only 24 hours!

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The graffiti in Valpo comes in all shapes and sizes. From small stencils on the ground to pieces coving entire buildings, and all shapes and sizes in between. Any time you go for a walk - even if you've walked that way before - you'll see something new.

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Valpo is a photogenic place - here are some of my favourite views!

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The cats of Valparaiso is another common graffiti theme/artist (not sure who it is though) that I like to see around. There's new ones since I was here, and a few that look like collaborative pieces with other artists (like Odio, above).

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Tasty, tasy beers at @elrowan's favourite Chile brewery, Kunstmann :) http://ift.tt/1fi3Jjq

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The other day we went back to the first place I lived in Chile - Vina del Mar. It's a bit like the Aussie Gold Coast, with lots of tall beach-side apartments.

While we were there, we went past my old apartment building, and ate a gigante sandwich at one of my favourite places (I used to be able to eat one on my own, but we shared this time). We also got to catch up with my friend Hallvard (from Norway) who I studied with back in 2007. He ended up marrying a Chilean and has been living in Vina for the last few years - it was very surreal.

Unfortunately for him, his car broke down in the middle of the highway as he was giving us a lift home! We spent half an hour waiting by the side of the road for a tow-truck, and learnt a valuable lesson: Never buy a car off of a friend!

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One more giant completo before saying goodbye to Valparaíso (foot long hot-dog with fresh tomatoes, avocado, mayo and aji cream aka spicy kethcup) http://ift.tt/1cwLruk

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There's so much cool graffiti in Valpo, it's impossible to do it all justice. After a while you start to see the same artists' work around the place - they have their own distinctive style.

On of our favourites was pieces done by the artist Odio, who's happy little people can be found hidden all around town on walls, in corners, and on stairs.

My favourites was this Pablo Neruda (in purple and green), hills-for-brains (with cats - another recurring theme/artist), and his Mexican-style luchadores.

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As much as I was happy to be back in Buenos Aires, I'm even happier to say I'm back in Valparaiso.

This was my home when I was studying in Chile, and it's surreal to be back (my apartment was the one with a white wall on the top floor of the grey building above). It feels old and new, same and different, all at once.

It was great to catch up with my good friend Sebastian, who just so happens to be building his own hostel here (the big orange building in the photos above). Finding a place to stay was never so easy.

One of the first things I did after getting here was have a completo italiano form Sibaritico - a completo is pretty much the national food of Chile; it's a giant hot dog with a ridiculous amount of avocado, mayo, and tomato on it.

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After Antofagasta we spent a few days in a small town called Gualliguaica just in between La Serena and Vicuna, where I did some kitesurfing. I won't say I was very good at it, but I did get up on my board for a bit by the 3rd day.

We've been celebrating my return to Chile by eating as much avocado as possible. The picture above is of palta reina, which simply means "stuffed avocado"

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One of things MP wanted to do was see both "the hands". There are two (that I know of): La Mano del Desierto (in the north of Chile), and La Mano de Punta del Este (in the east of Uruguay). Both were created by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal.

The one in Uruguay is very easy to reach, and a very popular spot for tourist photos. Punta del Este is a popular Summer destination for wealthy Argentinians.

The other hand is a bit harder to reach - it's 75km outside the northern Chilean mining town of Antofagasta. Fortunately the northern border crossing from Argentina to Chile arrives relatively close to Antofagasta, so we planned to do it on our way down to Valparaiso. Even though it's the closest city, getting a driver is best - if not only - option for getting out there to see it up close.

In the end we really managed to luck-out. With some help from the senora of the lodging we were staying at, we lined up a driver to take us out to the desert. We were happy enough that we were able to find anyone on such short notice, and couldn't believe it when a new model Mercedes pulled up - the owner of the company had just bought a new car, and was free to take us out himself. We even got to help out a truckkie get a photo of himself and his truck with the hand.