Hijacking our 07-08 travel blog to share this article I really enjoyed writing. It wasn't ever published (I was paid tho) - feedback, good or bad, is welcome.
By Alistair Grant
AFTER a slack-jawed stare at the deserted white sand, azure sea and towering coconut trees, there seems only one thing to do.
Gathering driftwood, fallen tree palms and creepers, I piece together my first raft, trying desperately to remember those reef knots and clove hitches I once knew.
An hour later, with the help of a young Dominican boy, I launch into buoyant waves.
Admittedly, the raft wouldn’t have made the prop list for Castaway - it is borderline seaworthy.
Nevertheless, ignoring the ’Wilson’ jokes/taunts of my girlfriend Nati on the Playa Rincon shoreline, I make steady if unspectacular progress with my bark oars, fulfilling a boyish fantasy a million miles away from most travellers‘ experience of this country.
The Dominican Republic is an all-inclusive hotels goliath; attracting half-a-million Brits annually as well as an endless stream of American college students.
The done thing is to spend a week or two in a resort strip: generally Playa Dorada, Punta Cana or Playa Dominicus.
Customary practice is for guests to eat and drink as much as possible, taking occasional overpriced trips beyond the gate guarding the buffet restaurants and manicured lawns.
Our trip is not the done thing, and there is no customary practice.
There is no hotel wristbands-only buffet spread out on Playa Rincon, because this stunning place has no hotels.
We are on the north coast of this nation about twice the size of Wales, the safer neighbour of strife-hit Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. Our beach is accessible only by motorboat or hour-long bumpy jeep ride.
Instead of a buffet, a lady operating a food shack for the dribble of visitors throws some firewood onto her rough brick stove, somehow producing marvellous grilled red snapper with fried bananas.
Tired from the raft building and paddling, we sit on powdery white sand beneath a palm tree and wash the meal down with a tall Presidente beer.
Refreshed, it is time to find desert: coconuts.
Lacking the agility to copy the Dominicans’ harvesting tactics - monkey-like scrambles up near-vertical trunks - we use the English approach.
Hurling logs skyward, I make a mental note to tell my mother. Those skills honed in childhood autumns throwing sticks at chestnut trees have finally come in use.
This time, the targets are bigger and a lot tastier than conkers.
One miss, two misses….12 misses and a couple of hits later, we are chopping open two giant coconuts with a machete.
Behind us, a 750m forest-clad ridge forms the backbone of the Peninsula de Samana, sheltering the DR’s biggest claim to fame.
A boat ride and hour’s zig-zagging minibus ride later, we arrive at deepwater Bahia de Samana, once the haunt of pirates attacking Spanish galleons, and now only inhabited by several thousand humpback whales.
North Atlantic humpbacks breed here between January and March every year after migrating up to 7,000km.
As Nati suggested, they must be desperate.
Equally so are the gaggle of American tourists, who rock our charter boat racing from port to starboard the moment a spout of water - a whale’s giveaway locator - shoots into the air.
Only the size of our hull must have prevented a capsize.
We follow a graceful mother and two-month old calf dipping in and out of the waves, and find two ‘fellas’ (as our English-speaking guide calls them) trying to impress the girls.
The pair show off a few tricks for their observers, although on this occasion don’t produce the spectacular leaps which make the humpbacks and this place famous.
Still, what we see is beautiful and natural, unlike one of the DR’s most infamous attractions; dolphins trapped in sea cages moored off the shore of the Bavaro hotel strip, near Punta Cana.
Charging tourists US$85 for a swim, the horrendously mis-named ’Dolphin Island’ has long been a target for criticism of the negative effect of the country‘s tourism empire.
We avoid that visitor trap and spend a couple of hours in a gua-gua. It is a form of minibus transport which, strangely, we find to be half the attraction of travelling in this country.
These are not minibuses by British standards, oh no.
Let’s call them Dominibuses - clapped-out vans usually with no doors but including any combination of the following: a buttock-clenching five passengers per bench seat; blaring merengue music, and; standard luggage plus live chickens and sacks of fruit and vegetables.
Despite requiring flexibility worthy of a contortionist and the patience of a saint, we realise we enjoy this peculiar mode of transport, offering unusual views of brightly-coloured wooden houses, beaches and forests at the roadside.
Unfolding ourselves after a serious squeeze, we arrive in the town of La Vega unprepared for a physical test of a different kind.
Today is a Sunday in February, and that means Carnival.
La Vega, we had heard, held the wildest celebration in the country.
And, true enough, what we are about to experience makes Notting Hill seem like a vicarage tea party.
Hundreds of men dressed in giant devil outfits race through the streets, swinging whips tipped with a thick rubber ball against unfortunate bystanders’ backsides.
And boy, do these diablos love a white ass to smack.
Feeling a little, ahem, raw, we choose a safer vantage point at the Carnival season’s climax in Santo Domingo, the DR’s historic capital.
Bottoms safely pressed against a fence, we admire the best troupes from towns across the country, able to make poor attempts at merengue and batacha steps without the threat of an imminent thwack and yelp of pain.
Next morning, free of fiestas and not worried about whips, we explore this city which doubles as a world heritage site.
Christopher Columbus landed on the north coast of Hispaniola in 1492, making the first significant landfall of his world-altering expedition.
After two attempts at settlement in the north had failed (due largely to fighting with the indigenous Taino population, soon to be wiped out by the colonists), Columbus’ brother Bartholomew moved the capital to its current location on the south coast.
Because of its key role in European settlement of the Americas, Santo Domingo boasts more firsts than Michael Schumacher.
It was the first city in the New World and had the first fortress, first university, first paved road and, arguably, the first cathedral - which is where we are now.
Pausing to brush up on our history, we discover Sir Francis Drake was once resident for a month in the building in which we stand.
It was 1586 and the famous English privateer (or pirate, if you are Spanish and hold the alternative view) had invaded and was looting the city for ransom.
Having seen where the Spaniards’ bad guy lived, we thought it only right to see where the good guy was.
Columbus’ tomb, the Faro a Colon, is a mammoth cross-shaped monument on a hillside.
Impressive, it certainly is.
There’s only one problem; no-one’s sure if he’s buried inside the casket here or in Seville.
Anyway, enough of the history lesson - we came here to see beaches and that’s where we’re going.
Next stop Playa Limon in the east, near Samana, via a four-hour gua-gua chug sharing a seat with school kids, oversize women and a sack of bananas.
The final 4km of this amusing journey, down a rutted dirt track, are on the back of a youth’s motoconcho (moped). A little precarious while juggling a 70-litre rucksack.
Our guest house, the most expensive of our trip, costs US$25 for an ensuite double and rents horses for a bargain US$10 an afternoon.
We pay up and procure the equine equivalent of the hare and the tortoise.
Nati’s horse, Ricardo, trots sensibly as we cross a slightly wild deserted beach and approach the breaking waves.
My mount, Pedro, suddenly acts as if he has had stimulants rather than straw in his nose-bag.
Our guides are disinterested so I opt to go for it, resisting the urge to yank the reins. We hit canter, then gallop and then whatever is faster than gallop.
My knees aching, the sand, surf and coconut trees flash past as the sea water flicks up from Pedro’s hooves. A truly exhilarating feeling.
As sunset nears, we pause for more conker-style stick throwing at coconuts, eventually hitting the target and gulping juice before scraping out crunchy white chunks.
We return to our accommodation, via a similarly hair-rising ride: why is it that horses don’t consider the height of their riders when charging past low-hanging trees?
As we arrive, Dominican workmen in trucks pull up and begin taking measurements in the forest.
Incredibly, they tell us developers have ordered a feasibility study for a possible resort.
Gobsmacked, we look through the coconut forest to the deep golden sand and aquamarine sea, listening to the thump of big, breaking waves.
We feel instantly fortunate; lucky that we were able to experience Playa Limon - and this remarkable country - like this.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Friday, July 4, 2008
Our bunch of fives to finish
5am Fri 27 June: Our Buenos Aires-London flight has just brushed the north-west tip of Spain, so our nine months' travelling has only two hours left.
I've blatantly stolen a 'bunch of fives' idea from another blog, so to run down a few highlights of nine months RTW, our top fives are below.
We're so fortunate to have had this trip and so many awesome things have happened that, looking back, they seem scarcely believable. If you're in the mood for a read, click on a previous blog link on the right.
If we met you while travelling, thanks for being part of our brilliant, enlightening trip. And if you're from England, let's hook up for a nice pint of Magners.
Now it's back to life in London, a fantastic, thrilling city, just one that's a bit more familiar than some of the places below.
Pics online at: http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/PublicFirstTravelling
http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/Alinatipics
You can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment. We hope you've enjoyed reading...now it's over the bunch of fives:
Ali & Nati
TOP FIVE NIGHTS OUT
1 Club Yellow & Club Air, Tokyo, Japan: Japan's two best clubs. One night. Unbelievable techno.
2 The Hitmen hard dance, Melbourne, Australia: Harder-than-hard-trance heaven. An endomorphin-producing conveyor belt of tunes.
3 Full Moon Party, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand: Xmas Eve, dancing on the beach, a rip-up.
4 Pacha, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Hands-in-the-air funky house upstairs. Like it was in 2003.
5 Dive club balcony, Gili Trawangan, Lombok, Indonesia: Great house music, Tuesday night on a first-floor terrace under a sky full of stars.
TOP FIVE BEACHES
1 Tereia Beach, Maupiti, French Polynesia: Whispy white sand with a shimmering turquoise lagoon, coconut tree shade and a motu (reef island) you swim to offshore. A breathtaking place.
2 Motu Tuanui, Maupiti, French Polynesia: An arcing low-tide white sand-spit, reaching out from the motu towards mountainous Maupiti and allowing a mesmerising mid-lagoon swim.
3 Gili Air, Lombok, Indonesia: Crunchy white sand shelving to the warm ocean, with the mainland in the distance and fluffy clouds above.
4 Koh Bitsi, Ko Tarutao, Thailand: Breezy white sand backed by forest, with two perfect driftwood swings and superb snorkelling offshore.
5 Whangamata, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand: A Kiwi classic; wide bay, crispy sand, rolling surf, islands offshore and grassy dunes.
TOP FIVE PLACES WE STAYED
1 5* boat, The Nile, Egypt: Wood panels, monument visits, belly-dancing classes.
2 1551 Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Mansion with 7-metre-high ceilings, exposed brick walls, amazing breakfasts.
3 Fat Yogi's, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia: After a hovel on Flores, this darkwood-cream hotel blend with pool and air-con was heaven.
4 K's House, Kawaguchiko, Mount Fuji, Japan: Our fave hostel: great people, tatami mats, awesome, modern facilities, friendly.
5 Mac Bay, Ao Ban Tai, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand: No, Mac Bay's not in Scotland. Tidy hut actually on, not next to, lovely beach. Hammock, coconut trees, amazing sunsets and Christmas dinner.
TOP FIVE MEALS
1 Jimbaran beach restaurant, Bali, Indonesia: Almost a kilo of giant prawns between us, in garlic sauce. Oh my God.
2 Street restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand: Pot luck but 75p for staggering green chicken curry, soy veg and a big Chang beer. Amazing.
3 La Cabrera, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Juicy, two-and-a-half-inch-thick rump and 12 side dishes. Burp!
4 Chez Vilma, Lima, Peru: Nati's Masterchef Mum does it again: sopa de carne, lentejas con pollo a la brasa y torta de Alberto. I'm stuffed.
5 Lonely Planet tip restaurant, Cairo, Egypt: Dips and more gorgeous dips with unlimited, crisp bread, chicken and salad.
TOP FIVE TRAVELLING MOANS
1 Bev & Mick's Backpackers, Melbourne, Australia: Favela backpackers; dirtier than a rubbish truck, pounding music vibrating our floorboards until 4am. More suited to animals.
2 Royal Jordanian Airlines idiots: Cancelled not only our Cairo-Bangkok flight but, helpfully, every following flight. Have you tried explaining that in Arabic? A month later, they cancelled our Cathay Pacific flights.
3 Welcome to Thailand: Bangkok Airport; Screaming woman pulls our bags off bus after we object to paying for four seats when we take up two. Most Thais are great, some in tourism give the country a bad name.
4 Egyptian tourist rip-off: You know feluccas, the boats King Tut used to take down The Nile? No? Have a google. Well, we agreed a fee and hired one. We refused to pay double so our, ahem, captain, abandoned us on a building site on an island.
5 French Polynesia prices: £10 for burger & chips? £600-A-NIGHT in an over-water bungalow? Please! Staggering place...just take your credit card.
TOP FIVE COUNTRIES
1 French Polynesia: Motu sand-spits, transparent turquoise lagoons, mountains. Paradise does exist.
2 Egypt: The staggering Pyramids and Abu Simbel, Nile cruise, Dahab dive/snorkel heaven.
3 New Zealand: Lakes, giant valleys, glaciers, surf beaches, Monteith's lagers and the fabulous Felix.
4 Australia: It's amazing. Just go, there, ok.
5 Easter Island: Majestic moais, history mysteries and wild skies in the most remote place on earth. (Not actually a country of its own but amazing nonetheless).
TOP FIVE MOMENTS
1 The Pyramids at sunset, Egypt: (Just behind Bolivia's Uyini salt flats in my top sight ever) Ramadan meant the Pyramids closed early, meaning our camel strolled down the giant sand-dune with the famous six-pyramid view, past the Sphinx, all alone. Amazing.
2 Sharks, Bora Bora, French Polynesia: Freakish snorkel and dives down above 2.5m lemon sharks.
3 Ahu Akivi, Easter Island: After a day of rain, sunset rays burst through and a double rainbow suddenly, amazingly, broke out over seven moai statues. A truly incredible moment.
4 Boogie-boarding, Whangamata, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand: Nailing big surf waves on a stunning, breezy bay with islands offshore.
5 Rutherglen sunset cycle, Victoria, Australia: (This one's a moment for me, not Nati) Racing past olive green gums and sun-baked fields, with purple-edged clouds and sunset above.
I've blatantly stolen a 'bunch of fives' idea from another blog, so to run down a few highlights of nine months RTW, our top fives are below.
We're so fortunate to have had this trip and so many awesome things have happened that, looking back, they seem scarcely believable. If you're in the mood for a read, click on a previous blog link on the right.
If we met you while travelling, thanks for being part of our brilliant, enlightening trip. And if you're from England, let's hook up for a nice pint of Magners.
Now it's back to life in London, a fantastic, thrilling city, just one that's a bit more familiar than some of the places below.
Pics online at: http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/PublicFirstTravelling
http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/Alinatipics
You can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment. We hope you've enjoyed reading...now it's over the bunch of fives:
Ali & Nati
TOP FIVE NIGHTS OUT
1 Club Yellow & Club Air, Tokyo, Japan: Japan's two best clubs. One night. Unbelievable techno.
2 The Hitmen hard dance, Melbourne, Australia: Harder-than-hard-trance heaven. An endomorphin-producing conveyor belt of tunes.
3 Full Moon Party, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand: Xmas Eve, dancing on the beach, a rip-up.
4 Pacha, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Hands-in-the-air funky house upstairs. Like it was in 2003.
5 Dive club balcony, Gili Trawangan, Lombok, Indonesia: Great house music, Tuesday night on a first-floor terrace under a sky full of stars.
TOP FIVE BEACHES
1 Tereia Beach, Maupiti, French Polynesia: Whispy white sand with a shimmering turquoise lagoon, coconut tree shade and a motu (reef island) you swim to offshore. A breathtaking place.
2 Motu Tuanui, Maupiti, French Polynesia: An arcing low-tide white sand-spit, reaching out from the motu towards mountainous Maupiti and allowing a mesmerising mid-lagoon swim.
3 Gili Air, Lombok, Indonesia: Crunchy white sand shelving to the warm ocean, with the mainland in the distance and fluffy clouds above.
4 Koh Bitsi, Ko Tarutao, Thailand: Breezy white sand backed by forest, with two perfect driftwood swings and superb snorkelling offshore.
5 Whangamata, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand: A Kiwi classic; wide bay, crispy sand, rolling surf, islands offshore and grassy dunes.
TOP FIVE PLACES WE STAYED
1 5* boat, The Nile, Egypt: Wood panels, monument visits, belly-dancing classes.
2 1551 Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Mansion with 7-metre-high ceilings, exposed brick walls, amazing breakfasts.
3 Fat Yogi's, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia: After a hovel on Flores, this darkwood-cream hotel blend with pool and air-con was heaven.
4 K's House, Kawaguchiko, Mount Fuji, Japan: Our fave hostel: great people, tatami mats, awesome, modern facilities, friendly.
5 Mac Bay, Ao Ban Tai, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand: No, Mac Bay's not in Scotland. Tidy hut actually on, not next to, lovely beach. Hammock, coconut trees, amazing sunsets and Christmas dinner.
TOP FIVE MEALS
1 Jimbaran beach restaurant, Bali, Indonesia: Almost a kilo of giant prawns between us, in garlic sauce. Oh my God.
2 Street restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand: Pot luck but 75p for staggering green chicken curry, soy veg and a big Chang beer. Amazing.
3 La Cabrera, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Juicy, two-and-a-half-inch-thick rump and 12 side dishes. Burp!
4 Chez Vilma, Lima, Peru: Nati's Masterchef Mum does it again: sopa de carne, lentejas con pollo a la brasa y torta de Alberto. I'm stuffed.
5 Lonely Planet tip restaurant, Cairo, Egypt: Dips and more gorgeous dips with unlimited, crisp bread, chicken and salad.
TOP FIVE TRAVELLING MOANS
1 Bev & Mick's Backpackers, Melbourne, Australia: Favela backpackers; dirtier than a rubbish truck, pounding music vibrating our floorboards until 4am. More suited to animals.
2 Royal Jordanian Airlines idiots: Cancelled not only our Cairo-Bangkok flight but, helpfully, every following flight. Have you tried explaining that in Arabic? A month later, they cancelled our Cathay Pacific flights.
3 Welcome to Thailand: Bangkok Airport; Screaming woman pulls our bags off bus after we object to paying for four seats when we take up two. Most Thais are great, some in tourism give the country a bad name.
4 Egyptian tourist rip-off: You know feluccas, the boats King Tut used to take down The Nile? No? Have a google. Well, we agreed a fee and hired one. We refused to pay double so our, ahem, captain, abandoned us on a building site on an island.
5 French Polynesia prices: £10 for burger & chips? £600-A-NIGHT in an over-water bungalow? Please! Staggering place...just take your credit card.
TOP FIVE COUNTRIES
1 French Polynesia: Motu sand-spits, transparent turquoise lagoons, mountains. Paradise does exist.
2 Egypt: The staggering Pyramids and Abu Simbel, Nile cruise, Dahab dive/snorkel heaven.
3 New Zealand: Lakes, giant valleys, glaciers, surf beaches, Monteith's lagers and the fabulous Felix.
4 Australia: It's amazing. Just go, there, ok.
5 Easter Island: Majestic moais, history mysteries and wild skies in the most remote place on earth. (Not actually a country of its own but amazing nonetheless).
TOP FIVE MOMENTS
1 The Pyramids at sunset, Egypt: (Just behind Bolivia's Uyini salt flats in my top sight ever) Ramadan meant the Pyramids closed early, meaning our camel strolled down the giant sand-dune with the famous six-pyramid view, past the Sphinx, all alone. Amazing.
2 Sharks, Bora Bora, French Polynesia: Freakish snorkel and dives down above 2.5m lemon sharks.
3 Ahu Akivi, Easter Island: After a day of rain, sunset rays burst through and a double rainbow suddenly, amazingly, broke out over seven moai statues. A truly incredible moment.
4 Boogie-boarding, Whangamata, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand: Nailing big surf waves on a stunning, breezy bay with islands offshore.
5 Rutherglen sunset cycle, Victoria, Australia: (This one's a moment for me, not Nati) Racing past olive green gums and sun-baked fields, with purple-edged clouds and sunset above.
The end of our world: Sirloin, rump, platters, ice cream, a clubbing odyssey, another crazy gym and subliminal shopping
8pm Thu 26 June: Buenos Aires, great as this city is, has one huge problem: just how, I mean how, how on earth, do you choose between the sirloin (lomo) and rump (chorizo)? The tenderest steak cut...or the tastiest?
Nati and I bravely faced this daunting dilemma, and, after munching inch-thick slabs for the last nine days of our nine-month trip, we can confidently announce the winner is...the...wait for it...rump! That's because, in BA, the tastiest is also the tenderest.
Our favourite was at La Cabrera (also visited by our pals Marcus and Colette on their honeymoon a month ago (congrats!)); a two-and-a-half-inch-thick chunk of beef with TWELVE side orders.
Marcus: if, as you claim, you really finished the whole thing plus sides, you're more of a man than me.
Tearing ourselves away from the steaks, we demolished a couple of ham, salami, pate, cheese and olive platters
As if that wasn't enough, the ice cream (fruitilla and dulce de leche for Nati; chocolate & almonds...oh my God...for me) makes Mr Whippy taste like Aldi Value.
And the wine, oh the wine, the red, red, beautiful wine...sorry, lost focus there...is soooo drinkable. Tough to squeeze in a Quilmes 1-litre beer or two.
With all this amazing food and drink, it's not that surprising BA, South America's most European city, has restaurants on EVERY corner. The rest of town is an addictive mix of giant Palermo and Recoleta mansions, towering apartment blocks, porteno locals, their egos, and gritty streets like those in Boca.
Nati and I actually met in hostel in BA's San Telmo district three years ago.
We called in for a drink this time but upgraded our accommodation to the gorgeous 1551 Palermo (http://www.1551palermo.com/), a snip at £20-a-night for a double in a gorgeous mansion, with 7-metre high ceilings and a resident sculptor, Reynaldo, on reception.
BA time runs three hours behind England, so we got up at 11, had lunch at 3, dinner at 11 and at 2.30am, went clubbing. Yes, as in ARRIVED at the club at 2.30am.
Our BA clubbing odyssey actually started badly.
Opera Bay, modelled on Sydney Opera House and undoubtedly one of the world's coolest clubs when I last visited, has been criminally demolished to make way for a hotel.
Bad went to worse when our cab pulled up at Mint, the best Friday option, to find it closed for four months.
Our luck improved at Crobar, an unheated (it's winter in BA) modern version of London's Cross (also criminally demolished last year) with some smashing electro house.
The next night, we hit BA's branch of Pacha, a white, Ibiza-esque superclub with an overcrowded, smokey main floor and cooler, pumping funky house room upstairs.
Toca's Miracle by Fragma might not be the coolest tune in a DJ's box but, boy, it still rocks 10 years on.
BA is great but not without it's problems. Graffiti defaces most buildings and piles of dog dirt make an unpleasant pavement obstacle course.
But the good outweighs the bad.
We hit the gym, a small room jammed with so many machines and equipment that people were lifting weights over each other; saw Evita's grave; watched Boca Juniors thump Tigre 6-2 in a meaningless but fun end-of-season game - and went shopping.
Now shopping is usually Nati's artform and, in fact, her raison d'etre...but, either she drugged me or the Sex and The City movie had a subliminal message targeting men - as I got addicted too. I even dreamt about shopping last night. What a loser!
So BA was an awesome way to end our round-the-world trip. If you get chance to go to BA, do it. Hi to everyone and thanks for the blog comments. You can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment.
Ali & Nati
Nati and I bravely faced this daunting dilemma, and, after munching inch-thick slabs for the last nine days of our nine-month trip, we can confidently announce the winner is...the...wait for it...rump! That's because, in BA, the tastiest is also the tenderest.
Our favourite was at La Cabrera (also visited by our pals Marcus and Colette on their honeymoon a month ago (congrats!)); a two-and-a-half-inch-thick chunk of beef with TWELVE side orders.
Marcus: if, as you claim, you really finished the whole thing plus sides, you're more of a man than me.
Tearing ourselves away from the steaks, we demolished a couple of ham, salami, pate, cheese and olive platters
As if that wasn't enough, the ice cream (fruitilla and dulce de leche for Nati; chocolate & almonds...oh my God...for me) makes Mr Whippy taste like Aldi Value.
And the wine, oh the wine, the red, red, beautiful wine...sorry, lost focus there...is soooo drinkable. Tough to squeeze in a Quilmes 1-litre beer or two.
With all this amazing food and drink, it's not that surprising BA, South America's most European city, has restaurants on EVERY corner. The rest of town is an addictive mix of giant Palermo and Recoleta mansions, towering apartment blocks, porteno locals, their egos, and gritty streets like those in Boca.
Nati and I actually met in hostel in BA's San Telmo district three years ago.
We called in for a drink this time but upgraded our accommodation to the gorgeous 1551 Palermo (http://www.1551palermo.com/), a snip at £20-a-night for a double in a gorgeous mansion, with 7-metre high ceilings and a resident sculptor, Reynaldo, on reception.
BA time runs three hours behind England, so we got up at 11, had lunch at 3, dinner at 11 and at 2.30am, went clubbing. Yes, as in ARRIVED at the club at 2.30am.
Our BA clubbing odyssey actually started badly.
Opera Bay, modelled on Sydney Opera House and undoubtedly one of the world's coolest clubs when I last visited, has been criminally demolished to make way for a hotel.
Bad went to worse when our cab pulled up at Mint, the best Friday option, to find it closed for four months.
Our luck improved at Crobar, an unheated (it's winter in BA) modern version of London's Cross (also criminally demolished last year) with some smashing electro house.
The next night, we hit BA's branch of Pacha, a white, Ibiza-esque superclub with an overcrowded, smokey main floor and cooler, pumping funky house room upstairs.
Toca's Miracle by Fragma might not be the coolest tune in a DJ's box but, boy, it still rocks 10 years on.
BA is great but not without it's problems. Graffiti defaces most buildings and piles of dog dirt make an unpleasant pavement obstacle course.
But the good outweighs the bad.
We hit the gym, a small room jammed with so many machines and equipment that people were lifting weights over each other; saw Evita's grave; watched Boca Juniors thump Tigre 6-2 in a meaningless but fun end-of-season game - and went shopping.
Now shopping is usually Nati's artform and, in fact, her raison d'etre...but, either she drugged me or the Sex and The City movie had a subliminal message targeting men - as I got addicted too. I even dreamt about shopping last night. What a loser!
So BA was an awesome way to end our round-the-world trip. If you get chance to go to BA, do it. Hi to everyone and thanks for the blog comments. You can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment.
Ali & Nati
Monday, June 16, 2008
Hairdressers, cuy, toe-pokes, gym posers, the Peruvian 'winter'...and now Buenos Aires
3pm Thu 14 June: I'm in Nati's hairdressers with bleach on my head, so have an hour to write a blog in my notebook.
Our eight weeks in Lima are up as, on Tuesday, we head to Buenos Aires (in my top three world cities with Melbourne and Sydney) before London on June 27, nine months and nine days after we left on Sep 18 last year.
We've enjoyed our time in Peru. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing, so, now, I can understand just about any conversation in Spanish; my irritating shoulder problems are improving after gym sessions which also gave me (more!) muscle, and; thanks to the internet, I've polished off nine months of business and personal tasks which awaited me in England.
The world makes a lot more sense now, too, thanks to the great history book mentioned in previous blog (below).
Did you know the reason Britain became a world power was because the 1381 Peasants' Revolt ended the feudal system 400 years before countries like France? No? Well, now you do.
The weather here's got an England-in-September feel to it now, but this is 'winter.' Peruvians love complaining about how 'cold' it is...even running for shelter when a ferocious storm of light drizzle broke out the other day.
The food in Nati's family's house is as sensational as ever (oh, those beans...bring it on!).
There's some cuy (guinea pig, Peru's second-most famous dish after ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon)) in the house at the mo...but unfortunately won't be eating it as it's running round the garden as the new family pet.
Still playing football with my Limenos pals, although some aspects of the sport here may explain why Peru were 4-0 down to Mexico in 28mins the other day.
Apart from not passing and shooting from impossible distance or angles (often both), deliberate handball is perfectly acceptable, as is standing 20cm from the subsequent free-kick.
It doesn't stop there.
The toe-poke, derided as a skilless punt by anyone over the age of eight in England, is the preferred style of pass and...you've guessed it...shot.
An hour in a Peruvian gym is equally amusing, but with a colossal dollop of vanity thrown in. Duncan, even you would wince!
The most popular technique is this:
1 Noisily drag bench to most prominent space available (blocking walkway if possible).
2 Take ridiculous position, preferably lie-on-back-at-45-degrees-angle-with-legs-in-air, grunt louder than Maria Sharapova hitting a booming forehand and lift weights too heavy for you, so pals have help you complete lift.
3 Dramatically toss dumb-bells on floor; flex muscles in mirror for minimum 10secs.
Note: Never put weights back on rack, leave on floor for someone to trip on.
Other techniques: One short, actually-quite-fat guy squat-jumps across the gym with weights, attempting to get as much attention as possible afterwards by appearing exhausted as if on the verge of death. Then, he does sprints across gym, dodging people lifting 50kg, followed by the point-of-death routine again.
Two other guys whipped their shirts off for a photoshoot on their friend´s mobile phone camera. Then, the other day, one of them took his top off in a packed gym, to parade in the mirror front of everyone. Oh my God...loser!
Ok, my blog's finished and so is my hair-dying. It's not all blonde...I´m too mature for that...just highlights.
Thanks from both of us for the emails and remember you can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment.
Saludos to all. If you're in Peru, hasta luego and, if you're in England, hasta pronto.
Ali y Nati
Our eight weeks in Lima are up as, on Tuesday, we head to Buenos Aires (in my top three world cities with Melbourne and Sydney) before London on June 27, nine months and nine days after we left on Sep 18 last year.
We've enjoyed our time in Peru. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing, so, now, I can understand just about any conversation in Spanish; my irritating shoulder problems are improving after gym sessions which also gave me (more!) muscle, and; thanks to the internet, I've polished off nine months of business and personal tasks which awaited me in England.
The world makes a lot more sense now, too, thanks to the great history book mentioned in previous blog (below).
Did you know the reason Britain became a world power was because the 1381 Peasants' Revolt ended the feudal system 400 years before countries like France? No? Well, now you do.
The weather here's got an England-in-September feel to it now, but this is 'winter.' Peruvians love complaining about how 'cold' it is...even running for shelter when a ferocious storm of light drizzle broke out the other day.
The food in Nati's family's house is as sensational as ever (oh, those beans...bring it on!).
There's some cuy (guinea pig, Peru's second-most famous dish after ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon)) in the house at the mo...but unfortunately won't be eating it as it's running round the garden as the new family pet.
Still playing football with my Limenos pals, although some aspects of the sport here may explain why Peru were 4-0 down to Mexico in 28mins the other day.
Apart from not passing and shooting from impossible distance or angles (often both), deliberate handball is perfectly acceptable, as is standing 20cm from the subsequent free-kick.
It doesn't stop there.
The toe-poke, derided as a skilless punt by anyone over the age of eight in England, is the preferred style of pass and...you've guessed it...shot.
An hour in a Peruvian gym is equally amusing, but with a colossal dollop of vanity thrown in. Duncan, even you would wince!
The most popular technique is this:
1 Noisily drag bench to most prominent space available (blocking walkway if possible).
2 Take ridiculous position, preferably lie-on-back-at-45-degrees-angle-with-legs-in-air, grunt louder than Maria Sharapova hitting a booming forehand and lift weights too heavy for you, so pals have help you complete lift.
3 Dramatically toss dumb-bells on floor; flex muscles in mirror for minimum 10secs.
Note: Never put weights back on rack, leave on floor for someone to trip on.
Other techniques: One short, actually-quite-fat guy squat-jumps across the gym with weights, attempting to get as much attention as possible afterwards by appearing exhausted as if on the verge of death. Then, he does sprints across gym, dodging people lifting 50kg, followed by the point-of-death routine again.
Two other guys whipped their shirts off for a photoshoot on their friend´s mobile phone camera. Then, the other day, one of them took his top off in a packed gym, to parade in the mirror front of everyone. Oh my God...loser!
Ok, my blog's finished and so is my hair-dying. It's not all blonde...I´m too mature for that...just highlights.
Thanks from both of us for the emails and remember you can comment by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. Click on 'Anonymous' to publish comment.
Saludos to all. If you're in Peru, hasta luego and, if you're in England, hasta pronto.
Ali y Nati
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Spanglish humour, fruit madness, footballers who don´t pass and Thundercats
7pm Wed 28 May: There have been some unfortunate moments during my DIY Spanish lessons in Lima.
Like the time I used the handy tip that many Spanish words are the old-fashioned English ones with an 'o' or 'a' on the end.
Errr...apart from embarazo and yo caliente.
They don't mean embarrassed and I´m hot...but pregnant and I´m horny. Oh, that's why Nati's family were laughing.
Dropped an even bigger clanger yesterday.
Announcing to Nati that my pal Cago had emailed me, muffled guffaws broke out, as Nati explained cago actually means I´m sh*tting!
Moving on...we´ve had five fun weeks in Peru. It's very different to England and attracts 60,000 British tourists every year.
If you want to find out more about the Land of the Incas, do one of the following: ask Nati and I; ask Neil and Jules (they visited a couple of years ago); watch the new Indiana Jones movie (see those Nazca Lines? Bounced over them in a shaky four-seater Cessna a few years ago), or; click on http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/peru/
My favourite trip wasn't to an Inca ruin or old church, but to Lima's colossal fruit markets. Think entire indoor calles de platanos (streets of bananas)...went a bit crazy and we've just finished (thank God) a crate of 100 tunas (delicious cactus fruit, watch the spikes) and another of 100 oranges. Please never show me an orange again, I will have to punch you.
Playing footy every Saturday with friends of Nati's cousin, Martin. It's enjoyable but the word 'pass' has obviously never been translated into Spanish.
And educating myself (don't say it...) with this excellent world history book:
http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Plantagenet-Somerset-Fry/dp/0756612446
Lima has just ground to a halt (literally - they closed all the main roads) for a big conference in which Venezuela president Hugo Chavez accused Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel of sharing Hitler's ideas.
When the roads are open, you have to remember a golden rule when crossing: always look the wrong way, even if it seems inconceivable that a tiny moto (tuk-tuk) would shoot the wrong way down a dual carriageway. Believe me, they do.
I still love my favourite internet cafe - I've now got my own chair and they even watch Thundercats, my favourite cartoon as a child and funnier when Lion-O speaks dubbed Spanish.
Going to Buenos Aires for a week at the end of June, then heading back to London at the start of July.
Hope you are well, thanks for the emails and look forward to seeing you soon.
Ali y Nati
Like the time I used the handy tip that many Spanish words are the old-fashioned English ones with an 'o' or 'a' on the end.
Errr...apart from embarazo and yo caliente.
They don't mean embarrassed and I´m hot...but pregnant and I´m horny. Oh, that's why Nati's family were laughing.
Dropped an even bigger clanger yesterday.
Announcing to Nati that my pal Cago had emailed me, muffled guffaws broke out, as Nati explained cago actually means I´m sh*tting!
Moving on...we´ve had five fun weeks in Peru. It's very different to England and attracts 60,000 British tourists every year.
If you want to find out more about the Land of the Incas, do one of the following: ask Nati and I; ask Neil and Jules (they visited a couple of years ago); watch the new Indiana Jones movie (see those Nazca Lines? Bounced over them in a shaky four-seater Cessna a few years ago), or; click on http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/peru/
My favourite trip wasn't to an Inca ruin or old church, but to Lima's colossal fruit markets. Think entire indoor calles de platanos (streets of bananas)...went a bit crazy and we've just finished (thank God) a crate of 100 tunas (delicious cactus fruit, watch the spikes) and another of 100 oranges. Please never show me an orange again, I will have to punch you.
Playing footy every Saturday with friends of Nati's cousin, Martin. It's enjoyable but the word 'pass' has obviously never been translated into Spanish.
And educating myself (don't say it...) with this excellent world history book:
http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Plantagenet-Somerset-Fry/dp/0756612446
Lima has just ground to a halt (literally - they closed all the main roads) for a big conference in which Venezuela president Hugo Chavez accused Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel of sharing Hitler's ideas.
When the roads are open, you have to remember a golden rule when crossing: always look the wrong way, even if it seems inconceivable that a tiny moto (tuk-tuk) would shoot the wrong way down a dual carriageway. Believe me, they do.
I still love my favourite internet cafe - I've now got my own chair and they even watch Thundercats, my favourite cartoon as a child and funnier when Lion-O speaks dubbed Spanish.
Going to Buenos Aires for a week at the end of June, then heading back to London at the start of July.
Hope you are well, thanks for the emails and look forward to seeing you soon.
Ali y Nati
Friday, April 25, 2008
I've finally given this blog a big update...so grab a coffee, put your feet up, have a read below and I might even entertain you.
Let us know what you think by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. It takes two seconds - click on 'Anonymous' to publish your comment.
You can now check out some cool pics from our last five months on the road here: http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/Alinatipics
Let us know what you think by clicking the ‘COMMENTS’ tab below. It takes two seconds - click on 'Anonymous' to publish your comment.
You can now check out some cool pics from our last five months on the road here: http://picasaweb.google.com/agrantabroad/Alinatipics
Lima, www.di.fm, the best food, aerobics, habla espanol & ceviche,
3pm Apr 25: I'm in my favourite Peruvian cybercafe (quick broadband; 1 sol or 17p an hour; 1min to Nati's house), listening to undoubtedly the internet's best invention, the marvellous, thumping home of house and trance music which is http://www.di.fm/.
You may have heard me rave about di before - but click on the 'Listen Now' tab and your net time will never be the same, I promise.
Nati's very happy to be with her family again and I'm really enjoying being in Lima as well. As usual here, I'm loving genuinely the best food I've ever tasted from Nati's amazing mum. Sorry, mum, she's better - it's true!
Joined a gym for hardcore aerobic dance classes (!!) and to sort out my dodgy shoulders once and for all, and studying Spanish every day.
Also signing up for a footy team, brushing up on my world history with the great book my Lincoln pal Phil's lent me, and celebrating my 31st birthday tomorrow with Peru's best food, ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche) and a particularly massive night out.
Lima can get a bad rep from backpackers. It's true parts aren't that nice...but, hey, this is South America, man, and anyone been to Brixton lately?
We're having fun with Nati's family and friends, hitting the mall and spending time with Nati's abu (granny) in Chosica, a nice town with a beautiful Plaza de Armas (main square) full of old men playing chess.
It's autumn here now, and that doesn't mean cold, dark, rainy days but mid-20s sunshine all day every day, perfect shorts & T-shirt weather.
Now I have time to catch up on the net, I'll blog again soon.
Saludos a todo
Ali y Nati
You may have heard me rave about di before - but click on the 'Listen Now' tab and your net time will never be the same, I promise.
Nati's very happy to be with her family again and I'm really enjoying being in Lima as well. As usual here, I'm loving genuinely the best food I've ever tasted from Nati's amazing mum. Sorry, mum, she's better - it's true!
Joined a gym for hardcore aerobic dance classes (!!) and to sort out my dodgy shoulders once and for all, and studying Spanish every day.
Also signing up for a footy team, brushing up on my world history with the great book my Lincoln pal Phil's lent me, and celebrating my 31st birthday tomorrow with Peru's best food, ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche) and a particularly massive night out.
Lima can get a bad rep from backpackers. It's true parts aren't that nice...but, hey, this is South America, man, and anyone been to Brixton lately?
We're having fun with Nati's family and friends, hitting the mall and spending time with Nati's abu (granny) in Chosica, a nice town with a beautiful Plaza de Armas (main square) full of old men playing chess.
It's autumn here now, and that doesn't mean cold, dark, rainy days but mid-20s sunshine all day every day, perfect shorts & T-shirt weather.
Now I have time to catch up on the net, I'll blog again soon.
Saludos a todo
Ali y Nati
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