Mi Buenos Aires Querido...Uruguay's Colonia, Montevideo and Punta del Este

Its my second time in Buenos Aires. I had the same feeling in my first visit, but my second visit verified this feeling. I love this city, the vibrant,young and energetic look...This time, we really enjoyed the city very much.

We had arrived on a Saturday night, so the handicraft markets all around the city were waiting for us! We first headed to San Telmo after we took a walk from our hotel at Congreso on Avenida Mayo, saw the famous Cafe Tortoni, where Jorge Luis Borges and Carlos Gardel sipped their coffee and wrote their poems and songs, we came to Plaza de Mayo, where Mothers of Argentina gathered every Saturday to protest the suspicious disappearance of their sons, and down about 6 blocks, we reached San Telmo and La Boca District, where the sensual and rebellious tango was born...The weather was great, everywhere was so lively, the handicraft and antiques market was gorgeous...I was there for the second time, but I can come to Buenos Aires many more times!!! We had our lunch at San Telmo, then took the bus and headed to Recoleta, but we went to Palermo by bus, without knowing where we were! Then a walk took us to Recoleta Area, where I reached my final target destination of Freddo!!! Freddo is a icecream chain in Argentina, where you can have great Italian creamy gelato in different flavors, including famous 'dulce de leche". I had a huge portion of dulce de leche and chocolate and Piril also had some strawberry one. After that we walked around the great handicraft and flea market set on sundays at Recoleta. Later we decided to walk back to our hotel which was in Congreso area, it took us about an hour, we walked around the wealthiest areas of Buenos Aires and came back to the hotel to crash...

The following two days were like flashbacks for me, we went to Florida and Lavalle Pedestrian Streets, Puerto Madero to walk around and have icecream, we went to Cafe Tortoni to watch tango but we could not, because we did not have a reservation. However, the funny and annoying thing was when we arrived there, we saw a line in front of Tortoni, which made us think that would be the line for watching the show. They took us in, we chose something to drink and until we asked them about the show, we had no idea about the unavailability of the show!!! Well, we were a little pissed but I liked the icecream:)))

One evening, we checked our Lonely Planet book for a splurge and there was a restaurant recommendation in the book. We decided to eat there, a place called "La Cabrera". We waited a little by the time a table was available and decided to order the food. We just ordered one meat dish and one salad but all of a sudden, the table was surrounded by lots of appetizers and sauces for the meat. Piril claims that it was the most delicious meat she had ever had. In my opinion, it could have been better cooked, as inside the meat was almost pink! However, I swept everything on the table but still there was some mozzarella salad, some olive paste some some other stuff left. We asked our polite and handsome waiter to pack them up for breakfast! (actually I started like "do you know, we have olives and cheese for breakfast and...). We took a taxi cab on the way back to our hotel. The cab driver was a little drunk, he was in his 50s, had a bold head but a pony tail still, little belly and a spitting way of talking. He started his talk by explaining how many men in Argentina cheat on their wives, we should all enjoy life, should go dancing and drinking etc...We were listening to him, but from time to time, we found ourselves laughing, as at the end, he came to the conclusion of "tomar algo", which means to have a drink in Spanish. We thought the man was real brave, but not much aware of his age and appearance, though he really made us laugh. When we came home, he was still yelling behind us as "una vez solooooo", meaning "only once"...We renamed him as "tomar algo abi", which means "brother tomar algo"...He is still a source of laughter in our talks with Piril!

The next day, we went to Puerto Madero to take the Buquebus for Colonia, Uruguay. This was going to be my second time there, after a comfy journey we got to lovely town of Colonia. After a nice lunch, Piril explored the city , I took a walk and chatted my friends on the internet... and we took the bus for Montevideo. The bus was very comfy, we came to Montevideo, took the city bus to the busiest street, 18 de Julio and randomly found a nice hotel with cable TV and private bathroom. We had a little walk around, took some photos, bought some stuff from the grocery shop and crashed! The next morning, after the breakfast, we took a bus for the resort town of Punta del Este. The city is pretty luxury with expensive yachts, nice restaurants and lots of homes to rent. However, I would prefer Bodrum or Antalya to anywhere in the world!!! We came back to the hotel in the same very evening, took some rest in the evening and became ready to see the city of Montevideo! After we had some breakfast, we explored the city, went to the main plaza of Constitucion, Mercado Central, saw the nice looking but closed (!) museums and in the afternoon, took the bus back to Colonia to catch our fast ferry back to Buenos Aires (BsAs).

The next morning for me was another adventure because I was going to San Carlos de Bariloche, one of the little Swiss cities of Argentina, famous for its deserts and chocolates!!By the way, I was feeling such a lot of pain right below my left chin and thought it would be a tooth problem..Well...I had to live with it...

Bariloche...Next chapter!

I pass these sections faster, as it is second time for me and yet I am not as thrilled as I felt in Uyuni or Peru...Though I like every moment of our trip as long as I feel good, no headaches and no tired feet!!!

Pucón, Puerto Montt,Navimag and Puerto Natales...

It´s been almost 10 days that I could not refresh the blog. I guess I should be back with my adventures...

We came to Pucon early in the morning...The place looked very much like Switzerland, all green, country houses, everything in wood, happy people...We found a cozy nice hostel and even tour which was going to Huerqueue National Park...We paid and signed up for the tour. Our guide was called Christian, he was talking way too much and way too fast! The other people in the 4WD were from the northern part of Chile, a couple...The National Park was quite an experience for me, the hike was quite strenuous for my capacity, I had some trouble climbing but the views were breathtaking...We walked about 10 kms in total, with some crazy inclination, had a picnic by the lake and came back home at about 6 pm...I was dead tired and feeling pretty worn out, so I passed out at about 9 pm, after having some little food for dinner...I said to myself if I don´t get sick today, I won´t during the rest of my trip...

The next day, we did not go anywhere, just had a nice leisurely day, went to the Lake Cabourgua, I did some canoeing for 1/2 hour, had a nice lovely dinner and again...I bought a lovely wine and had it in the room...We bought our tickets for Puerto Montt from JAC and was ready to hit the road...

It was a comfy journey to Puerto Montt. Puerto Montt is a small town,at a small bay from the Pacific and a center for the cruise ships and our ship Navimag. We reached there, found a hotel for about 50 USD, went to the shopping mall for stocking some food and having a dinner. I took a walk around the city by nite, it was raining, but clean and refreshing...The next day, we were not sure about the boarding time of Navimag, therefore we went there at the port at about 10:30. We got our boarding passes, left the backpacks and headed back to the mall to kill some time. Finally we were taken to the ship...The ship is like a cargo vessel, cars and TIRs are carried as well as passengers, they give all the meals and the journey takes 3 nites/4days...The ship left Puerto Montt 2 hours after the scheduled departure time. We had bought the cheapest option, we were given a bed and a locker, and it was good. We hared the toilets and baths which were pretty clean...We had all the meals at a dining hall(comedor) with our own trays (self service), they showed some movies and did some talks...However, other than that, the views we passed through the fjords and channels of Chilean Patagonia were not that breathtaking. I got sick on the 2nd day, had tonsilitis, got a shot of penicilin, could not drink wine, had to stay in bed most of the time...but the coffee was just 500 chilean pesos, there was sun, the meals were ok and ....it was good to be there...We did not meet many people, except for our American lady neighbor, the nurse who did the injection to me, the Brazilian family with the beautiful baby, Cayana...

We arrived in Puerto Natales at about 5 pm, were trying to get to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno Glaciar but there was no bus for El Calafate, so we had to spend the night in Puerto Natales. It is a very tiny town, just for the Torres del Paine Park People and the cruise ships. We found a hotel for 50 USD, with great heating, warm shower and cable TV and just jumped on it. My throat was bad but I did some laundry, showered up and went to bed. The sun was setting very late there!

The next morning, we passed from Puerto Natales to El Calafate (Argentina) when we arrived, it was about 2:30 pm. It was too late for Piril to go to Perito Moreno Glacier, as we had a flight for Ushuaia at 6 pm. I had already been there but she was going to see it for the first time, so we lamented it a little bit...Well, we had a nice lunch, looked around and got to the airport for Ushuaia. When we arrived in Ushuaia, it was about 7 pm. We found a lovely hotel for 60 USD (the prices kept on increasing!), the owner lady was Croatian, we chatted a little and walked out to have dinner. The sun set at 12:00 midnight exactly! I had my latest dinner of the trip in Ushuaia, at 11:30 pm! When I came back to the hotel, I saw Piril having a backpain! Well, she went to bed, I went to bed at about 2 am! There was a good movie, the Devil´s Advocate, but I was fainted at the end...It is hard to sleep before the sun sets in the night time!!! Ushuaia was a place where I had been before too, so there was no plan from my side about Ushuaia. Piril went to the National Park of Tierra del Fuego, I just did some shopping and we went to the airport to pass to Buenos Aires. The flight made a stop at Trelew and we arrived in Buenos Aires at about 12:00 midnite. Our hotel was called Metro II, it was at a nice district, near Congreso...We liked the room, and just crashed!!! I had missed this glamourous city already!!! We were ready to explore it!

Buenos Aires, mi querido...

Santiago, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso and away...Relaxed days...

We met Gustavo at about 9 am...He looked different than before, he was shaved and in work clothes. After we met, we had some breakfast, with fresh cottage cheese, which was something we were longing for...Then we went to the garage and took his car to drive his home. He lives outside Santiago, about half an hour away, at a very nice house...He showed us our room, gave us some time to shower and come round...We were ready soon, so we left with Gustavo, as it was not easy to get to the city without his help!!!

He left us near Iglesia de Santo Domingo, which was pretty close to Plaza de Armas. For me, Santiago is 2nd time, I had been here two years ago, so I was quite confident about where to go...We walked on Merced Street, saw Plaza de Armas, Paseo Ahumada, Paseo Estado etc...The streets were full of people, lively, lively...We walked around and decided to separate with Piril some time, as she wanted to wander around herself. I found some menu del dia for 1000 pesos, 2 USD, wandered around, had great coffee...Then in the afternoon, when I was sitting at a cafe, I met Piril just for coincidence...I had gone to a Turkish Restaurant when I was here before, so we decided to take Gustavo to dinner out there. I showed the place to Piril, she liked it and we contacted Gustavo for meeting at 7:30 pm. We checked our mails, took some pictures, relaxed and went to the restaurant 'El Meson del Sultan, Istanbul'...Gustavo showed up at 20:00, we ordered Raki and different mezes, with some kebabs. The raki was premium, the mezes were fresh and the shish kebab was tasty. Gustavo really liked the food, it was good for his taste. We talked, ate and really spent good time together. As he liked the food that much, Piril decided to cook for him, I joined her, and Gustavo flew us to the supermarket 'Jumbo' before it got closed. We got the ingredients and decided to cook a nice meal for Gustavo (and of course for ourselves!)... Came back home tired, chatted a little more and crashed!

The next day, we left home a little late, as we slept over a little! When we came to the city, went to Mercado Central, saw the city, I tried to go to see Ataturk's Memorial near Military School but it was far, so I could not...I had a great calamar grill at Mercado Central, hmmm....We separated again with Piril that day, Gustavo had told us how to get home by a colectivo, so we came back home this time, constantly making him call the taxi guys!!! It was fun! Then we came back home, Sra. Ester, who is the caretaker of Gustavo's home greeted us...We started cooking at about 19h00, I cooked kofte (meat balls), Piril made Borani (a mix of eggplant,potatoes, red pepper etc fried), cooked Turkish Sehriyeli Pilav (rice with noodles) made a Turkish Salad and we prepared our lovely meal. However Gustavo could not catch us, as he was busy that night...In the morning, we found out that he came late, ate everything at the fridge and loved them!!! It was nice to hear...

The next day, he left us at the TurBus Alameda Station, we got the bus for Viña del Mar, a resort town towards the northwest of Santiago. It took 2 hours to get there, we got there, wandered a little and then took the Metro Valparaiso for Valparaiso. Viña del Mar is a resort city for Santiago people, small but cozy, modern and quite rich looking...The streets were clean, everything looked nice. Valparaiso is older, but much bigger, when you are approaching the town from outside, it feels like coming to Kusadasi in Turkey...Well, we made a quick walk around, see the Armada (Navy building), Mercado Central and the port. It was the resort of the bourgeoisie in the 19th and early 20th C, it is the main port of Central Chile, a tourism resort for the cruise ships...It is an important center for the Chileans...We separated with Piril there, she went to see Pablo Neruda's House in Isla Negra, I stayed in Valparaiso to see the other house of Neruda, La Sebastiana. I took a taxi upwards, found the house, visited it...La Sebastiana is the last house of Neruda, unlike his other houses, he had bought this one and lived here with his 3rd wife, Matilde Urrutia. The house had beautiful views and it carried the usual Neruda feeling there, usual life gusto and typical elegant furniture... We were going to meet Gustavo at 20h30, so I took the bus back to Santiago. After we met with Piril, we went to the office of Jac and got our tickets for Pucon. Then Gustavo came, picked us up and we made a stop at Jumbo Supermarket for my desert. We came back home, warmed up the leftover from our feast, I made my mosaic desert, we chatted over 3 bottles of great Chilean wine and crashed!!!

The next day, which was our last day, we decided to finish Santiago. Piril went to La Chascona, I posted some stuff to Turkey and we met over lunch to go to San Cristobal Hill and the teleferico. We came back in the afternoon, showered, made our packs etc...The sweet I made was yummy, we left for Gustavo too. He picked us up at about 22:30, we took the bus and made it to Pucon...

Gracias por la gran hospitalidad Gustavo! The wonderful host!

Salar de Uyuni 3D/2N 4WD Jeep Safari in Bolivia and San Pedro de Atacama, Chile...

We knew that there was a bus leaving for Uyuni at 7 am. We could not buy tickets for this bus, as the girl at the office had not informed us well. We thought it would be a good idea to try our chance to find a ticket. We paid the pension and left the hotel at 6:20 in the morning. We took a taxi and came to the terminal. The terminal was quite busy but chaotic. We found out soon that only one ticket was left for Uyuni! We had to buy a ticket for Potosi to make a connection from there to Uyuni. The bus was stinking, it was soo loud and we were sitting at the very back of the bus. It was absolutely full!! Well, finally we came to Potosi with a couple more Brits, came to another bus terminal, got our ticket for 11:00 (which turned to be 11:45 at the end!)...Everyone around us was eating something, ice cream, melting down from the mouths of the kids, as they were cleaning their hands with their clothes and hair(!), fruit gels, pop corn, chewing gum...I had some apple with me, so we had something before we boarded the bus again. We knew that we were not going in a nice road but we had no idea about the bus. The bus came, they loaded the bags onto the top of the bus and the bus seemed horrible horrible! It was a short one, quite dirty, people had squeezed the chicken bones onto the edges of the windows on the bus, there was a woman´s half naked picture under a lubricant advertisement!!!It was pretty interesting. Plus the music they turned on was soooo loud!!! I love my IPOD so much, especially for such bus rides. And the road...it was not paved at all, it was horribly narrow and curvy...It took about 8 hours for us to reach Uyuni. When we were there, we were cold, hungry and desperately looking for a place to sleep and a tour to join! When we were desperately looking for a taxi (good that we could not find one), an African-Guanaian guy approached us, asking if we wanted to have a Uyuni Tour. We were so tired that just jumped to his offer, he took us to the travel agency, Sandra Tours and told us that we could stay at nearby El Salvador Hostel. We sat down, made the deal for 72 USD, including the hostel stay at Uyuni, the whole safari with meals, accomodation and the transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile...The hostel was just next door, we went there. It was a dirty and stinking room, did not have hot shower etc...They gave us another room to shower, Thank God!! Piril was able to have them done a nice cheese toast with tomatoes and I had some pop corn as dinner! We crashed that night...

We woke up in the morning, met a French gentleman who has been to Turkey many times and ended the conversation slowly when he started talking about "Kurdistan" and "Turkey is not Europe"...Then we packed, went with our Guanian friend to the border post at Uyuni, paid 15 Bs, had our stamps to exit Bolivia and met our travel companions. The car was a big SUV, 4WD, Toyota. There was a girl sitting next to the driver, two other guys were from Argentina, two guys were from Brazil. Piril and I long discussed about who the girl on the front could be, whether the girl friend of the driver or the cook...I decided that with that nice nails, she could never cook! It did not took us long to find out later that she was a tourist just like us, from Ecuador!!! We picked up the 17 year old Ester, the cook from her home! Well, we started with the cementerio de los trenes. The driver was called Jorge and he seemed pretty unwilling to explain things to us...Later, he took us a place where we could buy some artesanias as gifts and buy some snacks. Well, later we came to an unbelievable place, breathtaking...Uyuni Salt Flats...Imagine a Salt Flat, totally white, wet, the sky is a darling blue...The reflection of the sky on the Salt flats was simply amazing. Then we went to a Salt Hotel, right in the middle of the flats and took some pictures, as it is a museum now. Then it started snowing! The driver guide took us to a place called "Isla del Pescado", the fish island, but it was an island full of cactuses actually. The cactuses look like fish, so it was called like that. As soon as we reached there, the weather changed, it became very warm and sunny! So, after taking off our excess clothes, we took great pictures from the top of the Isla del Pescado. There were maybe 50 4WDs around the island! That was the place where we were going to have our lunch, so decided to wait for the lunch. It was very good, salad, beef and rice...After the break, we hit the road again...The road changed all the time, but it was definitely not a road for a regular car and a regular driver! We were sitting behind the driver this time, so it was comfortable. However, at the first moment we boarded the 4WD, there was a CD that they were playing. In the afternoon, I realized that the same song was over and over...It was a song like "ay ayayayayayaayyy" and it was playing all in my head...Anyway, when we were approaching to the accomodation place, the Ecuadorian girl complained about the Salt Hotel, as she was promised to stay at a Salt Hotel and Jorge told us that we were not going to stay at a Salt Hotel, as the other tours going faster than us could go to San Juan and grab the rooms! It is so funny, first come is first served, the earlier the better, you cannot reserve as the places do not have telephone! He showed us a Salt Hotel, it was a lone hotel in the middle of nowhere, so we moved away. Then we came to San Juan, checked on several hotels but none of them were available. Tired and fussy, finally we found one and took our stuff. The girl, Piril and I were going to stay the same room, with no electricity, not much water etc...The first thing I did was to go out and buy some wine, as I was tired and needed some relaxation! He had our dinner with our friends, there were some gringos who drank gallons of wine and in the middle of the night, they were alll drunk! The Ecuadorian girl snored like a lioness (!), I woke up several times for bathroom, took my headlamp and found my way to the bathroom downstairs,(due to too much wine!) when it was raining cats and dogs!

Anyway, we woke up the morning, had our breakfast and hit the road. The whole road was pretty bumpy that day, the songs were all the same, Jorge was as unwilling as the same but we had new friends, Cayo and Evandro, from Brazil. Piril was sitting next to Evandro and she used his shoulder as a pillow, as he was very very nice guy! We saw Laguna Colorada, Laguna Blanca, several small lagoons, flamingos, and a beautiful nature with mountain ranges...The weather kept on changing and it surprised us! In the evening, we arrived at a communal hotel, which I found comfortable, 7 of us slept in the same room, and I used my body warmer kit for the first time! We chatted with Evandro and Cayo in the evening, I shared my wine with Evandro, we had a horrible spagetti soaked in margarine, with an ok sauce...It was cold, I could hardly sleep but we were able to pass that night too...We hit the road at 5 am this time, because we were going to see Laguna Verde and pass the border...At about 7 am, we made a stop at Thermal Waters where we were going to have breakfast. The girl prepared 2 eggs for 7 people, I saw and complained! Then she did not give us small plates to eat Corn Flakes and the eggs! Jorge said that nobody gets plates! I got one by force, I´m sure he hated me but I needed a plate! Then we saw the Laguna Verde and came to the border. We said goodbye to our friends, especially to Cayo and Evandro, the shoulder man, and took our bus for San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. We are hoping to meet Evandro again in Sao Paolo!

San Pedro de Atacama was an oasis on the middle of Atacama Desert, it was extremely expensive and hot. We found a hotel with private bathroom for 60 USD, had a dinner for 25 USD, we bought tickets on TURBUS to Santiago de Chile for 67 USD etc...The bus was at 8:50. The hotel we stayed had a nice garden, we came back to the hotel, showered, packed and went to bed.

The morning we woke up, Piril had an upset stomach, she had a very light breakfast and we took the bus. The bus journey took exactly 24 hours! We were happy because our friend Gustavo was going to meet us. We met him at Tur Bus Alameda Station at Santiago and our Santiago days has begun!

The Journey to Copacabana and La Paz...La Paz, the capital of Bolivia...Sucre and away...

It´s been a long time since I could not update the blog, as the connection in Bolivia has been quite slow and I could only upload a couple pics in facebook. There are lots of things to talk about and let me start before I forget.

In the morning of Puno, we were transfered to the bus that we will pass the frontier to Bolivia, along with a whole bunch of gringoes. I met the Japanese guys again, the ones that I was showing off my Japanese, they looked exhausted. I saw two guys on the corner, at the very back of the bus, looking Argentinian to me, I told Piril...Then one of the guys started talking to me and we became friends in 10 minutes!!! They were Gustavo and Gabriel (Gaybriel as he called himself, though he is straight!), Chilean brothers, one is forestry engineer and the other one is electronical engineer, living in Chile. On the bus, we did not talk much, as the journey was a little bumpy. Crossing the border to Bolivia was a smooth process, you first exit Peru and enter Bolivia, that simple...After we passed the border, it took only 8 kms to reach Copacabana in Bolivia. I was expecting Copacabana a nicer place, but seemed like a tiny town which owes all its fame to Isla del Sol (the Sun Island) in Lake Titicaca. We headed to a restaurant in Copacabana, later Gabriel and Gustavo joined us and we made a long conversation about the beauties of Istanbul and Turkey. By the way, Piril and I gave them Turkish names, as they looked exactly like Turkish! Gabriel was Mustafa and Gustavo was Deniz!!! After a quick lunch, we took the boat to take us to Isla del Sol. We were told 1 hour about the duration of the boat trip, but it took 2 hours!!! Well, after all, between the moment we arrived in Isla del Sol and we left, we had 1/2 hour!!! All I had was a photo in front of Inca Steps and listen to the call of the nature!!!The we came back to catch the bus to take us to La Paz. Gustavo and Gabriel was on another bus, so we decided to meet in La Paz and said goodye. Our bus was stinking, it was an oldie, there were 3 adults and 2 kids, and a dog occupying 2 seats next to ours! The journey was a quite winding one...The bus, at some point, passed Lake Titicaca on a small boat or row boaty like thing, which worked with some primitive engine and during that 15 minutes, I prayed all the prayers I knew so far!!! Thank God, we survived and continued the trip. The bus started descending into a bowl like city...La Paz is the highest capital of the world, it is about 3500 m from sea level...It was quite scarry but interesting at the same time, to descend into a bowl like town! We arrived in La Paz at about 22:00, headed the hostel that Gabriel recommended, Gloria as Piril had a bad headache, we just showered and went to bed. The hostel looked pretty dirty, so we woke up in the morning, gave our laundry to the lavanderia and went to
Estrella Andina Hostel to bargain the price. We found out that Gustavo and Gabriel were staying there too! However, they had gone to experience the "Most Dangerous Road of the World", a very narrow descending road on the bicycle, where the usual traffic flows. We had some breakfast, bought our flight for Sucre from a nice lady, did our city tour, came back, moved our backpacks to Estrella Andina...And met the chicos for dinner!

Dinner...We went to the nearby Hard Rock Cafe which had the slowest service and the worst Greek Salad I have ever had...The chatting with the guys was nice though. They are really polite, very nice and well educated. Their food, long awaited food was nice...After the dinner, we decided to meet up for breakfast and see the rest of the city together. They were going to fly back to Santiago at noon time, so we woke up early and showed them a little bit around...We had tickets for an afternoon tour at La Paz, that was our plan...

At about 10:30, they left, we ate something and took the Hop on Hop Off Bus at La Paz. It rained from time to time, there was a audio guide system on the bus. They showed us inside and outside of La Paz and the Moon Valley, which resembled a little bit Cappadocia to me. We came back to the hotel and crashedThe next day, we took it slowly and went to the airport to fly to Sucre. They took us aboard the plane but later we were kicked out as the plane was delayed due to bad weather conditions in Sucre. We had lunch and finally we flew. The plane was Aerosur and we liked the service too, they gave us a lunch box as a courtesy...We arrived in Sucre, went to La Cruz del Popayan Hostel and really liked it. It was 31st of Dec, the last day of the year and it seemed like we were going to stay there 2 days!!! It was time to explore Sucre...

Sucre...Sucre thinks like Arequipa, it is a colonial city and the state of Chuquisaca wants independence...The buildings are lovely, the main city center is pretty compact...We liked it...We wandered around, Piril bought stuff, I took pictures...We found a place to eat our NY eve dinner, a bar which probably is full of gringoes! We came back, took some rest and went to have our dinner. Our table was lovely, we had a Cabernet Sauvignon Vino Tinto and various appetizers to share on our table...It was a rich and nice table. Then some Dutch and American friends joined to our table, until 10 we were there and we left. I could not see the midnight as I fell to sleep, but I barely remember hearing the fireworks...I opened my eyes and it was already 2008!!! Happy New Year to you all!!

1st of Jan in Latin America and most of the places is a day of descanso (take a rest). People do not work, they don´t even go out from their homes...However, the supermarket was open! We had some lunch, walked around, tried to find bus tickets for Uyuni via Potosi...There was a direct bus, but we could not purchase its tickets, as 1st of Jan was holiday. I had a lazy day, watching TV, taking some rest and getting some stuff for dinner at our patio...The next day was going to be a very long one, so we went to bed early...We were going first to Potosi and then to Uyuni and were going to look for a trip on Salar de Uyuni...