What we learned yesterday...

... is that Chileans don't really like Peru very much. The two fought an intense 4-year war in the late 19th century for control over the abundant nitrates in the northern desert surrounding the town of Arica, where we arrived yesterday after a short bus ride from Iquique.

Chile won the War of the Pacific in 1883 and gained control over this border region, but animosity between the two countries continued into the 20th Century and still exists today. Last night, the two countries battled in a football qualifier for the 2010 World Cup.

It's a good thing Chile won.

Our bus pulled into Arica just after the Chilean national team finished off a 3-1 victory over Peru (in Peru, no less), and the bus driver already knew. He honked his horn profusely as the cars aroud him did the same and the rest of the Arican locals took to the streets. Cars drove by waving Chilean flags, and other people left their homes to turn their car alarms on and join the cacophonic symphony. Eventually we figured out what had happened, and breathed a sigh of relief that a riot wasn't taking place.

As we wandered around some of the more seedy areas of outer Arica searching for a place to sleep, we counted our blessings that Chile came out on top. People seemed to want to drink beers with us rather than strangle-mug us, which surely would have happened had Peru won.

Spent most of the day today in internet cafes trying to figure out our apartment situation for New York when we have to re-enter the real world (barf), but ended up back at square one by the end of the day (due in no part to the efforts of Phil's brother, Nick, who is doing everything he can on the ground in NY to find a place for the three of us). So, we each bought bottles of wine so that we could play catchup and seize back some of the lost day. Tomorrow we plan on taking a bus across the border into Peru, where we will make our way to Cusco in preparation for our trek to Machu Picchu and a glimpse of its famous guinea pirates, guinea bees and the guineasaurous rex.

Freshy Pow-Pow on the Dunes of Iquique

It's true, you CAN sandboard in Iquique. Actually, they invented it here.

On a mission to shred the sticky gnar gnar on the dunes overlooking the coastal town of Iquique in northern Chile, we found an adventure sports shop near the beach and rented 3 sandboards for the day. After lunch at a Chinese restaurant (they're everywhere in Chile for some reason), we grabbed our boards and took a cab to the edge of town.

There are no chairlifts at the sandboarding area here, but there's also no need to pay for an entry ticket. We spent 3 hours or so hiking up the tall dunes (it's not easy to hike up hills of sand) and boarding back down again. Hike up, board down. Hike up, board down. It was tiring but worth the righteous thrill of cutting up the dune on the way down.




If only we were so skilled and graceful. We each had our share of wipeouts, and most of them were caught on camera (look for blooper footage sometime in the next two weeks). By 7, we were covered in sand and ready for a shower and a cold beer.


There's a reason people board on snow instead of sand, but it was worth it.

Rio Reflections, Argentina and Chile

Rio Di Janeiro, Brasil March 10-19

First Impressions:

There are absolutely no modern buildings in Rio, all the architecture seems to be frozen in the early part of the 20th century, when Rio was said to be in it´s prime. There´s a famous saying about Rio... ¨Rio, the city of the future... and always will be.¨ The Copacabana Palace directly in the heart of Copa Beach is the iconic shrine of the golden years, what I would consider the Raffles Hotel of Rio, really impressive place.

Some Highlights:

A morning run across the entire stretch of Copa Beach and back. I had forgotten how incredible and rewarding a nice morning jog on the beach can be. Definitely the highlight of my time in Rio (is that weird?)

Day Trip to Cabo Frio (Cold Cape) fishing and empanadas on the beach.

Local football match Flamenco v Tigres at the largest stadium in the world (capacity over 200,000 pax).

Savoring the local liquor Cacacha at the popular Academia d´Cacacha. Indulging in the Tagines of Brasil, Carne Assadas (steak sandwiches) at the well-known and award winning Cervantes Restaurant, their speciality sandwich adds some pineapples slices for a nice little twist.

The last day in Rio, Phil, Chris and I took a 7min helicopter ride (first time in a chopper for all three of us) ¨Sir your aircraft is ready.¨ YES. The trip gave us some dreamy views of Copa Beach and Sugar Loaf Mountain and quite the arresting aerial view of the impressive Corcavado (Christ d´Redeemer).

After spending a week in our rented apartment in Rio we were forced to move to a hostel because the apartment had been reserved for our last day by another party. We had to move to Copa Hostel, which was the opposite of a fantastic experience. Not only was it expensive, but the room we slept in bedded 12 other dudes all wet from the beaches and stinking of carne assadas and meat sweats. Basically it was like sleeping in a poorly ventilated men´s locker room for 20 dollars. Not good value. After crying ourselves to sleep we were ready to leave Rio for the BA.

Dieting Challenge. 9 Days in Rio had put a lot of meat and beer into our systems and we were feeling.... I wouldn´t say worthless, but close to that.. more like we needed to possibly move in a healthier direction in terms of eating habits and general lifestyle. After weighing ourselves at the luggage counter (oh yea we´re those guys), we recorded our respective weights and set weight targets for the next few weeks/months. My plan is to go on a wine and water diet for the rest of the trip: cutting soda and beer out of my diet as well as moderating my eating habits, avoiding bread and white carbs as much as possible and no ice cream (so sad). Also making bolder attempts to exercise (HA HA HA) running or being active whenever possible, hostel room pushups/situps. Having it be sort of competitive makes the diet a bit more entertaining as well.

Argentina Highlights (Buenos Aires, Mendoza and the outskirts near the Chilean border)

BA is great. It´s like Europe but instead of getting slaughtered by the Euro, we are eating four course meals with steak and wine for the cheap cheap. So yeah, basically to sum up BA: we ate a lot of really tasty steaks, enjoyed the Malbecs and the area we were staying in San Telmo was young and lively. I think it´s safe to say, minus the sleeping arrangement (another sauna of a room) we all enjoyed BA.

Mendoza is also great. After a 14hr comfortable ride on a double decker cama bus (seats are like business class seats on airplanes) which included a dinner stop, we arrived in Mendoza. Known for its vineyards and outdoor activities.. we immediately jumped into a 1/2 day bike tour of the vineyards, learned about the aging process of wines and how to properly taste vinos. We also celebrated Phil´s birthday in Mendoza. Nothing like a nice pleasant lunch at the popular Anna bistro and then winning big at the casino (twice) before making our triumphant return to Anna´s bistro for dinner to splurge our dirty casino winnings on gazpacho, carpaccio, goat cheese crostinis, tapas, steaks, desserts and vino tintos.. all free courtesy of Sheraton Casino Mendoza! The next morning we awoke pregant with energy (even with only 1-2hrs of sleep) to head up the mountains to Posterillos for a half day of white water rafting (3o dollars/each good value) on some t3 rapids. We were lucky to have an affable, down to earth Canadian Danny as our rafting guide who really made the day worth it.

After our afternoon of rafting, we camped out nearby in Posterillos at a hippie haven, run by Paco, a pretty ¨righteous dude.¨Upon setting up camp we came across a group of hippies threading some bracelets that they were planning on selling. Very authentic hippies, not hippie-crites (get it? haha). Anyways, camped out and it was great, rained on our tents in the middle of the night, but it wasn´t too bad. Took a 7am bus to Puento de Inca (Inca Bridge) about 2hrs away. Glorified truck stop with a bizzare natural bridge as one of the main tourist attractions. But a few kms away is the base of Aconcagua (tallest peak outside of Asia). Walked around some lagoons and took some photos at the base. We were already over 3000 meters up in the Andes and the summit of Aconcagua is about 6800m. Quite breathtaking scenery.

At 5pm we took a minibus over the border into Santiago (about 3hrs) evading the 130 dollar visa for Americans that you are charged upon arriving at the airport. Spending only a few hours in the Santiago bus station we boarded another bus, but this time for a total travel time of 25 hours. YES! After watching the Hot Chick and Jerry Maguire in Spanish, two Nicolas Cage including Bangkok Dangerous (probably the best movie ever made) we arrived at our planned destination of Iquique, Chile. Iquique is known for its sand dunes and Free Zone shopping center (duty free equivalent). Also, there´s a lot of Chinese people in Iquique, so we had some medicore Chinese food for lunch, but were able to utilize our Mandarin language which was nice. The afternoon was spent ¨shredding¨some ¨righteous¨ sand dunes with some rented sand boards. Interesting experience, afternoon well spent. Heading next to Arica, the border town before Peru, but probably going to roam the Free Zone shopping mall beforehand. woo

So it´s been about a week since we made our informal dieting pledges:
-1/2 day bike tour of the vineyards. YES
-No soda, except one sip from Chris´pepsi at a truck stop near the Andes Mt Range by the border of Chile. YES
-I´ve probably had a total of 4 bottles of beer. not too bad.
-Ate steak practically everyday in Argentina and gorged ourselves one night after winning big at the casino in Mendoza. NO
-But haven´t been ordering fries with my steaks. YES Generally sticking to the diet, let´s see if I´ll actually see some results. More to come in the coming weeks! hahaha

Phil´s Gastronomic Adventure #4

Location: Aconcagua Cafe, Puente del Inca, Argentina

Dish: Lentejas

Ingredients: Lentil, calabash (whatever that is), carrot, sweet potato, bacon, pork sausage, spices

After a quick busride from Pontrerillos to Puente del Inca (two small Argentinian villages on the road between Mendoza and Santiago), we plopped ourselves down at the only open restaurant in town, Aconcagua Snack Bar. With America´s tallest mountain (and the world´s tallest, if you ignore Asia, which I most certainly cannot, lah) as a backdrop, I ventured away from the menu´s Continental classics (sandwiches and pizzas) and tried the only thing on the menu that sounded different: Lentejas. What arrived some 10 minutes later was a green stew, chock full of lentils and assorted pieces of pork. Dipping a small portion of bread shared with Auggie (who ordered Lentejas as well), we chowed down, enjoyed the view, and pretended to scratch the beards that accompanied everyone else´s faces in this neck of the woods.

Hippies

A quick word from an internet cafe at the bus station in Santiago, Chile, where we arrived a few hours ago after spending the day near the border on the Argentina side.

Yesterday was great. After staying out all night to celebrate Phil's birthday (except Wong. He fell asleep at our streetside table and made the walk of shame home while the others raged on), a bus picked us up at 8:30 a.m. to for a rafting trip. Our boat (dubbed the "power boat" by our extremely nice Canadian guide, Danny) braved the class 3 (yawn) rapids and completed the 12 km stretch without losing anybody to the frigid cold of Rio Blanco. Auggie did lose his watch, though.

In a brainstorming session the day before, we had decided to try to camp somewhere between Mendoza and the border for a night before heading into Chile. Though we had read about a few possible camping places, we had no choice but to wing it after rafting and lucked out when Danny and the other river guides hooked us up with a ride from the rafting area to a nearby campsite in the tiny town of Postilleros.

Our door-to-door service took us to the campsite/sleepy hippie enclave owned by Paco, a beanpole of a man with a long nicotine-stained beard who looked like he had a story or two to tell. I'm sure he did, but he spoke no english and we never really got to hear it. Still, he had what we wanted. His "campsite" consisted of a kitchen hut, bathroom and cold shower facilities, an office and a small newly-constructed building which housed about 8 beds. Paco offered us beds in the new building, but we had our hearts set on camping and he instead provided us with two tents. We shared the campsite with a group of gypsy hippies who spent the day making bracelets with lanyard (which they would then try to sell the next day). They didn't say much to us. We just weren't hippie enough for them.


Undeterred, we spent the rest of the day exploring the surrounding area, which included some hills and the beautiful Posterillos Lake. We crashed early (had to axe a plan to sleep under the stars when a storm moved through), and woke up the next morning in time to catch a 7:30 bus to the border town of Puente del Inca.

There wasn't much to Puente del Inca, but it sits only a short hike from the base of Mt. Aconcagua, the tallest peak outside of Asia. After buying tickets for a 5 o'clock bus over the border to Santiago, we hiked up the road (thought about hitchhiking but never really had the chance) and visited the park surrounding the mountain. It was a great way to kill time and wear our legs out before the upcoming bus ride.

We are in Santiago now but don't plan on staying. If all goes well we will be on a 24-hour bus north to Iquique, near the Peruvian border. We have plans to arrive in Cusco, Peru on April 2 and have some time to kill before we get there, so we have decided to check out Iquique after a Slovenian from our rafting boat recommended it. Apparently you can go skiing on sand dunes there. We'll let you know how that goes.

Mendoza: In search of Señor Hugo

After a 14-hour busride from Buenos Aires, we arrived in Mendoza and set up shop in Hostal International Mendoza, a cozy spot about 300m from the city center that provided us with a private 4-bed room, complete with hot shower and crappy fan (though it does oscillate, which prevents any tiffs between the four of us at night). We set out for a cheap bite, and found Mr. Dog (come for the weiners...stay for the buns), which offered Heart Attack Value Meals and 4 peso beers (Quilmes is the local flavor). With regards to this blog title, a number of independents sources had told us that we HAD TO find Sr. Hugo to rent bikes and see the vineyards in Mendoza. However, my guidebook mentioned nothing of the man, and our hostel had not heard of him either. Somewhat deflated, we opted to make our own bike tour, and hopped on local bus #10-171 to Coquimbito, wine country. We boarded the bus and paid our toll. Immediately afterwards, the bus driver, hidden behind his reflective Aviator sunglasses, offered me an orange flyer from his outstretched hand. On the top, in massive bold font, it said SEÑOR HUGO WINE TOURS. Do you believe in miracles? After 30 minutes, the conductor dropped us off in front of a collection of bicycles and a portly gentleman, who we could only assume - and we assumed correctly - to be Señor Hugo.

For 3 hours we biked around the valley and stopped at a number of vineyards, tasting a variety of Malbecs, Cabernets, and one dessert wine (which was gross). After an inebriated bikeride back to Sr Hugo´s (in which we passed by a police van transporting four Israeli travelers that were deemed too drunk to ride their bicycles - no joke), we were greeted with empanadas and unlimited free wine - uh oh.

Back in the city, we chowed on Sarmiento street and people-watched. An American couple in their sixties told us that they were high-school sweethearts: dating at age 12, married at 19, parents of four boys by 24. This marital and familial efficiency nearly shocked us into sobriety. We ordered another bottle of Malbec and pledged to stay young forever.

Buenos Fucking Aires

Argentina has come along way from its inflation-marred days of the 1980s, or even more recently in 2001-2002. But while people may no longer carry money around in bags, your dollar still takes you incredibly far here (especially compared to Brazil). We have been dining on steak and wine for three nights, at an average cost of about US$ 10-15 per person. Oh, and the portions are huge (think meat sweats). Some places, anticipating a further inflation of the Peso, even accept US dollars at a very generous rate.

Really, we haven't done much here besides eat steak, drink wine and play a little (or in some cases, too many) cards. Today we DID put our tourist pants on and took a 3-4 hour bike tour of Buenos Aires, which was cool way to both see things and to work up our appetites for more steak and wine.

We made the most of our first two nights here, for a couple reasons. First, things don't get going until very late (see Madrid). On Friday night, we met up with one of my Middlebury friends and her friends for dinner around 11 p.m. Second, our first two nights were spent in horrible squalor at a hostel in the otherwise beautiful San Telmo area. For a TOTAL of US$15 per person for the two nights, we slept in a dorm-style room without windows, air conditioning or even a fan. The saying holds true: you get what you pay for. Dreading a return to the hostel, we stayed out until nearly 5 a.m. on Thursday and nearly as late on Friday.

Not willing to sweat ourselves to sleep for a third straight time, we decided to uprade for our last night here in BA. We've spoiled ourselves and moved down the street to a "Bed and Breakfast," staying in a 3-person room (with a mattress put down to make 4, Wong drawing the short straw) for a $15 per person. It has airconditioning, clean towels, a continental breakfast buffet and a very nice female receptionist who may or may not have armpit hair.

It's just after midnight on Saturday night and we want to go a club nearby, but it won't even open its doors to us until 1. So Phil, Auggie and Chris are taking a late-night siesta (If I try to take a nap I'll be down for the count) before we head out to enjoy our last night here. We are leaving tomorrow night on a 14-hour bus ride to Mendoza, in the heart of wine country, where we'll hang out in the vineyards and hot springs for about 4 days before continuing west to Chile. We four amigos sure have it rough.

Phil and Scott's Final Four Picks

Phil:
Louisville
Memphis (Champ)
Duke
UNC

Scott:
Michigan St.
Connecticut
Villanova
UNC (Champ)

Scott's Photo Links (all of them)

We have arrived in Buenos Aires after a brief transit in Uruguay on PLUNA. Argentina is supposed to be dirt cheap (especially compared to Brazil), and the ATMs here only let you take out a maximum of US$100, which is a good sign.

More to come tomorrow when we get out and see some of the city. Tonight we're hitting the San Telmo district for steak and wine. In the meantime, here's all the pics that I've taken so far on the trip. Enjoy!

Istanbul
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044394&id=4402407&l=8e04a43f6d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044412&id=4402407&l=1a8e8930c0

Cairo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044504&id=4402407&l=3c34599403
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044628&id=4402407&l=4c4c1f023a

Tunisia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044745&id=4402407&l=b017f23659
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044747&id=4402407&l=87a3f8d846

Morocco
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044964&id=4402407&l=d10b423156
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044965&id=4402407&l=e2e64c7069

Lisbon
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045105&id=4402407&l=34ab72e617

Rio de Janeiro and Cabo Frio
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045257&id=4402407&l=f2911f068e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045443&id=4402407&l=1fabc67654

I swear I'm going to pistol-whip the next person who says shenanigans

Today is St. Patrick's Day (and my 30th day on the road), so we are putting on our finest green garb and heading to an Irish pub in Ipanema called Shenanigans. We've got two more nights in Rio, our longest stop on the trip to-date, and we want to make the most of it. Tomorrow we'll kill what's left of the alcohol we bought on our way in at duty free.

Yesterday we took a short 2.5 hour bus ride to Cabo Frio (Cold Cape), a quiet beach town first discovered by Americo Vespucci in 1503. Lots of people fish here (Phil and Auggie got in on the act), and the water was clearer and calmer than in Rio. It was nice to get away from Rio for a day and escape to a place where we weren't constantly worried about a potential strangle-mugging.


I should give Rio a little bit more credit. It isn't nearly as dangerous as every guide book and self-proclaimed Rio expert had warned us about before our arrival. It's like any other big city- if you're stupid and go where you shouldn't when you shouldn't, then maybe you deserve to get mugged. We travel mostly as a group of 4, which is helpful - although one of our four is a giant Chinaman, so we are usually a walking bulls' eye - but we've been careful and haven't run into any issues.

Overall, we've come a long way since our first night of frantically searching for a place to sleep. Our apartment is only a 30 second walk from Copacabana beach, and we've done just about all that Rio has to offer (Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mtn, Soccer game at Maracana Stadium) except a Favella tour. None of us really saw the novelty in taking a tour of a slum.


So it's been a good week here. We're all looking forward to tonight's shenanigans (ja ja ja) and drinking some green beer. Still, I'm beached out and ready to move south to Buenos Aires.

Phil's photo update

Hi all,

photos can be viewed at the following links.

Sri Lanka:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110716&id=1708274&l=241628bfee
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111239&id=1708274&l=1cd8a32b8c

India:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111240&id=1708274&l=44ea7610d1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111677&id=1708274&l=1a542de618
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111736&id=1708274&l=51936c1568

Turkey:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111939&id=1708274&l=be84b9a842

Tunisia, Germany and Amsterdam:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113377&id=1708274&l=ffaba57ef1

Egypt:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113375&id=1708274&l=c97e479f2d

Morocco:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113529&id=1708274&l=caa5961fb4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114036&id=1708274&l=31e482167d

Portugal:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114040&id=1708274&l=4b6392ec24

Brazil:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114136&id=1708274&l=4748a387fd
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114142&id=1708274&l=31171ad1a3

Bom Dia! Our arrival in Rio

With great regret we arrived in Rio with no Brazilian Rials, no phone, and no accommodation to speak of. At the airport, we crossed over from Terminal 2 to 1, exchanged money (except Scott, whose debit card was repeatedly declined), bought a SIM card, and called a number in our guidebook in search of a studio apartment for Auggie, Scott and myself. When we arrived in Copacabana, the apartment, though well equipped with the essential amenities (air-conditioning, hot shower, and a blender), was quite cramped for three people so we went street-side in search of an alternative for our 9 day stay.

After walking around for nearly an hour and realizing that nearly every hostel and hotel was fully booked, our 15kg packs suddenly felt much heavier. Distraught, lost and exhausted, we "lucked out" when a pair of beer-drinking locals saw our heavy packs and decided to offer us a deal on an apartment. In a mess of Portuguese and broken English, Framcisco (with an "m") and his brother Bene offered us an apartment with view of the water, which we agreed to look at. We hopped into the back of Bene's small pick-up truck (only after he produced his identification as a military policemen in an effort to convince us he didn't want to kidnap us) and cruised down Avenua Copacabana for 5 minutes, arriving at a building whose ground floor was co-occupied by Bob's Restaurant (Rio's response to McDonald's) and "Pussycat Cafe," an establishment that likely needs little explanation.  

The apartment itself was about what you would expect in a building whose ground floor housed a strip club: the general contractor had, at one point, installed a plywood wall that only rose to about six feet high and attempted to separate the tattered queen-sized bed from the tattered living room.  The bathroom contained artifacts of the last visitor, who must have had a legitimate reason to leave his half-used toothpaste, dirtied toothbrush and rusted razorblade aside the sink. A half-smoked cigarette also sat on the edge of the grungy bathtub.  Tired and anxious to get on with our lives, we accepted the R$150/night rate offered from Bene.

After handing over the cash to Framcisco, we sh*t, showered, and shaved (with our own razors, except Scott who is bearding it), hopped into our 3-man elevator (how convenient!) and met the rest of the crew for an eventful night in Lapa.

The next day, we cleared out of our apartment and ended up signing a one-week lease on the first apartment we had looked at the day before, an apartment that suddenly seemed much bigger, cleaner and more comfortable to us.  

-Phil/Scott/Auggie

Rio by the Sea-O

In the past two days, I've eaten about 5kg of meat at Churascarias, drank bottles of wine, laid out by the beach in Copacabana, gone to samba clubs and seen Christ the Redeemer.  

I am very satisfied.

I split up with the rest of the crew because Laura came down from

 New York to visit me in Rio, and we stayed at the Sheraton which to me felt absolutely amazing.  Hot water that lasted forever and big soft free towels!  I was obsessing over the towels.. the tiny travel towel was getting a little old and grimy.  Basically got to enjoy everything that I've taken for granted before and it was great.

The other guys went from hostel to hostel because everything was booked solid.  They have a funny story about hopping in the

 back of a pickup truck by a dude on the street who asked them if they were looking for a place to stay.  Look forward to the whole turn of events next time they post.

We met up with Vince, Amrit, Dali and Sophie for the first day before they flew back to Sao Paolo.  It was great to hang out with some old friends to change the pace of the Phil, Scott, Auggie Chris extravaganza.  We ate dinner and went to a samba club where we listened to live music until late, and went back to the beach to have a few cervezas.

The next day Laura and I went to a highly recommended Churascaria,

(brazilian style restaurant where waiters bring unlimited swords of meat.)  Laura became very entertained by the fact that I completely stuffed myself with meat until I looked lethargic and sick by the end of the evening.  My goal was to eat everything.

Today the guys came over to the hotel and we all 

relaxed by the pool, taking a nice breather from the hectic schedule of the previous weeks.  

Afterwards we decided to hike up to the Christ the Redeemer statue, to which the taxi driver

 seemed a bit concerned about our safety.  Most tourists take the train or a car to the top.  The hike was about an hour and was decently steep. We passed by a Favela (slum), and there was a rather shady character looking at as with a saw, as in hacksaw. That kinda irked us a little and we walked briskly past that area.

Once we got to the top, the view was absolutely amazing.  

The statue itself was huge, but it's really the fact that it was located on the top of a cliff that makes it thoroughly impressive.  

Tomorrow we are all planning to go on a helicopter and fly around the statue.  None of us have ever been in one before and we are all pretty psyched for it.

More updates to come soon, and if we don't it's because Rio is being pretty great to us.

Lisbon

We're in the airport in Lisbon waiting to take an early getaway to Rio de Janeiro for the start of about 5 weeks in South America.

I could have spent much more time in Lisbon. Everything - the weather, the people and the prices - all surprised us and made the trip very enjoyable. Some highlights of the three-night visit:

- The Maritime Museum (Auggie definitely made his euros count here).

- The Oceanarium (one of the world's biggest, with a sunfish and sandtiger sharks, who reproduce through intro-uterine cannibalism, by which 9 emryos fight until only two remain).

- Dirt-cheap beer - A home-cooked meal at the best hostel in the world.

- Not missing our flight out

We have no idea what we'll do or where we'll stay when we land in Rio late on Tuesday afternoon, but we're excited. We're excited to stop spending euros, and we're excited to fly as far away as possible from any tajines, couscous, shawarmas. We're also excited to see how far Phil's Spanish can take us. But most of all, we're excited to move one step closer to seeing the flute bands, guinea hamsters and guinea pirates of Peru.

Phil's (and Auggie's) Gastronomic Adventure #3

We had first heard about it from my Marrakech pocket guide. In a lackluster attempt to mention cuisine options that weren't French, the author had inputted a 2'' by 2'' square listing some common Moroccan dishes. We were quickly drawn to the last entry, something called tete d'agneau, or sheep's head. There was no description past the title.

By way of pure luck, while wandering through a nearby Souk we found ourselves staring at a row of sheep's heads proudly displayed atop of a display counter outside a restaurant, much like football helmets in a trophy case or mooseheads in a hunting lodge. We ordered one tete d'agneau for 60 dirhams (US$7) and waited at a table, anxiously.

The waiter responded to our request by dropping his hand into a vat the size of a backpack and removed a whole sheep's head. With cleaver in hand, he split the head into two, removed the prized brains (that would cost us extra) and plonked the halves onto a plate, much like a chef would do with a flayed chicken breast. A sprinkle of paprika-salt later, we dove in. By Auggie's insistence, we each dug around for an eye within the socket and threw it in our mouths. Salty, chewy, and unfortunately unforgettable. Moving on through, we sampled a consortium of Sheep face bits, like rubbery skin, savory flesh and some awful, chew-then-spit pieces that lacked classification. And the aroma - I beg your pardon, the odor - resembled the smell of rotting animal carcus. The meat itself was incredibly tender, tasting similar to a lamb shank, and went well with the flavored salt. However, the remaining portions just got in the way. Money well spent? We can't complain.

Boom! Roasted.

We missed our first flight today.  At the bus station in Essouaria, we were given empty promises by bus touts who told us it would only take 5 hours to Casablanca.  After inquiring with each company we decided to save $4US dollars and took the cheaper option.  5 hours to Casablanca probably would have been true if we didn't stop and pick up 20 different passengers along the way who each demanded to be let off in their city of choice.  People were cursing at the bus driver in Arabic until he got off the freeway and dropped them off at their optimal locations (door-to-door service!).  Then of course, the driver got hungry and stopped to pick up meat and vegetables along the way.   We then proceeded to a Tajine (where else!) restaurant to have his buddies BBQ it for him on a grill.  While we were waiting for him to finish his tea we watched as the $4 more legit bus fly by.  Even though we were 3 hours behind we still would have been O.K. except for the fact that we took a cab to the airport that topped out at 50km/h. Perfect example of when each little thing goes wrong.  We rushed into the check-in and got the horrible no-go from the lady behind the counter.  Disappointed, we ended up coughing up 200 euros to take Royal Air Maroc, whose logo happens to be a star with wings and a crown drawn on it.  The plane was a little prop ATF plane, which we believed to be french and from the 70s. However, we made it to Portugal in one piece, and found us some very swank accommodation for a reasonable price!

The Man:1 Us:0

Hello! Maroc

Hello! My first blog post. Hopefully with this humble attempt at writing a blog entry I will be able to offer a 4th perspective on our travels.

Here are some highlights from our 5 days 4 nights spent in Maroc:

After arriving in Casablanca (where the film Casablanca was not filmed) at around 1am, we subsequently peaced out of that semi to very medicore city taking the 4:50am train to Marakesh. After dodging the degenerates and crazies at the train station we managed to grab seats on the train, only to take notice that train cars in Morocco double as meat freezers. Shivering ourselves to sleep is the only way to do it.

Marakesh is what you would expect from a tourist-favorite Moroccan destination. Exotic, congested and an incredibly lively atmosphere. Basically the opposite of 1st world European life (which is probably why so many Europeans make the RV trip over to Morocco to escape the banality and comforts of civilized society) Marakesh certainly has its charm, and the people are generally endearing. Phil and I managed to try the pride of Moroccan cuisine: snail soup and sheep's head. Both, quite bland and the sheep's head def initely gave off a strange aroma. Another food staple that is practically ubiquitous (not in a good way) throughout the country are tagines. Vegetable tagines, beef tagines, poulet tagines, big tagines, small tagines, tagines for two people. I think you catch my drift. Basically, tagine is a fancy word for stew that is cooked using quite the unique cone-shaped cover with a hole on the top acting as sort of a chimney. Anyways, tagine is grea t maybe the first few times but after 8-10 tagines, I can confidently say I'm quite over them.

Moroccan nights were also culturally different and we were quickly forced to grow accustomed to them. Beer and alcohol are only served at restaurants and bars and are relatively expensive. After some investigating we found out you can certainly buy alcohol at stores but they close at 8 and by stores they mean one store in the new French development, a cab ride away. Being the alcoholics that we are we made the trip not just once but twice, two separate nights (so that's ok).

Marakesh during the day, we made use of our time getting lost in the many souks, taking in the activity at the famed Jamaal El Efna square right next to our hotel. The square is the heart of Marakesh were orange juice peddlers, street food stalls, witch doctors, teeth sellers and snake charmers all congregate to push their respective goods and services.

After the second night in Marakesh we decided to escape the intensity and congestion and take a day trek to Setti Fatma, the High Atlas Mountains and waterfalls near the Ourika Valley. We purchased a formal tour from a dubious tour operator in Marakesh for 200 derhams each (under 25 usd). They claimed we would leave Marakesh at 9 and hike and see the waterfalls for 5 hrs from 10-3. Obviously we were somewhat skeptical when everytime we asked what we were doing the answer was always yes (regardless of whether or not the question was a yes or no question), but no way did we imagine we would be going to each of their relatives' shops for the first three hours of the trip before even reaching our point of interest. Given we were quite upset, once we did reach the mountains and undertook the picturesque hike, it definitely ameliorated our anger towards Morocco. Met two new friends on our tour who we chilled with later that night. Unimpressive, not worth indulging about in the blog.

Our last full day in Maroc was spent at the great little beach town of Essouria. We were spoiled by the Suprabus that took us there under 3 hrs (without picking up hitchikers or the driver stopping to buy meat: something we found out was the norm on our bus trip back to Casablanca) Essouria was great, very relaxed. The seafood wasn't terrific, but we did meet some down to earth Americans who were studying in the capital of Rabat on an SIT study abroad program and were in Essouria for the weekend. Had some nice tea and abinsthe concoctions, recommended by our new buddies and lucked out with her hostel staying at a rooftop apartment fully equipped with a terrace for 100 derhams each (approx 12 usd). Essouria is pretty cool, a place I wouldn't mind visiting again.. seems like a lot of foreigners set up shop here, it also exudes somewhat of a surfer beach bum atmosphere. Overall Morocco was pretty great.

Oh yea. we missed our flight to Lisbon.

Auggie

Black Market Beers

Took a 3.5 hour bus yesterday from Marrakech to the coastal town of Essaouira and spent the night here. Essaouira is much quieter than Marrakech and a little less hectic for a first-time visitor. Like Marrakech, however, Essaouira also goes dry shortly after evening prayer. With seemingly no option for booze as our last night in Morocco approached, we received a lifeline when a helpful man on the street directed us to a man named Raheem and Essaouira's black market for beer.

For a very reasonable 15 Dirhams a bottle (half the price of a beer at one of the many restaurants or hotels in town, often the only places to buy alcohol after dark), we negotiated to buy 20 bottles of Special Flag from Raheem, who disappeared down an alley and returned carrying a large black plastic bag filled to the brim with beers. Raheem got what he wanted, we got what we wanted, and after giving a little baksheesh to the runner who opened the door of the black market to us, we headed back victorious to our terrace apartment in Riad Jemalhi Mogador.

Leaving this morning on a 7:45 bus to Casablanca to catch a 4:20 p.m. flight to Lisbon to have the euros sucked out of us for a couple nights before hopping down to South America. Stay tuned...

Marrakech

We've arrived in Marrakech. The market/bazaar/carnival is ridiculous, and the medina just booms with activity and energy. More stories and pictures to come.

Also, below are public links to Phil's photos of Sri Lanka and India (you don't need to have a facebook account to view them). I'm currently having photos issues with my newer destinations. Egad.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110716&id=1708274&l=24162 (Sri Lanka)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111239&id=1708274&l=1cd8a (Sri Lanka)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111240&id=1708274&l=44ea7 (India)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111677&id=1708274&l=1a542 (India)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111736&id=1708274&l=51936 (India)

Everything is Bon

It's been a week since our last post, so we decided to splurge and drop the 2 Euros for Internet time here at the Bulldog hotel in Amsterdam, where we've been staying since Saturday.

Tunisia was a blast, and we managed to get by despite speaking little to no French (Wong said Merci every once in a while, that was about it). After arriving in Tunis around 10 p.m., we took up two rooms at the Hotel de Suisse and managed to fit in both beers with drunk locals at Pub Gentleman (a must-see for any visitor to Tunis) and a few hours of sleep before catching a 6 a.m. train south to Gabes.

Once in Gabes, we dined on Tunisian salads and roast chicken, then lucked out and secured a 4-wheel drive vehicle for an overnight journey even further south to the Sahara desert. On our drive down, we stopped in Matmata to see the site of Luke Skywalker's boyhood home in the first Star Wars, then drove to our campsite as the sun set over the desert. We spent the night in a tent under the stars (a bromantic evening), and woke up early to check out the endless sand dunes and then head north through Chenini, Tataouine and Medenine before arriving back in Gabes in the late afternoon.

George Lucas clearly hijacked the traditional garb of southern Tunisian Berbers when outfitting his Jawas, and we were inspired to pick up our own Jawa suits (cool and not-at-all-creepy pictures to follow soon). We decided to take the overnight train back up to Tunis, so we dug our foxholes at a local bar until midnight, then hopped on the train back north.

Arriving in Tunis at 6 a.m., we stored our bags at Hotel de Suisse and then hit up a local Hammam for a good scrubdown because it had been a few days since our last shower. Auggie and I splurged on a massage while Phil reluctantly offered to scrub down a rather bicurious Italian man as he returned the favor. We had a lot of time to kill in Tunis before our late night flight out, so we did some laundry and took a brief train up north to Carthage, which at one point over a thousand years ago was the center of power in the Mediterranean (before the Romans raped it).

Back in Tunis, we headed to the airport around 10 p.m. for a 4 a.m. flight. Once there, I managed to sell my computer to the man working at the post office for US$300 (quite a price for a 2004 Laptop that runs slower than my brother). After an arduous early morning flight, we hit an Amazing Race-esque road block at the Frankfurt airport when we discovered that the round-trip train ticket to Amsterdam would cost more than 200 Euros per person (twice what we anticipated). We ended up renting a car for just under 200 Euros, total, and burned it up the Autobahn in our Ford S-Max for the 450 km drive to Amsterdam. It took us only 3 hours (we love the Autobahn).

Amsterdam has been great, and we're ready to ship back down to Africa for a 5-day visit to Morocco. We're alive, rejuvenated and ready to tread on. Pictures from the last week to follow soon.