On Wednesday we went to a Pacific music concert. I don't like the music but I went to see friends who enjoyed it a lot, and it was great to see them happy. The main group everyone was waiting for was called Chocquitown.
Yesterday we went to another concert of Los Van Van from Cuba. We got there very early and waited 8 hours for the group to arrive, they were 2 hours late. Waiting for such a long time made everyone tired. We couldn't go to the toilet or to buy food as there were too many people and they wouldn't let you get back to your place. So we waited, thirsty and hungry. I was thinking: I would never do it in Europe, I would never ever spend so much time waiting and doing nothing but here is Cali, you do it because the group is good and the concert is free. In the picture: waiting in the crowd with Yeimmy.
Today I am in Orlando's house, with his family, waiting patiently for the New Year. My friends in Europe  already celebrated it, we are still waiting as there is 5 hours time difference. We don't do much, we are just waiting and trying to talk from time to time but.... the salsa music is so loud that you would never believe it can be so loud in somebody's house. But this is Colombia :) The music will be loud all night long and I suppose tomorrow as well, as it was at Christmas.
To all my wonderful friends all over the world: HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope it will be happy for all of us and that in 2011 I will be able to meet up with friends I haven't seen for a long time.

Yesterday I saw "the other side" of Cali. Side I haven't known before and to be honest I was a little bit disappointed to see. Eduardo, my tattooist, invited me to a party in a gay club in a district called Granada. It was a famous gay club but everyone could come to this big party. When I arrived Eduardo was still working in a hurry, he had to paint bodies of all the staff. Then the party began. There was no salsa at all and there were many gays, something you will never see in salsa clubs here. Just a big modern, techno, electronic and pop music party. I had fun as I met friends I haven't seen for more than 3 months. Eduardo works in the club from time to time doing some art jobs so all the drinks were free for his "team", including myself. It was interesting to experience this "other side" but I won't come back to this kind of party, and I don't want to remember it too clearly :) For me Cali is the salsa kingdom, and I want it to stay this way in my heart.
In the picture with Eduardo on the right and his friends on the left.
Here is an interesting story about Jovita (symbol of Cali), unfortunately I couldn't find an English version.
http://www.caliescali.com/jovita-feijo/
And pictures of the waterfalls and from Paraguay:
Iguazu waterfalls and Asunción

On Monday we went to see "cabalgata" (horses parade). Horse owners gather on one street and they show off their beautiful horses and the way they walk (for example the "paso fino" steps). It was nothing special to be honest, just horses walking down the street and owners chatting to each other, as if there was no crowd watching them all the time (cabalgata in the picture). Well, at least it was a great way to spend an afternoon with family or friends. Orlando said that before they used to ride horses and drink alcohol at the same time, and then maltreating the animals (and felling down the horses I would imagine). For this reason cabalgata was suspended for one year. They started organising it again however alcohol has been prohibited.
In the evening we went to melomanos meeting. At the beginning they played very old salsa music and then there was a concert of a very good orchestra called Willie Rosario (it's name of the singer and name of his orchestra). The concert was great and all the local people knew words of all the songs by heart.

Yesterday the Couch Surfing people met in Plaza de Toros to dance salsa. There was also stand up comedy and some funny competitions.
This morning I had a long conversation with Yeimmy, my wonderful friend I live with. I admire her so much. She works as a stewardess for Avianka airlanes, one of the best South American airlines. She also sells clothes and cosmetics which she buys in New York, where everything is cheaper than in Colombia. She also works on a project, she asked me not to say what it is until it is finalised but I am sure she will be successfull and her business will go very well. She is doing this on her own. She has a great help from her aunt who lives in US and from few friends but all decisions are taken by Yeimmy. She told me a story of her childhood, it wasn't all roses (just like my life). In fact, her life was very hard until she got independent, found a good job and she understood that she had to cut off all the past to be happy.

Yesterday we went to salsodromo, it's the first event (salsa parade) of the 5-day festival "Feria de Cali". The parade is 1 km long, lasts 5 hours and takes 6 months to prepare. There are 25 salsa schools showing off their skills. Unfortunately, it wasn't a nice experience due to the crowd pushing us all the time as everyone wanted to see the parade and the organisation of the event was bad. The parade itself was very nice but we didn't stay long. We moved to a concert which officialy opened the festival. I liked the concert and I met a lot of friends but I was so tired after my trip through the continent that I came back home early.

In the picture with Orlando and Karen.

In Cali, Colombia again

My trip up the continent was pretty horrible. It took the whole day to travel (well, I did almost 4000 km) and my luggage didn't arrive in Cali. But... I was happy. Orlando and Javier picked me up from the airport, it was wonderful to see them again. We went to Tin Tin Deo, the famous salsa club, where I met other friends.
Then I came to Yeimmy's flat. She invited me to stay with her as long as I like but at one point I would like to rent a room somewhere as Yeimmy's place is really small. It is fantastic to see her too.

Yesterday, on the 24th of December, I spent the evening and night with Orlando and his family (in the picture with Orlando's mum and niece). I enjoyed myself a lot, we had nice food and ron of course :) The street where they live is decorated with many lights. When I arrived in Cali I could see no lights and I couldn't believe it because it's Christmas. But then I saw Orlando's street and some other streets in the city, and they were all illuminated.
In Colombia 24th is the most important day of Christmas, you spend it with family. 25th and 26th is just salsa party, salsa party and salsa party (called Feria de Cali). In Cali you will never hear Christmas carols, all you hear is salsa music in houses, streets, supermarkets and buses.

Last night I went out with Diana. I really enjoyed her company, she is kind of a person you must see in your life again so I promised to come back to Asunción one day, for her wedding :)
I stayed just one day in the city however this day was very long. Diana took me on an intensive cultural ride and I heard a lot of interesting stories about Paraguay. I visited many places, ate typical Paraguayan food and drunk terere (ha ha ha... sorry, the name is so funny). Apparently Paraguay is the hottest country in South America... it was really hot.
Early in the morning I boarded a plane to Cali, Colombia.

PARAGUAY, In Asunción

The bus was 45 minutes late. Too many tickets were sold so as a result people didn't have seats, the bus was overcrowded. The conditions were unhuman as the temperature outside was 40 degrees. We stopped at the Argentinian border and an hour later at the Paraguayan border (it is a big distance between these two custom offices). We arrived in Ciudad del Este and from there I took a bus to Asunción, it was another horrible and tiring trip. When I finally arrived in Asuncion at 1 am, I took a very expensive taxi to Diana's flat. She works as a music teacher in a college, before that she used to play violin in an orchestra. She travelled to many South American countries with the group, playing concerts, until she stopped few years ago and started teaching. She is a great person.
We visited the city centre this morning and afternoon (it's small) then we got caught in the rain so we went to a bar. I tried the typical Paraguayan food, for example the only in the world solid soup. I couldn't believe it was soup!! I tried "terere" (ha ha ha... what a name) - it's tea or "mate" but drunk cold, with ice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terer%C3%A9
In Asunción people carry thermoses with them too, like in Argentina and Uruguay. However, here the thermoses are big and heavy (but also very beautiful - in the picture Diana and her monster thermos). I really admire the people, I would never ever in a million years carry such a heavy thing all day round, every day.
In Paraguay they speak Spanish and Guarani (and in Asunción also Jopara). Not many people speak Spanish but all of them speak Guarani which was the main language until recently, when they added Spanish as an official language. In Paraguay you can pay with American dollars except from some small shops.
There is a huge hydroelectric dam in Itaipu in Paraguay:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaipu_Dam

Porto Iguazu is a nice small town. For the first time I felt the atmosphere of Christmas because many houses and bars are decorated with lights, which looks lovely at night.
This morning, very early, we took a bus to the waterfalls. We spent 6 hours in the Iguazu Park, walking, walking and walking. Walking from one fall to another, walking up and down stairs to see them from the top and from the bottom. The falls are absolutely fantastic, they are another proof of how powerful the nature is. Many people were visiting the place which I didn't like but well, I was one of them. The waterfalls are great so no wonder the park is crowded all year round.
We also took a boat which gets to the bottom of two waterfalls. I couldn't breathe several times because of the water and I got completely wet. It was a great fun.
Later in the afternoon I am taking a bus to Paraquay.

In Porto Iguazu, Argentina again

Yes, the driver was going to our destination but he had to stop at night and sleep. We decided to carry on by bus to get to the town quicker but as it was getting late, we were feeling more and more tired. The driver proposed that we sleep in his truck which was big and comfortable, so we did. When we woke up on Monday morning the rain disappeared. It was sunny and extremely hot. We felt great because we had a good rest at night.
The vegetation in the north part of Argentina is fantastic, the colour of trees and bushes is light green, so optimistic! We were very close to Brazil, about 6 km from the border. We could see very skinny and sick dogs near the road - unnourished people and animals on the road are a sign that you are in or near Brazil...
Our destination was Foz de Iguazu in Brazil but we changed our minds and we got off in Porto Iguazu, an Argentinian town. We found a hostel, had a walk in the town and wanted to take a bus to the waterfalls on the Brazilian side (they are very close to Porto Iguazu). However, we forgot that it's one hour ahead in Brazil and they let people in to the Iguazu Park until 4 pm. We were late. We got upset for this reason but only for a moment. Tomorrow we will visit the falls on the Argentinian side, the area is much bigger than the Brazilian side (in the picture). Of course, everything is expensive here as many tourists come to this part of South America to see the waterfalls.
My pictures from Uruguay:
Montevideo and Maldonado

I arrived in Salto at 6.30 am. I asked different companies if there was a bus to Concordia, on the Argentinian side (you have to go there first to get to Brazil). There wasn't. I noticed an European girl with a big rucksack in the bus station. I asked her if she was going to Concordia by chance. She was. So I  hitch-hiked with Francesca from Germany. It was a great fun although not easy to hitch-hike at 7 am on Sunday, in a violent storm.... (in the picture: before the storm).
But... nothing is impossible. A man gave us a lift to the Argentinian border and another one, a custom officer, to Concordia (all the distance: 29 km). It appeared that all the buses were leaving from Concordia to Iguazu late at night. We couldn't bear waiting in the sad bus station all day, so we decided to.... hitch-hike more, in the rain.
There were two dogs I was "talking to" at the bus station. They walked us to the road where we started stopping cars, quite a long way. They were barking at some cars and at some not, like telling us: these are good people and these are not. Interesting.
Somebody gave us a lift to the highway and he spoke to the patrolling police officers. The police stopped a truck for us and asked the man to take us to another city. 5 hours later the driver spoke to another truck driver and we changed at a petrol station. The second truck was going straight to our final destination!! - we did about 1000 km in total, hitch-hiking in South America (cost: 0 pounds!..). I would never ever did it in the north part of the continent. I used to hitch-hike a lot on my own in Europe years ago, and I loved it. But in some South American countries doing it means robbery, rape or death.

In the late afternoon I left Maldonado for Montevideo (in the picture with Nicolas' parents). I had to come back to the capital because you get all the bus connections from the city, all roads lead to Montevideo in this country :)
When I arrived, I bought a ticket to Salto, near Argentinian border. My destination is Foz de Iguazu in Brazil, a town with the famous in the world waterfalls. They are situated on the border of three countries: Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay but only accessible from Brazil and Argentina. First I am heading to Foz.
http://www.curitiba-brazil.com/iguacu-falls.htm
It looks like the whole trip from Maldonado to Foz will be a nightmare as I will change buses 4 times and I will travel for 20 hours. I was also told that tomorrow there are no buses going from Salto to the Argentinian border (Sunday, the only day with no bus service) so.... well.... tomorrow... I will be hitch-hiking for the first time in South America.

Nicolas' parents are wonderful. The mother wasched our clothes and dried them, she also makes breakfast for us every day. The father always watches us, ready to help with anything. They are treating us as they would like somebody to treat their son. I hope that Nicolas will always find such caring Couch Surfing hosts as his parents are (and himself too).
This morning we went to a nudist beach called Chihuahua. Well, I was the only nudist in the group but the beach was beautiful and everyone wanted to see it. I have visited a lot of nudist beaches in Europe but this was the first one in South America. I don't think there are many on the continent, apart from Brazil maybe which is a quite liberated country.
In the late afternoon I went to the famous Punta del Este town with Nicolas. He does a contract work in the town so I had a walk around on my own. Punta is a popular touristic spot, beautiful and clean, with many rich people living there. I saw a lot of tourists, too many to my taste, I prefer the wild beaches of Maldonado.
It's so funny watching people in the streets in Uruguay. Every second man holds a thermos with hot water and drinks mate (mentioned in my blog before in section Cordoba) which is incredible, such a great national habit. I like Uruguay, there is something very charming about the country and the people are lovely. I am definitely going to come back here one day to explore the whole east coast of the country.

In Maldonado

This morning I took a bus from Montevideo to Maldonado. Distance: 134 km, 2 hours on the bus, cost: 5 pounds. I need to relax on a beach for few days and to be lazy for a change. Not much walking and visiting! - I promised myself during a long walk back home from the beach.
My host Nicolas picked me up from the bus station with Dee from Ireland who arrived in his house 2 hours before me. In the house I met his parents, a girl from Peru and Poland, and a guy from Medellin in Colombia. We have had a lot of fun on the beach and we were swimming a lot in the cold sea today (in the picture).
Maldonado is a small town, there is just a main square, many shops and streets. But... it's great, I need a change after visiting several big cities.

When I was visiting the city again today, I couldn't see any tourists. I suppose Montevideo is not a touristic destination as there is not much to see. Uruguay is famous for its amazing beaches, I am travelling to a seaside town tomorrow to find out if the beaches are really so great :)
I've seen so many abandoned buildings today!!... so many of them... some really big and beautiful, like the one in my picture. I will always remember Montevideo for the abandoned buildings, it is so unusual.
Uruguay is not as cheap as you would think it is (or as you would hope...). I had a look in few shops in a shopping centre, the prices were higher than in London. So far the cheapest shops I found were in Chile and Argentina, the richest countries of South America.
People use a lot the word "barbaro" which I didn't hear in other countries. It means "cool, great".
My pictures from the capital of Argentina:
Buenos Aires
And a video:
Aga and Cristian dancing Lambada Zouk in Buenos Aires, 10 Dec 2010

I had a walk around in the city centre yesterday (in the picture the main square). The centre is really nice but some streets outside of the central zone look isolated and unwelcoming. I don't feel as safe as I felt in Buenos Aires, I wouldn't walk here on my own at night. It's probably because there are many people in the centre of Buenos Aires during the day and night, and here not. Apart from numerous beautiful buildings, there are many old and rough ones, and a lot of them are abandoned. Such a pity, if they renovated them the city would look much nicer. Montevideo is a port city. There weren't many people in the port so I just had 5 minute walk along the empty beach and I came back to places with more people. Generally, I feel a good vibe in the city.

URUGUAY, In Montevideo

In the evening I went for the last time to Güerrin, the best pizza place in Buenos Aires. They serve excellent cakes too, I had my favourite flan with dulce de leche and a lot of caramel sauce.
Then I went dancing to get rid of the extra calories :) I forgot to mention before that I met Romina who lives in Buenos Aires. She is a famous lambada zouk teacher and also a very energetic person with beautiful personality. I was watching many videos of her dancing with my teacher from London; I arrived in BA and I met her personally (with Romina in the picture).

The next morning I said goodby to Daniela and I went to Porto Madero to buy a ferry ticket to Montevideo (well, the ferry left us in a town called Colonia where a bus was waiting for us). All the trip cost 34 pounds and it took 4 hours to get from Buenos Aires to the capital of Uruguay. It's possible to do the whole trip by land only but it takes much longer and apparently it's more expensive.
I arrived in Montevideo in the evening and I took a local bus to my host's flat. The city is very different than Buenos Aires. It's smaller and dirtier but it has some charm. Rafael lives in a nice new building on the 7th floor, with a view over a beautiful abandoned train station and the city port.

This afternoon I finally went to the famous La Boca district, which is colourful and charming (in the picture). There are only few safe streets where tourists can walk, but it's enough to get the feeling of the Argentinian culture. There are many restaurants with tango shows, people are singing or bands are playing in the streets. You can find many handcraft shops in La Boca. Lovely place although very crowded.
Later in the day I moved to Daniela's house again. Bruno's mother is coming to visit and she will be staying in his flat. Daniela kindly agreed to share her bed with me this night; I can't have my bed back as she is hosting another Couch Surfer at the moment.
In a couple of hours I am going to the lambada club for the last time. Hernan and his friends are coming too, to do the beginners class. I should be paid for bringing people to the club and introducing them to lambada :)
Tomorrow I am going to Uruguay. I have spent 300 pounds in 2 weeks in Argentina, with no accomodation costs. Buses between cities, food in bars and supermarkets, taxis - all this is expensive here. What is cheap is local buses and tube in Buenos Aires. Entrance fee to the lambada club is 3.20 pounds a night. It includes 1 hour class and 1 drink, which is extremelly cheap comparing to London.
I am very sad that I have to leave Buenos Aires but.... I WILL BE BACK.

The accent and pronunciation of the language in Argentina is very different than in other Spanish speaking countries. It's because of a strong Brazilian influence, not only on the language but also music or food.
Yesterday in the afternoon I took a train to Tigre, a town by the Tigre river. I was warned to be careful on the train, and indeed it was filthy and filled with some dodgy, dirty people. The first time in Argentina I saw ugly districts from the train, on the way to the town. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Tigre, when I arrived I had a walk around but there was nothing to see. I booked an hour boat trip on the river (in the picture: the starting point), which was nice. The river is narrow, there are many boats overtaking one another and a lot of holiday houses on both sides of the river. It must be lovely to spend a weekend by the river, although I wouldn't like so many boats passing in front of  my nose while I am having rest.
At night Bruno's friends came over and they made sushi, it was delicious. His friends are nice but they don't talk to me. I think they are shy and they don't know how to do it. Maybe it's just me who can talk to anyone anytime and about anything. The guys talk between them, as if I was not there. If I say something, they always listen carefully, reply, explain... and then start talking between them again, and I feel eliminated from the conversation.

Yesterday I wanted to go to a district called La Boca. It's a famous and apparently dangerous district in Buenos Aires, with many skilled pick pocketers (but without guns I was told by locals).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Boca
I never got there. It was pouring with rain after breakfast so I decided to wait a little bit on my mattress... I woke up at 5 pm, Bruno came back from work 10 minutes later so I did shopping and I cooked. I like cooking in this house because I feel that Bruno appreciates it.
At night I went to Beleza Maluco. I have many friends in the club now so I was dancing a lot (sometimes with 4 guys at the same time as you can do in lambada), until DJ started playing electronic music after midnight. Beleza Maluco is the only club where dancing starts earlier than in other places.

I met Sandra and David again, they are stuck in Buenos Aires at the moment (they want to travel to Rio de Janeiro as soon as possible). David was robbed in Bolivia, he got into a taxi and few minutes later two men with guns appeared on both sides of him and demanded money and credit card. He told them he didn't have any cash but he gave them his card and a fake pin code. He had some money in a pocket so he was able to pay for the rest of the trip to Buenos Aires but now he needs to pay for the hostel and trip back to Colombia. His friend has sent him money through Western Union but the company tells him every day that the money hasn't come through yet so he has to wait.
I spoke to Bruno about his dog. He said that all Jack Russells have bad character and it's nothing you can do about it. When the dog was little, Bruno used to slap his face when he became agressive to make sure that he will not bite anyone, so now the dog knows he can't do it. But to my surprise, the dog started to behave. He is not coming on my mattress without my permission any more (he sits next to my head when I lie and stares at me, waiting for the green light). When I let him in, he fells asleep immediately and starts snoring like a bear. I can't help it, I have to smile when it happens. I like him, despite his bad behaviour. I respect his bad moods and he respects my wishes, this is  how it's working now. Just like between people.
Yesterday I went to a club called "La Salsera". As the name indicates, there is salsa dancing and classes during the week except from Thursday - it's lambada night!! :)) I arrived at 11.30 pm and there were only 3 people in the club. I introduced myself and danced few times (I love it when the floor is empty). Other people came at about 1 am. Oh my god... it's not how I like it. I like the London way, where the classes start at 8.30 pm, we start dancing at 10 pm and finish at 3 am. You can dance a lot, sleep at night and do something productive the next day.
This time not many guys asked me for a dance, they were dancing with friends. I was observing them for a while and then I started asking for a dance those guys whose style of dancing I liked. I somethimes feel shy to do it, especially when I am in a new club, but it always pays off. Yesterday I made new friends and I was given lift home. I understood that men don't ask me for a dance because they are too shy to ask a foreigner, they are scared of unknown. Shy, shy, shy... wouldn't this world be better without this feeling??...

I found out that Daniela doesn't have a Facebook account. Wow!! - I thought I was one in a million, now we are two in a million :)

It was a catholic holiday in Argentina yesterday (Day of Virgin Mary), people didn't work and many shops were closed. I moved to Bruno's flat which is very close to Daniela's flat. He is photographer, one of the rooms is his photography studio. He also has a little Jack Russells. Changing hosts is tiring but at the same time you meet various people, they all have different lives so you learn a lot.
Yesterday I was invited to a dinner party by Bruno's friend. The food and the company were excellent, all the people were Argentinian apart from one girl from South Africa.
As you all know I absolutely love dogs. But the little creature I live with at the moment is unpredictable and agressive. Yesterday I couldn't leave the house at night because he got agressive when I wanted to leave. I had a tempting thought of kicking him but eventually I managed to shut the entrance door with the growling dog inside the flat. This night he tried to get on my mattress several times so I had to push him out. When I woke up I let him sleep next to me for a while but when I wanted to get up, he became agressive again. Monster!!...
In the picture: one of the streets in San Telmo district.

Yesterday I visited streets with many outlets as I was looking for a lambada dress. At night I met Sandra from Switzerland (who I met in Colombia and who I have been corresponding with since) and David from Colombia who travelled 7 days by bus through South America to meet her in Buenos Aires. Daniela joined us; we went for a drink and we had a great time (in the picture).
This afternoon I met the guys again in their hostel in San Telmo (a famous for tango shows district) and we went to eat the best pizza in Buenos Aires, near obelisco.

I have changed hosts. Hernan had a guest "booked" a lot of time ago so I could stay with him until Sunday, when Julia arrived. She is from Ukraine but she lives and works in Los Angeles. I met her in the morning, we all had breakfast together and I left to Daniela's house. Daniela lives in Palermo district, like Hernan, but in a different part. When I arrived we had a long chat. She is a lawyer who works for ONG but after many years of working in the sector she thinks about going on a long holiday and then changing profession. She separated from her French boyfriend a month ago so she is very upset at the moment, although she doesn't want to show it. She is planning to go on holiday to Ecuador in January as all the courts are closed during this month in Argentina (only few are dealing with very urgent cases). At the moment she is extremely busy at work as everyone is trying to solve their court cases before the end of December.
At night I was dancing lambada :)) Daniela, Hernan, Julia and Pedro from Mexico (who I met in the salsa club on Thursday) went with me and did the beginners class.
Interesting information: we were talking about my dog in Poland whose name is Sonda and Daniela initially thought it was Zonda. Zonda is a very dry wind which occurs in Argentina.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonda_wind
In the picture: in the city centre with Daniela, before going to the lambada club.

I wanted to see something new in the city but I just couldn't face walking miles again so Hernan took me on a ride in his car. He showed me some great places, for example Puerto Madero, "Pink House" (a government building painted in pink), National Congress building. What can I say?.... I love Buenos Aires. Before I came here I was worried that everything in the city was about tango. I don't like tango dance and music so I was worried that I would be forced to participate in it. But... no no and no. BA is not only about tango; it is about salsa, lambada, friendship, nice weather, amazing just amazing buildings and amazing streets. When Hernan was driving I counted lanes on the 9th of July street. 7 lanes going just in one direction, in the middle of the city!!!!! And 7 on the other side of the road. I can't describe how amazed I am. The city is enormous and very beautiful. I would like to live here (such a big statement....).
At night Federico picked me up on his motorbike and I did more visiting from the motorbike seat. I enjoyed it a lot. I got a hayfever and I had to buy medication because my eyes got really itchy. I asked Federico to keep his mobile ready and to phone an ambulance in case I got an alergic reaction. After my experience in Peru I am really scared to take any medication. But I took the first tablet and hey!! - I am ok. Federico got nervous when he heard the story from Cusco and when I asked him the favour...
We went to the lambada street party at 1.30 am. When we arrived the party had not started yet, people were preparing the music equipment (can you believe it, at 1.30 at night!!!...). They said it could be half an hour longer. I was tired to be honest and Federico got a little bit angry because of the delay so we came back home. Today I am going to Maluco Beleza, the same great lambada club that I went to on Friday.
In the picture: pedestranised Florida street in the centre of Buenos Aires.

Yesterday I was visiting the city centre. Hernan lent me a guide book with a walking track, showing the most beautiful and interesting places and buildings. They included squares, monuments, the biggest streets (9th of July is apparently the biggest street in the world), theatres, shops. Buenos Aires is huge, its streets are long and wide. To be honest after two hours of walking I had enough and I turned my attention to shops with clothes :) The city is incredibly beautiful though and the atmosphere is good, I feel safe. It reminds me of Palermo in Sicily, my favourite place in Europe. People are busy in the streets but somehow it's not the same crazy "busy" that in London.

At night I went to a lambada zouk club where I was dancing a lot. Do I have to say how happy I was??... I found the club on internet, I went there on my own... and I left having at least 20 friends who are waiting for me at the lambada street party tonight. The music was excellent and the dancers were very good. I was waiting for this moment for a long time (I was dancing lambada the last time 8 months ago in Fortaleza, Brazil). I felt a little bit nervous because I thought that maybe I forgot lambada steps but there was nothing to worry about - I was dancing better than ever before :)
When I arrived to the club people asked me about my teachers in London who are the best lambada dancers in the world, from the Kaoma group: Braz and Patricia Cruz from Porto Seguro in Brazil.
After dancing we went to a bar for a drink (in the picture - the lambada team). All the people working in the bar dance lambada :)
I met Federico who lives very close to my host's flat so he gave me a lift back on his motorbike.
So far my life in Buenos Aires could not be better.

On my first night in Buenos Aires I was...... dancing a lot :))) I went to a Couch Surfing meeting in a salsa club called Jannoy (in the picture). I met only two Couch Surfers at the bar, out of 70 who were supposed to come. But it wasn't a problem. I went to the place thinking that I would not find good dancers and I would come back home early. I was very surprised to meet many professional dancers and luckily, Argentinian guys are not shy so they were asking me for a dance a lot. Not like in Brazil where guys were dancing only with friends and I had to ask them for a dance. The place was great, with a lot of space to dance so you don't step on each other's feet.
I met Pedro from Mexico who has been travelling for 14 months now. He is a great dancer; he spent a month in Cali attending salsa classes. I think people attend the classes in Cali and they never use the skills they had learnt as Cali salsa you dance only in Cali. Yesterday we were dancing mainly New York style and surprisingly, a lot of bachata. I was very happy and I felt alive again, after more than two months without dancing.
My pictures from the trip through Andes (Chile - Argentina) and from two Argentinian cities:
Mendoza and Cordoba

In Buenos Aires

Cordoba - Buenos Aires: 770 km, 10 hours on the bus, cost: 29 pounds. The bus was very comfortable but at one point the air conditioning was too much for me. The cold air was blowing in my face and I could hear people behind me putting on clothes and suddenly getting quiet. I had a panoramic seat in front of the bus on the second floor so I went down to speak to the driver. He switched off the air conditioning for the whole night so people could sleep well :)
We arrived in the bus station in Retiro, a district in Buenos Aires. It is very cofusing when you want to board a bus to BA from another city. It always says Retiro on the bus and you think that it's not Buenos Aires. I took tube and I arrived in my host's flat. Tube is cheap here, it costs 18 pence a ride.
Hernan lives in a nice part of the city, by a small but beautiful park. When I arrived I had a sleep and I woke up at 4 pm again.
In the picture: the huge Avenida 9 de Julio in the centre of Buenos Aires (the famous obelisco in the background) and Avenida Cordoba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk_of_Buenos_Aires

Yesterday I did some visiting again; visiting, visiting, visiting. Visiting is all my life at the moment. Walking miles to visit something. I went to Museum of Natural Sciences and did more visiting in the centre. Cordoba is a beautiful city I have to say.
This morning I woke up at 7 am (ouch!!...) because my host Cristian invited me on a trip outside of Cordoba. It was the first time I met my host as he lives in a different flat. We went to Villa los Aromos where Cristian girlfriend's family has been building a summer/weekend house and Cristian (who is an architect) is supervising the work. The village was very nice and the air so fresh!! Then we took another bus to Alta Gracia, a beautiful town where I visited museum of Che Guevara (in the picture).
What is really funny for me (I couldn't stop laughing...) is that if you ask a passerby or a local for information, you shout: hey, flaco!! - which means: hey, skinny!! - and nobody gets offended :) However, you can't shout: hey, gordo!! - hey, fatty!! because this is offensive.

In Cordoba

Distance Mendoza - Cordoba: 675 km, 11 hours on the bus, cost: 30 pounds. The bus was nice and clean but not comfortable, the seats didn't fold down much. However, I slept all the night and I woke up in Cordoba. I took taxi to my host's flat, he was at work so his lovely sister Mercedes opened the door for me. She looks very Argentinian. Her boyfriend twisted ankle while playing tennis, had an operation and has his leg in a cast so he can't work at the moment. He is a carpenter and has his own business. My host Cristian sleeps in his girlfriend's house so I can sleep in his room.
When I arrived in the flat at 9 am Mercedes had to come back to work. She works in a hospital as a chemist and she came home just to open the door for me. I lied down just for "20 minutes" to have a rest... and I woke up at 4 pm... I quickly went to the town centre to see where I was. I met Lionel from Couch Surfing (in the picture) who took me on a very cultural ride, starting from the preparation of "mate". Lionel works for Fiat in administration.
When he invited me to drink mate (which we simply call tea in Europe) I was sure we would go to a bar. I was wrong. We sat on a bench and he took out from his rucksack the mate leaves, thermos with hot water, surgar, silver straw and a small wooden gourd. He quickly prepared mate on the bench. We had three mates each and I have to say it was something I wouldn't drink regularly, it's too strong and bitter. However, this is what Argentinians are famous for, as well as people in Urugway and Paragway. I remember my host Carlos from Santiago de Chile asking me what's the difference between a Chilean and Argentinian on the beach in Viña del Mar. The answer (which I didn't know) was that all the Argentinians have thermoses with them and drink hot mate on the beach :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

Mendoza is very famous for its wine, you can see the vineyards all the way from the Chilean border. The city is very small but clean, safe and pleasant. However the food in bars is pricy (since I left Bolivia I turned to cooking).
In the afternoon I went to Parque Mendoza. It's a huge park with an artificial lake (in the picture: entrance gate to the park). This night I will be travelling to Cordoba.
My pictures from the capital of Chile:
Santiago de Chile

I slept a lot this morning, my body is very tired now. Travelling for 10 months makes you exhausted.
Then I went out with my host Jose', he is a lovely guy. He lives in a big house with three housemates and a cat. He showed me the most interesting places in Mendoza (mainly squares) and.... a dogs market!!! (in the picture). I was talking to ladies who were giving away the puppies. They work for a dogs shelter which looks after homeless dogs. It's so much needed in Chile... well done!
In the evening I bought some food in a supermarket and I cooked a nice meal for all of us. The food in bars and restaurants is just too expensive.

ARGENTINA, In Mendoza

This morning I went to Plaza de Armas again, to post a card for my father. He loves receiving postcards from me. It was my last day in Chile, in the afternoon I left for Argentina.
I spent 150 pounds in 10 days in Chile. Chile is expensive, very European (so different from other
South American countries) and people in Santiago are busy. Although before I came to the city, I thought it was bigger and busier, kind of London but not, nothing like this. You can visit the whole city in one day on foot. What surprised me a lot were dogs. Millions of homeless dogs sleeping like dead in the streets and parks. They rule the cities and towns and they form gangs. Luckily, people respect them and feed them so they are not skinny like in Brazil for example, and they are generally very friendly. Sorry, maybe I talk to much about dogs :)
Spanish that people speak in Chile was the most difficult for me to understand, comparing to other South American countries. Sometimes it sounds like another language.

Santiago de Chile - Mendoza: 341 km, 6 hours on the bus, cost: 15 pounds. The route to the Chilean - Argentinian border is just spectacular. I highly recommend taking bus during the day to be amazed by the range of Andes, high mountains with snow on the summits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes
On our minibus I spoke to a guy about earthquakes (my favourite subject in Chile). I learnt so much about earthquakes and how to cope with them. In Santiago the deadly earthquake happened in February this year, the next one is expected in 20 - 25 years. The same in the south of the country. However, the north is preparing for a big one just now. All the government can do is to warn people and to introduce "survival" programmes because the exact date and time are not known. Apparently the best thing to do when it starts is to stand in the entrance door. Inside and outside of the house there is a risk of being hit by falling walls and objects.

In Viña del Mar and Valparaiso

This morning I took a bus to Viña del Mar. I was told that it's the most beautiful city in Chile. I can confirm that it's the most beautiful city I have seen in the country (in the picture). Situated 2 hours from Santiago, at the seaside (Santiago doesn't have access to the sea), clean, with just fantastic tall palm trees (kind of Las Vegas... I saw on TV), cormorans, beautiful houses, nice plants. I immediately felt happy when I started visiting the town.
In Chile, the first time in my trip, I found cheap shops, kind of Primark in London. It's so ironic - in poor countries of South America these shops don't exist, and in countries like Chile or England they do.
I was invited a couple of times for a drink by some rich men, they spotted me walking on my own and told the waiter to call me. I politely refused but I liked that they didn't have problem doing this, like in other countries where men are too shy.
In the late afternoon I took a local bus to Valparaiso, it takes 20 minutes to get there from Viña. Valparaiso is a port city but it's considered a world heritage site because of its beautiful town centre. Although the city is nice, I felt claustrophobic at times because there are a lot of buildings squeezed in small space.
I came back home to Santiago very late and very tired.

Today I went to the museum of Pablo Neruda, a very famous in the world Chilean writer and politician, who I knew from the Italian film "Il Postino".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda
The museum, which was Neruda's house in the past, was interesting.
At home, Carlos asked me if I knew what "caffee with legs" was. My first thought was: coffee with sweets made of cow legs which I tried in Colombia, floating on the coffee surface. I was wrong. It's a way of serving coffee in a famous bar in Santiago - by waitresses in miniskirts. Of course the bar is very popular :)
Later at night I went to a Couch Surfing meeting where I met nice people (in the picture CS Santiago de Chile).

My host Carlos lives right in the centre of Santiago, in a beautiful building. His flat is on the 17th floor (wow, that's high!!). He said that during the scary earthquake in February this year he thought his life was going to end. Everything was shaking and living on the 17th floor made things even worse. His flat was swinging from one side to another, Carlos was holding onto a wall convinced that the building was going to collapse.
I would really like to experience a little earthquake, just a little one.... so I am waiting.
There is a drink called terremoto (earthquake). The story is that a German tourist asked for a glass of white wine in a bar. The wine came warm, not cold as white wine should be. So he asked for a scoop of pineaple ice-cream to make the wine cooler. After drinking it he said that there was a real terremoto in his head. Since then, terremoto has been a popular drink in Santiago. I think Chile is known in the world for these things:
1. earthquakes
2. wine (on the second place as for example Polish people don't drink much wine so they are more familiar with Chilean earthquakes than wine)
3. copper mines and the resent accident when miners were trapped underground for over 2 months

This afternoon I went to the city centre again. To be honest Santiago seems to be all shops, sqares and parks (in the picture - in Cerro Santa Lucia, a nice park on a hill with a view over the city). I don't think there are many tourists in Santiago and if they are it's not easy to see them, like in other cities. Maybe it's because Chile is expensive so people prefer to go to Peru or Bolivia. For this reason I am being hussled a lot by men.
I was upset to hear about the accident which happened last night - a bus hit truck on the motorway near Santiago, killing 19 people. I remember that my travel buddy, who was looking after me on the bus to Santiago, advised me not to travel with Tur Bus company because they have many accidents. Wow, he just said this yesterday and short time later this horrible accident happens.
Here are my pictures from Antofagasta:
Antofagasta

In Santiago de Chile

Last night I took a bus to Santiago. Antofagasta - Santiago: 1360 km, 18 hours on the bus, cost: 23.50 pounds (in the picture: on the road).
The bus was comfortable and for the first time in ages I slept a lot on the bus. Chile as a well-developed country has good roads, unlike Bolivia or Peru where it was just impossible to sleep on buses because of bumpy roads.
A guy sitting next to me was coming back home from work in a mine in Calama. He was the most caring person I have met on a bus in my whole trip, making sure that I wasn't cold at night and that I felt comfortable all the time. In the morning he bought me coffee and biscuits. If he knew how much he contributed to my positive impression of Chile through these little actions.... In the morning we were talking a lot about earthquakes, politics and travelling.
I arrived in Santiago at 2 pm, left my rucksack in the station and I am visiting the city centre now. My Couch Surfing host is coming back from work at 7.30 pm. The first thing I noticed in Santiago was the temperature. It's as hot as I like it to be. Finally, after months of mixed weather and cold nights, it's very hot. Hurrrahhhh!!!....
My pictures from two towns in the north part of Chile:
San Pedro de Atacama and Calama

I met Shirley's sister and her friend, they just arrived in Antofagasta. We all visited La Portada yesterday. It is a bunch of stones in the sea forming a beautiful gate (in the picture). Apparently this is what Antofagasta is famous for. It takes 30 minutes to get to La Portada, driving from the city through the desert. It is a very beautiful spot.
We also went to a seafood market and I bought huge mussles. Right by the market you can see sea lions, happily swimming in the sea. They are big and have funny faces :)
Than I went to a supermarket with Jorge (if you ask me what place I visited the most in Antofagasta, the answer will be Jumbo supermarket ha ha ha...). At night I cooked my speciality: mussles in tomato-cider sauce. We had a lot of fun while eating them as they were really big and some were difficult to open.

Yesterday we did shopping and then Jorge took me on a motorbike ride outside of the city. I enjoyed it a lot, few times we did over 150 km/h (in the picture after the ride).
At night I cooked a lovely omlette and I went out with Jorge to a local bar. It was birthday of his four friends. People were smoking, unfortunately in Chile you can smoke inside bars and clubs. I have to say that Chilean men are tall and good looking, they are my second favourite in South America, after Venezuelans.

Yesterday I went for a walk at the seaside. The seaside in Antofagasta is not especially beautiful but I was just happy to smell the sea. I love the smell of sea. There is one small beach in the middle of the city (in the picture), it is nice and the water is clean. Small beach but it brings a lot of happiness to people.
I met Shirley when she finished work in the afternoon. It was her last day in this fast food place. On Monday she and Jorge are opening a bar with Colombian food. I witnessed problems they are experiencing to open the bar but I hope that at the end everything will go smoothly and the business will be a great success.
I visited the city center with Shirley, it is nice but nothing special. Antofagasta is a mine city, not a tourist city.
In the evening Jorge cooked a delicious meal and then we were listening to lambada songs....

In Antofagasta

Distance Calama - Antofagasta: 215 km, 3 hours on the bus, cost: 5 pounds.
In the morning I went for a walk in Calama. There are so many homeless dogs in the town, more than I have ever seen in my life before, with exception of Bucarest in Romania. My heart was bleeding when I saw them sleeping in the streets and eating from the rubbish bins.
At 4 pm I took an extremely comfortable bus which crossed Atacama desert again.
When I arrived in the bus station in Antofagasta, I experienced a nightmare Couch Surfing situation (second of this kind in my trip). My host who I spoke to a day before and who confirmed that he would be waiting for me, wasn't answering phone all day. I was wandering in the bus station for 3 hours, phoning him every 10 minutes. Then I got angry. I went to internet cafe, found a number of another guy from CS who I had contacted before too, and I phoned him. Somehow, Jorge wasn't surprised that I was calling. He said I could stay in his flat and that he was going to pick me up in 10 minutes.
So I sat on the floor, very tired, and after a short while a girl approached me and asked: "Aga?". It was Shirley from Cali, Colombia!! I recognised her from her profile picture, I sent her an email a day before asking if she would like to have coffee with me in Antofagasta. It appeared that she rents a room in Jorge's flat. Such a coincidence :) My mood changed immediately, I felt I was in good hands.
On the same evening I went with Shirley to a jewellery shop of her friends, to put up Christmas decorations (in the picture - they needed somebody tall :)). Oh my god... is it Christmas yet? I don't feel the atmosphere at all, where is the snow??...
Few hours later, owners of the shop invited Shirley and me to a bar for dinner and drinks. I had Peruvian pisco sour and peach sour; both food and the drinks were lovely. At one point a drunk guy introduced himself to me and asked if I needed help. He wanted to phone Polish consulate or Chilean government... ha ha ha ha... No, I definitely didn't need help :)
Next batch of my pictures:
3-day trip to the Bolivian desert

In Calama

Distance San Pedro de Atacama - Calama: 95 km, 1.5 hours on the bus, cost: 2 pounds. Thomas was travelling with me but this night he is going back to Peru, to catch his plane to France. Travelling through Atacama desert is wonderful although it depends on the area. It is amazing to see dunes but it can be very boring if there is flat area for a long time.
When we arrived in Calama, I went to meet my hosts who live 5 minutes from the bus station and from the town centre. They are a lovely family, very talkative and full of energy. There is nothing to see in the town really, I am just stopping to have a rest and obviously the family is a great experience for me.
I introduced Thomas to the family. They invited us to eat with them but at the end it was Thomas and I who bought food in a supermarket and cooked. The food was Thomas' idea and it was absolutely delicious (in the picture Thomas in action). Then we sat in the kitchen, talking for ages, until Thomas had to catch his bus at night. The Family is great. The mother and father who are in their 60's recently went on a trip to Argentina and Urugway, doing Couch Surfing. Isn't it amazing?...
Some facts about the north part of Chile:
- it is very rich in minerals such as copper, iron, nitrates
- the biggest in the world open copper mine is situated 16 km from Calama. I was going to visit the mine but the tour was fully booked for the next 5 days
http://www.visitchile.com/eng/atacama-desert-altiplano/destination.asp?id=100
- there are many earthquakes, every day, just that most of them are unnoticeable. It is better when they are small and frequent so they don't accumulate resulting in one deadly earthquake
- Atacama desert is the driest places in the world. The Family told me the last time they experienced little rain 4 years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert
- it was Chile - Urugway football match at night. Chile won 2:0. People in bars got crazy :)
My pictures from the capital of Bolivia:
La Paz

CHILE, In San Pedro de Atacama

I spent 143 pounds in 10 days in Bolivia. It included 3-day trip to the desert which cost 70 pounds, all the rest was very cheap. The country surprised me, before I came here I had a picture of Bolivia in my head: a poor rural mountain country... I found out there are salt flats, desert, islands, lagoons, beautiful capital and nice people. However, the country is far behind other South American countries in regards to hygene, communication, organisation and education. For example it is difficult to find fast internet connection in La Paz, or Skype. All the computers are old and dirty.
I feel I need a change now. After Peru and Bolivia I need a higher standard of life and apparently this is what Chile and Argentina can offer me.

Thomas and I left our wonderful jeep team and we took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama (in the picture). Surprisingly, the bus ticket was included in the price of the desert trip.
It took us 2 hours to get to San Pedro, a town in the middle of Atacama desert. When you cross the border, you are not allowed to carry coca leaves and fruits with you. If you do it, you will have problems with the police and you will be fined 200 dollars.
When we arrived in the town, we found a nice hotel. I started writing my blog and Thomas fell asleep. San Pedro is very small, there is nothing to do apart from many activities in the desert. We spent 3 days in the desert, driving miles on the sand from one place to another so we need to rest from the desert at the moment :)

Day 3

We woke up at 4 am (ouch ouch ouch!!!..). It was very cold at night, everyone slept in clothes and hats. I slept only one hour, the cold kept me awake. We woke up so early because we wanted to see geysers on the altitiude of almost 5000 meters above the sea level. You can see them only early in the morning, later in the day the steam becomes invisible. It was freezing cold up there (-7 degrees).
After that we visited thermal springs and we dipped in the hot water (in the picture - I loved it). The temperature of the water was 30 - 35 degrees. The temperature outside was much lower... Somebody shouted my name in the springs... I turned my head and I saw Barbara who I had met on the trip from Copacabana to Island of Sun on Lake Titicaca, a week ago :)
Then we went to see an amazing green lagoon (this time the water seemed to be green) and then the driver gave me lift to the Chilean border. Thomas joined me, all other people carried on to a city in eastern Bolivia and then to Argentina.

Day 2

We woke up at 6 am (ouuuch!!...) and after breakfast we left. We had many great conversations in the car before we arrived in the place with unique in the world tombs. People used to be burried in these beautiful little caves, you can see their skeletons. The tombs are unique, as well as the salt houses and hotels, and they are situated in the middle of a desert called Sinoli. I loved the place, there was so much space around. I felt the vastness of space and I was happy. I thought that I could do anything I wanted with my life, nothing was impossible. Usually you feel small in the face of powerful but immensely silent nature... I felt incredibly strong.
After that we visited an active vulcano, amazing rocks in the desert and four beautiful lagoons with flamingos living peacefully in the region (in the picture at the first lagoon). I wanted to take a picture of my bare feet, dirty from the smelly mud due to its high sulphur content. I was looking for a position of my body with no shadow, I mean in Europe you have shadow on one side and no shadow on the other side of your body. After short confusion I realised that it was not possible - my feet were always in shadow.
There was a lot of dust in the desert. I always feel dirty in cities due to dust but never in deserts. In deserts I feel very integrated with the nature and dust is a part of the nature.

The last (fourth) lake is in a national park. The colour of the lake is intensive red due to a special kind of algea. The beautiful red colour disappears before the sunset so we were in a hurry to get to the park for 4 pm. We left our luggage in a 6-bed room and we went for a long walk. The area and lake are great. On the way back there was a strong freezing wind, very unpleasant.
When we were having tea in our hotel, Nadia and Lisabeth told us what happened to them in La Paz. They got on a taxi. Two more people got on before it even moved and one of them said he was a policeman, and he asked them for passports and money. The girls were confused and they said they had left everything in their hotel. So the policeman searched their rucksacks. The girls were looking at what he was doing all the time but when they returned to the hotel, their photo cameras were not in the rucksacks any more....

Later in the night, at the dining table, I heard two people speak Polish!! It was Kasia and Robert from Warsaw. We had a nice chat but unfortunately not very long as our drivers wanted to sleep and their rooms were by the dining room. It was getting freezing cold too.
When I told the Polish guys about my death experience they both asked, shocked "....so why didn't you come back home??" ha ha ha....

Day 1

We booked the trip to find out what the southwest part of Bolivia can offer and we were especially interested to see the salt desert. Our jeep left at 10.30 am with six passengers: a lovely American couple Molly and Barry, two Danish girls Nadia and Lisabeth, Thomas and I. We made a great team during these three days, as great as my Machu Picchu team.
On the first day we visited some tourist attractions of the region, including an astonishing island in the middle of the salt flats. It was full of huge cactuses (up to few meters high) which I have never seen in my life before (in the picture). We climbed the cactuses hill and as I was in an excellent company, I enjoyed myself a lot.
We arrived in our hotel in Villa Candelaria at 6 pm and after dumping our rucksacks in the rooms, we visited the village. Then we had dinner; Barry opened a very nice Bolivian wine which he bought in the morning. There are solar panels in Villa Candelaria and electricity is available only from 7 pm to 10 pm so we spent some time in the candle light, so great :) Our hotel, as all other buildings in the region, was made entirely of salt blocks. Such a fantastic experience...

In Uyuni

Distance La Paz - Uyuni: 546 km, 12 hours on the bus, cost: 8 pounds (so expensive!!). This was the worst bus ride in my whole trip. The bus was very old (as everything in Bolivia) and it was very cold at night (not because of air conditioning but the desert temperature outside). There was a child crying at night and a drunk orchestra group sitting behing us and playing radio loudly. One of the orchestra members vomited in the isle and on our seats. Luckily, we had moved to the front of the bus five minutes before it happened. We - I mean myself and Thomas from France, who I met at the bus station. Due to the circumstances we weren't able to sleep all the night. We arrived in Uyuni at 7 am with intention of having a good sleep in a hotel. But after breakfast we felt better and we decided to book a 3-day trip to the salt flats and desert. We are leaving in an hour. There is nothing to do in very small Uyuni.

I felt very bad all day yesterday but today, although very weak, I decided not to waste time and to do some visiting. I caught a bus which took me to another mirador in the other part of the city, the view was amazing again.
Being hosted by Rosalia has been fantastic. She is a great person, with a great heart and she knows life a lot. We spent hours talking and talking. She would never think about taking money from me for food or drink, and when I had food poisoning, she was cleaning my vomit from the floor and making me hundreds of cups of tea. Then she was scared to give me food from her restaurant as she didn't want to be responsible for making my sickness worse. I will always remember this little Bolivian angel.
In the picture: in front of Rosalia's restaurant.
I am leaving for Uyuni this night. I like La Paz althought I couldn't live here due to dirt and chaos. The Couch Surfing community is small and inactive. I posted a message on the CS website proposing a meetup but I had no answer.

Yesterday I went to a birthday party in Antonio's second restaurand. From the very beginning I felt that the people were unusually spiritual, and I quickly understood that it was a Hare Krishna party. The birthday girl was Magdalena from Colombia, Bogota' (in the picture). She just moved from Bogota' to La Paz to be with her boyfriend from Argentina. When we met, she said: "I saw you in the centre of La Paz yesterday!!" ha ha ha...
All the people were very nice at the party. I used to attend Hare Krishna prayers and festivals many years ago in Poland so I knew that environment.
They made two cakes. One was edible but the other one, which looked like a rich creamy chocolate cake, was absolutely disgusting. It was sugar and gluten free, it had too much flax seeds and it tasted like sand. I was looking at people's faces when they were eating it just to confirm that they were thinking the same. They were.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a very bad food poisoning. I am not going to say what I was doing all the night because you don't want to know. I haven't slept and eaten since. Well, it was expected, wasn't it?

I love people from La Paz. Today I finally met my host Antonio, who came back from the mountains where he was introducing eco-lifestyle in a village. He took me to a fruit market, showed me and made me taste some fruits and vegetables I didn't know (for example tumbo fruit).
I feel a lot of good energy in the city, I think it is because all the people I have met are honest. The weather got much better too, and it is not cold at all - it is hot during the day and cool at night.
This afternoon I went to Puente de las Americas and to a mirador (a bridge and a view point, in the picture). It was great, the view was amazing.
My pictures from Puno in Peru and Copacabana in Bolivia:
Lake Titicaca

This morning Rosalia brought me a huge bowl of fruits for breakfast. I really want to believe that it is her generosity and she won't give me a bill at the end of my stay in her house. I am embarraced to have these thoughts but after visiting Peru you just have them.
We talked a lot again - she told me some stories from her childhood. She comes from a poor Peruvian family, her father is a carpenter who lost seven fingers at work. Her mother works very hard on land and in the kitchen. Rosalia never had expensive toys - the most precious ones were dolls made of bread.

Then I went to the historic centre (in the picture Plaza Murillo with the cathedral behind, residence of the president Evo Morales and the dreadful pigeons). I like and I don't like La Paz at the same time. It is like with Cali, I love and I hate it at the same time. I don't like La Paz because it is dirty, polluted, chaotic, grey and sad. I like it because the people seem to be extremely nice and polite, and they don't try to cheat you (well, it is my personal experience). For this reason I feel relaxed and I love to feel relaxed. La Paz also seems to be safe because nobody warns me to avoid some places, as it happened in other countries.
I am praying not to get any stomach bug (and not to go to a hospital again). The level of hygine is very scary.
Finally I got money from my insurance company for my stolen camera and today I have sent another form to claim the medical expenses from Cusco. I also went to a hairdresser (2.50 pounds for a Bolivian cut :)) and tomorrow I will be looking for a massage studio. I deserve to spoil myself in La Paz.
Just for comparison, prices from Copacabana and LP: dinner in Cop 15 bolivianos, in LP 7 bolivianos; internet in Cop 10 bolivianos, in LP 2 bolivianos.

In La Paz

Distance: Copacabana - La Paz: 155 km, 3.5 hours on the bus, cost: 2.30 pounds.
The nightlife in Copacabana is non-existent. The town is not prepared for tourists at all. Everything apart from three restaurants was closed early at night. Which was good for me - I had a really good rest in the beautiful room.
My bus to La Paz left at 2 pm (in the picture - waiting for the bus which was half an hour late). Right before I got on the bus, I realised I had no money left. Luckily I bought the bus ticket two days before. I went to the bank but it opens at 2.30 pm every day. There is no cash machine in the town so there was no way I could get the money out. I had nothing to eat and drink until I arrived in La Paz at 5.30 pm....
We had to cross Lake Titicaca to get to La Paz, travellers on one boat and the bus on a different boat. I went to the driver and told him I had no money at all (in which he probably didn't believe, he thought that a rich girl from Europe tried not to pay 15 pence for the boat trip). Eventually, when I showed him my empty wallet, he agreed to smuggle me on the bus.
When I arrived to La Paz I phoned my host. Well, first I found a cash machine, took money out and I bought a lot of food - I was so hungry... Then I phoned Rosalia. She is a sister of my host Antonio. He is not in the city at the moment so Rosalia was told to look after me. They live in their restaurant, I mean it is restaurant downstairs and they sleep in a very small space upstairs. I am going to share a room with Rosalia and her nephew. The restaurant and upstairs area are very basic and a little bit dirty but it doesn't matter to me. Rosalia is wonderful. We spent 4 hours talking when I arrived, she made sandwiches for me and gave me some food from the restaurant at night. Rosalia is 45 years old, she moved to La Paz seven years ago with her two brothers. They opened this vegetarian restaurant which I think is doing well. They are originally from Peru, from Arequipa which I visited. Rosalia was very interested to hear about Polish food and I am going to teach her few things, for example beetroot soup, which she could serve in her restaurant. She is in love at the moment, she met a guy just 4 months ago and now she is thinking about a child. She was told by a doctor (her brother) that it is not too late, she can still do it in the next couple of years. I also met Rosalia's sister in law. She is very shy with me, unlike her 11-year old son who is asking me all the time to say something in Polish, English or Italian :)