Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires, Argentina

Welcome to Buenos Aires, Argentina!
We apologize immensly for not writing to update you all on what we have been up to!
But here we are, and this is what we have been doing for the last three weeks. Hehe.. Ups...

We left Brasil in a hurry to get to Argentina. On the way we stopped by the Brasilian side of the Iguazu Falls, and then spent a night at the Argentinian side, in the small town of Puerto Iguazu. The waterfalls were amazing and it was interesting to see the two different sides. Wow, that was a lot of water collected at one place! Kinda gets you thirsty!
After spending a night in Puerto Iguazu, we took the bus to Buenos Aires. This was an 18 hour long trip and we took it during the night. It was very fancy and even served champagne after dinner on board. Cannot argue with that.
We then spent 10 days in the lovely city of Buenos Aires, in the area called San Telmo (the tango district), at a hostel called Los Granados. Just to sum up what we have been "passing" the time with, some of the activities were tango lessons, tango show, exploring the local antique markets, shopping (hehe), visiting Evita (her grave that was), hung out in parks, went dining and drinking in Palermo and Puerto Madero. If you ever go to Buenos Aires, try Viejo Gomez.
Awesome steak!!! We also celebrated St. Patricks Day here in Buenos Aires together with two Canadians. Good times. Besides this we visited La Boca, one of the more poorer districts of Buenos Aires. Here they enjoy tango in the colorful streets for all the public to see.

After 10 days of empanadas at La Continental (empanadas are highly addictive small calzones made of butterdough and whatever filling you would want), we got on the plane to the south of Argentina to visit the colder parts of this beautiful country. We reached El Calafate, which is a small town situated in Patagonia on the boarder of Chile. It was like coming home again. Sunny, but very cold. We got to use our wollen underwear and rain jackets while we enjoyed the 10 degrees weather in El Calafate. In Calafate we hung out, made home made meat balls and empanadas. We also went horseback riding along the shore of Lake Argentina, tried the Argentinian tea called Mate and walked around town. Besides this we went twice to explore the glaciers which are situated within the National Park of the Glacier (obviously). The first time we took some sort of a cruise, visiting the northern part of the Patagonian Icefield. The second time around we went hiking on the ice itself, on the glacier named Perito Moreno. So much fun!!!
After enjoying El Calafate for about 6 days, we returned to Buenos Aires on other to catch our last tango lesson and to go to a famous club called Club 69. On Friday 3 April, we will take the bus to Mendoza, the main wine district of Argentina. We only have one thing on the agenda for this stop; wine tasting! After this we will leave Argentina, and head on over to Chile. The plan is to stop in Santiago for a couple of days and then head on up to San Pedro de Atacama. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy while we might take another 3 weeks to update this blog. Hehe. Thats how things are done here in South America, and that is how we do things too. Mañana, mañana. That is our new motto! So long!

Welcom to Para(dise)ty!

Greeting all of you who are so kind to follow our blog!

We thought we would update you with some pictures and stories from the good life.

Right now we are in Paraty, a small colonial town 4 hours south of Rio de Janeiro. It really is a paradise!

We spent 4 days here and have just been enjoying the beach, the waterfall and the historic part of the town. The waterfall was pratically a free waterpart just up the hill from the town and is a great place to relax and have some fun! There was a huge stone in the middle of the waterfall and you could either slide down on your bum or try to surf it standing up. The locals try things that really should not be tried at home. We have tried the local cachaça, the sugarcane licor they use a lot here in Brasil. We also got to see a wonderful sunset and try the local dance club. Yesterday we went to the spa and got a massage each. An aromatheraphy and a hot stone massage. HEAVEN! Today we are hoping to leave to go to Sao Paulo, but there might not be any tickets left for the busses today. Oh well, lets see what happens.

So, lets go back in time.

The carnaval in Salvador was amazing! We got to be in the blocos and dance all night to great music. There were people everywhere and the samba drums were always playing somewhere through town. We met some norwegians as well, and enjoyed the carnaval with them for a while. The carnaval could be compare to 17th of May in Norway, only a houndred times bigger, louder and warmer. Drinks, people, music and lots of costumes could be enjoyed anywhere.

We then had some days after the carnaval to relax and enjoy the last bit of Salvador before we had to get on a 27 hour long bus heading for Rio. The trip went ok, and did not feel as long as it was. We got to Rio on Saturday 28 February. We were supposed to enjoy the last parade of the samba schools, but decided not to go to that area of town on our own on our first night.

In Rio we got to see the Sugarloaf (a famous hilltop on the coast of Rio), get tanned on Ipanema beach, walk on the beach of Copacabana, see the Cristo, get to know many nice people, enjoy the hammock in the hostel and dancing in the party area called Lapa. We also took a small train to the top of Santa Teresa, which was a smal nice area of Rio on a hilltop downtown. We went with a guy working at the hostel to see the favelas. We went into a safe one though, and it was very interesting to see how they lived on top of eachother.

We also got to go shopping (hehe), go around down town to see the main center and main spots in downtown. We also got to see some more during some of our adventorous bustrips, which sometimes led us places we did not mean to go. No harm done. We got to do some more "sightseeing" and just took a taxi back to the hostel. Rio was great and we will definately go back!

So now we are heading towards Sao Paulo, and then after a couple of days there our next stop will be Curitiba. Our last stop here in the beautiful country of Brasil will be the great Foz do Iguaçu. Take care!

The girls from Ipanema

Just wanted to pop in to tell everyone that we are alive and living the good life in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil! We have now left Salvador in the north, and reached Rio yesterday, Saturday 28.02.09 after a 27 hour bus ride. Wow! Recommended! Haha. It was a nice trip, and felt shorter than it actually was.
We don´t have much time to write this time, and we promise to tell you all about our ventures throughout the Carnaval later. At this point we are just enjoying the life in Rio, spending the day at the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, and the evening goes to relaxing in the hammock! Life is great! Sends all of you lots of hugs and kisses! Ciao!

Welcome to Carnaval in Salvador, Brasil

Tomorrow is the first day of the Carnaval. And we will be spending it here in Salvador! Before we go more into the whole Carnaval thing, this is what we have been doing the last couple of days;

After a good first day in Salvador, with salsa and samba and strong Caipirinhas, we had the next days ahead planned in order to see as much as possible before the Carnaval starts. On Saturday, 14th Febryary, and also Valentines Day, we went to the favelas with our new friend Cintia, who is from Salvador herself. We went by car, so there was no danger for us inside the favelas (favelas are poor areas where people live in very scarce conditions). The trip continued along the peninsula of Salvador and we got to see the beautiful beaches, the Bonfim Church and other sites of Salvador. After the little trip, we went home to get ready for something called the Candomblé, which was celebrated at a house in the favela, and performed by some friends of our guide Cintia. Candomblé is an African-originated religion, mostly practiced in Brasil, and originated in Salvador where we are now. We didn´t really understand the whole ceremony, but is was somewhat similar to a conformation of the Christian religion. There where ladies dressed in white dresses from this region, and they where dancing and singing to the drumsound of the holy drums. Several cleancing rituals where performed during the Candomblé and the person they where doing it for where given a name by the Gods. Somethins like that. Unfortunately, it was not appropriate to take picures.

On Sunday we to a beautiful place a bit north of Salvador called Praia do Forte. Here we visited a eco-preservation called Tamar, which preserved endangered seaturtles. From here we went to a beach a bit closer to Salvador, called Guarajuba. It was a paradise! Kristine also got the opportunity to try the local dish by the name Moqueca. This was a kind of seafood stew cooked with palm oil, where you could choose the different ingredients. It came with many additional types of food, all of them having a special taste of an unknown spice. She said it tasted good.

On Monday we decided to go for a little trip of our own. We took the local bus (very fast and VERY bumpy). We tried to find one of the beaches we had passed on Saturday, but we didn´t have any luck with us. Instead we walked for 2 hours on the beaches of Salvador, getting a wicked tan! It was beutiful, but sometimes very dirty and smelly. We kept on going and reached home at one point.



Tuesday was a wonderful day! We went on a boatride to visit two islands outside Salvador. The boat was nice, served Caipirinhas and fruits, and had people playing samba music. Here we got to know a very kind and nice fellow by the name Eduardo. He is from the south of Brasil, from Curitiba, and he taught us lots of interesting things about Brasil, Brasilians and Portugese. We met up with him after the trip and had dinner and some drinks. Unfortunately, he failed to meet us at the scheduled time the day after, probably due to having over slept! Haha, nice Eduardo(Your punishment is this picture of you on the blog hehe)! We will try to visit him when we go down south in Brasil.

The first island, Ilha dos Frades, was very remote and had very few inhabitants. The second island, the biggest in the bay of Salvador, called Itaparica, was nice and had a good beach. We had to go ashore by another boad, so we and Eduardo decided to just jump off the boat and swim to land. The water was so warm and later we found ourselves just lying in the water in order to stay warm. Thank you, Eduardo, for making the trip even better! Hope you got on your way to Paraty.


So... The Carnaval. There are several important words connected to the Carnaval and important to know in order to understand anything. Just so that you back home have a chance to understand the size of this party, there will be about 2 million people participating, and 400 000 will be a part of the 250 blocos. The blocos are groups of some sort belonging to a Trio Eletrico. This is a huge bus/vehicule constiting of speakers, dancers and artists. In order to belong to a bloco and walking around the belonging Trio Eletrico, you have to wear a shirt, called Abadá, designed especially for that specific bloco. We have bought two different Abadás in order to be able to be in two different blocos, one on Thursday and one on Saturday. People who are not in blocos are either in the Camarotes (huge, fancy VIP sections constructed by the road for the participants to have a good view of the passing people of the Carnaval) or just jumping around outside the blocos (often called pipocas, like popcorn jumping up and down in the streets).
The Carnaval is all about music, the artists, the people and most of all; having fun! We are very excited about what the Carnavals will be like, and we have a feeling we will be surprised by the size of the whole thing. As the next few days will be quite busy (the Carnaval starts tomorrow 19th February and ends sometime during 25th February), we will write about all our encounters and experiences during the biggest party of the year when we have gotten the chance to recuperate. Remember to stay safe, don´t carry large amounts of money, don´t put anything in your pockets and don´t wear skirts (as hands will be up them). I know we will!

Greetings from Salvador, Brasil!

Greetings from Salvador, Brasil!

Finally we have begun our journey and made it all the way over the Atlantic Ocean over to Brasil. The first night we spent en Rio de Janeiro, to be able to catch our next plane to our destination Salvador. When we arrived in Rio it was humid and warm, quite the contrast from - 18 degrees in Norway. We took a cab to the hotel, got settled in and went to sleep. As our plane left 9.00 the next morning, we got our 6 hours of sleep and a very nice breakfast before we had to take the cab back to the airport. Even though we borded the plane as scheduled, it was almost 40 minutes delayed. We experienced lots of turbulense, but it was not as bad as we experienced when we were flying over the Atlantic. Very bumpy!
We then reached Salvador and immediately had to take some clothes off. It was 35 degrees, and we are talking celsius! After an adventure around the airport to find an ATM, we took the first cab to our hostel in downtown Salvador! It is quite funny how we don´t speak any portugese and people we meet just ramble on! Sometimes we are not even sure they are speaking portugese at all!
After the cabdriver dropped us off, not by the hostel, we had to venture around some corners until we found the tiny hostel. We went inside, taking a chance on the stairs leading upstairs, and were met by some very nice people (which we think are the owners). They tried to talk to us and we at the same time tried to understand, a deal which turned out to work quite well. We got into our room and got settles into the room where we are staying until the carnaval. When the carnaval starts 19th of February, we change rooms, but into something similar.
We went for a walk, had dinner, where we met a lady who is going to take us to the favela and to her the sacred drums tomorrow. After a long nap, 6 hours or so, we went out for a walk. There is music playing everywhere and people drinking and relaxing in the streets. People are always trying to sell you something, whether it being water og necklases.
We found this really nice bar, and went inside. There was a live band playing salsa and merengue, and we spent some hours there dancing and having a drink. The brazilians make their Caipirinhia a bit stronger than we do back home.
We then went home and went to sleep again. Fortunately we have a fan in the room!

It is now Saturday and just as warm as yesterday (just to make you people up north more jealous!). After getting ready, we had breakfast at the hostel, which was apparently included in the fees. Nice! We have now been walking around the upper and lower city, just looking at various markets and buildings. It is amazing how friendly and plesant the people are here, although almost everyone thinks we are tourists; Hello, trying to blend in here!
We are now going for a tour of the favelas, and tomorrow we will find the beach and try out the temperature of the water! On Monday, we will probably go for a trip on a boat, which goes to the island of Itaparica, outside the port of Salvador. We are both in good shape and are being very careful about where we go and which people we talk to! Lots of greetings to all of you back home, and until next time, take care.

Counting the days!

Counting the days!

That's what we are doing these days! Now we are less than 21 days away from sun, beach, colorful drinks and crappy hotel rooms...Yey! We haven't come around to plan a whole lot, but since that is a part of the point of this trip, we are not at all concerned. This is a preliminary sketch of the route we will try to follow. The first stop will be in Oslo, where we will spend some nights at a friends place (Thank you Ingvild :) ), since the plane leaves from there. The plane leaves in the morning at 7.40 am, February 12th 2009, and will make a quick pitstop in London. Here we will take advantage of the airport shops, to buy adapters in order to be able to use the gadgets we will be bringing. From here the trip continues to the beautiful continent of South America. We will make a stop in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, spend the night at an airport hotel, and leave for Salvador the next morning. When we arrive in Salvador (by plane) we will (try to) find our hostel, Pousada Pais Tropical, get settled and head for the beach as soon as possible! The plan is to reach LA before our plane departs from the Tom Bradley International Airport 30th of June 2009, at 5.45 pm. Or maybe by that time we have decided to drop our master studies and live life as surfers. Who knows?

This is the so called plan at this point, so keep in touch, and we will try to do the same!