Day 97: Final word

Three months, six countries, one rucksack. And it's all over.

Like having a baby, backpacking can be a life-changing experience. And the sleep deprivation, dent to the bank balance and weeks spent carrying what you hold most dear, mean the parallels don't end there. Heading back to a country gripped by election fever and swooning for Nick Clegg, perhaps it will take me a little longer to fully absorb all these new experiences. But there's no doubt that travel renews your appetite for life.

Adios.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
We live on a beautiful planet, but home is home

All my pics are HERE

Day 96: Top five moments

1. Ian boarding the wrong plane in Sao Paulo
2. Asking in Buenos Aires football shops if they had any England 1966 souvenir shirts
3. Hang-gliding over Rio and pointing out the city landmarks to my instructor
4. Getting soaked with water at a wrestling match in La Paz, by a dwarf and a female Daddy Haystacks dressed in a skirt
5. Staring at a huge blue glacier in Patagonia, and the guide saying it was not really blue

Day 95: Machu Picchu

My penultimate day in South America was spent on its most famous spot. And against my expectations, Machu Picchu lived up to the hype. It simply took my breath away.

The picture postcards just don´t do it justice. Perched on a hilltop and surrounded by majestic Andean peaks, the Inca city strikes a spiritual chord within you. Even if there was no city, it would still be an amazing setting.

Walking around its ruins you get a sense of this civilisation's great geometrical and architectural skills, but it is not until you climb the mountain most commonly seen in the photos, Huaynu Picchu, that you see the city in its glorious context.

The clouds add to the mystery - how did they build it, why did they abandon it - and as they part beneath you to reveal the city, you cannot fail to be utterly moved.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. You can do Machu Picchu at any age
2. And even in knee-high boots
3. Climbing Huaynu Pucchi is very good for the glutes
4. Annoying ringtones happen everywhere

More Machu Picchu pics HERE

Day 94: Guinness and Roy Keane

"There are two things about Ireland I love," said my Peruvian hostel manager when I gave him my passport. "Guinness and Roy Keane."

Dark, strong in character, slightly mysterious and the ability to reinvigorate the spirit. And a bitter aftertaste.

I can see the similarities.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY

In Hebrew, the term for candy floss is "grandmother's hair"

Day 93: Steve, you're big in Argentina

Gutted to discover that my four-day trek to Machu Picchu has been cancelled. But my day improved when, flicking through my Spanish textbook, I saw the face of one of my BBC colleagues, Steve Hawkes, being used to illustrate a passage about driving while using a phone.

If anyone from work is reading this, can they tell Steve he is famous in Buenos Aires. Someone at my language school must have nicked the image from the BBC website when they compiled the book. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
People have sex in hostel dormitories

Day 92: Lost city

Cuzco was the capital of the Inca Empire, which once covered parts of what today we regard as Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia. Huge.

Who knows what the city looked like when the Spanish arrived, because much of it was destroyed and the Europeans built a beautiful new city, but the Inca foundations remain - a symbol that the older civilisation could not be eradicated.

Historians believe that if Cuzco was excavated, the remains of the Inca capital would be found underneath.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. The Inca language of Quechua is still widely spoken today
2. Although the Incas did not have a writing system, they recorded events using a knots system called quipu
3. But the Spanish destroyed much of their census material so much remains unknown

Day 91: Paddington's home

Paddington's creator Michael Bond once said in an interview (I'm too modest to say who it was with) that he chose Darkest Peru as the bear's home because it sounded so far away.

Given the events of my bus journey into Peru, I would say very far away indeed. Imagine the following happening on the National Express to Manchester:

- the driver taking a detour into dodgy-looking backstreets in order to drop off a package
- people hailing the coach on the street and begging the driver to be let on
- three burly blokes getting on and confiscating some suspicious-looking boxes stashed at the back
- a fight ensuing between the woman who owned them and the men. Guess who won

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
Don't try and get some sleep on a bus in Peru

Day 90: Island of the Sun

The Isla de Sol in Lake Titicaca was a sacred place for the Incas because this is where they believe their founding parents emerged from the waters, at the call of the Sun God.

Today it resembles a Greek island like Santorini, rather than Bolivia, and provided me with a pleasant walk, accompanied by Swiss pal Sandor (bottom pic). Top guy.

The lake, which Bolivia shares with Peru, is vast and stretches as far as the eye can see.





THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. There is a fourth official language in Switzerland (after German, French and Italian) called Rumantsch
2. Swiss email addresses end in "ch", which stands for "confederation helvetica"
3. All Swiss men must complete a year of military service, although some do it in instalments
4. A Swiss university, the Federal Inst of Tech, rewards good degrees with a cash sum of 2,000 euros to spend on foreign travel

More pics of Isle of the Sun HERE

Day 89: ´Very hard to succeed´

My journey north to Lake Titicaca gives me time to reflect on the words of an esteemed Israeli scholar (he was in the other jeep to mine), who often says; "It is very hard to succeed in Bolivia." (copyright Eli Cohen)

It´s a neat way of saying there are lots of frustrations for the traveller, such as dangerous roads, ill-informed guides who drop litter, a lack of hot water, poor food and painfully slow internet connections. And most bizarrely of all, the keys on the keyboards not actually typing what they say they type.

So although the rewards in Bolivia are rich indeed - amazing scenery and history - you need to earn them. But if it was a country where everything worked, with high-speed rail links, fibre optic broadband and gourmet restaurants, it would be Germany. Now I love Germany, but it´s not somewhere you go for adventure.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
On some Bolivian keyboards, to type @ you need to press SHIFT, then 6 and then 4

Day 88: Tag teams

Surely one of the most bizarre spectacles I´ve witnessed. Bolivians love their wrestling, but this is a far cry from Big Daddy on World of Sport. Women fight each other dressed in their traditional garb, men are dressed up like super heroes and dwarves provide the love interest. Spectators exchange blows with the competitors and express their dislike of the "bad guy" by throwing food into the ring.

As if that wasn´t weird enough, the distinct tones of Rick Astley could be heard on the loudspeakers.

Day 77: Bike challenge

It´s a bike ride like no other. On one side of the road, you have a 600-metre drop off a cliff. On the other, a vertical rock. No wonder its unofficial title is the world´s most dangerous road. It is unpaved and on its upper reaches the clouds hug the cliff edge. The scenery, if you dare take your eyes off the road, is breathtaking. But the crosses that line the route remind you that not everyone gets to the other end, most recently an Israeli backpacker, just last week.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. About 200 people on average died every year on this road, before a new road was constructed in 2006
2. Cars drive on the left, not the usual right, so that drivers going downhill can see the cliff edge
3. Eighteen cyclists, mostly backpackers have been killed going over the edge

Day 76: A lazy Saturday

To my surprise, I found a shopping centre in the city. Obviously beyond the means of most locals, it was very empty apart from the odd wealthy Bolivian family doing their Saturday clothes shopping.

Huge pictures of David Beckham and Ewen McGregor were in shop windows. And the sports pages of the national paper carried a story about Wayne Rooney being sought by Real Madrid.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
No country can escape the influence of Western culture

Day 75: Shouting buses

Another feature of La Paz is the shouting buses. The streets are full of vans that pick people up on every corner. Although they usually have a sign showing their destination, there is one person whose job it is to hang out the door, shouting out the names of the neighbourhoods ahead. Sometimes this person is a child of about 10, sometimes it is a woman holding a baby.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Bolivia used to have a coastline but lost it in a war with Chile
2. It has also ceded territory to Brazil
3. Ecuador´s currency is US dollars

Day 74: Shoeshine boys

I´m very much a trainer person, but I wish I´d brought a pair of shoes with me, because shoe shiners can be found on every corner, and I bet they are real characters.

Some wear rather sinister masks. At first I thought this was to preserve their lungs but I was told it was because they were ashamed of having what is considered an undignified job.

Those with the full shoeshine stall seem to have a higher standing.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Eight million Bolivian miners, mostly indigenous people, are thought to have died in the tin and silver mines of Potosi in the 17th and 18th Century
2. Some spent six months underground
3. Today 5,000 are working there, with a life expectancy of 40

Day 73: Fancy dress

Everything in this city is for sale in the street. It is one big marketplace. You will find a stall for staplers, one for toilet rolls and one, of course, for chicken skeletons.

Women set up shop on the pavement, dressed in traditional costume, complete with thick socks, skirt and bowler hat, carrying their wares in a big multicoloured shawl.

I have asked taxi drivers why it is that women dress traditionally but not men. One suggested it was because men in La Paz were more likely to have jobs that required shirt and trousers.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. The bowler hat worn by women was adopted from the British
2. And their skirt was once a symbol of Spanish oppression, but has now become a badge of pride in being indigenous
3. Even their traditional middle parting was imposed by the Spanish, and is still followed today

Day 72: Loving La Paz

Like crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time, or seeing Rio de Janeiro from Table Mountain, the first glimpse of La Paz, approaching by bus, is quite spectacular, sitting as it does in a bowl surrounded by Andean peaks.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. La Paz´s setting is unexpectedly "Wow"
2. Three-hour bus journeys cost only one pound
3. But so does a Snickers bar. Go figure

Day 71: Here comes the sun

Up at 4am to watch my first 360-degree sunrise, on the salt plain. There was a shimmering red on the horizon in every direction.

Passed a memorial to 14 people killed two years ago when two jeeps collided on the salt flats. It´s a reminder that safety standards are not always applied here. A few hours later, another backpacker told me his jeep driver had turned up drunk.

The tour finished in the small town of Uyuni, which has a graveyard of disused locomotives. Hope that´s not my train to La Paz.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Bolivian kids are the cutest (sorry China)
2. Harry Enfield´s Kevin and Perry Go Mad In Ibiza was quite big in Israel

Day 70: Want salt with that?

El Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world, covering more than 10,000 square kilometres and 10 metres deep. It is perhaps more famously the place where backpackers take funny pictures.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. In Israel there are restaurants just for humus
2. Israelis learn Arabic at school
3. My teeth look really white in good lighting

More funny (and beautiful) photos of the salt flats HERE

This is the lovely Anna, who is Dutch. Outnumbered by eight Israelis, we both finished the tour fluent in Hebrew. (Thanks for the pic, Hagai)

Day 69: Altitude and Israelis

Hardly slept, because my head feels like it is in a vice, my heart is pounding and I´m ready to vomit. So this is what altitude sickness feels like. Everyone is feeling a bit ropey. And tonight we´ll be even higher.

But nothing can detract from what is around me. Bolivia is a country that looks like it´s been Photoshopped. So vivid are the colours that you are rubbing your eyes, wondering if they´ve been digitally enhanced. Spectacular.


Sharing a jeep with four Israelis means that while my eyes are feasting on the beauty of Bolivia, my ears are learning much about Israel. One of them joked that on leaving military service, all Israelis are handed a Lonely Planet guidebook and a map of South America (joke copyright Eli Cohen).

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. About 60% of Israel is desert
2. Everyone must do military service, but girls do less than boys (two years, not three)
3. Israelis eat a lot

More pics of the desert HERE

Day 68: The Big Tour

INGREDIENTS: Two jeeps, two drivers, one cook, eight Israelis, one Dutch, one Brit

RECIPE: Drive for 1,000 kilometres through the Bolivian Andes, up to 5,000 metres above sea level, passing volcanos, mountains, lakes and remote villages

SERVING SUGGESTION: Take plenty of coca leaves for altitude sickness, no showers, 4am starts

After nearly a full day of driving, and seeing no signs of settlement, only stunning views, we stopped off at the tiny village of Santa Pablo, where the houses were made of clay and the only living to be made is rearing llamas for their meat and fur. Equipped with a bag of lollipops, I spoke to a few boys aged between 12 and 16. They had never been to the nearest town and had never heard of England, but were interested to know how far it was.

We stopped for the night at another village. At 4,200m high, the simple act of taking my rucksack out of the van is enough to leave me panting for air. The bad news is that tomorrow we go even higher.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. People with nothing can still be happy
2. Altitude makes you as breathless as people say it does

More pics of Santa Pablo HERE

Day 67: Hola, Bolivia

My first glimpse of Bolivia was an old-fashioned typewriter at the border crossing. A sign of things to come. After several hours of queueing, I´m in Villazon. Border towns are never a reliable guide to a new country but looking at the native costumes and poor state of the roads, it feels like I´ve gone back in time.

The first English football shirt I see is Arsenal, which will please Tom Armstrong, if he´s reading this, although this only reinforces my feeling of time travel (sorry mate, cheap gag).

After a pleasant train ride to Tupiza, I sign up for what I expect to be one of the highlights of my trip, a four-day tour of the wilderness in a jeep full of strangers, leaving tomorrow. The woman explaining the itinerary breaks off from Spanish to give me two English words about the accommodation.

"Very basic."

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. The capital of Bolivia is Sucre, not La Paz
2. Bolivia is the size of France and Spain combined
3. It is the poorest country in Latin America
4. The currency is called Bolivian Bolivianos

Day 66: Train to the clouds

My last day in Argentina is a special one, on board one of the only surviving train rides in the country. It´s a six-hour ride from Salta, climbing to 4,000m above sea level and crossing the world´s highest viaduct before returning home.

With a sense of expectation as I boarded at 7am, the following announcement came as a surprise: "Can all passengers please pull down the shutters as we depart because some locals have been throwing rocks at the train."

Safely outside Salta, the shutters came up and the next 12 hours was a glorious ride through the northern Argentinian Andes.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Argentina shut down nearly all its railways about 12 years ago because they weren´t profitable
2. Chewing coca leaves helps combat altitude sickness

More pics of the train ride HERE

Day 65: The (other) importance of 20 February

I was surprised to see my birthday plastered over street signs in Salta, so I asked a policeman why it was a significant date.

It turns out it was the day in 1813 when the Spanish were defeated at the Battle of Salta, giving the Argentines control of the north of the country.

And I thought it was just a personal welcome...

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Other important things happened on 20 February

MORE PICS OF SALTA HERE AND PICS OF NW ARGENTINA HERE

Day 64: Hostel life

Should a 37-year-old man be living in a room that looks like this?

On the whole, I have found hostels to be great, especially as a solo traveller. They're sociable and also act as up-to-date, verbal travel guides, because everyone is talking about where they've just been and where they're heading.

But this time, in Salta, I drew the short straw in room mates, and I'm not talking about the messy room. All through the night, about every hour, one of them would come back drunk and make loads of noise, on one occasion even playing with their phone ring tones.

No prizes for guessing what nationality they were?

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
English backpackers make the most noise

Day 63: The Wild West

Loving the scenery around Salta. Reminds me of the Wild West.

And I think I have found my calling - as a llama farmer.






THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Llama's spit smells
2. Donkeys can be found in the wild





MORE PICS OF NW ARGENTINA HERE

Day 62: Remember when...

Salta is predominantly inhabited by descendants of the indigenous people, so it feels very different from southern Argentina, which is very white. It´s a reminder of the pre-European America.

What a different country Argentina would be if all the natives in the south had not been systematically slaughtered in the 19th Century.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: The killing of thousands of natives was carried out in the 1870s by Army general Julio Roca, later president of Argentina

MORE PICS OF SALTA HERE

Day 61: Hola, Salta

How does a rucksack get soaking wet when it´s in the hold of a coach? And how can you dry clothes in a youth hostel dormitory, an environment in which all previously acknowledged rules about personal space are suddenly non-applicable?

More on hostel life later, because I´ve arrived in Salta and it´s far more pretty than I expected. Made it in time for the Easter Vigil Mass in the beautiful Basilica Cathedral (right).

Three points to note about the Mass, which make it different from any I have experienced in the UK or Ireland.

1. It was THREE hours long and hundreds of people were standing, it was so packed.

2. A nun sitting near the front took photos of the candlelit procession. Is that appropriate?

3. There was a stray dog wandering through the congregation.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Some dogs are Catholic
2. The "modern tango" capital is considered to be Berlin

Day 60: Parting thoughts

A 20-hour overnight bus journey to Salta in northern Argentina offers plenty of time to reflect on what I´ve made of Buenos Aires in such a short time.

As its reputation suggests, it´s very civilised and beautiful, brimming with architectural delights, fountains, squares, parks, cafes and bookshops. But what is less well known is that it´s also dirty and impoverished, with about half the national population officially poor and kids aged about six working the streets and trains.

The city´s inhabitants are even more fascinating. They have a reputation among Latin American countries for being rather aloof but I met many that were lots of fun.

One oft-quoted stat is that they have a higher proportion of people seeing shrinks than anywhere else, even Manhattan. One of my teachers put this down to a fundamental identity crisis between being Latin and European.

Who knows, but they certainly struck me as deep thinkers. They devour newspapers and have a very healthy curiosity about the world, especially British culture. I´ve been asked questions about figures as diverse as John Le Carre, Luke Chadwick and Black Sabbath.

But it saddens me that the friends I have made here - among them architects, accountants, teachers and students - will probably never be able to explore the faraway places that so fascinate them, because the economy is in such a perpetual mess.

PICS OF BUENOS AIRES PEOPLE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623654501997/show/

AND SIGHTS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623567979582/show/

Day 59: Packing up

Adios studio flat,

I forgive you for giving me such a bad wi-fi connection that I had to stand in the corridor holding my laptop high above my head, just to load a webpage or send an email. At least it meant that I met all my neighbours.

The last thing I packed was this white card I got from Dan before I left England. A constant reminder of London, complete with Big Ben, The Eye and other landmarks. Genius.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
In 2003, more than half of Argentinians lived below the poverty line

Day 58: Last day in BA

Spent my final full day in Buenos Aires escaping it, in Tigre with my pal Hector. It's the Henley of Argentina, a small town just outside the city, on the banks of a tributary of the Rio de la Plata, full of rowing clubs and bowling greens. All very Home Counties. That's because at the start of the 19th Century, it provided a tranquil escape for the rich, many of whom were English.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentinians play bowls

Day 57: Adios, taxistas

I cherish my last few taxi rides because I'm going to miss the crazy drivers, although our relationship got off to a rocky start. On arrival, Ian and I waited an hour at the airport and for the first few days they obstinately refused to understand me saying my address, because I said it with a Spanish, rather than Argentinian, pronunciation. But I've come to enjoy their surly demeanour, which usually breaks after a few minutes of my poor Spanish and inane observations about football. The two words "Carlos" and "Tevez" are usually enough to get them excited.

WHAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO HEAR IN A TAXI:
1. Status Quo
2. Tears for Fears
3. Moans about Paraguayans

WHAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO SEE:
1. A blur
2. Other taxis having accidents

THING I DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Buskers in Buenos Aires DO play Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

Day 56: Things I will miss

As I enter my final few days in Buenos Aires, the goodbyes (and the late nights that inevitably accompany every "adios") have made me all reflective about my month here.

THINGS I LOVE:
1. That buskers on trains get warm applause
2. That nearly everyone reads newspapers
3. That there are bookshops on every street
4. That waiters dress smart, no matter how crap the café
5. That you always get a glass of water with your coffee
6. The Water Board building (pictured) and red post boxes
7. That straight men of all ages greet each other with a kiss
8. People sweeping steps and polishing intercom systems every morning
9. Football on telly every night
10. My Argentinian friends

THINGS I DON'T:
1. Queuing to pay for a drink and then queuing to be served it
2. Everyone standing on descending escalators
3. Spanish verbs

Day 55: General Belgrano

In the UK, his name is forever associated with the most controversial act in the Falklands War, the sinking of the Argentinian warship with the loss of 323 lives. But the real Manuel Belgrano had an even greater significance, as one of the founding fathers of Argentina (he helped kick the Spanish out 200 years ago). With some irony, given what happened in 1982, he also repelled two British invasions shortly after that. His statue can be found in the city‘s most important square.

THING: General Belgrano designed the Argentinian flag

Day 54: No change

There is an acute shortage of coins and small change here, which means a panic grips you when you get into a taxi and realise you only have a 100 peso note. When Ian was here, his driver became so incensed that he threw him out of the cab, effectively giving him a free ride. If you get on a bus without the right money, they don’t let you on. Shops sometimes can’t accept your custom because they can’t change your note. The reason is that there is a racket in which criminals hoard the change, restrict supply and sell it at a rate of nine pesos for 10.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Lionel Messi may be regarded the best footballer on the planet, but in his home country, the people don't really rate him. Instead they revere Carlos Tevez. Weird, huh? There are three reasons for this - he produces his best football for Barcelona, he never played club football here and ordinary Argentines can't relate to his middle class upbringing

Day 52: Brazil comes to town

Returned to Buenos Aires for a great weekend showing Gary and Kleverson, visiting from Sao Paulo, around town. I saw the city through fresh eyes and it really brought home what a great place it is. This photo is at Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron has one of the most understated graves there.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
The George Clooney film Up In The Air is called Love Without Boundaries, in order to appeal to the romantic nature of Argentina (Brokeback Mountain was called Secret of the Mountain, which I think makes it sound a bit too sinister)

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623737448042/

Day 51: On my bike

A glorious day. Not only was the sun shining, but it was the first day that I felt at all alone. Hired a mountain bike and a guide took us two of us on a short circuit. Scenery very Wild West.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Dogs eat hares

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623568912195/show/

Day 50: Fernando Torres etc

Up at 5am to travel to a national park in Chile, called Torres del Paine, named after the three so-called towers that were formed by a "granite intrusion". Don't ask me any more, please. All you need to know is that there are all these mountains and then these three huge granite thingies. Too cloudy to get a clear shot of them but the scenery in general here is pretty special. Desert, lakes and mountains. One grumble, however. Did a day-trip with other backpackers and spent 15 hours in a bus and only one hour walking. Grrrrrrrr.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
The ice in this park recedes by about 100 square metres a day

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623693161060/show/

Day 49: Ice, ice, baby

Five kilometres wide, 25km long and 60 metres high, the glacier Perito Moreno is a sight to behold. Without wanting to sound too squiffy, sometimes you see a natural wonder so impressive, it makes you ponder man's place in the world. Iguacu Waterfalls, Ayers Rock and the Grand Canyon have that power. And Croydon Flyover on a clear day. Now this huge block of ice, which crashes like thunder every few minutes as it surrenders another slab to Lake Argentina, has the same effect. The snow that formed the ice at the front of the glacier fell from the sky 300 years ago. Wow.

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
It takes 300 years for fresh snow to to reach the front of the glacier
Perito Moreno is one of 365 glaciers in Patagonia
It is one of the few glaciers in the world not in retreat, but no-one knows why


MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623568089799/show/

Day 48: Knee-high socks

First taste of fresh, cool air since leaving London. Actually, forget that. Probably since visiting the Lake District aged 10. I’ve flown three hours south to Argentinian Patagonia, a small town called El Calafate, near the southern foothills of the Andes. It’s a mecca for people who are serious about walking, and could be sponsored by The North Face, such is the number of fleeces and walking boots on show.

I feel very self-conscious in my jeans and trainers, so I decide to invest in some sensible socks. These skimpy ones from Next are not a pair that Ranuph Fiennes would be seen in. It’s only when I get back to the hostel I find out that my new socks are long. Very long.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:

Socks up to the knee NEVER look good

Day 47: Boca Jrs v River Plate

Apart from getting soaked to the skin, having to wade through a foot of water, nearly getting my head kicked in, the match being abandoned after nine minutes due to flooding and then being locked in the stadium for an hour with a bunch of headcases, the football was brilliant. It was the first time the Superclasico in Buenos Aires, one of the most passionate derbies in world football, has been cancelled. The Sun newspaper, which is surely an expert in the more unedifying aspects of the male psyche, rates Boca Jrs fans as the most nuts. Having stood alongside them, I wouldn’t argue with that (nor with them). Makes the north London derby look as ferocious as a village cricket match in Midsomer.

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentinian football grounds would not have survived the Taylor Report
During the match, there are people employed to clear the pitch of debris thrown by the fans
Boca hooligans align themselves loosely with the Falklands cause and therefore don’t like the English

VIDEOS HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623543069309/

Day 46: San Patricio

Forgot to mention St Patrick's Day earlier in the week. Amazingly, Argentinian friends had it in the diary before I did. Attendances at my Spanish school took a battering the following morning, because so many students were nursing hangovers, "resacas" as they call them here. I made it in, but an hour late, having had a very late night at a friend's party. The nearest we could find to Guinness consisted of a very sweet black beer and host Ernst supplied green jello shots.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:

Every country celebrates St Patrick's Day

Day 45: Old habits die hard

Gym, paper, brekkie. It's a weekend ritual I brought with me from London.


But I don't recall needing a dictionary to read The Observer.

Day 44: Max headroom

My brain is operating a "one-in, one-out" policy on Spanish words. If I want to remember some new vocab, I will have to delete first.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: Instead of "pulling your leg", they say "pulling your hair"

Day 43: The Italian job

It isn't only the Spanish who are responsible for giving Buenos Aires its famous European character. Many immigrants came here during the boom years in the late 19th Century, 60 years after the Spanish were kicked out, and perhaps the Italians left the greatest mark. They created tango as they worked the docks, and today the Italian food and widespread use of the word "ciao" are other examples. Even the wild gesticulations of the portenos (Buenos Aires folk) could possibly be seen as an Italian trait. No wonder Garibaldi (pictured) has pride of place in Plaza Italia.

And the British? They built the railways (now shamefully left to ruin) and brought perhaps the most cherished import of all, football. A Scot founded the first club and many of the top teams have English, rather than Spanish, names - Boca Juniors, River Plate and Newell Old Boys.

Day 42: Senor Motson

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

Every night there is a football match on, and the commentators go absolutely crazy when a team scores. When Scholes scored for Man Utd recently, the commentator sang a song:

"Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes, Paul Scholes,
PAUL SCHOLES!!"

I tried to find a clip of it without success, but this is from the same guy, to give you a flavour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1UPlX6D-Bg

It's very funny, of course, but this kind of passion also has a darker side. Football violence here is on a scale that makes English hooligans look like kids. Court cases are often in the news. Six Newell's fans were murdered recently, one of them gunned down while drinking in a bar.

For weeks all the talk (punditry lasting six hours, for instance) has been about the big derby - El Superclassico - between Boca Juniors and River Plate, this Sunday. It's one of the most ferocious rivalries in world football. And I've got a ticket.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
They use the word "hooligans" here, but it only applies to the English. In fact, they sometimes don't even put the word "English" in front of it, it is just assumed

Day 41

It was dusk as I walked past a homeless woman lying on a mattress in the street. Her young family were also sleeping rough and their belongings were tied to an old shopping trolley. She was heavily pregnant and her husband was stroking her exposed stomach. Absolutely shocking.

Day 39: Dear, oh dear

Everyone is complaining about how fast the prices are increasing. The official inflation figure is about 1-2%, but independent experts estimate it to be 15-20. Meat, the staple food, costs twice as much now in supermarkets as it did six months ago, partly due to disputes with the farmers. No wonder Argentinians, whose salaries are static, are so fed up.

For someone like me thinking in sterling, I have found the city cheap in most things, especially after the shock of how expensive Brazil was. Here is a selection of prices (all in pounds - how inconsiderate of them not to put a pound sign on this keyboard!):

subway (Tube) ride: 17p
sliced loaf: 1 pound
haircut: 6
cinema: 2.50
two-course meal with wine: 15
two months gym memship: 80
typical 15-min taxi ride: 2
pair of trainers: 50
bag of dry cleaning: 2.50
pre-pay mobile phone: 35

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: UFOs are called OVNIs

Day 38: Meet everyone's mate

No, not THEM, but what they are HOLDING. It's called mate (pronounced mah-tay) and everyone in Uruguay, including these two gents, seems to drink it. It's like tea, but instead of tea leaves it consists of yerba mate leaves.

People drink it as they drive, walk and even as they cross the road. Everywhere you look, people have their lips around a silver straw, and their hands around a flask of hot water and a gourd (traditional mug).

Mate is the national drink of Argentina, but it is the Uruguayans who have made it their own, so it would seem.

The capital Montevideo is only four hours sailing from Buenos Aires, across the wide mouth of the Rio de la Plata.

In the past, this country has been occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish, and after establishing its independence in the 19th Century it was at war with Brazil.

But it now has much more akin with Argentina, in language (the two countries share their idiosyncratic version of Spanish) and culture.

Montevideo is a pleasant city that, like Buenos Aires, has a large number of parks and squares, but it lacks the buzz of its larger neighbour.

Further east, the resort of Punta del Este attracts the rich holidaymakers of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. I was under instructions from a Uruguayan friend in London to visit, but I really was the only backpacker in the village.



THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Uruguay is officially secular, so Christmas Day is called "Family Day"

Day 33: Subte v Tube

10 things about the Buenos Aires underground train system that make it different from the London Underground:

1. It's called the Subte
2. You can use your mobile phone
3. It's sooooo much cheaper - 17p a ride
4. It's more crowded in rush hour. You think London is bad? This is REALLY squashed
5. It's hotter
6. It has way more buskers and some are only eight or nine years old
7. Some of them don't even sing, they just play a CD
8. People listen to them, applaud them and give them money
9. No-one walks up or down escalators. They stand on the right and stand on the left
10. When it's crowded, some people hold their bags above their heads to prevent pickpocketing

Day 32: Oscar glory

Much excitement about an Argentinian film winning an Oscar. What I found refreshing was seeing an older woman, probably late 60s, with a young male co-presenter as anchors on Argentinian TV. You NEVER see that in the UK.

Day 31: John le taxi

John Terry's sex life, Robin Hood and Ozzy Osbourne. All in one 10-minute taxi ride.

Those were the key ingredients of my driver's knowledge of England, although having heard my impression of a Spaniard speaking with a Brummie accent, I like to think I added to it.

I'm glad that Ian (a proper Birmingham lad) was no longer here to witness me doing a Senor Ozzy.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
There are 8,000 cafes in Buenos Aires

Day 30: Crisis, what crisis?

Ask an Argentinian how the economic crisis is going and they ask: Which one? They've had so many that the global financial meltdown has hardly registered as anything new.

People remember not so long ago when things got so bad that all their bank accounts were frozen and prices in the supermarkets were rising by the hour. They blame mismanagement and corruption.

It's astonishing that a country so rich in natural resources should have so many economic problems, and so many people sleeping rough in its capital city. Moments after you leave your binbags out, someone is rifling through the rubbish.

Although it feels reasonably safe, locals warn of a sharp rise in muggings and pickpocketing. There are also more obvious signs of the poor state of the country's finances, like the terrible state of the pavements, the dilapidated buildings and the graffiti.

And now they can look at their neighbour Brazil thrusting ahead as one of the world's emerging powers.

Day 29: Corruption competition

An interesting exchange in class today, when the teacher raised the issue of government corruption. It sparked a debate about who lived in the most corrupt country. Round the table there was an Argentinian, two Brazilians and a Russian. And myself. I don't know the Spanish for "expenses" but I think it might have provoked a few sniggers if I had.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
One of Chile's founding fathers was an Irishman. A statue of Bernard O'Higgins stands in one of Buenos Aires's main squares

Day 28: From Elephant to Elephant

So where am I living? Well, the area is pretty grotty but it's very central - about 15 mins walk from the Obelisk, one of the city's landmarks.

Mmmmmm, very central but a bit scuzzy... It's the Elephant and Castle of Buenos Aires! I've moved from Elephant to Elephant!

PS. I've taken my camera to countless repairmen and photographic specialists but I think the memory card is corrupt. Hopefully I'll rescue the last fortnight of pics and video when I get home.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
There is an Elephant and Castle in every city

Day 27: Water works

Found this a couple of blocks from me and thought it must be a museum or university faculty or something quite high-minded. Turns out it's the water board.

Day 26: Crazy for Croydon

Read my first Argentinian newspaper today, or what could I understand of it.

The headlines in The Claron were all about the earthquake in neighbouring Chile, and the state opening of parliament, but my eye was caught by my fellow Croydonian Kate Moss making page two, simply by taking ballet lessons.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
You can move to the other side of the world, but you can't avoid reading about Kate Moss

Day 25: Red letter day

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: Buenos Aires has red post-boxes, just like the UK

Day 24: Picassos and poodles

Went to the Museum of Belles Artes, which has a great collection, including Monet, Van Gogh and El Greco. Then wandered around Recoleta, which is one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. Lots of boutiques, cafes and posh portenos walking their heavily-accessorised poodles.

Tonight I enjoyed my first home-cooked meal of my trip, when I dined with friends.

Yum yum.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Poodles have their own umbrellas

Day 23: Las Malvinas

The row over the Falklands has been all over the news here, and there are anti-British protests in the main square. The banners pictured say: "The Falklands are and will be Argentinian. The blood spilled will never be negotiated."

But the Argentinians I've spoken to tend to be quite equivocal about the 1982 invasion, seeing it as a desperate gamble by a dictator, that backfired.

Seeing the economic difficulties the country is suffering now, I can understand some of their resentment in seeing a far-flung former imperial power drilling for oil on their doorstep.

My Spanish teacher produced a map of Argentina in class and it had Las Malvinas, as they call them, clearly marked. A world map on the wall had (ARG) next to the islands, for added emphasis.

Day 22: Senor Benny

Even the most ardent BBC-bashers would be pining for Auntie if they had to endure television in some foreign countries.

Argentina's isn't too bad. There is plenty of sport and there is Benny Hill.

Yes. Benny Hill is still broadcast here, because he's so popular. And he's dubbed in Spanish, which is rather surreal.

But not as strange as hearing Vinnie Jones dubbed. He really doesn't sound that hard when he's got a squeaky Spanish voice.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentina is the only country in the world that still broadcasts Benny Hill

Day 21: First impressions

It's hard to believe that Argentina and Brazil are neighbours. Buenos Aires could not be any more different to, say, Rio.

It has some fine architecture, very wide boulevards and a huge number of squares and statues, that have led to comparisons with Paris, but I think it's more reminiscent of Barcelona.

There's a very European feel to it, not just in the style of buildings, but the fact there are cafes on every corner and people are very smartly dressed. In Rio, everyone wore flip-flops, but here they are a rare sight.

Maybe that reflects a change in attitude, because I sense that people are more reserved here, after the care-free, fun-loving Brazilians. That's not a criticism, however - an Englishman could never find fault in being reserved. Still waters run deep, after all.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
People who live in Buenos Aires are called portenos (in Rio, they are cariocas and in Sao Paulo, paulistas)