Before spending more than a month worth of
travelling on very cheap but at the same time
very nice clothes I had to get out of the
great city of Buenos Aires. Before leaving
I had time to attend a tango theatre which
was very energetic and passionate. We also
tried the good restaurants and the wild night
life which doesn't kick off until 3 o'clock
in the morning, which meant I had time to
get to know some locals, one of them the local
drug dealer, very innocent and nice though.
Vanessa, my travel mate for almost two months,
is an Ozzie and she did skip Uruguay since
they have to get visas for many places (bet
a Swedish passport is one of the best ones
for travelling). So after that trip I was
travelling on my own again which never means
alone. You always meet people and especially
if you're alone.
After a 17 hours buss ride I arrived to the
Igazu Falls which is a real beauty of nature.
The fall is split up into 275 different falls
from huge to minor ones all divided and surrounded
by a stunning thriving nature. The falls are
on the border between Argentina and Brazil.
I did spend one day on the Argentinean side
where you walk on paths over and all around
between the falls. Since I was seriously running
out of time at this stage I did chose not
to visit the Brazilian side which gives you
a grander scenic overlook but I felt it was
just a view from another angle. Instead I
jumped on a 23 hour bus towards Rio de Janeiro
on the south eastern coast of Brazil. The
ride did take 26 hours though due to a thoroughly
police check en-route. The police didn't seem
happy finding a plastic bag of a white powder
in the bottom of my back-pack, scarily close
looking to cocaine. But after looking up the
word washing detergent in my dictionary, a
taste test and showing it to his superior
he finally handed over my stuff in a big mess.
Someone tried to smuggle some illegal birds
though which took a fare amount of time. Settling
the bribes takes time I suppose.
Tired after the bus ride I arrived to Rio
and joined the hostel going to a game of soccer.
It was Santos and Fluminense playing in the
Maracana stadium. That stadium is the biggest
in the world and have been able to seat almost
200 000 people. This day it only hosted about
40 000 so it wasn't full but the attitude
was great since football is a religion down
here and the samba drums was trying to drown
the chorus of voices cussing and blessing.
The evening we spent at a live concert on
the world famous beach Copacabana where I
was staying. The remaining two days of my
visit in South America I touristed Rio seeing
the Sugar Loaf from where you have an excellent
view of the city, the big statue of Christ
and of course the beaches. We also tried hard
to find the night life which was not too great.
The last day we ended up in the famous "South
America's biggest dance club" which I
highly doubt, named HELP. It was a nice club
with good music and beautiful women but since
the major part of the girls was escort girls
and you really couldn't be certain who was
"real" and who wasn't, I was much
refrained approaching them. A fare few you
could easily tell though - or maybe I should
say feel - since they for sure approached
you.
The last day I joined up with two Italians
from my room that happened to be on the same
flight as me to Europe. We took the six hour
bus to the enormous city of Sâo Paulo
with 9 million people. We went straight to
the airport and after a few beers drinking
goodbye to this interesting continent for
this time, it was time for lift off. The flight
was about 11 hours to Amsterdam and after
an hour I had another flight to Copenhagen
in Denmark, where I took the train to Lund
in Sweden and after a final cab I was very
tired but finally home again. Home sweet home!
It was good to get back home to my bed, my
friends, my family and my room. Everything
went back to normal in a flash and the summer's
adventure seemed nothing but a dream. A dream
with beautiful landscapes and nice people
with the echoes of the music changing from
romantic Salsa, to passionate Tango to the
rhythms of Samba and Bosanova. Feels like
I have eaten my way through all these countries
with the cheap three course meals always starting
with soup in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, the
tourist pizzas in Chile, the enormous steaks
and rich barbeques in Argentina and Uruguay
and the filling "per kilo" buffets
of Brazil.
After all this food and doing all these long
bus rides I can't say I feel fit. I haven't
gained any weight but lost muscles and stamina,
so I started working out yesterday. I have
a very sore body now which actually feels
good. I have tried to get settled in my apartment,
seeing some friends, went to see my folks
today and got some of my mum's cooking. The
reality has finally caught up with me and
I'm starting my final year of university Monday.
Have a fare few pictures which I hope to be
able to share with you all in a month or so,
I'll let you know. I hope you have read some
of the mails and that they have inspired you
a tad to get out there and travel. The adventures
and the people are there waiting for you,
don't let them wait to long! That was all
for this time and this trip, over and out.
Love Emil
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