Ti Amo... I love you...

How many times do you travel to a country you know nothing about? How many times do you travel to a country your family has never heard of?

I, my friends, have been fortunate to have been able to do this. To have visited and traveled through a country of which I knew nothing except its charismatic and autocratic president. And yes, that it is the world’s largest producer of coca from which cocaine is processed. 

A country which apart from great travel experiences also gave me other gifts that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Gifts such as experiencing a plethora of feelings in a short period of time, good friends who will remain so forever and lessons that I believe have made me a better person.

I went to Bolivia, one of the most beautiful and craziest countries in the world. 

A land locked country in the centre of South America; it is bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. The population of the country is about 10 million and consists of Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and a few Africans. It is the 28^th largest country in the world which makes it way smaller than India yet the country is so rich in its diversity that even Indian would appreciate it. The country also has the lowest GDP in the whole of Latin America even though it is one of the richest in natural resources. 

But, my friends, these are just facts which do not capture the beauty of this country and what it has to offer nor does it say what it did for me.

So moving away from the trivia available on Wikipedia, let me take you through my idea of Bolivia.

Traveling through the country you are bound to see one man’s image with such regularity that you might start believing that you know him personally. And the image is of a man named Juan Evo Morales Ayma, the president of Bolivia, popularly known as Evo who is now serving a second term. Evo Morales claims to be the first indigenous president of Bolivia and has incomparable mass support. Love him, hate him but in Bolivia you cant ignore him. Evo potrays himself as a champion of the cause of the majority indigenous population who feel they have been discriminated against by succession of leaders of European descent. He is also credited with the nationalization of energy companies which was his most popular move till date. Known for his unconventional behavior, Evo is against the eradication of the Coca plant pursued by the United States. His campaign ‘Coca si, Cocaina no’ or ‘Yes to Coca, no to cocaine’ focuses on saving the coca plant through making countries understand the importance of Coca plant in Bolivian life and its difference from Cocaine. Cocaine is procured after a long chemical process from Coca and the plant cannot be compared to the otherwise deadly drug.

The president is only one of the long list of interesting experiences that Bolivia has in store. The country is quintessentially South American yet distinct from its neighbours in the continent. Another highlight is its ‘everything highest’ claims. Bolivia is home to the highest capital in the world, the highest road in the world, the highest city, highest mines and what not.

 

La Paz definitely seems like the highest capital in the world but more importantly also happens to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Lovely mountains surround the city on every side and its narrow, winding uphill lanes lead to some of the best bargain markets across the globe. You are bound to bump into fellow tourists who will say ‘La Paz is one big market, you know’ and it is quite true. Every other street near the centre specializes in selling best value (read cheap) electronics, clothes, food, pirated movies, shoes and even items for witchcraft.  With its cold weather, it is a perfect city to walk although you will get tired faster than you normally do thanks to its high altitude. 

It was here, in this great city, on a street called Sagarnaga, where I frequented a coffee house which sells the perfect apple pie and chocolate cake. Apple pie, freshly whipped cream, some strong sugarless coffee and a great conversation to go with it- I haven’t experienced better evenings than these in my short life.

But we as travelers don’t seek only indulgence food, isn’t it? We also need things which take us out of our comfort zone. This mountainous country is also the place to be if that adrenaline rush is what you are seeking for. I took the North Yungas road on a cycle like many before and after me. This road is notoriously known as the ‘El camino del muerte’ or ‘The Death Road’ because of its treacherous path and the adjoining deep valley. Earlier, the road used to report 200-300 deaths every year on the 50 mile stretch due to its narrow nature. However, it is no longer used for traffic after a new and much safer road has been built by the government. 

Yet, it continues to fascinate adrenaline junkies like me who can ride their cycles on this downhill road from La Paz to Coroiquo. I must admit it was great fun to be surrounded by pure air and greenery but I had to pay the price with a swollen wrist due to a small accident on this road. Talk about craziness.

 

But if a festival or a huge gathering of people is more your kind of thing, then look no further, Bolivia has that to offer as well. Every year around the second week of February, a small miner’s town of Oruro comes alive to music, thousands of dancers and even more tourists- domestic & international. Why? Because it is carnival time!!!!! More conservative than the carnival in Rio in Brazil, the one in Oruro displays the cultural diversity of Bolivia and its rich heritage. Carnival in Oruro means non stop music and dance on the streets for two days in a row. Whether it is the history student in you or the neo hippie who wants to send the message of peace, the carnival in Oruro will definitely appeal to you. 

Its great for a country to bestowed upon with such abundant and varied beauty, but all of it is loses its worth if its people are not warm and if they do not have hope. But in Bolivia more than anything else, it is the people who will touch your heart. The young and the old, like us Indians, are warm at heart and don’t act nice because they are supposed to. I promise you that if you visit Bolivia, like me, you too will come back with at least a few good friends. And I firmly believe, Friendship is at the heart of leading a wonderful life.

So, from high mountains to high probability of making good friends, Bolivia has it all.

That is why I say ‘Ti amo, ti amo Bolivia’, ‘I love you, I love you, Bolivia!’

Salta- Eat, Drink, Party and then Exercise

If you are an Indian and if you are traveling through Argentina then you are bound to ask your self this question at some point in time ´What´s all this fuss about Goa back home?´

And I am not unpatriotic by any means, in fact, I love Goa and every other place worth its salt in our great country. It is also true that Goa has a lot to offer beyond the food and the drink. Things like Goa Trance, Tie & Dye t shirts, flea markets, lessons in Tantric sex, et all. But do we, the well-bred, well-educated Indians with good jobs go to Goa for the unique music or to learn a thing or two about Karma? No. Those things are the mainstay of thin, white skinned men and women. We, the Gujaratis, Malayalis, Bengalis and other –lis are there to enjoy good quality yet cheap booze and to indulge in some meat & sea food.

Going by these conditions, cities in Argentina especially like Salta offer a great life of indulgence(in food and drink and a great life otherwise).

For the uninitiated traveler like me, the hostels of Salta are havens which are full of party animals, not to mention people who like a drink or two or even more. Consider this, you return to your dormitory at 2 in the morning after a sumptuous dinner and a great walk in the plaza near the cathedral only to find the hostel noisier than you had left in the evening. Boys and girls( and some old men) are talking to each other and dancing in a way you can only if you are too drunk. Then at three someone suggests that it is time to go dancing. DANCING!!!! What???? Now??? At three????

Yes, but that’s how life is in Salta if you arrive on a Friday evening. This otherwise, nicely paced city goes hysterical in its nightclubs, Penas( live folk music restaurants), Salsa bars or in the plain old English style pubs over the weekend. Most young people here love cracking a joke and more than that they love their Fernet Branca( a bitter alcoholic drink) with coke and I guess Indians are one of the few who can match Saltenos in downing the glasses of Fernet.

Where else would a boyfriend tell his girlfriend that she is dumb because she is a blond in a gathering of twenty people. And that too in a good spirit and the beautiful woman would just accept the joke as if it was a compliment. 

Young people will also ask you in their thick argentine accent, ¨ Ay, Where you from?¨ and once you tell them that you come from the land of sadhus and snakes, the response is more or less the same ¨Ay, In-diya, In-diya, che linda¨ which means ´How beautiful that you are from India¨. You might also get random questions on whether Amitabh Bachchan is still alive. 

We were introduced to Salta by our host, a young man named Facundo, who like he would have normally on a weekend, organized a lovely ´Ásado´ or Barbeque for us. The menu consisted of vegetables, pork, lamb and cow(something I should not be mentioning). Argentinians love their meat and cant do without it. If you are vegetarian here, you better be ready to hostile glances or to people talking to you as if you were some sort of rare specimen.

Towards the centre is a square like no other with what looks like thousands of restaurants and if you are here on a weekend evening then as an Indian you might mistake it for heaven. The street is full of beautiful young women, some dressed in a classy way others in a provocative manner. And all of them smell so good that you would never want to walk in the streets of Dadar ever again.

All this eating, drinking and dancing can make you unhealthy. But don’t worry there is the hill of San Bernardo nearby which you can get to by taking the 1071 steps. Do that once a day and you will digest all the excessive food and detoxify your fernets from last night. Lot of Saltenos make good use of the great roads leading up to this hill by either jogging or biking to the top and then exercising some more. Also, if you are someone who needs motivation to exercise, the panoramic view of the city from the top of the hill is reward enough.

So, visit Salta to visit the good life.

Through the badlands of Bolivia

We took a three day trip through Uyuni, a state in south Bolivia. Salar Di Uyuni or the salt plains of Uyuni are probably the the most beautiful and mesmerising landscapes in the world.

The three day itinerary takes you through many emotions- bliss, contentnement, exhiliration, fun, boredom and then frustration. So, you start off with high energy on day one and end up with none by the third day. The three daysinclude spending nights in isolated places in the middle of nowhere with very few people and millions of stars for company.

We were lucky to have two great couples for company in our Toyota 4X4, one from New Zealand and the other from Holland. These four guys made the trip a memorable one.

The trip includes Salt plains, cemetry of trains, canyons, dry lakes, flamingoes breeding sites, and countless riding hours through the badlands.

Dogs of Argentina

Back home in India, spotting dogs on the streets or in homes is not uncommon. In fact a typical picture of many a city, suburbs or towns is incomplete without street dogs. But it is common knowledge that street dogs are not common across other parts of the world so I was not expecting to meet too many canines in South America. But Argentina is an exception where there are numerous of these friendly street survivors.

Dogs are found everywhere in Argentina, in parks, on the streets, in restaurants and of course, in homes. During my travel through this country for two weeks, if there was anything that brought sweet memories of India it was the sight of these dogs. Interestingly, in a country which has little similar to India, the dogs look absolutely the same. Put the dogs from Argentina on a street in India and you wouldn’t know their foreign origin. Like our Motis or Tommys, they too are hungry. Both for your food and love.

Better still Argentinean canines are friendlier than the street warriors back home. On my travels I encountered many such street friends but not one of them chased me to sink his teeth in my flesh. In fact, they rarely bite any one. Nor do they run behind motor cycles or cars like dogs back home do. They are much more relaxed. All they want is a share of your breadcrumbs or pieces of meat that you are thoughtlessly relishing.

Makes me wonder whether country of birth shapes a dog´s character too. It seems like people of Argentina even dogs here have an easy going attitude and exude friendliness that will make you want to come back to this beautiful country over and over again.

( Sorry, will upload pictures of dogs later. The computer and the connection at the cyber cafe sucks!!!)

Noches Tucumana.....(Tucuman Evenings)

If you happen to arrive in San Miguel De Tucuman, the capital city of the Tucuman province, on a Sunday morning you are bound to feel that you have entered a dead city. The first impressions on a Sunday morning of the city are like one of those cities where activities of progress stopped a few years ago. The cars seem old, so do some of the buildings and everything is closed. But hold on, that´s just because you arrived at a time when all the people in the city are either under their blankets after the Saturday night ´festa´. Parties in Argentina go on till wee hours of the morning. Or some of them are having a lazy Desaugno(breakfast) or brunch with their families in the comfort of their homes. Wait for the evening to arrive and Tucuman will come out in full force to enjoy again and make you eat you words. That is if you ever said that it is a not-so-exciting city.

Like for most people who arrive here, you will find that there is not much to do in the city during the day except to visit a museum, cathedral or go shopping. There are some places of interest around the city which can make your day worthwhile. One of them is the waterfall at San Javier which is about thirty minutes drive from the city in one of the numerous taxis which ply on the lazy roads of Tucuman. The taxi drivers in this city (or anywhere in fact in North Argentina) are ready to have a conversation and would be more than happy to talk about how great their city is. In fact, they will make stops at interesting spots on the way, like our taxi driver stopped at a place which gave us a panoramic view of the city. Before reaching the cascadas stop at the magnificient Christ statue which definitely is one of the best tourist attractions of this city.

How enjoyable you find the the waterfall will depend on what time of the year you visit it. The Cascadas do not have the same force through out the year. But it is worth a visit anyway for a refreshing bath. Many families treat this place as an opportunity to get out of the city to spend some time together. After visiting the falls they spread their snacks, cheese and wine at one of the concrete tables nearby built especially for this purpose. In fact this is a feature at all the picnic spots in Argentina and probably across many parts of the world. But sadly, in India we still need to lay our carpets (or chatai) to enjoy a good picnic. In fact, as a country we could do more to encourage the family picnics which are a perfect way for families to get together.

Evenings are pleasant in Tucuman with the breeze and before you head out for dinner you can make your way to Lake Cadillal. The lake is a perfect setting to spend a quiet evening with friends sipping on mate (Argentina´s national drink) and talking about the history of North Argentina, its folk music, indigenous culture et al.

Now it is time to get back to the city and be a part of an exciting evening in the many restaurants of the city. Try the empanadas, humitas, tamales or the good old pizza or pasta. Gulp all of this down with the country´s favourite beer Quilmes. Argentina treats beer the way we probably treat water in India. It accompanies meals, quenches thirst and fills in the hours spent doing nothing. In fact it is difficult to spot people drinking water in restaurants. But if beer is not your thing then don’t fret; there are many other options such as wines which are better and even cheaper than good Indian wines.

The best thing about Tucuman is there are countless options from the quiet fine dining restaurants such as Café 25 to the loud, energetic ones like Ronaldo. So if you thought the evening is over after a hearty meal and even heartier drink, you are wrong. Chances are one of your Tucumanian friends will invite you home for a chat and a few glasses of Fernet Branca con coca (Fernet Branca with coca-cola). The night in all probability will go on till three in the morning and even longer if you are up for it.

So, when you wake in the morning with the sun rays hitting your face, you will ask yourself ´When will it be evening again?´.

P.S: You can click on the words to know more about mate and Fernet Branca

Adventure begins even before the trip does….

Posted by: Sachin Bhandary

Everything had gone well. I bid adieu to my relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbours and my mother. It was perfect and i could not have asked for more. I stepped at the Air France check-in counter at the airport. I was taking the flight to Paris and then a connecting flight to Rio De Janeiro, my final destination.


The airline representative went through my passport over and over again. I sensed something wasn´t right. On enquiring, he threw a flurry of questions at me. Where are you travelling to? Do you have a Schengen or an Airport transit visa for Paris? Do you have a visa to any other country like the US, UK, etc?


I was not too sure what to make of it and i told him that i only had a visa for Brazil and Argentina. He then started talking to his senior- a bald, dark, affable looking man who talked to me in the sweetest yet most matter of fact tone.


He said, ¨ Indian passport holders need a valid Schengen visa or at least an airport transit visa even to take a connecting flight from any airport in Europe. If you do not have this then at least you must have a valid visa to any of the countries such as UK, US or any country in Europe. Your passport has none. So, i am sorry you cannot fly tonight.¨


It was as if someone was playing a dirty joke on me and i could not believe this was happening to me. It seemed like a nightmare. I tried talking but there was no way out. I would have to skip this flight and apply for a French airport transit visa. After the visa was procured i would have to take the next available flight after paying a penalty. All this could take multiple days and i could not wait that long. I had a friend who was all alone waiting for me in Rio.


All this because my travel agent had told me that i do not need a visa in Paris. I had applied and procured all the other visas on my own.


After a frustrated few hours at the airport i made my way back home not knowing how to react to this entire situation. But i had to prepare myself for the herculean task of procuring the visa at the earliest and then trying to get on the next available flight.


My friend Marie, with whom i was to travel was sure that i would take many days to reach Rio De Janeiro, the city where we were supposed to meet and start our trip. Since she was already in Rio, she started comtemplating travelling to Argentina and meeting me there whenever i reach. This is not what i wanted. I wanted us to be toghether from Rio itself.


The next day would be one of the most memorable days of my life. Friends, Clients or rather clients who are friends got together to do everything they could to get me my visa and then the next possible flight.


This was one day i appreciated all that i had in life- my job, my friends and the support from my mother and family. Thanks to my job i was called directly for an interview at the French consulate at ´Hoechst House´in Nariman Point. One of my long standing clients had used her good contacts to get me through without having to go through the long procedure of submitting documents and waiting for an appointment. So what would normally take a few hours was achieved for me in a matter of few hours. I was called for an interview at 4.30 in the evening and i walked away with the visa in a couple of hours.


Also, unexpectedly it was not just an airport transit visa but a proper Schengen transit visa which allowed me to travel through France or other European states for five days everytime i was in transit for the next three months.


But that was not the end of my ordeal. Parallelly, there was another story developing. All Air France flights to Paris over the next few days were overbooked. The only available tickets were too expensive for me to afford.




Just like with the visa with the flight too it was a friendo working with Air France who came to the rescue. Actually, it was a friendo of a friendo, who suggested i take a chance by going to the airport that night. In the hope that some of the booked ticket holders wouldnt show up allowing me to get to Paris on that night´s flight. He had also spoken to the Air France staff at the airport about me who had promised to do everything to help me.




So, i left my house at 10.30pm for a flight at 2.45am not knowing whether i would be allowed to take it or not. Also, if i did get on the flight i would have to spend the entire day in Paris alter landing as the morning flight to Rio had been cancelled and the flight alter that was at 11.30pm(Paris time). That was least of my problems. In fact visiting Paris would have been like a dream after this nightmare.


So there i was at the airport next to the Air France counter spending one anxious minute after another, praying that enough people would find a reason not to the take the Air France flight to Paris that night. That was the only way i could be on my way to Paris 24 hours later than planned. I spoke to a charming Air France supervisor named Ralph at 1.20am about whether he thought i could get on the flight. He replied, ¨It looks good as of now but it is very close. Just pray that no one else turns up.¨ The Check in counter was to be closed at 1.45am exactly an hour before the flight´s scheduled take off.


My wait was marked by the nervous paces across the check in counters and if there was ever a time that i prayed my heart out, this was it. And then the moment arrived, it was 1.45am and Ralph instructed all his colleagues to close their counters and he yelled, ¨Sachin, come on, you are flying to Paris tonight!¨.


My joy knew no bounds. I punched the air and thanked everyone who was close to me and helped me get on the flight after i recieved the shocker of a news.


As i made my way to the immigration and then to flight, i realised that the trip had probably taught me the most important lesson even before it had started. That if you want something really badly, you can get it. Even if it seems impossible.


I said to myself, ¨South America, here i come!!!!¨.



You can view slide show of some pictures from the trip till now here at( cant place them directly on the blog for some reason):

here

The Companions

Marie and Sachin, two best friends and even better travel companions, are travelling through South America to discover everything thing this latin land has to offer. In their other lives, Sachin is a public relations professional who would love to dabble in travel writing. Marie works as a tourist guide in one of the most beautiful cities of the world, Paris. She dreams of working in social tourism projects that focus on conscious tourism and culture preservation.