These photos are from different locations around Machu Picchu. They were also taken from 6am, when there is fog covering the moutain, until about 3:30pm. Machu Picchu is one of the best sites to see in the world and a must see if you are traveling through South America.
These photos are from the Temples of Angkor. The most famous being Angkor Wat. Howard and me in front of the lake in the afternoon. I would recommend to be at Angkor wat either at sunrise or sunset. You will get the best pictures at this time
One thing that breaks my heart while traveling abroad is seeing little kids homeless on the street. This picture was taken in barrio Recoletta, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I took the picture about one block off the main street Sante Fe, in the upscale neighborhood Recoletta. It was really late too. About at 1:30 am, so I know that no kid should be sleeping on a street by themself. I think the parent's of this kid actually stay a block or two away watching to see if any tourists/locals drop money on the bed for him. I definitely wanted to do something for this little kid, but I hate leaving money for people that are homeless. I have heard from locals that some parents actually make their kids "work" (beg for money) in order to pay for their family's food. One way they to put a kid to work is to make him be on the street like this for people to pass by and drop off money. I always believe that it is better to give homeless people food or a drink so that way you know they can't spend it on drugs or alcohol. It definitely makes me feel blessed to be able to sleep in a bed with a roof over my head...gracias a dios!!
The neighborhood San Telmo is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has a really cool vibe to it. It is hard to explain it to you if you have never been there. I couldn't wait to get back to see if anything had changed since the last time I was there two years ago. After attendingng the Thumbs Up Fest on Saturday night Jared, Hayden, and I slept in until about two PM on Sunday afternoon. We were all definitely still tired from the night before, but I made sure that Hayden and Jared got up to do some sight seeing, because the best day to go to San Telmo is on Sunday!
Every Sunday there is a Feria (street festival) that runs up and down the street Defensa in San Telmo. It starts very close to the Plaza de Mayo on the cross street Venezuela, and goes all the way to Avenida San Juan (about 9 blocks long). Up and down Defensa there are people selling jewelry, art, paintings, posters, clothes, etc. My favorite part about the Feria is the street performers! There are bands, guitarists, tango dancers, and other crazy people acting like statues that you can take pictures with if you give them a tip. picture of map from Pocket Map Buenos Aires)
It was really easy to get to San Telmo from Palermo. We took the Subte from Estacion Bulnes all the way to Estacion Catedral which is located in the Plaza de Mayo. It was only 1 peso to take the subte, and we were able to skip all the traffic that was on Sante Fe...too easy. Once we walked out of the subte we walked across the Plaza de Mayo, and onto the Calle Defensa. Defensa is located directly across the Plaza from the Catedral.
As soon as we walked 2 blocks down Defensa we started to hit the crowds of people. There were so many people that it was a little hard to walk down the middle of the street. We started weaving in and out of groups of people. We stopped in a couple local stores, and looked at some things that people were selling but Jared, Hayden, and I are not the best shoppers in the world. So we decided that we would make little pit stops in bars and restaurants along Defensa to make the day a little bit more interesting.
The day definitely got more interesting in a hurry! Here is a quick summary of the events from the Feria:
We ate a Fugazi Pizza (at Continental which is located on Mexico y Defensa)...probably our last Fugazi Pizza ever. This thing was laced with so many onions you couldn't even see the cheese on the pizza. I can still smell my onion breathe.
Hayden's leg was pinched by a solo guy traveler at Bar Seddon. Definitely made things akward to the point Hayden stood straight up and said it was GO TIME! I think this Swed is still walking around the streets of Bs As looking for Hayden.
Jared got pooped on right outside Plaza Dorrego by a pigeon that was on steroids! Check out the Video of the Week.
Had a steak dinner at my favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires...Des Nivel. It is located on Defensa in between Estados Unidos y Carlos Calvo.
We ended up hanging out with a local that was a Keith Richards look a like! Jared ended up meeting a random guy with his girlfriend at Des Nivel. This guy looked and acted like Keith Richards. We ended up going back to Bar Seddon for 2 hours to hang out with this guy. Too funny!
We ended up staying in San Telmo for about 11 hours that Sunday! This random day of fun reinforced why I think San Telmo is one of the best places to hang out in Buenos Aires. Every time I go to San Telmo I have a great time. Check out the Feria if you are ever in Buenos Aires on a Sunday! It runs all day until about 7 pm.
How to get to San Telmo
Subte - The easiest and cheapest way to get to San Telmo is by taking the Subte to Plaza de Mayo. The beginning of the green, blue, and purple line all start in the Plaza de Mayo. You can walk less than 5 minutes to end up in San Telmo from the Plaza.
Taxi - The easiest and fastest way to end up in San Telmo is by taking the taxi. The taxi can drop you off any where on Defensa, and you will be right in the mix. This is definitely the most expensive option of the 3.
Bus - It is only 80 centavos (20 cents US Dollars) to take the bus from almost anywhere in Buenos Aires to San Telmo. This option could also take you the longest to get there depending on where you are starting in the city.
My favorite part about traveling is meeting new people! One the day Jared, Hayden, and I walked through San Telmo while we were in Buenos Aires. Jared met this Keith Richards look a like at the restaurant Des Nivel (best place for a steak!) We were standing in line waiting to get a table, and Jared randomly started talking to this guy when he walked by. The next thing we know we get a table right by where he, his girlfriend (Caro) and his parents were sitting. When they finished eating and were about to leave, he walked over to our table, and told us he was walking his parents home, but would be back in 15 minutes to meet us and to take us out. We walked a couple blocks down from Des Nivel, and ended up hanging out with this guy and his girlfriend for about 2 hours at Bar Seddon. It turns out this guys name is Javier, and he runs a rock n roll radio station in Buenos Aires. This guy was all about music...The night was so random, but was so much fun! Check out Javier's web site and blog:
The video of the week comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a previous blog on travelingbug.org, I wrote about a barrio that is called La Boca. This is a really popular tourist destination when traveling through Buenos Aires. Jared, Hayden, and I were walking down the street El Caminito. It is a very cool street to walk down! The buildings in La Boca are famous for being very colorful! La Boca has places to eat, street performers, art work, and people trying to sell you anything they can! Enjoy the video! Peace.
Every Sunday in San Telmo (Buenos Aires) there is a Feria. A Feria is basically people selling things in the middle of the street. There are so many people walking up and down the Calle(street) Defensa. After we had done a little bit of shopping we decided to get a drink on the corner of Humberto Primero and Defensa which is basically Plaza Dorrego. While we were hanging out, and talking, a huge pigeon came by and crapped on Jared's shorts. I remember hearing something hit Jared's leg, and I wasn't sure what it was until he looked down and started dying laughing. I knew at that point in time that a bird had given Jared a little love. This is not just any normal bird poop. This must have been a pigeon on steroids? The funny part about this story is that the shorts Jared is wearing are not even his. They are his roommate James'. Check out the video!
I still can't get enough of Buenos Aires. I get excited thinking about how much fun I had on my last trip. The second day we were in Buenos Aires Jared, Hayden, and I were invited to a party in the Sheraton Hotel in Plaza San Martin. My friend, Eugenia, had invited us to this huge party. I had no idea what to expect, but since a local was taking us with them I knew it was going to be a lot of fun.
Everything in Buenos Aires starts so much later than anywhere I have been around the world. Eugenia had told me that the party was not going to start until about 1.30 am. So before we headed out Jared, Hayden, and I went to dinner around 12 am. We found this local restaurant on the corner of Santa Fe and Aguero that served us unbelievable Bife de Lomo (steak). We were just at a regular restaurant, and the steak was better than most steakhouses in the States! By the time we got done eating it was 1 am so we headed back to our apartment to meet up with Eugenia and her sister Cecilia. (I had met Eugenia two years earlier on my first trip to Buenos Aires. We have stayed in contact over the last two years, and have become really good friends.)
It only took about 10 minutes to drive down Avenida Santa Fe from Palermo to arrive in Plaza San Martin. Once we got to the front door we met some of Ceci's friends and headed into the party. The ticket to get into this party was $40 Argentine Pesos (around $13 US Dollars), and that included one free drink. Once we got past security we headed down these stairs into the bottom of the hotel. They had this huge ballroom that where the party was being held. The funny part about us showing up at 1.30 am was that it was still early for Buenos Aires. It wasn't until about 3 am when the party started to really get going! (the video is really dark, but you'll get the feeling of how the party was)
I did a blog on the barrio El Centro in Buenos Aires last April. I briefly mentioned a street that is a huge tourist attraction right off of the Plaza de Mayo. Calle Florida is about 15 blocks long, and has a lot of shops, restaurants, and vendors selling things they have made. Since this is a very popular destination for tourist, most things are more expensive than in other parts of the city. I had not been back to Buenos Aires for almost two years, but this street has not changed at all.
I would have to say the craziest/coolest thing that I saw walking down Calle Florida was a man that was deformed, but he was an amazing artist. He did not let his deformity stop him from trying to make money. This man had basically no arms to paint with so he used the only other thing he had to hold a paint brush...his toes! It was absolutely amazing to see this guys actually painting pictures in the middle of the street. I pray that he makes enough money each day to eat!
Calle Florida is a pretty cool street to walk down during the day, because there are so many people walking around in every direction. If you love to people watch then this is the place to be! I would have to say as a precaution to make sure that everything you carry is in your front pockets or zipped up in your bag. There are a lot of people are walking around that are trying to take advantage of tourists. It is very easy to get pick pocketed in Buenos Aires, and especially on Calle Florida. If you are a smart traveler there will be no problems though! Check out this street when you travel through Buenos Aires!
I have mentioned in previous blogs that I love graffiti. I was walking down Avenido de Mayo, and I saw this on the wall of one of the builings about two blocks from the Plaza de Mayo. Pretty cool.
One of the best beaches I have ever been to in my life is Bikini Beach in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. I went to this beach four days in a row with different crews of people that were staying in our hostel, Backpacker La Barra. It is definitely a must see when visiting Punta Del Este for New Years or while vacationing in January or February. On our second day at the beach, we saw this camera crew walking around the beach whole day. It was a guy and a girl who had a camera crew following them. We think that they were with Channel 24 in Uruguay? Towards the end of the day they were about 10 feet from our towels just standing there. I have to admit that one of the crew members was one of the hottest girls I have ever seen in my life. I couldn't let this opportunity pass...
So I grabbed my camera, and told my friend Jared to follow me. I walked over to this girl, and in my "spanglish" (half english/half spanish) asked her "puedo sacar uno foto contigo?" Or for all the gringos out there, can I take a picture with you. She said of course. So I took a picture with her, and the next thing I know I had a microphone in my face.
The guy that was walking around with her had come over with the camera crew, and starting talking straight spainsh to me. They started asking me all these questions: "how did you hear about Punta Del Este, where are you from, what are your favorite types of girls down here?, the Brazilians, Argentines,or the girls from Uruguay? In the end it turns out the girl who was doing the interview had a boyfriend. Que mal suerte! Its ok. What a fun day. Enjoy the video! Peace
Two friends and I recently rented an apartment for 7 days in the barrio (neighborhood) of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We didn't know it when we booked our apartment, but located half a block from where we stayed is one of the most famous pizza restaurants in Palermo. It is called Romario's. This place has really good pizza and empanada's. It is also so cheap (for tourists)! We ended up eating at Romario's for dinner two times during our stay in Buenos Aires. This place was always full of people! You are able to eat inside at a table, at the bar, or even outside at one of the three tables on the sidewalk. The first night we arrived in Buenos Aires we had dinner at Romario's. We landed in Buenos Aires at 10pm, and by the time we had gotten ready to go out for the night it was 12pm. If we were in any other country than Argentina, I would have told my friends that we were going to skip dinner. But in Argentina, 12pm is about perfect time to grab something to eat before going out. Romario's still had a lot of people eating and drinking when we showed up (12:15 am). We took a seat in the middle of the restaurant, and noticed that we were the only "gringo's" in the whole place.
Inside Romario's, it almost felt like a club. The first thing I noticed was the techno music they were playing throughout the restaurant. They also had these reddish lights that were turned down making a little darker inside then normal lights. The atmosphere gave Romario's a cool vibe! The staff there was also very friendly. The waitresses talked "spanglish" (half english/half spanish) with us, and always had a smile on their faces when they showed up to our table.
We ended up ordering a large pizza with two toppings, and had a liter of beer to start. For those of you that don't know the customs of Argentina, you order a beer and have to share the liter. So you pour the beer into these little 8 oz. glasses for you and your friends. It makes it a lot more social to share a drink instead of each having your own individual drink! I like it a lot! The pizza's are made in this giant open oven that you can see from anywhere in the restaurant. In about 10 minutes the pizza came out to the table. The pizza was still bubbling from the heat of the oven when it was put on our table! We were starving at this point in time, but we had to wait a minute or two so that we didn't burn our mouths! The pizza was great! We had a jamon y queso pizza (ham and cheese). There are about 20 different kinds of pizza to choose from if you want something else!
