CHILE, THE MOST SAFE STATE IN SOUTH AMERICA

The Pluna company still gives me a hand by taking me in 2 hours and 45 'to Santiago de Chile, capital of the safest state in South America. Outside the Arrivals Hall of the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, I take a bus to Santiago from the TurBus Company. The ticket is available to you by the driver at a price of 1700 Chilean Pesos one way. The same service is also practiced by the Centro Puerto company at the price of 1600 Chilean Pesos one way. The difference is that the two companies make different stops in Santiago. After half an hour, I arrive in the center at around 10pm. Being Sunday the exchange offices are closed because they close earlier. First by metro and then on foot (the streets appear poorly lit), I arrive at The Princesa Insolente Hostel, located practically in the center, where I take a bed in a dormitory for 5000 Chilean pesos. Here they also accept the prepaid credit card. The hostel is clean and comfortable and in addition to offering free Internet and a hearty buffet breakfast, it rents bikes and this is the most important thing. It is not for nothing that I chose it among the hundreds of hostels in Santiago de Chile. So tomorrow I will be cycling through the legendary streets of the capital.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

BUT WHAT A GREAT RIDE IN SANTIAGO DEL CHILE BY BICYCLE ..

After a good night's rest and a great breakfast I go out with my bike directly from the excellent hostel. (rental cost: half day 4,000 Chilean Pesos, full day: 7,000 Chilean Pesos, with helmet). The bike doesn't brake much; it is a pretty old graziella but what matters is that it has 2 wheels. I throw myself on the capital's 2-lane bike path, which runs zic zac, with a continuous up and down in the middle of Santiago's main street, Av Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins. I get confused among the few Chileans who use the bicycle and soon I settle down to the rhythms of Santiago, which does not appear too chaotic, but which has very strong pollution due to its location near the high Andes that do not let the air pass. The cycle path then ends and I soon adapt to this event by going up and down the very wide sidewalks, which are a little rough. I am wearing a helmet, because the Charterer provided it to me. It is the light one that runners use and this makes me feel like an athlete in the golden days. The center is not bad. You see some “Chilean” tourists, I presume. If you move slightly away from the center, however, the deterioration increases and the faces change becoming and give the idea of a standard of living with less well-being. Here, too, English is not widely used and the official language is Spanish. Santiago is not very busy and with my bicycle I feel at ease and so I ride the wave of enthusiasm for a while. People are always very helpful with me, providing me with the requested information in Spanish, quite understandable.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

MY FIRST TOP AFTER A LONG TIME IS CALLED CERRO SAN CRISTOBAL MT 869

 

I take my bike to the neighborhood called Barrio Bellavista, located north - east of Santiago. I tie up my bike and take the funicular (1,800 Chilean Pesos round trip), full of tourists almost all Chilean, which climbs steeply and in a few minutes takes me to the Bellavista terrace. From there, dragging myself with difficulty, I walk along several steps that lead me inside the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Consession where the Maternidad de Mariasulla Chapel appears first and then right on the top of CERRO SAN CRISTOBAL MT 869, the very white statue of the Virgen de la Immaculata Conception 14 mt high. From here you can see the whole city clouded by pollution and even remnants of snow-capped Andes. It's hot and after 4 days, I can finally show off my T - SHORT.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

VALPARAISO IN CHILE TRAVEL REPORT.

 VALPARAISO IN CHILE IS MY DESTINY

After visiting Santiago de Chile, I go to the Pajaritos Terminal (there are 5 of them in the city) where I take a Bus of the Pullman Bus company to Valparaiso. I paid 3,500 Chilean Pesos for the one-way ticket, but keep in mind that several companies travel this route, charging rates of 2,500 Chilean Pesos depending on the time and day. For example, on holidays the prices are higher. On the bus I understood on seat no. 3 alongside a Chilean who has bronchitis. In 2 hours of travel, let's hope the flu didn't attack me. However, I'm the only foreigner on this packed but comfortable bus. I know the only Chilean who chews a little English, who once I arrive at the Rodoviario Terminal, located east of the city (the second largest in Chile), outside the center, gives me a great hand, to reach Plaza Sotomayor (the hub of Valparaiso). In fact, together with him I take a collective mini bus that stops only if you signal your willingness to get on by extending your arm. (the ticket is made by the driver and costs 300 Chilean Pesos). With that I reach the aforementioned square and from there in a short time the Millenium House Hostal, located in the historic center, under the Cerro Concepcion. In fact it is mandatory to face a staircase to reach it unfortunately. (cost including breakfast and free internet: 6,000 Chilean Pesos per day). I arrive at the hostel in the evening, I play and a lady opens up for me who seems to me to be a good fonna. I ask him in English if there is a bed for the night, but she doesn't answer me. Of course, she doesn't speak a word of English. It is the first time that it happens to me that the hostess does not speak English. And this excites me because it means that the place is quiet and in fact it is. It is just me, her, her beautiful dog and three Spanish girls who act as simultaneous translator for me, with the good voice, who despite her understanding nothing of what I say is very nice. She is one of those ladies you hope to meet at least once in your life. At this point I speak Italian with her and she understands me more. She makes my bed and she explains to me in Spanish where she is the kitchen, the bathroom, ect. Now that the three Spanish girls are out, they are alone in the whole hostel. Things that rarely happen in life. Let's say that it is one of the most beautiful hostels ever seen. It is really very nice and quiet, with soft music always present. Here too I found the bike rental (cost 1,000 Chilean Pesos every hour, including the helmet) and so my lucky moment continues. Tomorrow I don't know, but today I'm here, today I'm in Valparaiso, one of the most beautiful cities in Chile, full of stairs and hills (called Cerros). Tomorrow I will visit it from top to head and then I will leave for new emotions ...

VALPARAISO: AN IMPOSSIBLE UP AND DOWN FULL OF COLORFUL HOUSES

I leave the hostel with the rented bicycle, and I begin the visit of Valparaiso, a show of low and colored houses piled one above the other reached by avenues, very steep paths, elevators and funiculars. I venture on these terrible climbs, with a graziella bike with a very long relationship. Being able to use one knee, I soon planted myself and pushed the bike on foot to the Bellavista neighborhood. I almost died when I reach the top of Cerro Bellavista (where Pablo Neruda loved to spend his holidays) but from there with an incredible and panoramic half-coast alive with income taking advantage of the false flatlands of the place and thus reaching Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion, the most beautiful part of the city. It is wonderful to walk these alleys of colored houses, where people in Spanish express their immense availability and always have a smile for me.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

MENDOZA IN ARGENTINA REPORT TRAVEL.

 MY NEXT GOAL IS MENDOZA IN ARGENTINA.

My next goal is to cross the Andes Mountains, in a point not far from Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas, with a night bus, thus arriving in pretty Mendoza, Argentina. The journey takes about 8 hours, plus one time zone and therefore I absolutely have to take a bus that allows me not to arrive in Mendoza at an inconvenient time (from midnight to six in the morning), which does not allow me to go to a hostel or to go around Mendoza. Let's see what I can do.

I'M IN MENDOZA, I'M IM ARGENTINA

Back at the Rodoviario Terminal in Valparaiso, at 9.30 pm I take a bus to Mendoza of the Cata International Company (price 14,000 Chilean Pesos). The bus is comfortable and comfortable, even if a little cold. There is the bathroom and there is the gentleman in charge who brings you food and drink. Take the Statale n. 40 through the Andes to reach the Chilean - Argentina border which is crossed without too many precautions. Then you go down the hill at mt. 3,300 taking advantage of the Cristo Redentor Tunnel, built to avoid the more inaccessible Passo della Cumbre or Passo di Uspallata mt. 3850. Then you go down using the Argentina state road n. 7. There is an impossible darkness, but I see an ocean of rocks alongside the road. An incalculable amount of stars seems to fall on me, but then at the end at 8.10 I arrive in Mendoza and immediately dedicate myself to visiting the city. From the Terminal del Sol located about 1 km east of the center, I take the road just adjacent to it, located north of it. Here the buses to the center pass. The ticket costs 1.40 Argentine Pesos and is done on the bus with a machine that accepts only money and does not give change. I go down to the central Piazza Indipendenza and start my visit. Mendoza is very beautiful I would say, very close to the Andes. The expeditions to Aconcagua leave from here and it is here that the necessary permits are obtained for the ascent to the summit. The Argentine people are very friendly and helpful. The city is clean. I spend the whole day in the center and then take a bus back to Terminal del Sol, where there is also a tourist office. A small consideration comes naturally to me: now I have no doubts; after 5 days of traveling I realized that hardly anyone here speaks English even on the buses and at international stations. Rarely any young people. So by now I speak only in Italian which in any case understand me a little. As for my cell phone, it hasn't shown any signs of life since I entered Chile and hasn't recovered in Argentina either. I don't understand if he died due to the time zone and excessive transfers or if it doesn't work like in the United States because it's not Dual Band.

MY MEMORY GOES TO THAT INCREDIBLE TRIP THROUGH THE ANDES

From the Terminal del Sol in Mendoza I take a bus to Santiago de Chile at 2.30 pm of the O'Higgings Internacional company at the price of 110 Argentine Pesos. There are many companies that operate this route and depart almost every hour (there is also the night bus) but the cheapest price I found for today is the one mentioned above.

The mythical National Road n. 7 rises slowly and impetuously and almost seems to crash into the Andes range. It penetrates straight for kilometers, in the middle of the arid Mendoza Valley, adjacent to the river of the same name. On the right at an altitude of 1381 meters, you can see the beautiful Artificial Lake of Potrerillos. Then at mt. 1450, we meet the Village of Uspallata, the largest in the Valley. The bus still runs fast on the straight road in the middle of an ocean of mountains, overcoming and crossing large Cammion and skimming the precipices. You can see the snow-capped mountains, the highest in America, including Aconcagua. We then pass the Puente del Inca Village mt. 2720 and that of Las Cuevas mt. 3200 (here starts the dirt road that leads after 8 km to the Statue of Cristo Redentor 7 meters high). Then you go down the hill at mt. 3,300 taking advantage of the Cristo Redentor tunnel about 1 km long, built to avoid the more inaccessible Passo della Cumbre or Passo di Uspallata mt. 3850. Immediately after we arrive at the Argentina - Chilean border. We all go down; it is not cold, even if we are surrounded by a lot of snow that you can touch. Logically I'm the only European. Two Polizziotti, one Argentine and the other Chilean put the relevant stamps on the passport and issue a special stamped sheet of paper, to be delivered when leaving the country. Then we head to a room where they make us put our suitcases and backpacks on a shelf and a well-trained dog passes by to smell them and find something in a poor Argentine's backpack. The bad gendarme makes him open it and here's the surprise. No drugs, no alcohol, but 2 fresh apples. The gendarme with an increasingly nasty air beats him and prescribes a very high fine. Heroin. Yes, because here it works like this: it is forbidden to import fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. and therefore the dog is trained not to find them. Before arriving at the border, you must fill out a self-certification in which you declare that you have or do not have everything I have described above and that it is forbidden to import into Chile. Things from another world. Then after the dog check they make you pass the suitcase and / or backpack into the scanner that sees all fruit, vegetables, ect. They even put my fanny pack with the camera and camera in it through the scanner. Anyway I had no problems as I was informed before and therefore I proceeded to eat in a hurry before the border, the fruit and the ham sandwich that I had in my backpack. After unscathed the border a very long descent on the State Road n. 40 full of bends and precipices takes us back to Santiago at 20.00 in the evening, after 6 hours and 30 '(calculating an hour of time zone) of a very exciting journey.

I RIDE SPAVALDO BY BIKE IN THE NARROW STREETS OF COLOGNE DEL SACRAMENTO IN URUGAY, A UNESCO HERITAGE

 MONTEVIDEO IN URUGUAY IS STILL IN MY CASE.

Arriving in Santiago late in the evening, I take a bus to the TurBus Company's Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport. The ticket is available to you by the driver at a price of 1700 Chilean Pesos one way. The same service is also practiced by the Centro Puerto company at the price of 1600 Chilean Pesos one way. The difference is that the two companies make different stops in Santiago. After half an hour, I arrive at the airport where I spend the night. The following morning at 7.00 am a Pluna Company flight awaits me to take me back to Montevideo in Uruguay.

I RIDE SPAVALDO BY BIKE IN THE NARROW STREETS OF COLOGNE DEL SACRAMENTO IN URUGAY, A UNESCO HERITAGE

I arrive again early in the morning at the Carrasco International Airport of Montevideo, where there is also a tourist office, located on the ground floor that distributes free tourist maps made very well and provides useful information. I take myself to the center with an old bus line: number 700, which passes in front of the airport (the same also buses no. 700, 701, 704, 710, 711). You have to do the ticket on the bus and today 24/05/2012, it costs 33 Uruguayan Pesos the single way. The bus goes to the Urban Bus Station, located in Via 25 Agosto del 1825, near the Commercial Port, making many stops, all on request. It also passes adjacent to the Tres Cruces International Bus Terminal (very elegant, with the Shopping Center incorporated), where I get off. Here I take a direct bus of the Turil Bus Company (233 Uruguayan Pesos) to Colonia del Sacramento, a Unesco World Heritage Site. There is another company that travels this route, the Pullman Bus, with prices similar to the Turil Bus (many buses depart during the day). After 2 hours and 40 'I reach my destination. At the bus station, there is a tourist office that provides free tourist information and maps. Not far away, there is the "Travel" Shop where I rent a mountain bike (130 Uruguayan Pesos, half day, 200 Uruguayan Pesos a full day). There are also other “Bike Rentals” scattered around the city. I enter the narrow paved streets of the historic center of Colonia del Sacramento, a Unesco World Heritage Site, where low and colorful houses, the same as they were 250 years ago, are the outline. I feel like I'm living in another reality. Fantastic. But then the hours pass quickly and at 5.30 pm darkness arrives and with it the yellow lights of the colored houses come on. The atmosphere is wonderful but the deserted and semi-dark streets recommend that you raise your anchors. From the tronde it must be considered that I'm not in Remedello.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

BUENOSAIRES REPORT TRAVEL.

 BUENOSAIRES, EXPECT ME, I'M COMING

I therefore take myself to the elegant tourist port of Colonia del Sacramento, located about 300 meters from the Bus Terminal. From there I take a beautiful and huge fast ferry of the Buquebus Company (price 650 Uruguayan Pesos), which in about 1 hour takes me to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Keep in mind that there are 2 other companies that operate this route (for example the Seacat) several times a day, with more or less similar rates depending on the time of departure. If you are not in a hurry and want to save more than 50% of the price, you can take a larger ship which takes around 3 hours instead of 1 hour. I arrive in Buenosaires at about 9.30 pm and I head with difficulty, towards the subway. It's a bit of a mess and I'm in a hurry as the metro closes early, at an undefined time between 10.30pm and 11.00pm. A couple of wrong directions make me lose almost half an hour. I risk a lot but in the end the last available meter is miraculously mine and I get off at Piazza Indipendenza and soon I am at the Pax Hostel (40 Argentine Pesos, including Breakfast and free Internet). Excellent hostel, located just a stone's throw from the metro stop, really comfortable, with a super abundant breakfast, clean, elegant.

IN BUENOSAIRES ON THE DAY OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION

Early in the morning I go to rent a bike at a shop, located 3 blocks from the Pax Hostel. Yes, because in some South American countries the distance between one place and another is measured in blocks and not in meters or kilometers. A block is the distance between one Street and the next. The shop that rents bicycles is called the Bicicleta Naranja and has its offices in Via Pasaje Giuffra n. 308 in the San Telmo district and in Via Nicaragua 4825 in the Palermo district. (Prices: 20 Argentine pesos 1 hour, 60 Argentine pesos 4 hours and 100 Argentine pesos 24 hours). There is hardly anyone around on a bike but then I realize that it happened on a particular day: flags, demonstrations, stalls everywhere. Party people. Slogan. Shouts of Joy. With difficulty I enter the whole day in the middle of the anniversary celebration of the Argentine Revolution of May 25th. In the square of the same name there is the stage ready to host the singers. Great emotions then, even for me who was passing by by chance.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

ASUNCION, THE CAPITAL OF PARAGUAY.

 THE RECORD OF HOURS OF MY LIFE IN THE BUS IS FOR ME LIKE THE LIFE OF MICHELAS: MAIA, BEER AND ANDA 'A SPAS.

In the evening, by subway, I go to the Gigantic Terminal de Omnibus in Buenos Aires, close to the railway. There are dozens and dozens of branches of bus companies, arranged one behind the other for a few hundred meters. Incredibly, however, there is not even a Coin Exchange office. If you need to change or go back to the center or accept an inconvenient change at desk n. 139 of the El Rapido Argentino Company. While I'm there, I also buy a ticket to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, with departure at 20.00 (price 330 Argentine pesos). Keep in mind that other companies also serve this route a few times a day with more or less similar rates. For those who want to go to San Ignacio, Argentina to see the Jesuit missions, to get the best rate they do not have to buy the direct ticket which costs more than 400 Argentine Pesos but must buy a ticket to Posadas (many companies offer this route), place a little further south and then from there take a bus to S Ignacio, thus spending less than 300 Argentine Pesos. As for me, the bus of the company El Rapido Argentino to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay is really comfortable: seats

reclining, ample leg room, bathroom. In the end I travel 19 hours on it, going down only once to the border, but I would have done another 19 because for me this journey is like the life of the michelas: maia, beer and go to spas. Maia: When I'm hungry I take something out of my backpack or they serve you dinner and breakfast. Beer: when I'm thirsty I take out something to drink from my backpack or even bring it to you or you can always take advantage of free tea and coffee from the machine located downstairs of the bus. I'm logically upstairs. Go to Spas: when I feel like taking 2 steps, I go downstairs to the bathroom or to the coffee machine. In the end, after crossing countryside, forests, remote villages, rivers by night and day, without having traveled 1 km of motorway, I arrive at the border. We all go down. Logically I'm the only European. The two customs officers from both countries (Paraguay and Argentina) stamp my passport. Already from here we can see that poverty increases significantly. Improvised salespeople try to foist anything on you and change your money at very disadvantageous rates. Eventually at 14.00 o'clock local time, 15.00 Buenos Aires time are in Asuncion.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER GUIDE ME IN PROCESSION IN ASUNCION, THE CAPITAL OF PARAGUAY.

From the Terminal de Omnibus, located on the south-eastern outskirts of Asuncion, I take bus no. 38 for the center. Tickets can be purchased from the driver and costs 2,300 Guarani. Then you go through the turnstile and when you have to get off you do it through the back door. The bus stops on request and therefore you have to ask the driver if he tells you when to get off or know exactly when to do it. The Pullman passes through shacks where they sell everything and more. At each stop, fleets of vendors jump up and loudly advertise their wares and then get off quickly. This stretch of the city gives me the idea of a not very reassuring place. Poverty is printed on the faces of many. A girl on the bus kindly warns me not to take pictures and not to film as I risk being robbed. Then finally, after an interminable journey (about 40 minutes), I reach the edge of the center, a few tens of meters south of Piazza Indipendenza. Practically the center consists of a street where there are all the main attractions to see: the government building, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Senate, the Chamber. It is full of heavily armed police at every corner. I walk with caution tending hidden, all under my jacket despite the hot weather. I resist and take out the camera and the video camera, only when no one is looking at me, for the minimum wage time necessary to immortalize the historicity of the moment. I meet the usual awake tourist with the camera around his neck who walks casually in the deserted streets. I drive north to Independence Square, the main square. I glimpse the great river, the Rio Paraguay. I lean out from the wall and 3 meters below me an infinite slum appears. I take three steps back and go back to the opposite (south) side. I walk cautiously, slowly, holding myself close to the police who sometimes smile and greet me. Then I arrive on the square for the last photo at the Grande Rio Paraguay but here the surprise. I know very kind daughter and mother who guide me inside the procession that is about to begin. Here 95% of the people are Christian. They speak Spanish, I Italian, but we understand each other very well. I trust them and they trust me. Mom brings me my backpack, to facilitate my tiring journey and we go to the banks of the Rio Grande. Here from the ferry, volunteers get off carrying the statue of Christ the Savior on their shoulders. The atmosphere is surreal; the sky is dark, black and full of rain and in fact it begins to rain. People pray and touch the statue and clap and then there are the cars that play. The procession heads towards the Metropolitan Cathedral. Big emotions. I feel safe among the mother and daughter, who lead me to the bus stop no. 38 in Via Oliva and that is a few blocks south of where I got off a few hours earlier. They pay me part of the trip because I only have big shots and tell the driver to drop me off at the bus terminal. I thank them. They were really kind. They also gave me some important tips on how to behave on the bus, in the Omnibus station so as not to be robbed. I arrive at the Terminal in the evening. Great emotions cmq I breathed today in Asuncion.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html

Cosa vedere a Elva (Cn): la relazione fotografica.