Sofia Somewhere

We flew out of Buenos Aires and had a stopover in Santiago, Chile for a few hours and then continued on to Lima, Peru. We arrived in Lima... but our backpacks did not! There were also 2 other couples who took the same route as us whose maletas were also not there. In the end, we were told that they got left behind in Santiago. No maletas :( We were just worried (and tired and feeling dirty haha) about our bags since we would be leaving Lima the next day for Cusco at 5pm. We made our way to our hostel, checked in, but had nothing to do. So we had some dinner before calling it a night. Tacos Inca Kola - a Peruvian softdrink

On our last day in Buenos Aires, we explored the San Telmo barrio to see the street markets. We headed to Plaza Dorrego first and tried to catch mass at the San Pedro Gonzalez Telmo Church . I thought that there would be mass at 10 but it was only at 9 and 11:30. San Pedro Gonzales Telmo Church  So we decide to walk around Plaza Dorrego and the nearby Calle Defensa and come back for mass later. The stalls in Plaza Dorrego were selling mostly antiques.

We set out to visit Tigre today, which an Argentine friend of mine recommended we do. We took a train from the Retiro Station which only cost ARS 7.50 (US$ 1!!) for a round trip. The train ride took about an hour, and we got off at Tigre which was the last stop.

For our second day in Buenos Aires, we decided to do the morning tour offered by Buenos Aires Free Walks. On our way to the meeting point, we passed the other side of the Evita Mural . Evita smiling to the people of the South While yesterday’s tour covered Centro and San Telmo, the tour today would cover Retiro and Recoleta. We had another great tour guide who was really knowledgeable, but he spoke a tad bit too fast and mumbly so I didn't understand him a lot. Our other tour guide was funnier too, but this one was still good.

For our first day in Buenos Aires, we wanted to take it a bit easy. We had a late morning start and decided to join a waking tour in the afternoon to get to know the city. We found a nice restaurant to have a late lunch in, then just walked around after trying to find the meeting point, and to get a bit acquainted with the area. Couldn't pass up the chance to try some Argentine beef for my first meal Topped off with some delicious dulce de leche  crepes for dessert

For our last morning in Rio, Ange and I headed over to Pão de Açucar . The skies weren't quite as clear as the last time I went, but we still got great views of Rio.

We decided to spend the day just relaxing and walking around the beaches :) We took the local bus from our hostel which is near Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas towards Ipanema. We got off at the foot of the lake and walked towards the beach. View of Cristo from the lagoon Biking path of 7.5km!  We went to Ipanema Beach which I found nicer, plus it's less crowded than Copacabana. The waters are also much cleaner there since it's further away from Guanabara Bay. Beaches just a few steps away from the city. What a life! No crowd in the morning :)

After a slightly late night last night, we got up a little later in the morning and headed to Lapa. I brought Ange to see the Escadaria Selarón . It was really nice to be there in the morning. There were fewer tourists and we could take our time really looking at the tiles.

Back in Rio, we decided to spend the day seeing Niterói since Daniel invited us over for churrasco for the finals. We went to mass first in the morning at the chapel in a school (finally, an English mass). After mass, we were asking the guard for directions to the bus or metro, and an American couple who had been living in Brasil helped us out with translation. It was so nice because they asked if we were from the Philippines (there were some Filipinos attending the mass as well) and shared that they had lived there for a few years back when Cory was president. We were originally planning to take the bus to the ferry terminal, but when we were waiting at the bus we found one that goes straight to Niterói. At Niterói I showed Ange the Caminho Niemeyer and B met up with us there. View of Rio from Niterói + the ferry on the left Pão de Açucar and Corcovado

The day after visiting the falls on the Brasil side, we decided to try and visit the Argentine side. To make a really long story short, I only had a single entry visa for Argentina, and I couldn't use it then since I'd be going to Buenos Aires on the 16th. We tried to call the embassy in Foz but they said that only residents could apply for visas in Foz. So Ange and I stayed in Foz and B and Daniel headed over to Argentina. So in the morning we stayed in at our hostel, Hostel Bambu , which is actually one of the nicest hostels I've ever stayed in. We stayed in a 10 bed dorm room with an bathroom inside. It was clean and spacious and each bed has its own power outlet so you're not fighting to use one (automatically a plus in my book).

Here's a video of our boat ride at the Macuco Safari which Daniel took with his GoPro :)

Today, we headed to the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu to visit the famous Iguazu Falls! We took a local bus to get there, and it was only around 20 minutes from the bus station near our hostel (at the city center). The  Iguazú Falls , also spelled as Iguassu Falls or Iguaçu Falls, are one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site . As mentioned the other day,  Iguazu  from the Guarani words " y " meaning water and " ûasú " meaning big (and it certainly lives up to its name). We paid the entrance fee of R$49 and also bought tickets to the Macuco Safari (R$170) which a friend of Caio told me we had to do. 

One of Brasil's most visited places by tourists,  Foz do Iguaçu , is a city in the Brasilian state Paraná most famous for the majestic  Iguazú Falls . Iguazu comes from the Guarani word " y " meaning water and " ûasu " meaning big, and " foz " is Portuguese for mouth or portal. We headed to Itaipu Binacional in the morning (since we heard that it would close at 12nn because of the Brasil game in the afternoon). Also called the Itaipu Dam, it's one of the largest hydroelectric dams and is located on the Paraná River between the borders of Paraguay and Brasil.  The entrance to the complex

On my last full day in Niterói, B and I decided to walk up the mountain to Parque da Cidade . We took a taxi to the base of the mountain, well not exactly street level but a little further up, and then walked up the rest of the way. The first half was pretty hard mainly because the roads were steep. But it didn't take as long as we thought and in about 15-20 minutes we were at the road entrance of the park. The view from halfway up

I spent all of Friday at the hotel, in the morning catching up with my sister and planning our South America trip, and the afternoon watching the games. Delcimar (the dad of B's friend and the owner of the hotel) decided to cook us some barbecue for dinner and we watched the Brasil v. Colombia game at the bar with barbecue and drinks. Delcimar grilling the barbecue Meaaaaat and cheese bread. The meat was never-ending.  Delicious meat, but super gutted for Colombia's loss. :(

After yesterday's no visibility at Cristo Redentor, we headed into the city praying for clear skies. We lucked out, it was a beautiful day. We headed to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain)  to check out the view of the city. Pão de Açucar is a mountain peak at the mouth of Guanabara Bay, and is supposed to offer one of the best views of Rio (the other good view is from Cristo Redentor). It rises 396 meters above the city. It's accessible by cable cars, called teleférico , which run about every 20 minutes. You take a ride from the plaza/ground level to the peak of Morro da Urca (about 212 meters high; the one you can see in the picture below), and from Morro da Urca, another ride to Pão de Açúcar (on the left in the picture below). View from the ground Entrance to the cable car station

Today, we (Bianca, myself, and two other Australian guys Bianca travelled with) went into Rio de Janeiro (the city) for a bit of sightseeing. From Niterói you can either drive, take a taxi, take the bus, or take the ferry. From the hotel we took a bus to the dock and then took the ferry across to Rio (R$ 2,30 one way). Lots of people going on the ferry Ride across is about 20 minutes and it leaves every half hour View of Rio from the ferry Part of the Ponte Rio-Niterói, also the longest bridge in Brasil

I left São Paulo at around 10am and was set for the bus ride to Rio. Took a picture of the snacks because I love it when you get free stuff Not much of a view on the way to Rio (or maybe it's just because I was asleep most of the ride)

Thursday morning, we visited Instituto Tomie Ohtake , a cultural center named after a Japanese-Brazilian artist. The current exhibition was Yayoi Kusama's Obsessão infinita (Infinite Obsession). Kusama is one of Japan's most famous artists. One thing she is famous for is her obsession with polka dots. The exhibit was very interesting. Some of her works were intriguing and I found a lot a bit strange. But she had a nice light series and several beautiful paintings. Photographs of the artist