Big Island, small problem

Saturday, June 24th, 2006

So we are walking on the main street of this little town on an island called Ilha Grande. We are tired and sweaty, but we finally know where we going to sleep tonight and that the place has a hot shower, so you could say we are sort of happy. A man approaches us with fliers in hand. “No,” I say smiling, “we have a place to stay, thank you.” “Oh, no,” the man replies, “I just wanted to tell you about this party we are having at our hostel tonight. The entrance is free and the drinks are cheap.” “Fine. What’s the name and the time?” While I write down his information, Shurik peeks from behind my shoulder and casually comments, “Oh, that’s in the hostel the Welsh couple from the Pantanal told us not to stay in.” “That is so rude!” the hostel guy acted insulted, but it just sounded like he was joking. “It’s probably my competition badmouthing me. My hostel has a 97% rating on the internet” whatever that means. We really didn’t want to get into this, so we agreed we’ll come to the party and went each to its own way.

That evening we kept our promise. Together with an Irish couple we met on the boat to the island, we came through the gate only to have the guy from this morning wag his finger at Shurik, “Oh no! Not this one! He’s not coming in!”

- What? But you invited us!
- I’m UNinviting HIM! He was rude to me!
- You must have misunderstood. Can I explain myself…
- DO YOU WANT TO FIGHT?

Tags: climbing, underwater
Posted in Places»South America»Brazil | No Comments »

Heaven on Earth

Friday, May 12th, 2006

“Heaven on Earth,” said a Russian guy selling matrioshkas (babushkas) on the weekend artisan market. “You came here in the wrong time, though. In the summer everything here looks much livelier, but even now when it doesn’t, this is still the best place to live. I have cabins near here that I rent, with banya (Russian sauna). Built it myself. I’m also building a house. Move over a bit guys, I’m still trying to sell here. Were was I, oh yeah, I’m building a house all on my own, bit by bit, and you know much the tax on my land is for a year? Fifteen dollars. That’s all! Both my cars, never registered. If the police stops me, they just check on the computer that the car isn’t stolen and send me on my way. ‘Carry on chief,’ they say. And so many things here are free. The gas, the education, medicine. It’s communism, I tell you. The good kind. I know a couple of academics that came here from Simferopol a year ago with nothing. They started making little gnomes from play-doh and selling them at the market, just like I’m doing. Now they have a house, a car, and a motor boat. I’m telling you, this is the best place to live. Heaven on Earth.”

Tags: art, climbing
Posted in Places»South America»Argentina | No Comments »

Eureka! Villarica!

Saturday, May 6th, 2006

Suck up the flu because today, my dear, we are up this morning at six to go climb an active volcano. Villarica is her name, and she is that steaming, angry-looking summit glowing red you see from your bedroom window.

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Tags: climbing, extreme
Posted in Places»South America»Chile | No Comments »

Free Mint at the End of the World

Monday, March 27th, 2006

Although next to a nice plaza, the hostel we stayed in, “Hostel Carly”, was a dinky little place with one, and only one advantage to it – free internet. And there is nothing else that draws Israelis more, like free internet. We’ve stayed in that hostel a few times already and every time both the machines were taken by my fellow countrymen. The computer room was also the “hangout” room and had a little TV hanging off the wall as there was barely room in there for people. On our way in and out, we always peeked in to see if there was a free computer to check our emails, but many times got stuck inside waiting and chatting with other residents. On one of such occasions, we encountered Yosi, Yosi, and Hagai (who we now refer to as simply “Yosi and Yosi”). They have already been to Ushuaia and Patagonia and had some useful advice for us: “You must go to Nana Hinam (Free Mint in Hebrew),” said one of the Yosis. “It is not the official name of the place, but all the Israelis grew accustomed to the name as there is a mint bush growing right next to the house and you can pick at it for free.” Now, if any of you know Shurik, you must remember his never ending love affair with tea, so to the free mint tea at the very end of the world we went.

Tags: climbing, people, trekking
Posted in Places»South America»Argentina | No Comments »

“Whine” Potosi

Wednesday, January 4th, 2006

Traveling, you end up doing many things that are exciting and fun only in recollection. After the wounds have been licked shut and the pain in your lungs does not feel like a knife through the chest anymore – only then you can say with a straight face you would have done it all over again given the opportunity.

In Bolivia, having just done the famous Death Road, we were not exactly in the lets-do-it-again mood. Still, the adrenalin of hurtling down a steep mountain road dotted by shrines commemorating those who fell off the perilous path, with nothing but the brakes of our rental bikes to stop us from going over the edge of a cliff and into the harrowing depths of a canyon swimming in murky clouds was still with us, as were our sore muscles, bruised bottoms, and the soaking wet shoes. In retrospect, all that could have been more or less bearable and fixable if only we did not decide to tackle a nearby 6,088m peak the very next day.

Originally, we didn’t plan to do any extreme climbing until Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895m high), but when we heard that Huayna Potosi, a 6,088m mountain near La Paz, takes only three days and requires no experience, we were hooked. Actually, to both our surprise, I was even more enthusiastic than my husband Alex. I don’t know what got into me, but I kept thinking about the ice axe and crampons that we would get to use, and how cool would it be to conquer a 6,088m summit. I was like a little girl about to use her new tea-set for the very first time. Alex was not against climbing either. He did keep asking me over and over if I was sure, surprised I felt so passionate about such a demanding physical task, but the fact that this would be an extremely cool experience that would cost us less then Kilimanjaro would, eventually won both of us over, and we booked a guide to lead us up the day after we did the Death Road. If only we knew how we would feel after finally getting off our bikes, we might have taken a day off to take it easy for twenty four hours. Alas, the trip was booked, and we were not the only people in the group going up; so we wore plastic bags over our spare socks, put on our still soaking wet shoes, and set off for the mountain.

In the van to the first of two camps we met the third member of our expedition. Julian was a 22 year old Frenchman who traveled whenever possible and always in the most extreme of ways. Since neither of us had any experience in ice climbing, the original plan was to get to the first camp (4700m) by car, and spend the day on a nearby glacier practicing technical skills for our two day climb to the peak. Next, we would spend the night at the same place, and the next morning head out to high camp. There we would eat lunch and go to sleep at about 5pm in order to wake up at about midnight and climb in the dark for the next seven hours to the peak. The reason the final climb is done at night is because it is now summer time here, and the hot Bolivian summer sun softens the snow and increases the risk of an avalanche. Unfortunately, when we reached the camp, the weather was already so bad that a group of men we met coming back from high camp said they didn’t even attempt the peak since the risk of an avalanche was too great. Cautiously, that day our guide decided to not even take us out for training. Instead, we spent the whole day playing the card game “Asshole” in a tiny room behind a little house belonging to the hydro-electric plant guard. To be honest, it was alright with us. We had a chance to dry off our very wet shoes and rest our sore muscles. Actually, I’m pretty sure we were not even supposed to be there at all – we were allowed to use the bathroom only if there was nobody else near the house; and then, right before we went to sleep, and I went to brush my teeth, I was literally shoved back into the room by the guard because, as he apologetically explained later, the Sheriff was outside the door.

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Tags: climbing, extreme, trekking
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