Iguazu Falls – Day One
Took a two day side trip to the Argentine side of the amazing Iguazu Falls. The first day we did La Gran Aventura, which includes a boat ride around and up to the falls. (I highly recommend.) There’s a huge rush to looking up at waterfall that is rushing down at you. From wikipedia: Upon seeing Iguazu, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed “Poor Niagara!” Vastly larger than North America’s Niagara Falls, Iguazu is rivalled only by Southern Africa’s Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe… here start your visit la gran aventura: in the boat. beany in …
Recoleta
I spent Monday wandering around Recoleta, one of the nicer barrios in Buenos Aires. The highlight was, of course, the famed “Cementerio de Recoleta” where the rich & powerful are buried. Or, perhaps more accurately, enshrined. 🙂 cementerio de recoleta evita’s tomb @ cementerio de recoleta me @ evita’s tomb @ cementerio de recoleta floralis generica. the sculpture closes its petals at night like a real flower. outside the facultad de derecho colonial style building in recoleta
Buenos Aires – Sunday Market
Arrived in Buenos Aires! Spent yesterday wandering around the Sunday antiques market. It was a beautiful sunny day and the streets had so much life to them. tango sign filete porteno – the most beautiful in the market the artist tango in the plaza mi amiga
Trip to Buenos Aires!
Next Saturday, I leave for a week in Buenos Aires. I’ll be visting my college roommate, who is currently doing a semester of law school abroad. I’m very excited! Current side trips planned: Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil. Colonia in Uruaguay. Argentina Time: GMT/UTC -3 () (noon in Seattle = 5pm im Buenos Aires) Currency: 1 USD = 3.08 Argentine Peso Weather: 80F, Clear (forecast)
Last Film Pickup
Yesterday, I picked up what may be my last rolls of developed film. I have to say, there’s definitely something to the delayed gratification of seeing your photos for the first time as prints in your hand. A couple things I hope to still do when I convert to pure digital: Compose the shot right the first time. I realized, with my digital point & shoot, I would take 20 photos to try to capture a picture (instead of 2 or 3) just because I could. To some extent, that’s the benefit of digital… But I think if I’m not careful, I’ll just get sloppy. Printing photos. I love …
Yangshuo
Yangshuo is labeled “sleepy little backpackers’ town” with “views that have inspired Chinese artists for centuries.” While the scenery is breathtaking, the pollution is killer and the town has lost a lot of its quaintness in its mad dash to commercialize. The highlight of the weekend was an early kayak trip down the Lijiang river Saturday morning. We got dropped off upstream and paddled for about 3 hours. We had no guide, the morning was fresh, and there were very few tourists out – just fishermen and locals. note: pictures were “depollutionized” in photoshop karen kayaking view on the …
Off to Yangshuo
Had a great week wandering around Beijing. Saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and yesterday, the Great Wall (which was my favorite). Off today to Yangshuo for the weekend. Backposts soon!
The Great Wall at Simatai
After the hoards of folks at the Summer Palace & the Forbidden City, I was concerned about tour groups and a mob scene at the wall. I decided to try Simatai, as it was supposed to be one of the less “restored” public portions of the Great Wall. I got lucky – the Great Wall at Simatai was beautiful and empty. It took about 3 hours to get out there, which is past the travel time tolerance of most tour groups. This meant that Thursday morning, there were probably only 50 other folks out on the wall total. It took me about two …
Summer Palace
After finding local bus 375, I was on my way to the Summer Palace — which it turns out is several hours out of the city. My favorite part of the Summer Palace was “Longevity Hill,” which I wandered around first. It was incredibly pleasant, climbing over rocks and having small temples and pagodas around each corner. I sat and finished Kite Runner; there were 3 women playing a card game just over the way from me. card games temple in longevity hill famous summer palace bridge lions on the summer palace bridge in the distance