Our trip was an awesome experience, including a very HAPPY END in Antarctica:
Thanks to all our followers, including comments and motivation.
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Perito Moreno Glacier: February 12
The Perito Moreno Glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park and about 80km from El Calafate where we are staying. Famous for the large pieces of ice falling into or rising out of the Lago Argentina with a great thunder. (very difficult to photograph unless you happen to be taking a picture in that direction at the time, as you see the ice fall before the sound). The glacier is said to be moving at about 2m per day at its fastest point, but unlike many glaciers, the glacier is said to be in a stable condition, neither growing nor reclining since 1917.
At the glacier front, the ice rises about 50 to 60m above the level of the lake, with another 100 – 150m hidden below the lake surface.
We decided to take the mini hiking excursion which includes a visit to the 4km of viewing galleries and 1.5hr walk on the glacier with crampons. The tour on the glacier ends with a whiskey on the rocks, where the rocks are provided by chipping off a part of nearby glacier ice 🙂
This was our last stop on the Ruta 40, and tomorrow we head back to Buenos Aires, and then onto Iguazu the following day.
As with all good routes, you need to have a sign, and here in Argentina the windy tree sign wins….
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El Chalten: February 10
EL Chalten sits on the edge of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Today we took the 6 hour return hike to Laguna Torre. The lake sits at the bottom of the Glacier Grande which creates the icebergs floating in the lake.
Tomorrow we are off to El Calafate.
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Ruta 40: February 6 to 9
February 6 : Esquel to Los Antiguos
This was our longest distance to drive in one day, 600km of which 40km was on the old gravel road. Photos of the gravel road, and the welcome sight when the tarmac returned 🙂
We stayed in Los Antiguos which is on Lago Buenos Aires, the second largest lake in Southern America.
February 7 : Los Antiguos to Lago Posadas
From Los Antiguos to Lago Posadas we took the scenic Ruta 41 which runs along the Argentinean / Chilean border. Following the directions from the satellite navigation we ended up on a road which although was going to Lago Posadas, you needed to be in a real 4×4 wheel drive. So one U-Turn later we were back on the wide gravel road down into the valley, but we did get to see some Flamingos in the wild on this little excursion.
Flamingo and Armadillo
February 8 : Lago Posadas to Estancia de Angostura
The last petrol station for 400km on the Ruta 40.
Estancia la Angostura where we stayed the night and enjoyed Patagonian lamb for dinner
February 9: Angostura to El Chalten
After 150km of gravel road, we are finally treated to paved roads and stunning views on the Ruta 23 heading towards El Chalten. Here you have the famous Fitz Roy and Torre mountains located in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.
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Ruta 40: February 5
Today we started our journey along the Ruta 40 in Argentina. Starting in Bariloche we drove south through El Bolson to Esquel.
To encourage tourism to this part of Argentina, there has been a program of paving the Ruta 40 which parallels the backbone of the Andes from north of Bariloche to the border with Chile near Puerto Natales, however we will only drive as far as El Calafate so in total about 1500km.
Luckily this part was all paved, as we head further south we will start to encounter parts of the gravel road and we have already started to notice that the towns become less touristy, and the answer to Hablas ingles? is now normally no. This will only increase as we reach the more remote areas.
So views from the road:
The town of El Bolson where a market is held on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays in the Plaza Pagano called Feria Artesanal. Here everything has to be handmade and you can find lots of local foods, wooden cutting boards, jumpers, belts etc etc
So now we head into the remote part of Patagonia, where internet and mobile reception is non existent.
Bariloche: February 3 to 4
We have arrived in Bariloche, a town laying on the banks of the Lago Nahuel Huapi in northern Patagonia. The architecture here is a mixture of stone and wood which is seen at its best in the Centro Civico. The town is also the capital of chocolate of Argentina, with every other shop on the high street having a window display full of chocolate. So there went the diet!
One of the main tourist routes here is the Circuito Chico which drives along the edge of the lake before completing a loop past…
the hotel llao llao
the Bahia Lopez
the swiss colony – where you could have a fondue.
The Punto Panoramico
and the chair lift up to Cerro Campanario
Tomorrow we start the Ruta 40 south, first stop Esquel
Hawaii: January 22 to 25
Aloha from Hawaii!
Famous for sunsets and surfing we are staying a few days at Waikiki beach.
At the southern end of the beach is the volcano crater of diamond head. We took an hour for the climb up and down from the park gates to the peak. At the top you are treated to fantastic views back to Waikiki and the surrounding mountain ridge.
We took a tour around the island, on the south east cost are the beaches of Sandy Beach Park, the Hanola blowhole, and Chinaman’s hat.
The Polynesian Cultural Center features houses and cultural information on the polynesian countries in the Pacific, (Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Fiki). Each country puts on a show of its dance and music, and in Tahiti we tried local coconut bread.
The north beaches are famous for the big waves for surfing, in the winter months they can be 20 – 30 feet tall.
No visit to Hawaii would be complete without a visit to Pearl Harbour. We did not have much time, so only managed to go on board the submarine USS Bowfin
Japan: January 16 to 22
Welcome to Japan, and back to Winter. Having recently enjoyed the 30+ degrees average temperature in Australia, the single digit and minus temperatures here certainly felt very cold, and hence the hat, scarfs and gloves were unpacked from our rucksacks for the first time.
Tokyo:
Our first stop was the Tokyo Skytree, opened in May 2012 it is certainly attracting lots of visitors to its 350m high observation deck. You have a 360 degree view over Tokyo, and for the brave even a look down to the shopping center of Solamachi below.
In the shopping center below for fans there is a large Hello Kitty store…
Next was on to Ginza and the Ginza Yonchome Intersection, where you will also find the Sony Building with its 4 floors of showrooms showing the latest in mobile phones, cameras, TV’s and perhaps the future of 3D home cinema ???
In the Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum you can find large-scale and small-scale models of Tokyo and some of its buildings from the Edo era
Next door to the museum is the Sumo tournament location of Ryogoku Kokugikan, where the January tournament is currently taking place. We are not sure who he is, but he received a big round of applause from the waiting crowd. What was more surprising was many of the sumo contestants were arriving by metro.
enjoying a beer in the Irish/English pub where you still will not find someone who can speak English 😉
The Kanda Myojin Shrine
Kyoto:
First stop on our city hopping adventure was Kyoto. We were taking the Shinkansen or “bullet trains” which had a good view to mount Fuji on route. We had purchased the JR Rail tickets in advance, which allows non resident visitors to travel on certain trains within Japan. You do need to make a seat reservation for each of the trains though. We would recommend planning which train and time you would like to take first and noting down before going to the ticket office as English is not commonly spoken by the staff.
Kyoto is the former imperial capital of Japan and has many shrines and temples and castles listed as world heritage sites by UNESCO.
We visited the Nijo Castle, the Imperial Palace (well the outside of it as it is only open 2 days a year), the Heian Jingu Shrine and Chionin Temple
Hiroshima:
On August 6th 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on a city, killing almost 200,000 people. The center of the destroyed town has been turned into a war memorial garden, with a very good museum on the effects of the bomb on the people of Hiroshima.
The Commercial Exhibition Hall built in 1914 was one of the few buildings to survive the bombing and has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Now referred to as the A-bomb dome it serves as a reminder of the destructive force the bomb had
We also visited Hiroshima castle rebuilt in the 1950’s here you can dress up as either a samurai warrior or in other traditional Japanese clothes
Osaka:
We had a quick stop in Osaka between trains, there is not too much to do here, so we visited one museum before taking the train back to Tokyo.
Next stop Hawaii 25 degrees 🙂
Hong Kong & Macau: January 11 to 16
On the way from Sydney to Hong Kong via Shanghai:
The Peak:
Macau:
New development “City of Dreams”:
The Venetian Hotel & Casino:
A spectacular & amazing live show: House of the Dancing Water (by Dragone)
Back to Hong Kong’s public transport:
On top of Bank of China’s mega tower:
Excursion to Lantau Island (seeing the Big Buddha):
View from our 32 floor room…
…now at Hong Kong Airport, waiting for our ANA flight to Tokyo (just a few hours after ANA announced to ground all Boeing 787 due to technical issues…..we are flying 767 🙂 )
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Round the World 2012 / 2013 