.....aaaand it´s gone

Poof!

They say that money makes the world go round. By the same token, you can say that to go round the world, you need a lot of money. We go without.

Especially in Brazil, money goes fast. Samba clubs in Lapa, the train up to Cristo Redentor, a bike round the Lagoa and, of course, caipirinhas; they were all very apt at getting our money out of our pockets. "Gelukkig hebben we de foto´s nog!" We must add here that we were more than happy to part with our money for the favela tour in Rocinha, the biggest favela in Rio. Not only was it a really nice tour; about 70% of the revenues go to a daycare centre in the favela, where young children are looked after who would otherwise be home alone.

Rio was costly, but also taught us how to enjoy the splendours of five-star hotels on a backpackers budget. A mode de vie that by now, comes naturally to us: already during our internships in New York and Vienna we got a good training in this high-life-on-the-cheap, when we and our fellow interns would roam the receptions for free food and drinks, and, of course, some networking.

In Ipanema we quickly discovered a per-kilo restaurant with really good sushi for about €5,- per really full plate. The icing on the cake came from sneaking into the legen-wait for it-dary Hotel Copacabana Palace, where the bathrooms were bigger than the dorm we shared with 10 other girls. We were soaking wet and while we were considering to take an umbrella as we were leaving, we only took some apples. The doormen probably realised we were not really guests when we refused to take the cab that was waiting for us and instead waited in the rain for another ten minutes to get onto the local minibus that would take us back to Ipanema... All the rain in Rio did not do much good to Jori´s sandals, who consequently received a seaman´s grave on the sidewalk. A third round of duct-taping them together seemed to be overdoing it a little.

Coming back into Argentina, we almost slept on the airport, but luckily enough (we´re not yet total paupers) we were able to wake up the hostel owner who let us in at 5 am. When the hostel turned out to look more like a designer boutique hotel, we could not be happier - especially given the €8 we paid for a de facto private room. Our favourite place in Cordoba was, without at doubt, alfajor-shop La Quinta. Not only were their alfajores incredibly yummy (this one´s for you Dodo), they were also very generous with their free samples. Coming back the second time around, the salesman did not have enough change and gave us the alfajores for free. Unfortunately, Jori was utterly unable to thank him for this kindness, as her mouth was overflowing with the free sample alfajor...  A few hours later, we went back to thank him - and buy some more.

Crippled by muscle ache from our horseride the same morning, we went to look for a massage. A place that we first thought to be a field hospital for the elderly - just picture 40 octagenarians lying back on a bed with something looking like an IV-drip next to them while a group of nurse-like individuals constantly check on how they are doing - turned out to be pauper-paradise: the Korean company, Nugabest, actually provided free massages! Having survived this massage (enjoyed would be a wrong word for this rather painful first round), we decided to treat ourselves to some more - almost free - Argentinean goodies: Francisco Colja in his latest movie, De Caravana (please, do have a look here, girls).

In Mendoza, our next stop, we followed the advice from fellow travellers and ended up in an electricity-deprived and army-shower rich hostel with non-existing windows (which we fixed with Duct tape and garbage bags to then ask for a different dorm). Luckily Jori had already some experience with cold showers: back in Cordoba, her horse decided that the best thing to do after galopping all morning was to take a bath in the river where we had stopped to allow the horses to drink. Never mind that Jori was still on his back..! After recollecting himself from laughing (and being rather relieved to see Jori laughing her ass of as well) our guide assured us that this was the first time he had ever seen the horse do this. If ever, it was a most refreshing experience - the army showers in Mendoza less so.

Better things in Mendoza were the Tenedores Libres and the free internet in the other hostels. Best things in Mendoza were outside of Mendoza. We did two Wine&Bike tours, our ultimate integration into Argentinian society. In Maipú, Mr Hugo had the best deal in town: tandems (for those who know how to handle them) and free wine in his garden afterwards. Our favourite place however, was Achaval Ferrer in Luján de Cuyo where for a meagre $20 we drank $540 peso wine in the sun with the magnificent Andes mountains in the background. ¡Bien bebidas a Mendoza!

(As for the money situation, there is still hope: Lisette is reading "The Investment Biker" and we are now considering our spendings to be Foreign Direct Consumption or FDC. If considering all the things we get back from it, one could even consider it Foreign Direct Investment. After all, is a rare thing to learn to speak a new language in under two weeks and without paying for a language school. The trick? Just pinch your nose and say -ao a lot!)

A perfect example of what we used to call "Jesus Shoes" in elementary school, a.k.a. "Nike Air Jerusalem"

 Jesus and pals..                                                                               ... and many, many more pals!

 

           Benvindo a Rocinha, one of Rio´s many favelas and home to the same number of people as the city of Utrecht despite its much smaller size.

 

 

 Houses as far as the eye can see

 Fishermen at the Lagoa in Rio

Prijsvraag: spot the Dutch

 Colorful Santa Teresa stairs, decorated with tiles from all over the world including Delft of course.

Duct tape for life!

We tried to convince the owners of our hostel to adopt him/her, but to no avail. If he/she had fit in our backpack (and survived 6 weeks in it), we would have taken it home.

Big mystery we still have to solve before leaving Argentina tomorrow: why do almost all guys have this ugly heaircut (matje)? First hypothesis is that it has something to do with Messi, but we are still trying to find out whether he is the cause or just the consequence of a bigger phenomenon we have yet to discover.

Argentinian rock rocks

 

The village where we rode horses and where Jori took a free bath. Literal translation: salt, if you can. 

According to our guide, however, it meant: get out, if you can

Exchanging travel stories with Che who did mas o menos the same journey as we are doing now. As can be read in his Motorcycle Diaries, during these months of traveling he developed the foundation of his later thoughts and believes. Time will tell how revolutionist we will become..

Beautiful autumn day in Alta Gracia, a village close to Córdoba.

 

Bike&Wine first pitstop: chocolates, olive oil, and licors.

Bike&Wine pitstop 2, 3, 4: Cheers!