Author: Melissa Allen

We got on the plane wearing several layers because of the cold weather in Chengdu and got off the plane in Bangkok to 91 degrees and humid. It’s crazy how different the weather can be within a two hour plane ride. The heat felt amazing after 30 days of cold. We didn’t realize how much the cold weather starts to get to you after a while. In China everything is cold; most restaurants do not have heat, many of the tourist attractions are outside and it takes a very long time to warm up your hotel room with a wall heater. So, needless to say we enjoyed the warmth, even taking a dip in the hotel pool.

Since we arrived on the weekend we decided to take the sky train to the end of the line (Mo Chit). A very short walk south from the station is the Chatuchak Weekend Market. The market is huge covering an area of 32 acres with more than 15,000 stalls. Vendors are selling everything from clothes, plants, electronics, ceramics, furniture, dried snacks and of course, fresh food/snacks. Robert absolutely had to have one of their specialties – a mango smoothie.

The market is open on Saturday and Sunday only from 9:00am – 4:00pm. We spent about 4 hours walking all around the market. During our day at the market we did stop for a 30 minute foot massage. There are places all over the market that offers massages. It’s very cheap (around $5.00) for 30 minutes. Many locals and tourists were taking a break to enjoy a massage in the air conditioning.

I’m happy to say that after a full day of rest by the pool, playing cards and some competitive billiards, we are both feeling much better.

On our last day in Bangkok we set out to explore the area along the river. The metro and sky train do not run along the river but there are two different options of boats that can be taken to piers up and down the river. Tickets for a single ride is 50 THB. The orange line or the Chao Phraya Express Boat are both at the pier just off the sky train. The Chao Phraya Express Boat offers a unlimited one day pass for 180 THB (approx. $6.00). We opted for the day pass and set out down the river to the pier at Pak Klong Taladd. From there we made a 1/2 mile walk to Wat Pho. The complex contains the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

The temple was amazing, so foreign from what have seen anywhere else in the world. The construction of the current Wat Pho complex was started in 1782 by King Rama I. It is home to more than 1,000 Buddha statues. We wandered through the complex taking in all the spires, Buddha statues and temples. Each building and spire is comprised of thousands of colored ceramic pieces.  The array of colors added a beauty to the buildings. We had a chance to go inside of the temples. Before entering the we were required to remove our shoes. We were happy to do so out of respect for their custom.

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is in the back of the complex. It was easy to find as that is where the most people were gathered. The Buddha is huge measuring 46 meters long and is completely covered in gold leaf. There are pillars holding the temple up every 3 meters so it is not possible to get a picture on the Reclining Buddha in one shot.

After our visit to Wat Pho we walked north for about a 1/2 mile and then to the west another half mile where we reached the entrance to the Grand Palace. The lines were very long and we still wanted to visit another temple so we chose not to go inside. Hopefully we will have a chance to visit on our next trip to Bangkok.

We got on the boat a took it to the pier at War Arun. It is also known as the Temple of Dawn. Although the original date of construction is not known, Wat Arun started to appear on maps of Bangkok in the mid-1600s. The temple is much smaller than Wat Pho just across the river. However, it is quite beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

Robert had a very special moment in one of the temples at Wat Arun. There was a monk offering blessings to visitors. The blessing is done by sprinkling water over the head, chanting and tying a white string on the wrist. Robert was one of the few who received a personal blessing which is meant to give him good luck and happiness.

We ended our day on a high note and took the boat back to the sky train and then to our hotel. Our short time in Bangkok was definitely not enough time to see everything. It is a gateway city to the rest of Southeast Asia and we know we will be back. For now we are off to see the majestic temples of Myanmar.

Standing in the bus station in Huangshan waiting to board the bus we were approached by a young man asking to see our tickets. He kindly tried to explain in limited English that the tickets we bought to Lishui, China were going to a different station than expected. We weren’t exactly sure where we were going to end up but we got on the bus anyway. Six hours later the bus driver dropped us off on the exit ramp to the toll road in the middle of nowhere. We up and down the street in trying to locate a taxi. With a comedy of events and some google translate, we found a bus that would take us the 4.7 miles to the town of Dagangtou. A half mile walk to the water would lead us to our guest house above a local shop. We were happy to have finally arrived after our 9 hour journey.

Dagangtou is a small town located on the Ouijang River. Historically it was an important place because of the large-scale hydraulic irrigation dating back over 1,500 years. Now it is a haven for painters. There are studios and shops displaying paintings all over the town. The buildings and walls are also painted.

There is a small wharf that offers a short boat ride to the other side of the river. A “scenic route” has been constructed along the opposite side of the river for people to enjoy. It is much like a Chinese garden. Although the day was quite foggy were able to capture some photos of the beautiful scenery (and some of us too!).

It was very peaceful along the river walking the scenic route. The weather is a bit warmer but it is still low season and there are very few tourists. We took our time and enjoyed being off the beaten track.

 

In order to get back to the boat dock, we took a different route through the very small village. People often stop to stare at us as we are the only “westerners” we have seen for days. Everyone is very nice to us but we are definitely the outsiders. We use smiles and gestures to interact with the locals. They are very nice at allowing us to take pictures of their daily life.

One last gem of this small little area is Jiangbin Ancient Street. This water front street was built in the early 1900s at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It has so much character with small shops and restaurants.

After several days in Dagangtou we had to move on. A 1.5 hour public bus ride, two train rides and a taxi brought us to the city of Fuzhou. Tomorrow we fly to Beijing to take part in all of the Chinese New Year Festivities.

The train ride was so fast that it  felt like as soon as we sat down and took off our coats, it was time to get off at Suzhou station. We spent more time getting our tickets than actually riding the train. We took a quick taxi ride to our hotel located right in the middle of the tourist center. Hotel Soul Suzhou was very nice and a great find for $60 per night including breakfast. We had a relaxing evening enjoying our nice hotel, happy hour at the bar and really comfy room.

The next morning we set out on a long walk. Not far from the hotel we stumbled upon Chenghuang Temple. They offered free entry so we took advantage and quietly made our way in. There were people in the temple worshiping and performing a traditional ceremony. Men played music and a family made an offering of a paper goose. We all stood and watched as the smoke started and the flames consumed it until there was nothing left but ash. It was a very unique experience that we were lucky to have.

On our way to the west side of town, we walked down some alley ways in the local neighborhood. We saw a few interesting things as part of daily life including laundry hanging to dry on the power lines.

After about two miles of walking we arrived at the Lingering Garden located outside of Chengman Gate. It is considered one of China’s best traditional gardens.

It was built in 1583 by Xi Taishi, by a bureaucrat of the Ming court. It covers an area of 2.3 hectares.  The off season price of entrance is 45 RMB ($7.14). We wandered through the garden for about 1.5 hours taking in all of the beautiful flora and fauna.

After our time at the gardens we started to make our way back toward our hotel. Since we were quite a way from that area, we decided to take the public bus. Bus #1 makes a route that stops near most tourist locations. The older folks on the bus were fascinated that we were riding along with them.

Day two we decided to take the metro to the north side of Old Town. Our first stop was at the Bao’em Temple. Parts of the temple complex date back to construction between 1131 and 1162 AD. The pagoda is nine stories high. While pagoda is closed we explored the temple complex including walking around the pagoda in a clockwise route in order to keep the “spirits” happy with us. It’s part of the local beliefs.

A short walk from the Bao’em Temple is the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The original part of the garden was built in 1509. It covers a very large area and takes a minimum of two hours to walk and enjoy all the different sections the garden offers.  Humble Administrator’s Garden is much busier that the others we visited so far and also more expensive. The low season price is 70 RMB ($11.00) and 90 RMB in high season. The gardens have many pavilions, ponds and rockeries to explore. On warmer days it would be a great place for a picnic.

Just two blocks down from the garden’s exit is a small stand offering canal boat rides. We were excited to have the chance to ride the boat and this one is a much less expensive option that the large motorized boats on other parts of the canal. The cost is 40 RMB per person and we got our own boat. The ride was around 45 minutes long. While the canals are not as scenic as those in other parts of the world, it was a great way to see every day life in the city. We also got a chance to “steer” the boat. I did not do well!

While walking back to the center of Old Town, we came across the Phi Shi Street Bird and Flower Market. We couldn’t believe the amount of animals that they had in such small cages. It was very sad to see them so crammed together. The good things was all the animals were very clean and seemed to be well fed. The market is where locals come to buy fresh flowers and also find a pet. There many different animals for sale including puppies, bunnies, kittens, turtles, birds, guinea pigs, gerbils and many kinds of fish.

Our day would not have been complete without a meal of our favorite new Chinese food… fried dumplings. We found a local restaurant near the famous shopping street, Guan Qian Street. The menu was only in Chinese, so we did our best to point at pictures to order our food. The small shop did not disappoint. It was another great meal of pork fried dumplings and white rice for approximately $3.00 for two people.

The next morning we grabbed our bags and took the metro to the train station. After standing in line for quite a while we discovered all the tickets for morning trains to Hangzhou were sold out. So we made a run for the bus station located across the street. Were we on a bus 20 minutes later. It turned out to be a great way to travel and cheap too. We arrived in Hangzhou 3 hours later and took a taxi to our hotel in the Old Town. We were in the taxi for almost an hour because traffic was CRAZY! We settled into the hotel and then set out to find some dinner. We located a restaurant near our hotel and enjoyed some Kung Pao Chicken. It was spicy but very good.

Our hotel is a four block walk from Westside Lake the main attraction of Hangzhou. It is a man-made lake covering 2.5 square miles. There are a lot of things to do along the waters edge as well take a boat ride to the island in the middle.  During our two day visit we spent two afternoons strolling the boardwalk, watching the locals play cards in the park and following the cormorant birds as they fished along the shallow water.

We also took the boat ride to the island in middle containing  “The Three Pools Mirroring the Moon.” It was basically a Chinese garden on an island in the middle of the lake. It is beautiful with calm waters throughout the middle with small pavilions along the outside.

There are many different kinds of boats that will take you to the island. Of course they all have different prices ranging from 55 RMB to 120 RMB. We opted for the cheaper option and found out that on the way back you can take which ever boat you want. We took the smaller covered boat there and the decorated own on the way back.

Along the water is a very large elevated park. We climbed the never ending stairs to the top and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and lake. There is much to see in the park with many temples, pavilions and the City God Temple. We leisurely enjoyed an afternoon in the park.

In front of the park is Hefang Street, a historic pedestrian shopping street lined with shops and food stalls.  In present day, it’s quite touristy but fun to see all the Chinese tourists on vacation. Everything is geared toward Chinese tourists. Robert just had to try one of the local treats, sugar glazed strawberries. So good!

As we did in Suzhou, we had to find some great local food to try in Hangzhou.  We are lucky that to be staying only one block from the very famous Kui Yuan Guan Noodle Restaurant. It was founded in 1867 and serves Anhui-style noodles. Yummy!

 

This morning (yes, 7:30am Monday) we woke up to watch the Super Bowl Live. Robert had his coffee in hand and was yelling at the iPad. We had fun enjoying a little piece of home. Hope everyone had an amazing Super Bowl Sunday.

 

Tomorrow we are off to Huangshan for a visit to Yellow Mountain. See on the other side of the clouds…

Fourteen hours after leaving the US, we arrived in Shanghai, China. We grabbed our bags and made our way to the Maglev (bullet train). Even though this option is more expensive than taking the metro into the city, we wanted the experience of the very fast train. During our eight minute ride, the train speed reached 430 kilometers per hour. Surprisingly the ride was very smooth. It felt as though we were gliding past the traffic outside.

Finding our hotel proved to be a bit of a challenge as Siri pin-pointed the hotel in the wrong location, google maps is a blocked website in China and we could not locate a phone number to call the hotel. After more than one hour wandering around in the rain with our bags, we were relived to find the Fish Inn tucked beside a bridge. We were so happy to relax in a warm, dry place.

The next morning we woke up extremely early as we hadn’t quite adjusted to the tremendous time difference. We set out to explore the Bund area. It was still rainy and so the views along the Bund and Pudong across the Huangpu River were not crisp. We enjoyed taking in the sights and beautiful architecture.

The next few days were dry but very smoggy. The air quality index reached 286, which is considered very bad. We could see the smog everywhere we went. We didn’t let it stop us from enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai. One of our highlights was walking down the famous “shopping street” of Nanjing Road.

The metro in Shanghai is very easy to use and an extremely cheap way of getting around the city. Each ride is 3 RMB (approx. $0.50). We took the metro out to a different area of the city so we could visit the Jade Buddha Temple. It is a large complex that seems to kept going deeper and deeper as you explore.

The most photographed part is the jade reclining Buddha in the back right corner pavilion.

On the south end of the Bund are several sites including the City God Temple. We walked the full length of the Bund and arrived at the temple.  The cost of entrance is only 10 RMB. We were thrilled we made the stop to see this beautiful place. The incense was burning creating a smoke outside the main pavilion.

Another wonderful place to visit is the Yu Garden in the Old City which contains a Chinese garden dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). The Old City is fully decorated for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which will begin on February 15th. We walked the zig-zag bridge and started in the Yu Garden. Snow is still on the roof tops and flowers are just starting bud. The garden is beautiful even in the winter. It covers a large area with several different pavilions that were once used by Chinese poets to gather their thoughts and get inspiration.

Eating some of the local food is a must. We opted for a very famous steamed bun restaurant. Nanxiang is located outside the Yu Garden on the opposite side of the zig-zag bridge. It has three floors. Street level is the take out window, that has a line of people 30+ deep at all times. The second floor offers only one type of steamed bun – Pork and crab mixed. We chose the third floor which offers a full service dining experience with a large menu. The cost is more for each floor you go up, but we were excited to try a few different items. An order of six buns will cost approximately 35 RMB on the top floor compared to 15 RMB at the take out window. We started with a cold beef appetizer and one order of pork steamed buns. We loved them so much we ordered the vegetable ones too!

On our last night we tried our best to get a picture of the beautiful lit up skyline along the Bund. Unfortunately the smog never let up and this is the best shot we could get…

Our last morning in Shanghai we joined another Freetour.com walking tour. There was a small group that joined our guide, Kylie, for the four-hour walking tour. We started at People’s Square and walked down Nanjiang Road, to the Bund and all the way to the Yu Garden.

During our tour we stopped at a Michelin recommend restaurant and local hotspot, Da Hun Chun. They are well known for their fried dumplings. We paid for one order (4 dumplings for 7 RMB), they gave us a meal ticket and then we collected the dumplings from the food window. Wow.. they were amazing and even better than the steamed dumplings.

It was a wonderful tour that taught us many things about Shanghai’s history, the customs of the area, how to order food in the food halls and some little known facts about the city. Thanks Kylie for an awesome tour!

At the conclusion of the tour we went straight for the metro and then to the Railway Station. The 25 minute train ride with take us to the water town of Suzhou.

The magnificent waterfall of Iguazu is located on the border between Brazil and Argentina. It was “discovered” by Spaniards in 1591 but gets its name from the native Guarani people. Iguazu means “big water” in their language. Iguazu Falls is one of the Natural Wonders of the World and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the second largest of all waterfalls in the world behind Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. More water flows through Iguazu Falls in a year than any other waterfall in the world.

Seeing the falls is possible on both the Argentina and Brazilian side. United State citizens need a visa to visit Brazil but not Argentina so during our trip we did a complete tour of the Argentina side. After entering the park and paying the $500 pesos admission, we started by taking the train to the upper part of the falls. From there we walked over one kilometer long metal bridge to get to the “devils throat.”  Our first siting of the falls was from the platform in the middle of mist. As we stood and took in the thunderous sounds of the falls and the amazing view of water pouring over the cliffs, we were soaked by the continuous heavy mist. Even though I was soaked through, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

As we made the trek over water back to dry land, we passed many large catfish swimming in the water below. They are most likely waiting for the tourists to feed them.

After taking the train back down from the top of the falls, we took the “Upper Circuit” walking trail. The 1.5 kilometer walk offers the best panoramic views of the falls. It is breathtaking. From the trail you can see all the falls that make up Iguazu and the multiple levels the water hits on its way down.  Another interesting experience is standing at the very top of one of the falls and watching the water rush over the cliff and fall down hundreds of feet with a constant loud thunder.

We stopped for lunch in the main rest area of the park which offers several food options, a convenient store and public restrooms. Everyone must watch out when sitting out sit because there are very aggressive coatis (raccoon like animals) that are out to find an easy meal. There are signs warning people of the coatis and they are not afraid of people. Below you can see them walking amongst our group.

As we finished our lunch, the skies opened and a downpour of rain started. It was time for us to set out on the last part of our tour, the boat ride. So without hesitation we walked out into the rain. Our guide took us to the safari trucks for our trip down the Iguazu River where we would meet up with our boat captain. The rain was not letting up. The trucks were open air offering no protection from the rain. It made for a wild and very wet ride through the rainforest.

We were given life jackets and dry bags to put our belongings in. Then we boarded the rubber boat with great anticipation of what was going to happen. Our captain took us up the river to where Iguazu Falls crashes over the cliffs. Our boat continued to get closer and closer until we were under the falling water. The huge amount of water crashing all around us made it very hard to see but it was amazing! I snapped pictures blindly trying to capture some of what it was like to be under the falls. Click the link below to see the video from under the falls (sometimes it loads a bit slow).

The boat ride under the falls is not to be missed. It is an amazing experience and nothing like anything we have done before.

Our day at Iguazu Falls was at an end, so happy and completely soaked we went back to our hotel. We enjoyed a relaxing evening at NaMaRa Hotel with our awesome hosts Matias and Nancy. They were gracious and made our stay in their hotel wonderful.

 

During our stay in Puerto Iguazu we took the bus into town. We enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant. There is not a lot to see in town but it is always nice to check out the area. We walked along the river to the point where 3 countries meet. When standing in Argentina you can see Brazil and Paraguay.

Our trip to Iguazu was short, but amazing. If you have a chance to make the trip, you definitely won’t forget it.

After a short stop in the US, we are headed to Asia. First stop… Shanghai!

We arrived on a hot sunny day in the capital city of Montevideo. the weather had changed dramatically since our last stop in Puerto Madryn. It was going to be a hot one! We met up with our friends, the Davis family (Jeff, Diane and Grace), in the morning and headed out to explore the city on foot. Since none of the Holland organized tours looked like what we wanted to do, we wandered the streets in the direction of Plaza de Independencia to join the 11:00am free walking tour.

As we walked the approximately one mile to the Plaza we went in to many shops and browsed through street vendors. We joined a group of about 20 people in the plaza for the free walking tour with Geraldo, our guide. He was great and enthusiastic about the history of his country. We were able to see some of the most important site in the city.

At the end of our  two hour tour, Geraldo, offered all of us a taste of a famous Uruguayan liquor, Grappamil. It is like Italian Grappa sweetened with honey. He poured us all a taste. It was much better than my recent taste of Grappa.

When the tour ended we went to the market located in the Old City, also near the port. The Mercado el Puerto is now a place to purchase any souvenirs you may want to take home with you, including Dulce de Leche (Uruguay claims to have created it first and also to have the “best in the world”). In and around the market there are many restaurants offering a selection of meats cooked over a traditional asado (BBQ).

By the afternoon, it was very hot outside and we were all in need of a cold drink. A few blocks up the main street from the market, there are little bars and cafes with outdoor seating. We picked one in the shade and enjoyed a few glasses of Patricia, local Uruguayan beer. The cold drinks cooled us down and we made our way back to the ship.

We finished up our fun afternoon with a daily game of trivia. This round was our crowning glory taking first place. Our prize… free drinks from our cruise director, Ryan!

 

During the night our ship crossed the Rio de la Plata to the Argentina capital city of Buenos Aires.  This was the final destination of our cruise. We were sad that our cruise had come to an end but excited to explore the city and continue our adventure.

Our first day in Buenos Aires, it was cold and raining. We were able to walk for about one hour before the rain started. We began our exploration at the clock tower, Torre Monumental and then up to Calle Florida. The pedestrian street of Calle Florida continues for several blocks. It is filled with shops selling just about anything you can think of. However, one thing you cannot miss are all the people yelling “Cambio, Cambio” over and over. There are dozens of them along the streets trying to get people to change currency with them. While it is illegal, there is a strong desire for people to get US Dollars rather than Argentinian Pesos. While it may be easy to do a currency exchange with one of them, it is not a good idea as they can give you fake bills. We laughed at all of their different ways of saying the same thing. Some fast, some slow, some aggressively and some like they are half asleep. It’s part of the atmosphere of shopping along Calle Florida.

Since it was pouring down rain, we cut our walk a bit short. We stayed in Buenos Aires for 4 nights so we had plenty of time to enjoy the city.

 

One of our highlights was visiting the Catedral Metropolitana, located on the Plaza de Mayo. Located in the Cathedral is the tomb of San Martin. He was the liberator of many South American Spanish territories, initiating their independence. It is guarded when the Cathedral is open. At 1:00pm we watched the changing of the guard.

On Sunday we met up with the Davis family in the Plaza Dorrego for the weekly market. The streets all around the plaza were filled with street vendors selling everything from antiques to crafts to souvenirs. The market happens every Sunday from approximately 10:00am to 4:00pm in the neighborhood of San Telmo.

On Monday, we joined another free walking tour at 11:00am. The one in Buenos Aires must have reservations in advance because they limit the number of people on each tour. Our guide, Vicky, took us through the main downtown area giving us a tremendous amount of information about the city as we walked. The tour was 2.5 hours starting in Plaza Congresso and ending at the Obelisk. It was a great way to learn about the city.

During our stay in Buenos Aires, we ate at the Pizzeria Guerrin twice. They are known for having the best empanadas in the city and their pizza is great too! At both lunch and dinner time the place is packed. They only except cash. The walls are full of photos of South American celebrities that have eaten there. It has a fun atmosphere and the food is great! The restaurant is located 2 blocks from the Obelisk.

Our visit to Buenos Aires had to come to an end, but we have more stop to make in Argentina…Puerto Iguazu.

 

We arrived in Puerto Madryn on an overcast day with a warm temperature. The best weather to see and take photos. It was our final day to see penguins on this adventure. After getting off the ship we took a bus for 2.5 hours to the Nature Reserve of Punta Tambo. On the way we had a chance to see some of the other wildlife in the area.

Punta Tambo Reserve is home to the largest colony of penguins in all of the Americas. Over 1 million melleganic penguns live in the reserve most of which come in the summers to breed and raise their chicks. As we walked through the reserve we couldn’t believe just how many penguins we could see. It was amazing that by standing in one place and turning around 360 degrees there were penguins as far as you can see.

I’m sure you’re thinking… how bad did it smell. The answer is surprisingly not as bad as one would think. The area typically has fairly high winds coming off the ocean which sweeps away most of the smell. This made the visit much more enjoyable.

Penguins chicks were everywhere. We were able to see penguins doing various parts of their everyday activities.

As we walked toward the beach, we had to stop to along the penguins to cross the path. They always get the right of way.

 

The closer we got to the beach, the more penguins we saw waddling back and forth to the water to find food. We crossed over the “penguin highway.” The penguins have created a path from the beach to their burrows. At any given time you can see many of them passing back and forth. Click the link below to watch a video of the penguins on the highway (it’s a bit slow to pull up).

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Along the beach thousands of penguins are “hanging out.” We enjoyed watching them come in and out of the water.

 

After a few hours with the penguins, our visit had to come to an end. We said goodbye to my favorite animals and took the 2.5 hour bus back to Puerto Madryn.

Our next stop on our adventure is Montevideo, Uruguay.

Our adventure continued as the ship left the port of Ushuaia. Captain Chris Norman made an announcement for all passengers that he made a decision to delay our trip south past Cape Horn. There was a very large weather system headed right into our path which would cause 90 mph winds and 36-foot-high waves. By staying in the protected waters for an extra 24 hours, we would miss the bad weather. So, the Captain did circles within the Beagle Channel for a full day before we started the trip down to Cape Horn.

On Christmas Eve, our ship was doing what many explorers have done before us on their way to Antarctica. One of them was Charles Darwin and wrote about his experience in his journals. On December 24, 1932 Charles Darwin was on the expedition team of the S.S. Beagle headed to Antarctica. Their captain decided to spend an extra day in the protection of the bays north of Cape Horn to allow bad weather to pass over. Once the storm had passed, they completed a successful exploration trip to Antarctica.

Just like the S.S. Beagle, by Christmas Day the storm passed us. We were able to have a much calmer crossing around Cape Horn and through the Drake Passage. While there were large waves and the ship rocked back and forth, we were both lucky to avoid any sea sickness that the Drake Passage is so well known for. The clouds cleared just as the ship approached the Cape. The view of Cape Horn was amazing. We were lucky to see hundreds of albatross birds flying around looking for food. 

After a full day at sea, we arrived at Dullman Bay, Antarctica. The beauty of the vast white landscape is hard to put into words. The water is a deep blue and the land is covered in the most pristine white ice. The mountains stick out over the low cloud cover.

The night we arrived in Antarctica the weather was perfect. Low winds, sunshine and around 30 degrees. The sun doesn’t set this time of year until after midnight which allowed us several hours of viewing. Our timing was just right to see more than 25 humpback whales swimming all around us in the bay. Looking out on either side of the ship we could see the plumes of spray in the water where the whales swimming. Within moments we could see them coming out of the water as they dove down with their tails in the air. It was an amazing site to see!

In the evening, the light was amazing. The sun glistened off the water and the ice covered mountains.

The next morning, we were thrilled to see more beautiful Antarctic landscape near the United States supported Palmer Station. The crew of Palmer Station boarded our ship and gave a presentation about their work in Antarctica. Palmer is a small station and is working on several projects including studying algae, polar entomology and fish physiology with a goal of finding treatments for diseases. They also have a small team conducting long term ecological research. We really enjoyed having them onboard and I’m sure they loved having some “home-style” food. 

In the afternoon, we spent several hours on the bow of the ship watching for wildlife. We saw a crab eater seal resting on an iceberg and more humpback whales. Gentoo penguins were swimming in the water along side the ship. The way they move through the water is quite a sight to see.

In the evening, the reflection of sunlight on the ice shows as pink and orange. We spent a few hours soaking in the amazing views.

Our third day in Antarctica we experienced the other side of the weather. It was very windy with extreme fog. There was no chance of us seeing anything. Our captain took us to two different places to explore but the wind had blown ice into the water. Therefore, we spent most of the day playing cards and hanging out with our new friends, the Davis Family (Diane, Jeff and Grace). It wasn’t until late in the evening that we reached Desolation Island. The weather cleared a bit allowing us a short period of time to sail past a huge chinstrap penguin rookery. It was awesome!

The last day in Antarctica was much like the day before. Heavy fog, wind and even snow hampered our ability to see more of the islands and wildlife. We spent two hours looking for penguins taking a rest on the floating “bergy bits.” We were lucky to see many groups of Adelie penguins.

As we sailed north, our captain made one last attempt at beating the weather. We approached Elephant Island as the sun came through the clouds. Elephant Island is the place where Ernest Shackleton and his men we stranded in 1914. 

 

We were able to snap a few pictures before a dense fog settled and the island completely disappeared.

 

 

 

After four amazing days in Antarctica we left it behind and headed north toward the Falkland Islands. We are so excited to share our off-road penguin experience in our next post.

We arrived at Chacabuco, in the region of Terre del Fuego, early in the morning. The sun was out and is scenery was beautiful. Our ship anchored in the middle of a fjord. As the only ship in port, it was quiet. We had a very short tender onto land. Chacabuco is not a town but rather a port used as access for ferries and ships into the isolated area of Patagonia.

There were several tours offered that explored different parts of the area. We opted for the tour that offered a drive to the other side of the Andres Mountains, into the Rio Simpson Nature Reserve and to the city of Coyhaique.  On the tour, we passed over several rivers and saw much of the landscape. Our guide gave a lot of the information about the local people and the history of the area. One of the stops was at Cascada de La Virgen (Virgin Falls).

The city of Coyhaique is located on the east side of the Andes Mountains. It was started by a Belgian company that used the land to farm sheep. As their business grew, they brought people to the area to work on their farms. The city grew and is now comprised of approximately 55,000 people. It is the largest city in the entire Chilean Patagonia region.

On the drive back from Coyhaique, we stopped at a local restaurant for some traditional food and drinks, including a Pisco Sour. Did you know there is a “dispute” between Chile and Peru about who created the Pisco Sour first?

When it was time to leave the beautiful port of Chacabuco, we stood on deck and watched as we passed by some of the most beautiful fjords we have ever seen.

On the way to Punta Arenas we sailed through the Strait Messier, the Messier ship wreck and the Tempanos Glacier. The glacier was very active while were there and we saw chunks of ice breaking off and falling into the water. The sound of the ice breaking and falling sounds like thunder.

And the day has finally arrived (the first of several) for us to see PENGUINS! Our tour started at 6:00am at Punta Arenas. Our group was taken by bus to a private ferry boat and then took a 1.5-hour ferry ride to Magdalena Island which is inhabited by animals only, most of which are Megellanic penguins. They have recorded up to 56,000 couples per year that come to the island to breed in the summer. It was amazing to see so many penguins, many with their chicks. On the island the penguins make burrows in the dirt. The chicks will stay in the burrows for several months waiting for their parents to bring them each meal. When they become old enough to start finding their own food, they will malt their soft feathers for slick water tight ones. We were lucky to see many chicks in and near their burrows.

We made our way through the Strait of Magellan to our last stop before we went south to Antarctica. Ushuaia, Argentina is the “Southern Most City in the World” located in the Beagle Channel.  Ushuaia is an interesting city that was started as a remote location for a prison. The town was built by the prisoners and the workers who supported the prison. In the mid-1900s the government of Argentina decided to discontinue the use of the prison and use the area as a port city capable of supporting large industry and shipping companies. The Argentina government made it a tax-free zone and it remains that way today. In the 1990s the local government started a campaign to change the city’s identity to the “Southern Most City in the World.” Ushuaia is now the last stop for most ships headed to Antarctica and has grown as a destination for those people wanting to visit the “fin del mundo” (end of the world).

 

While in Ushuaia, we took a wildlife catamaran cruise on the Beagle Channel. The channel is beautiful with mountains surrounding the whole area. We were able to see a lot of wildlife and the lighthouse at the end of the world.

Our trip continues as we head to Cape Horn and through the Drake Passage.

 

 

Our South American adventure begins in Santiago, Chile. We spent three days exploring the city prior to boarding the cruise ship. We stayed in a hotel in downtown near the Santa Isabel Metro stop. We used the metro for our main mode of transportation throughout the city. Santiago is an interesting city and different from most others we have visited. There is a mix of cultures (mostly Chilean, Argentinean and European). The people are very friendly and willing to help you with any request you may have. While their national language is Spanish, many people speak some English making it easy for us to communicate.

The city has a few sites that are of interest to tourists. We visited some of them.

We found it quite interesting that in many areas throughout the city, more than 50% of the storefronts are closed down permanently. However, there are tents and booths set up along all the streets selling anything you can imagine. The locals now purchase most of their household food and goods from these booths rather than going into a store. We were told it was because the prices are less and it allows people to make a living selling what they can grow, craft or acquire.

Coffee bars are a part of many Chilean’s daily routine. Which I’m sure you are thinking, of course, that’s common in South American cultures. The difference with Chile is that coffee bars are staffed by scantily clad women in heels. This is a tradition here. We had to see what this was all about. The coffee bar we went to was Café Haiti. The ladies were dressed in tiny Santa dresses and the place was packed. The coffee was strong as we expected. It was a cool experience to have while wondering the city of Santiago.

On our last day in Santiago, we decided to spend the day visiting Chilean vineyards. Reservations are required, which we did the day before. As tourists with no car, transportation to those very near the city is easy because the metro stop, Quilin is very near several vineyards. We took the metro and at the exit hired a taxi to take us to our first stop of Vina Aquitania. The taxi ride was approximately $5.00. This is a small boutique winery. We received a full tour, including tasting wine directly from the tank, unfiltered. Then as luck would have it they were filtering one that morning so we were able to taste the same wine just after filtering and then the aged one from the tank just before bottling. It was a wonderful experience.
At the conclusion of our visit at Vina Aquitania, we walked the 1.4 miles to the other vineyard. We received a tour and tour wine tasting at Cuscino-Macul. This vineyard is the oldest in Chile and has quite a large operation which is much different than our first stop. The most interesting part of the tour was the historical cellars, wine “library” and original oak barrels from over 100 years ago.

The price for the tour and tasting at both vineyards are great for our budget as well. They both offered two types of tours, the standard and reserve. We chose to do the standard at 14,000 Chilean pesos per person. We were lucky to try to reserve wines at Cuscino-Macul because there were out of the standard ones. Both vineyards are worth a visit should you find yourself in Santiago.

The next morning, I woke up so excited that the day to start our cruise was finally here. The port we were to leave from was switched from Valparaiso to San Antonio, Chile. Both port cities are approximately a 90-minute drive from Santiago. We had done a lot of research on how to get to the port prior to leaving the USA but it wasn’t until we got to Santiago that we discovered an easy and much cheaper way to get there. We took a taxi from our hotel for approximately 3,500 Chilean pesos ($5.50). Then bought a ticket on a Pullman bus direct to San Antonio at a cost of approximately 3,500 per person one-way. The bus ride is across the Andes Mountains and takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. Upon our arrival at the San Antonio bus terminal, we were offered a ride on the complimentary port authority bus which took us directly to the cruise terminal. It worked out great. The total transportation to the port cost around $16.00 while taking a taxi is a minimum of $120.00. We were very happy with our route.

We sailed off on the Holland American Zaandam at 6:00pm. The ship is older but in very good condition. The layout is the best of any cruise we have taken. We have an inside room and were delighted to find that our room is larger than other cabins we have had. I’m happy with its location on the first passenger floor in the middle of the ship. This is the best place to be if you are concerned with sea sickness throughout the cruise. Hopefully we will be blessed with calm seas but are prepared as Cape Horn is said to be some of the roughest in the world.

Our first stop was Puerto Montt, Chile. We opted to explore the city by foot on our own. The weather was beautiful with sunny skies, low winds and a high of 66 degrees. We went ashore via tender boat and walked through the terminal through many “tour operators” trying to sell last minute excursions. We turned left and walked 700 meters up the rode to the craft market. Some of the stalls were open while others were closed because it was Sunday and also Presidential Election Day. We continued walking and arrived at the Fish Market. It was alive with shoppers and the smell of fish. Salmon is their main catch. My favorite part of the day was that outside the fish market along the shore were sea lions. They have chosen this spot because once the fisherman have prepared their fresh catch for sale, they take the “leftovers” and throw them out to the sea lions. We watched the feeding frenzy. This was our first chance to see the large wildlife on our South American trip.

Our next stop was Castro, on the Island of Chiloe, Chile. This port was reached via tender as well. We were lucky to have beautiful weather that day as well, very similar to Puerto Montt. Castro is built on a hill with the Igelsia de San Francisco being the focal point of the village. The church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is completely constructed of wood, including the floors, walls, ceiling and altars.

After visiting the Igelsia de San Francisco, we walked through the village to the other side of the island to find the stilted houses. These houses were built along the water edge on high stilts to sustain the rising and lowering of the tides.

We continued our walk along the water and went back to the port to catch a tender to our ship.

As we sail into Patagonia, the suspense of seeing penguins continues…