Blog

Atom Crater, a former work colleague of the Beetle has recently returned
from a work trip to Bangladesh. This month and next, we include some of
his observations.

Weather report: When we arrived it was very cool, below 20 during the
day and nippy in the evening. I made the great mistake of going out one
evening without a sweater and felt really cold. But it’s now warming up
– winter’s over. It’s still comfortable (mid 20s) but a brisk walk
during the day does make you sweat. But the evenings are now sweater-less.
The dry season will last until May.

Rickshaws: You simply can’t begin to describe Dhaka without mentioning
the rickshaws, which are everywhere, absolutely everywhere. I heard the
other day that there are 800,000 in this city of 10-13 million. They occupy
a large proportion of the city’s road space, moving like a swarm of brightly
decorated yellow and red insects. They irritate motor vehicle drivers
like hell, but are a very efficient, low cost, environmentally acceptable
(except for the choking passengers! see air pollution below) mode of transport
in a city that is absolutely flat. They manoeuvre with remarkable skill,
squeezing into impossible spaces, and operate their own informal tidal
flow system, riding when they choose against the traffic in order to avoid
congestion. As well as passengers, you see them transporting vegetables,
sacks of rice, bags of cement, building materials, timber, bamboo, filing
cabinets, furniture, And they’re not confined to cities and towns, but
are also the dominant form of transport in the rural areas.

Auto-rickshaws: And then there are the auto-rickshaws, which zip around
emitting a fierce crackling sound and pungent grey exhaust. The World
Bank has just published a report that blames them (along with buses and
trucks) as the principal source of the appalling air pollution.

Wheel brushes: The Flying Pigeon bicycles (made in China) have a cunning
feature: two small brushes are attached to the mudguard stays, front and
back, which clean the dust off the rim of the wheels as they turn, thus
keeping them sparkling clean. Is this a local adaptation or does it come
from China? Would it catch on UK?

Hooters: Another traffic impression (traffic – and t-jams in particular
– are a major fact of life here): drivers hoot continuously, their fingers
twitching in quasi-Pavlovian response to the fact that there’s something
in front of them, or approaching from the side, or coming too close behind,
or ….what the hell, let’s hoot anyway! As with many things, it’s
so reminiscent of Indonesia, where we had to teach Yayat, our driver,
to stop this habit before it drove us crazy.

More about Dhaka in April’s e-newsletter. If you would like to contact
Atom Crater, please e-mail the Beetle and she will pass on any e-mails:
Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

Buenas dias de Buenos Aires, todo del mundi! Can’t believe how far I’ve
travelled and where I have been in the last four weeks! It seems no time
since I was sitting in Pucon, Chile and writing to you about all the things
I had done in Bolivia and here I am in Buenos Aires. The time has flown
and been full of highlights so I shall just have to be as concise as I
can or this email will be a book in itself.

After leaving Pucon, we had the trip from hell to get started on the
Carraterra Austral (Southern Highway) and the first really bad weather
of the trip. It poured! And blew! and the ferry was so many hours late
that we thought we would have to retrace out route and enter Argentina
near Bariloche (they told me later that this area was famous for its cherry
brandy chocolates – damn!) but at the last minute we caught the ferry.
Then got the next ferry which was also running late and spent the whole
night trying to find space to sleep in the truck, whilst on the ferry,
and then while our intrepid drivers drove through the night to make to
next planned camp at dawn. We put up our tents in the rain and crawled
into them and didn’t come out til noon.

There was a spectacular glacier nearby (which probably explained why
it was so cold!) and the rain continued. Next day was more of the same
but the rain held off for short periods and that included when we stopped
to set up camp beside a gorgeous lake, and the third day was a repeat
too with no let up at camp time. I was cooking that night and had the
privilege of sleeping on the truck but first I had to get everyone else
off, as no one wanted to go out in the rain. Last day on the highway and
the day was clear and bright and we could finally appreciate why our driver
was so keen to come this way. Stunning! Amazing! Beautiful! No words can
tell you how lovely it all was. Fields of lupins, wild llama, birds, cattle,
not very many people and even less traffic, blue skies and sunshine. Well
worth the three days of rain and perhaps appreciated even more because
of them.

We crossed into Argentina for a few days to visit the Patagonian area
of El Chalten and Calafate that are known for their mountains and proximity
to the Perito Moreno Glacier and Lago Argentino respectively. I went hiking
in El Chalten and managed a long days walking so my ankle must be all
but healed as it still aches when I am tired. And we took a tour out to
the glacier and it was thoroughly worth seeing. I took loads of pictures
so – you have been warned!

After this wee sojourn, I went back to Chile for the best part of a week
so that we could visit the National Park of Torres del Paine. It was spectacular,
glorious and any other superlative you can think of. I tried to do a hike
there that out leader claimed was ´not technically difficult´
but only got half way as he failed to qualify his statement with ´but
it’s all uphill¨. Great day though and I had a great picnic view when
I stopped to have my lunch.

After Torres, it was back in the truck and head further south for Tierra
del Fuego. By this time the days were very long and even though it was
cold at night, the days were sunlit and generally warm, so, eating at
10pm was not unusual. The mornings were cold and the early starts were
not always welcome but the scenery changed every mile so it was always
exciting to get further south. We took a ferry across the Magellan Straits
and onto Tierra del Fuego, crossed into Argentina half way across the
island and got to Ushaia with no trouble at all.

More camping and a boat trip around the harbour to see the wildlife
and the shores of this remote place. It is a pretty place, with multicoloured
houses and built around the bay at the foot of the mountains that ring
it. The weather there changes by the minute and is never the same for
long and the people I met were friendly and from all over Argentina. Because
of the unstable nature of the peso here, things were much cheaper than
a month ago so I did a bit of shopping. Great fun and not something I
have done a lot of this trip. Honest!

After all this it was time to head north and we got to Buenos Aires in
four days of very long drives with only a visit to a penguin colony as
distraction. The country could not have been more different to the Chile
Patagonia we were used to. The land was flat and no mountains or trees
to break up the horizon. The roads were generally good but like outback
Australian roads were long and straight and seemed to go on forever.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. BA was a welcome break and despite our concerns
for the ongoing political problems there, we encountered no violence except
what we saw on TV. A city tour, a group meal for two birthdays, a Tango
show and it was time to move on. I could have spent longer and would liked
to have visited Uruguay, but the need to move on and the lack of a visa
made that impossible. We left BA in sunshine but the rains soon caught
us. It cleared for the evening but at 5am the heavens opened and once
again, my being on the truck saved me from the fate of my co-travellers.
The tents fell over as the torrential downpour undermined the pegs and
soaked everything: soggy people, sleeping bags and possessions straggled
onto the truck. We skipped breakfast in an effort to out run the storm
and finally did so at about 2pm that day.

We got to Puerta Iguazu and stayed in cabanas as everything was too
wet to use. It took about a week before everything was thoroughly dry
as we have well and truly hit the tropics now and evening and morning
rain are the norm rather than the exception. The Iguazu Falls are spectacular
from both sides of the Brazil/Argentine border and I feel privileged to
have seen the big three: Niagara, Iguazu and Victoria. All amazing but
I have to give the honours to Victoria Falls. After Iguazu, it was time
to head for Rio. Another three long days driving to get to the town of
Paraty, where we all got to chill out a little (and clean the truck, our
clothes and repack and reorganise ready for the next leg of the journey).
And now we are in Rio. It”s hot. It”s humid and it”s Carnival!
Watch this space!

Thanks Jacqui and keep us posted! If anyone would like to contact Jacqui,
her e-mail is: jacquitrotter@yahoo.com

What have you seen on your travels? Drop a line to the Beetle!