Where in the world is Lani?

Well - can you believe its already a month (mese) since I arrived in Santiago, Chile! What a whirlwind of things i´ve seen, done, tried & struggled with! After thinking alot, i´ve decided to stay in Argentina a few more weeks, as I love it here and its also dirt cheap to stay, eat & experience things. I´ve just booked a 20 hour bus to a place called Barioloche in the south west of Argentina, near the Andes with many nice places to see & go. I´m also thinking of going right down south to the Argentinian Patagonia - a place called El Calafete. It has been given rave reviews from everyone i´ve spoken to & is meant to be a haven in the mountains for travellers so maybe.....

That of course means cutting down on travels in Brazil to 4 weeks instead of 6, which i´m ok with. Travelling alone + no portuguese = very difficult in Brazil anyways. But I have booked some day trips from Rio to the football (2 matches) and some other more sight-seeing adventures so i´m really looking forward to that.

A few words on the hostel where I have been spending my time this week - Hostel Lao in Mendoza http://www.laohostel.com/index_en.html

After arriving last Friday night at midnight, I was soooooo happy to sleep in a clean, safe place with really friendly people! This week has been really chilled out, relaxing and pleasant to be able to wander the wide & leafy streets by myself without feeling in danger at all. The hostel is run my the nicest people you could ever meet - Mike from UK & Cileste from Argentina + a massive big puppy called Astor who is just the cutest!

I finally feel like a local as they say you havent really experienced Mendoza until you have tripped in the street like a dork. Let me explain... they have a ritzy irrigation system here for all the trees. Lining the street are these massive (open) drains, and every few meters you will find a tree planted. The drains collect rainwater & water that runs in from the mountains to water the trees - a fabulous idea. The not so fab idea is that these drains are wide & deep and not visible at night or after a few drinks. A combination of nightfall & drinks makes the drains virtually invisible. Until today, I had been careful enough not to go down one. Needless to say, I have now experienced what the locals call ´drain surfing´and it wasnt so bad. Wasnt too good either but ehh.... what can you do?

Anyway, off to have a few beers this arvo before dinner and my homework for Spanish school tomorrow!

Until next time 

Feliz dîa de los enamorades! (Happy Valentine´s Day)

Lani