Food, Glorious Food!

Hola,

This time I justdon't have any excuses for not updating the old electronic notes apart from the fact that South America seems to run on a different time zone to the rest of the world, and we're not talking G.M.T (+/-) here! The fact of the matter is that it really doesn't matter how much you plan because the quite beaultiful and (alot of the time) surreal continent has decided to live in a way to make the tourists life as difficult as possible, in other words, the siesta.

Now, I'm all for culture and embracing the differences the way we live, we eat chicken, they'll chow down on an llama foetus, a break to us is a quick sandwich from boots eating infront of the computer, the South Americans, we'll reward ourselves with a 3-4 hour sleep after a hard morning at the office, precinct or road side vendor. It seems the only way to see, do or even attempt to co-ordinate any activity south of the Equator on the Southern side of America is to do as they do and not wake up at 10a.m. and roll out of the hostel thinking that a breakfast of cereal toast and OJ is waiting for you around the corner. Something quite the oposite infact.

The subject of food is certainly an interesting one when approaching Argentina et al. One one side of the peso we are provided with some of the finest steaks, sauces and BBQ goods the world has to offer but before let's say 9p.m. if you wish to eat, a lunchtime snack or mid morning your options consist of one of the following...

1. Cheese and Ham sandwich
2. Ham and Cheese sandwich or
3. Queso y Jamon sandwich

You don't have to be a rocket scientist, come to think about it a semi retarded chef to figure out the translation for number 3. Unfortunately I do not exegrate. Take this shot story to highlight my point. On a bus from wherever to wherever, this doesn't quite matter at this time we were enjoying the luxury the Argentines like to spoil us travellers with, sitting back waiting for our evening meal. After being handed, well... I can let you fill in the gaps here, but with a touch of variety in the layering department (Brown bread, cheese, brown bread, white bread, ham, white break...yes this was ONE sandwich although it did fall apart rather easily probably down to one of the unfortunate properities it possesed, namely being soggy and floppy) I felt slighty agreeved. But all was not lost...we were given desert, as swiss roll. Delighted, or as I thought. I will let you into a little secret they have in South America, it's called Completo, which translates to this. Take ANY food, bread, pie, wgetables, swiss roll and insert these 2 key ingredients. Wait for it...ham and...cheese. Ok I lie slightly it's ham and egg which may sound better on the variety front but after I just manged to choke down my 145th slice of ham in March and 63rd kg of cheese my palate was screaming at me for a sweet, savory combo. Oh dear. And all of this was with Bolivia, the country nearly every tourist who enters comes out with a massive weight loss, to come.

Well, as I write this now, sitting, quite comfortably with bowel movement only to be described as textbook (I really hope I don't come to regret writing that last line) in a hostel in La Paz, Bolivia's capital I can safely say that, 6 days in the food is bloody marvelous. Okay, we're not talking Oliveramsey compote here but the ham, the cheese and the fricking completo has thus far been irradicated from my diet and in this way I hope it stays, well at least until we get back into Argentina in a week or so.

The last couple of weeks have been quite hectic really. Two contries, about 6 towns and cities, a tour through the world's highest and largest salt flat and back, a bus into the clouds and the kind introduction to Argentina's population of stray dogs. Think traflagar squares but do a quick swap of pigeons for the canine variety. I truly have never, and will probably never see more dogs in such a small confined area. I honestly believe if the dogs bred in the same way in the UK our natioanl anthem would derive from a Pedigree Chum advert and the offical language would be condensed to two words, woof and bark.

It may seem that my time in Argentina thus far has been a bad one, qhen quiote simply it is the oposite I love it and only wish I had more time to see more of it. Like the four day tour I have just got back from in Bolivia of the Salir de Uyuni, the countryside has been breathtaking. Word's cannot even begin to describe the optical treats pupils and co of the Wagg varity has been treated to (even if I could be bothered to try!) I may say this again, infact I probably will with a imminent trip to Macchu Picchu (one of the 7 wonders of the world), but if you ever have the chance to come here, don't think about it, don't even bother typing it your credit card details into Expedia to book your flights, just set up a direct debit and let them tell you when to go. You WILL NOT regret it, unless of course your favourite colour is beige and your hobby's include trains, buses or any other mode of public transport.

Now I'm sure I have a number of hilarious anicdotes, stories and tribulations but I'm off to explore one of the world's highest cities, a a whopping 3700m above sea level, although I did hit 5000m the other day.

I hope all is well wherever you are reading.

Speak to you all again soon(ish)!

Tim

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