Following an idea of
Letizia's - here's a numeric summary of my trip, accompanied, for the non-numeric of you, by some vaguely relevant photos.
Planes Trains and Automobiles ... and bloody bussesTotal hours spent in a bus:
86.
Number of nights 'slept' on a bus: 3.
Longest bus trip -
22 bum numbing hours. You could fly from Sydney to London in that time.
Elapsed hours flying home:
52 - as part of a total of
120 + hours spent flying or in transit.
Number of flight legs:
12 (Sydney - Auckland - Buenos Aires - Bariloche - El Calafate. Ushaia - Buenos Aires. Puerto Iguazu - Buenos Aires - Lima - Cusco - Lima - Buenos Aires - Auckland - Sydney).
There were also
30 hours spent in mini-bus tours - around Salta alone. Throw in another
20 in Mendoza and
20 or so in Patagonia. And finally, there were
4 boat trips -
3 in Patagonia (including the Beagle Channel and the Magellan Strait) and a cruise on the brown waters outside Tigre.
Magellan Strait Kilometres hiked:
80 odd (42 Inca Trail, 40 or so in Patagonia)
Maximum altitude reached of
4200 metres - in the Andes near San Antonia de los Cobres, on the Chilean - Argentinean border (RN40), and at the delightfully named Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail. I know which one I'll remember getting to the most !
4170M up the Andes
Dead Woman's Pass - 4215M
Christ the Peacemaker at 4200M on RN40 Days - or nights - camping:
6 - during which it rained:
6 (maintaining what seems like a life-long record, but there might, just might, be a dry night there I've forgotten)
88 (ochenta y otto) is the name given to this butterfly, although this particular one looks more like an eighty !
Number of public chunders:
2 - caused by dodgy Pisco Sours:
2.
Number of lessons learnt regarding raw egg:
0.
Number of guinea pigs eaten:
1. Number of guinea pigs I want to eat in the rest of my life:
0.
Number of bees who missed a golden chance to sting me:
100s.
Bee Ware ! Pairs of dorky hiking pants bought in Buenos Aires
2 - pairs of which left in a hotel who then denied all knowledge:
1. Number of times I looked like a fisherman on tour:
4Fisher D
And while we're on fashion, number of days unwisely impersonating Axl Rose:
2.
Value of belongings nicked:
$0, despite all warnings - or because of all precautions. This not counting the money spent on outrageous ATM fees:
~$150 (roughly AUD
7.50 a pop - with a $100 withdrawal limit)
I took
2020 digital photos - and
12 rolls of slide film - another
430 odd photos.
1 camera battery died - conveniently on the eve of the Inca Trail. Number of power points on the Inca Trail, to recharge remaining camera battery:
0.
1 tour led by a lady carrying a flag (my first ever) - with an outrageous Peruvian/Russian/Chinese accent. Visiting, appropriately enough, Saqqsaywamman (say it out loud).
Who am I, the red teletubbie, to laugh ? Nights on the road:
42 (or
43 if you count December 23rd twice).
Best not to ask how many kilograms of steak eaten, but the first night (and second 23rd of December) there were
1000 grams consumed in a single sitting.
8 kilograms left behind in South America - of which only
2 have come back after a month (notwithstanding the above, but see also food poisoning and kilometres hiked !)
Number of comments on this post:
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