Dear friends,

After having been travelling three months around the world, we are back home. Since April 1^st, I have started working again (it was no April joke) and Mylene has started looking for a new job (she holds a Master's in food science, if you know any vacancy J). It was three fantastic months during which we had the chance to see breathtaking landscapes, admire construction wonders from former civilisations and enjoy the richness of very different cultures (see some pictures here).

FIRST, WE ENJOYED DELICIOUS BEEF MEAT AND TASTY WINES AT THE FEET OF THE ARGENTINEAN ANDES

• Argentina is a great place to have delicious meat
  After one year in the land of the holy cows, it was quite a welcome change to have beef meat on one's plate. And what meat! Just try to imagine a huge piece of steak cooked on a charcoal grill, just juicy enough inside and very crispy on the outside. We had it almost every day but never got bored of it!
• We regularly took the bus for journeys over 20 hours
  Argentina is huge, really huge. We had definitely underestimated the distances while planning our route. So we ended up taking night buses for "short" drives varying from 16 to 21 hours. It might sound quite long, but it is hard to get bored from the landscapes surrounding you. And in the worst case, one can still look at the latest US blockbusters on the bus TV or put on weight while eating the meals they serve you on a tray, very like in a plane.
• There is no such a thing as tasting wines on a terrace with the Andes in the background
  After trekking through the Andes or spending the whole day on a bicycle, there is no such a thing as to go and sit on a nice cafe terrace and enjoy the time passing drinking some Argentinean wine. Even if the white ones were a bit too sweet to our taste (the drier ones are exclusively for the exportation!), the red ones were very decent. It is impressive to realise how the production there is systematic and customer oriented. In all the vineyards we visited, we were amazed to see very modern equipment and to hear how they change the grapes, maturation and blending processes and finally even the bottle design according to the targeted markets (e.g. local, US and Europe).

THEN, WE HEADED NORTH TO DISCOVER THE RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MEXICO

• The Sierra Madre is indeed like in the old Western movies
  Our first shock in Mexico was the cold temperature. We did not fully realise what landing in a city at 2000 m o.s.l. in early February would mean. Heading North to the Sierra Madre, a windy desert plateau even higher up, was just even worse. Beside the cold nights (the houses there are designed for the warm summer, i.e. no tight windows or doors), it was great to be out in such a setting that keeps reminding you of old Western movies: deserted valleys, old villages in ruins, and some lonely Mexican cowboy with long crocodile boots riding a donkey.
• The heritage left by the Aztecs and Mayans is really impressive
  Coming back to the South, we then started our "temples tour": Teotihuacan city near Mexico, Monte Alban (Zapotecs) and the great Mayan temples (Palenque, Chichen Itza and Tulum) in the Yucatan peninsula. It was impressive to realise what gigantesque works these civilisations achieved, keeping in mind that they didn't know the wheel and had not metallic tools.
• Lying on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea was a welcome rest
  After already two months of intense travel, we decided to take some rest and enjoy the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean Sea. A couple of days in Tulum as well as in Playa del Carmen were just what we needed to get a nice suntan and recharge our batteries.

FINALLY, WE TANKED TONES OF FRESH AIR IN THE BREATH TAKING WILDERNESS OF NEW ZEALAND

• We found lakes, mountains, deserted valleys and dramatic fjords at every corner
  From Mexico, we flew to Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. There, despite some colder and wetter weather, we were overwhelmed by the beauty and wilderness of the countryside. Every ten kilometres we had to stop the car and get out to fully realise the immenseness of the scenery in front of us: deep blue lakes with snow capped mountains behind, wide deserted valleys (but for some tourist camping cars on the road), or deep fjords surrounded by hills caught in clouds. You almost get the feeling that you are travelling through a giant post cards shop.
• The Lord Of The Ring is omnipresent there
  LOTR is omnipresent in New Zealand. There is not a single place where you cannot find a tourist agency offering a tour to some shooting location or a shop selling all kinds of souvenirs related to the movie. In Wellington, there are even giant plastics from the main characters watching you at every corner. For example, Golum waits for you on the airport tarmac, some nasty Nazguls fly over your head near the Te Papa museum and ugly Orks are spread everywhere else in the city.
• Tourism is (too) perfectly organised down there
  New Zealand lives mainly from tourism and is perfectly organised accordingly. Unfortunately, it also makes it quite difficult to travel without a clear plan in mind, where and when you want to be. To our big astonishment, we had to book hotels at least 4 to 5 days in advance in order to get a decent room for a reasonable price, which significantly reduced our degree of freedom.
  On the other hand, almost each village has a tourist office with tones of maps and suggestions for treks and other outdoor activities. Just pick any one and you will find very well maintained tracks and huts on your way ensuring that you can fully take advantage of the breathtaking landscapes.

Now we are back in Switzerland and have settled down in our former apartment (see our contact address here). Fortunately we had subrented it during our stay in India & world trip so that we could avoid the painful process of looking for a new place under time pressure. And it is so good to have our own four walls again.

Well, we hope that we will soon have the chance to meet you to discuss what happened on YOUR side during these last 15 months.

Meanwhile, we wish you all the best,

Mylene and Jerome

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Last updated: 08.05.2004 12:01 Back home