Travelling – The Yellow Taxis of Asuncion

These days as we only get so many weeks holiday a year and have to spend the rest of our time working to pay for them we do go to this part of South America a lot because we have friends there. So here is a photo from a central and very wooded square in the center of Asuncion in Paraguay. It was interesting to see all the yellow cars lined up waiting for customers. Copyright Paul Andrews and Caroline Schmutz, Junagarh Media, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk

Advertisement

Shirts for sale – A Street Seller hangs out his wares in Asuncion

A multitude of sports shirts were on sale here in the center of Asuncion. Paraguay is an interesting place. I still find it strange that the capital city closes at midday on a Saturday. That said it is almost a forgotten gem among South American nations. Copyright Paul Andrews and Caroline Schmutz, Junagarh Media, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk

Parade of Volunteer Firemen and the dog came too – Asuncion Paraguay

On one of our trips to Paraguay we went to the local fire station in Sajonia where one of family that we know there was volunteering. The fire station is staffed by volunteers only although I could be wrong on that one and if I remember correctly the equipment is all donated.  We were very fortunate on the day that we went as they had a ceremony to mark the opening of their museum room in the station and we were very honoured to be there. I don’t know if the dog belonged to one of the volunteers, I think it did, but it quite clearly wanted to take part in the line up. Copyright Junagarh Media, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

Bus Station Art – Spare Parts from old Buses Coro Venezuela

I’m sure that if you welded together a load of scrap iron and then painted it in the UK or some other countries and displayed it somewhere that you would get paid a fortune for what your average trainee welder probably gets paid a pittance for. Yes, I know I’m very cynical. Maybe in Coro, Venezuela where this photo  was taken the person or persons who created this wonderful piece of work were too or maybe they were just paid for doing a decent day’s work like the rest of us. Art is for everyone isn’t it? We did think however that at the time there was very little difference between the buses running and the ones hanging on the wall. On one bus we experienced a dramatic bang from some suspension component failing. The trouble was that the used part that they replaced it with didn’t look all that different from the component being removed. But that’s how a lot of the world still works. Copyright Junagarh Media, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

Hotel Victoria San Telmo Buenos Aires – a great place to stay when visiting this wonderful city

OK, so if you are into bland super luxury corporate 5 star hotels where the local staff are dressed up in monkey suits this place is not for you. In fact stay away 🙂 This a fabulous family run pensión that feels like home. Victoriano who still runs it is in his late 80s and is helped by his son, son in law and other members of his family. There are also some long term guests as well as the usual independent travelers so you will meet interesting human beings rather than corporate clones. When we were there we met a German woman who must have been in her 60s and whom two or three days had been riding horses in the snow very high up in the Andes. So if you think for yourself try out the Hotel Victoria, soak up the San Telmo barrio and the rest of what is one the great cities of the world. You can see more of our photography and buy anything that you like on our Junagarh Flickr site or our website, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

“Glass Night”, Dom Bosco church, Brasilia, Brazil

On our big trip round South America a few years ago we did this fairly crazy stop over in Brasilia. We arrived on an overnight bus in the morning and we left on an overnight bus in the evening. It is one of those modern concept cities where everyone has a metal box with four wheels and no legs. Not our sort of thing at all as we tried to walk to all of its sites. One place we did come across was the different and beautiful Dom Bosco church. It is a non conventional but still beautiful church, a cube of concrete and stained glass windows but luckily more of the latter. The four sides are occupied by tall long stained glass window. Nearly all of them are blue with white bits meant to represent the stars in the night sky. In each corner however there is a glass panel where the blue is replaced by the shades of pink/mauve and these represent the early morning. In the day you can admire these glass windows from inside the church but in the evening if there is a service you can enjoy it from outside as the enormous “lamp” provides enough light. You can buy this image from our website http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

Argentine Wild Cat Guards the Bonsai Trees in the Japanese Gardens of Buenos Aires

Being on guard all day is very tiring work especially for a cat so why not take an afternoon nap. Only don’t let the owner know or you might not get fed. The Japanese Gardens are very tranquil and a beautiful place to visit if you go to Buenos Aires, that in itself is a very good place to start your exploration of South America. You can see and order many more of our photographs on out Flickr site or our own website http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

The serenity of Lake Titicaca – Mirrored clouds Peru

Lake Titicaca is one of the many amazing places on this planet and at 3800 metres is generally regarded as the highest navigable lake. We were there, unfortunately many years ago, and we were lucky to have this wonderful day with the blue sky, the blue water and the white clouds. It was very warm to start with when we took our tour of the lake from Puno but at that height the temperature quickly fell as the sun became lower in the sky. We were fortunate unlike many others who had warmer clothing with us as it was an open boat. A fantastic experience if you manage to get there. We actually sell this photo as a card and in various other formats from our website, http://www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.

Man on a bike riding into the horizon

We have been very lucky to visit Argentina several times in the past and there are some great roads that go straight to the horizon and beyond. That’s fine when you are sitting on one of the comfortable long distance coaches that traverse the almost endless landscape. But if you are on a bicycle like this man    it must seem like you are not moving or that the horizon is always moving away. Wonderful country, wonderful people.

Close to the edge – following the water as it tumbles over Iguazu Falls

If you have never been to Iguazu Falls then it is well worth a visit especially if there is a lot of water as this can vary. And if you love butterflies but don’t mind them drinking the sweat from your skin then it also the place for you. The colour and variety of them is simply amazing. You will need two days to visit Iguazu, one day on the Brazilian side and one on the Argentine side. It is truly an awe inspiring site to see the power of nature as the water slowly erodes the rocks.  This photo was taken from one of the walkways and it shows the edge where the water suddenly descends and crashes below. We do sell this photograph and many others on our website www.junagarhmedia.co.uk.