Skip to main content

The Travel Bucket List - pt 1

South America


10. Motorcycle Diaries Route -And to start off, here's a bit of a cheat. But it isn't a bucket list without a road trip. And who hasn't dreamt about a motorcycle trip around South America. It's cliched and it breaks the criteria rules cause it involves almost all the Spanish speaking countries of South America. But this one is about the trip.





Fulfillment criteria : Must follow route of Che Guevara around South America on the full 8000km ride. Have to use motorbike, single-cylinder not racing.



Suggested music: The Motorcycle Diaries (Soundtrack). What else?

9.Patagonia, Argentina & Chile - The plains, the rivers, the glaciers, the lakes with icebergs. Patagonia is a beautiful place. Check out the beaches on Rio Negro, chill with penguins on Punta Tombo. See some volcanoes, step on Tierra del Fuego-almost the end of the Americas.




Fulfillment criteria : None. It's all good, summer or winter. Just have to get there.





Suggested food to check out: The chocolate bars and fondue restaurants of San Carlos de Bariloche. Specifically La Bonita Fondue and the Chocolate Museum.



8. Amazon Rainforest, Brazil & Peru - This one spans a lot of countries too, but in this case it isn't a cheat since any one works once I get to the rain-forest. This one somewhat counts as a repeat since I've been there (technically). This one is all about the beauty of nature. Green tourism has to have something to it or it wouldn't be popular. And wild animals are better to seen when they aren't in cages and in their own habitats (unless they eat you, of course).



Fulfillment criteria: No technicalities. Actually go to the jungle, spend some time. Trek the forests, see some animals. Stay over. Be eco-tourist and see what that's like. Doesn't count if the river isn't seen.




7. Paramaribo, Suriname - This one is a personal favorite. I like Suriname a lot. It says Paramaribo, but really the whole of the country counts because you can drive to almost anywhere in three hours or less now that the roads are fixed. Except maybe for the jungles, which aren't that traversed anyway. It'll be a lazy trip, but sometimes that's a good thing



Fulfillment criteria: Have a Parbo Bier. Eat some soto. Read a book on the riverfront of the Suriname river.



Suggested food to check out: Get coffee at Zus and Zo, follow up with lunch at Roopram's Roti shop.




6. Santiago,Chile (and Easter Island) - Easter Island is a huge cheat but I want to see the statues. Staying away from mines seems like a good idea too. Check out the wines and the beaches, maybe go fishing.



Fulfillment Criteria : Head to Vina Del Mar, Take a wine tour in the Mendoza region.See the three houses/museums of Neruda





Suggested Cliched Activity: Sit at a grape farm drinking a bottle of wine grown on the property and read Pablo Neruda; Selected Poems.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

best comedians of the decade

criteria : must do stand-up comedy. only judged from stand up and sketch . 10.Demetri Martin why: He likes constructing palindromes. That's reason enough. Uses all sorts of visual aids and sketches. Great with the one liners too. Most unconventional comedian since Gallagher.Maybe. 9. Russell Brand why: Obnoxious, loud and very strange. Known as much for his off stage antics than his comedy. But one of the best young 'angry' comedians out there. Although there's a sneaking suspicion the accent makes him cool (er). 8. Robin Williams why: Back in2002 with LIVE on Broadway, the show broke several records for a comedy show. Showed he's still funny, hasn't let success go to his head and can still make it all up on the spot. 7. Ricky Gervais why: In the Office for the first part of the century, everywhere else for the last. Most people know him for his film roles, but he's great on the stage too. Doesn't shy away from the controversial topics. And it isn't

Best Films of the Decade - 2010s - Third Part

11. Get Out (2017)-  Directed and written by  Jordan Peele. Horror seems to be an excellent medium to describe racism and it's somewhat amazing how obvious it seems in hindsight. One of the best debuts of a director in recent times, with a script that amps up the tension marvelously and serves up a twist in the tale that was impossible to see coming. Normally horror movies are seen as niche, but this film was popular with the wide audience and also at the award ceremonies further proving everyone was able to be captured by the film's quality. There has been talk of the film fitting into horror-comedy, probably due to Peele's comedy background, but while it is never laughably funny but does serve as a clever satire on the state of racial affairs. 12. The Death of Stalin (2017) - Directed by  Armando Iannuci.  Written by  Armando Iannuci, David Schneider and Ian Martin. Few topics are as ripe for satire as the workings of communist governments (provided one can

Best Films of the Decade - 2010s - Second Part

As always, a giant list. The first 10 can be pretty much interchangeable depending on my mood. 21.  John Wick (2014) - Directed by  Chad Stalehski . Written by  Derek Kolstad.   Keanu Reeves already had experience as the face of an action franchise but it's possible in the future that we remember more for John Wick than as Neo. A film that came out of almost nowhere and managed to simultaneously be a homage and a way forward for action movies. Building off of an extensive source of knowledge of the films of John Woo, Jean Pierre Melville, anime and spaghetti westerns, it's the closest anyone has come to replicating the Gun-Fu Hong Kong classics. The well crafted world of John Wick keeps expanding too, with even more additions to the series in the works. Long may it continue. 22.  Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Directed by  Denis Villeneuve . Written by  Michael Green  and  Hampton Fancher.   A sequel to one of the most beloved and acclaimed sci-film films of