10 latest experiences http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc en-us When a friendly couple tells you, “The first part is pretty steep, but after that it flattens out,” you have absolutely no reason to disbelieve them. I was no different. El Chalten, Argentina, Argentina RichC Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:43:05 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/1299 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1299 Guilin is a poignant portrait of China. The stunning scenery and traditional culture is the tonic, the unrelenting boom in industry and commerce is the poison. As an outsider it is always easier to judge, but the contrasts were often eye-wateringly painful. Guilin, China RichC Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:37:29 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/1296 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1296 Whilst technically not ‘white water’ rafting (because of the muddy water), the rafting on Río Mendoza qualifies as Class III and IV. And as only my second time, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of adventure. Mendoza, Argentina RichC Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:18:24 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/1294 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1294 “When I say run, I want you to run. Don’t jump off the mountain. Don’t sit back in your harness. Keep running until we are flying.” The instructions were easy enough, I thought. I waited for his next command as I scanned the horizon from the take off ramp. You could see the entire city of Mendoza and the surrounding foothills of the Andes. Mendoza, Argentina RichC Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:15:21 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/1293 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1293 Not having seen a glacier before, I walked on Glaciar Perito Moreno and it was the most amazing adventure tour I have ever done - without a shadow of a doubt. El Calafate, Argentina, Argentina RichC Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:59:22 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/1282 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1282 I don’t know why a volcano crater filled with water is an attractive place to spend the night. Especially when I couldn’t get a straight answer as to whether it was dormant or not. But there was a hostel inside the crater called the Monkey Hut so I thought I’d go. It turned out I was so enchanted by the place that I stayed for over a week. Granada, Nicaragua RichC Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:33:33 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/994 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/994 If an Argentine invites you to his country house for a barbeque and you even think about saying no, you should see your psychiatrist (there are more per capita in Buenos Aires than anywhere else in the world). La Pampa, Argentina RichC Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:45:47 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/951 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/951 Volcán de Pacaya is alive, it spits out lava every few weeks and you can climb it in a day. What else did I need to know? Well, quite a lot actually but it turned out I got lucky on the day. The no frills tour dropped us at the start point. Bleary-eyed so early in the morning, I began following the other climbers. A paved path up a shallow gradient shaded by trees – easy! I’d be back by lunch. Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala RichC Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:27:33 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/932 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/932 Here’s the story: I woke up early to buy some of the returning fishermen’s catch, but I was too early and instead had to help them push out their boats. I then missed their return and got nothing. Moral of the story: Get your fishing times right. My moral: Hard labour for free gets you nowhere. Never do it. San Agustinillo, Mexico RichC Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:28:59 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/857 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/857 After four weeks in Morocco I couldn’t eat another tagine, no way. And so when I got to the fishing port of Essaouira I hoped for a change of cuisine. Essaouira, Morocco RichC Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:43:30 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/richc/experience/855 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/855