Thirsty Thursdays: Drinking Mocochinchi in downtown La Paz in Bolivia. Loving it!
I had never heard of Mocochinchi before arriving in Bolivia in 2010. In fact, it was only my curiosity while walking round the streets of La Paz that I decided I had to buy one and try it. In the end I loved it and went back for more. It’s a refreshing drink, which you can buy in market stalls in downtown La Paz. I have to assume you can buy it in other places in Bolivia but La Paz was the only place I saw it (I also visited Potosi and Uyuni and spent a night in Santa Cruz de la Sierra).
What is Mocochinchi??
It’s a sweet drink made with water, peach, sugar and cinnamon. Though there may be several variants in it. The peach is left to stay in the drink until it is ready. It’s a Bolivian speciality.
What my glass of mocochinchi looked like in the market stalls in La Paz, Bolivia
Where in La Paz can you get Mocochinchi?
Street side markets, or make it yourself. It’s not really on menus in restaurants. Some of the very locals cafes and bars might have them, but stick to buying it by the side of the road from market stalls. I got mine in the downtown area right opposite the prominent church Iglesia de San Francisco (you might be able to tell that if you watch the video below).
Central La Paz waiting while the locals prepare the Mocochinchi at the street side stalls.
What does Mocochinchi taste like?
It’s sweet and delicious. I thought it tastes like clove or cinnamon but yet it is made from peeled and dried peaches. It’s non alcoholic and yes, drinking Mocochinchi tastes good and helps prevent soroche (altitude sickness).
The line of Mocochinchis in La Paz waiting to be sold.
How much does Mocochinchi cost?
Drinking Mocochinchi in Bolivia will save you money. Stay off the beer and drink this stuff! For 1 Boliviana you can get a massive glass in the downtown area. You hang around and sit with the street sellers to drink it, but it’s so cheap, you have to love it if you’re a budget traveller.
Chat away to the locals as they prepare your Mocochinchi in Bolivia – market stalls in La Paz.
So that’s it for today – if you are ever in La Paz in Bolivia, please try Mocochinchi – it’s cheap, sweet and good for your health. Plus the locals that serve it are so friendly. I chatted away to them every time I popped by for a drink. Plus La Paz is a fantastic city – I loved it!
Don’t forget it’s a thirsty Thursdays with a view. La Paz is a city embedded into the mountains. This is the view from my Mocochinchi!
A Video of me Trying Mocochinchi in Bolivia (in the markets of La Paz):
a href=”https://dontstopliving.net/category/traveltips/daily-features/thirsty-thursdays/” target=”_blank”>Thirsty Thursdays is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you have a bar, pub, drink, restaurant, brand or idea that you would like featured on Thirsty Thursdays, please get in touch via my contacts page or my advertising page. I’d love to hear from you! Cheers!
Thirsty Thursdays: Today no real travel story of getting pissed up. It’s time to relax and kick this virus. Lucozade and water…
The last 2 days haven’t being the glammed up and happy travel life you want. I’ve been confined to bed and the toilet. In equal measures. All travel bloggers and writers seem to concentrate on the good things – arriving in new cities, trying new food, seeing world heritage sites etc. But from now on, I think it’s time to show the full extent of the real lifestyle of a world traveller. It’s not all champagne and skittles. Travel has its ups and downs and please forgive me for the shortness of this post and the lack of posts in the last few days. I’m not well.
My medication for the newt few days of travel. I’ll be sleeping off my illness instead of globetrotting and travel blogging.
I’ve caught a virus and I’ve got a fever. Thirsty Thursdays today has meant sleep, toilet, water and lucozade. As I prepare for my next big adventure in less than a week – heading to Borneo for the first time! But I need to recover from this illness first. It’s off to bed now for an early night, will be back online and updating with my endless travel stories as soon as I feel well enough. On with the show…
Thirsty Thursdays on Don’t Stop Living: I became addicted to Tapioca Tea while staying in Shinying in Taiwan!!
First up readers, bloggers and internet users, I owe an apology but it ain’t my fault thankfully! Being a travel blogger is glammed up as being an awesome job and I do my best to make it sound double cool, but believe me that’s only because we only cover the good stuff – when we actually get sightseeing done, have a beer and board night buses. I haven’t been online for 3 days hence the lack of new posts this week. This has been the real side of travel blogging and how things get so frustrating and go wrong – I have managed to break BOTH my laptops, buy a new one with no internet and somehow book another trip to Yunnan in China. Anyway without further ado, and with a delay, here is this week’s Thirsty Thursdays! No time for a beer today, we’re off to Taiwan for some Tapioca Tea…as I bloody well need one.
A delayed Thirsty Thursdays tonight due to shit computers and no internet as a travel blogger this week!
My Taiwan trip of 2009 still ranks as one of my top travel experiences, mainly because we avoided Taipei for the most part. Taipei, for all it’s splendour and tall buildings is easily the worst city in Taiwan to visit. I based myself in Shinying and indeed it was in lonely, unattached Shinying where I first sample Tapioca Tea. The city of Shinying in Taiwan will always rank highly with me. A little bit of my travelling spirit was revived and rejuvenated here. From day 1 in Shinying, I found myself drinking Tapioca Tea by day (and beers at night). Just for a change though, we’ll talk about the non-alcoholic option on today’s Thirsty Thursdays. Why did I become obsessed with Tapioca Tea in Shinying? And even more bizarre whay haven’t I drank it much since?
Backpacking in Sinying (Shinying) in Taiwan – you might recognise this globe – it’s the one that makes up my cover photo on Don’t Stop Living
What is Tapioca Tea?
It’s a cold milky tea with bit of what I call “tapioca” nestled at the bottom. It is normally bought in Asia – Taiwan and Hong Kong are particularly fond of this. It is most often drank through a straw in a sealed plastic cup. The tapioca is commonly left at the bottom. It is normally served from street vendors and specialised tea shops throughout Taiwan and Hong Kong. Parts of China and Macau also have it.
A photo of my travel buddy and fellow nomad Neil Macey ordering some tapioca tea in Shinying in Taiwan
What does it taste like?
Personally I love tea and this one is no different – I love tapioca tea. It tastes like a cold milky tea with bits of jelly in it. That’s all there is to it!
Another tea on another journey in Taiwan – this time checking out the city of Taichung!
What flavours can you get?
Tapioca Tea has spread its wings into many different flavours. Don’t be surprised to find vendors selling over 20 different types. Having tried a few of them, my top three are the original one (milky tea and Tapioca), strawberry (which is more like milkshake than tea sometimes) and mint (I’m a sucker for anything green – it’s my favourite colour). The range is seemingly endless…
The colourful range of Tapioca Tea!
Where is the best place to try Tapioca Tea?
I’m biased here so I’ll say Shinying in Taiwan, but anywhere is good. A really refreshing day time drink. My other stuff on Sinying (Shinying) is highly detailed, off the beaten track and worth checking out, for example Friday Night in Shinying .
Strawberry Tapioca Tea – more like a milkshake with jelly to be honest!
Why Haven’t I drank Tapioca Tea much since 2009?
Two reasons:
1. I got a stomach ache the last time I had Tapioca Tea in Hong Kong (2011)
2. Tapioca Tea for me seems to be trapped in my Taiwan vacuum. It was the drink for that trip and I loved it. I will get back into it when I hit Taiwan again!
This image is supposed to be rotated and I wanted to use it as the main image but it can’t be sorry – horrible week with broken laptops and internet rather than sipping tea in Taiwan!
Thanks for reading today’s installment of Thirsty Thursdays which is non alcoholic for once – the odd thing is I rarely drink Tapioca Tea at night. I’m normally a tea by day, beer by night sort of travelling Northern Irishman! On a final note a big shout out and thanks to my travel buddy, ex flatmate and global nomad Neil Macey (AKA Millwall Neil), it was Neil that first introduced me to Tapioca Tea and it was his awesome flat in Shinying that I was able to make my home for a few weeks.
Here’s a video from my 4,200 strong YouTube Channel from the tea shop in Shinying (once my local!):
Thirsty Thursdays is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you have a bar, pub, drink, restaurant, brand or idea that you would like featured on Thirsty Thursdays, please get in touch via my contacts page or my advertising page. I’d love to hear from you, and I’d also love a free tea or a beer! Cheers!
An odd Thirsty Thursdays – having a cold Lion Beer in an elephant souvenir shop in Pannawala, Sri Lanka
As Thirsty Thursdays go this ranks as one of the most obscure! I had spent a week or so in Sri Lanka, touring around. It was a special trip because my parents had joined me and my girlfriend – I only see my parents once at year at most these days. It got to the end of the week, and the last day we would spend together at Pinnawala and later Kurunegala. That day we had gone from Kandy to Pinnawala to see the elephants parade through the town and visit the elephant orphanage. We got a ride on the elephants and bathed with them. It was hot and after a walk through the town of Pinnawala, Dad and I decide we were having an ice cold beer!
After watching the elephants have their own thirsty Thursday, I wanted a beer in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka
But except for the main street in Pinnawala (which apparently you have to pay to access), there were no bars so we headed into a shop which sold all sorts of elephant souvenirs. It was just a shop! Instead of asking about elephants we just asked the guy if we could sit down and have a beer!
Relaxing during an elephant parade in the town of Pinnawala in Sri Lanka with my Mum and Dad!
Low and behold he said yes and there we were sitting down on wooden carved seats with elephant and turtle shapes on them. The guy brought over the beers and I wrote my brother a postcard which I bought there! We cracked open two ice cold bottles of Lion Beer.
The view from my beer in the elephant souvenir shop in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka
As I clinked bottles with my Dad it was a moment to savour and one of the most enjoyable beers I have ever had. If you ever make it to Pinnawala, check out the shop with all the wooden carvings of elephants and turn it into your bar for a beer like we did. Loved it…
The Elephant Souvenir shop in Pinnawala which is an unlikely but worthy location for this week’s Thirsty Thursday!
Thirsty Thursdays is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you have a bar, pub, drink, restaurant, brand or idea that you would like featured on Thirsty Thursdays, please get in touch via my contacts page or my advertising page. I’d love to hear from you! Cheers!
A Video from having a beer in an elephant souvenir shop in Pinnawala:
And one of my favourite quiet lazy tunes by Crowded House which features the epic line “elephants go down to the water hole at dusk, they feel the same as us about life”. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Inspiring:
Thirsty Thursdays: Drinking in Antarctica! My travel buddy Russell and I enjoy the coldest pint of beer EVER!
I was thinking about my Antarctica trip recently, and how I managed to drink in 4 different places on the trip (OK I’m cheating as three of them were onboard the boat!!!). But I thought I’d give all you Antarctic bound travellers some tips on how you can drink in Antarctica, yes there is even a bar there, there is even a Happy Hour and drinking in Antarctica is part of the experience to the world’s southern most continent. Here’s my Top 6 places to drink in Antarctica (of which I drank in only 4 of them, as sadly 2 of them we didn’t visit)! One of my favourite Thirsty Thursdays to date.
1. Drinking in Antarctica: On Antarctic land
Drinking in Antarctica: having a beer on Antarctic soil at Admiralty Bay on King George Island with my travel buddies.
OK so strictly speaking this is illegal as you should take only water with you on your treks. But on our last landing in Antarctica, myself and 5 others all took a drink each onto the land to toast to our amazing trip. We chose either wine or beer and burst them open by some rocks near the Henry Arctowski Polish Station at Admiralty Bay on King George Island. It is probably the best place I have ever had a beer. Just there in the wilderness with penguins in behind. A must for drinking in Antarctica!
2. Drinking in Antarctica: Out on Deck!
Where to drink in Antarctica – out on deck in a snowstorm!
OK so we were sailing down the Gerlache Strait and were welcomed by an amazing snowstorm. I was sitting in the indoor bar onboard our ship, the MS Expedition when my drinking buddy on the trip, Russell and I turned to each other and said almost at the same time “Let’s go outside for a beer”. It had to be done. We sat out on deck in the snowstorm – Russell in his shorts and flip flops/thongs! We were joined out on deck by Canadian Mike MacSween who even came barefoot! There was no need to keep the beers chilled as it was absolutely freezing! Great place for a beer. Try and get as many from the boat to join you, even if it’s just for 5 minutes or so.
3. Drinking in Antarctica: Onboard Bar at Happy Hour
Drinking in Antarctica: Don’t miss Happy Hour in the onboard bar!
For the budget travellers this is a great option. Each excursion to Antarctica will of course be different, but ours had a Happy Hour from 5 – 6pm every day in the Lounge Bar. This also coincided with the daily gathering of everyone on board in the lounge to discuss the day’s events and plan ahead for tomorrow. Our ship, the MS Expedition had two onboard bars and alcohol was available normally after 4pm on each day. There were 3 places to buy booze onboard, these were the two onboard bars and the restaurant:
– The Lounge Bar was open from around 4pm – 7pm and had a Happy Hour from 5pm – 6pm. Every day they had a different quirky featured cocktail (e.g. Gentoo Delight, Antarctic Sunrise, Snowstorm etc.)
Drinking in Antarctica: the onboard bar had a $3 Happy Hour Cocktail every day.
– The Polar Bear Bar was open from around 8pm until closing time (whenever you wanted to stop drinking)
Drinking in Antarctica in the Polar Bear Bar onboard the boat with Frank S. Todd, penguin expert!
Alcohol was also available at dinner, served to you in the onboard restaurant, everything you ordered was added to your bill. There was no payment accepted in cash as far as I remember, they just added everything to your bill and you paid at the end of the trip. Be careful not to get too happy though, as even Happy Hour in Antarctica is more expensive than what you are used to!
The Bar menu for our trip to Antarctica to give you a rough idea of prices. However this was 2010!!How much is a beer in Antarctica? Here’s a price list from 2010!
To give you an idea I’ve included the drinks list from my trip, however this was 2010 so the price will no doubt have increased dramatically since then.
Another Happy Hour Cocktail after an epic day in Antarctica!
4. Drinking in Antarctica: Bring Your Own Alcohol
The cheap option for drinking in Antarctica is bring your own!!
Again the cheapskate option and this is the one I used mostly – even the beer I took onto Antarctic land to drink was bought in Argentina and brought on board. There is no real limit on the amount of alcohol you bring onboard, but if you suffer from sea sickness, please note that the Drake Passage is the roughest stretch of water in the world, so you want to avoid the booze on that part of the trip!
We had a party in our cabin one night – it was a bring your own!!
I brought my own beer and wine and drank it in the cabin or sneaked it into the bar (hardly a big deal considering you’ve paid loads for this trip!!).
5. Drinking in Antarctica: The Bar at the Ukranian Vernadskiy Station
OK this could well be a regret in life, but on our trip we just didn’t make it to the bar or even to the actual Ukrainian Vernadskiy Station, which not only has a cool bar but even makes its own hot pepper Vodka (I’m not even kidding).
Drinking in Antarctica: Yes there really is a pub at the Ukrainian Vernadskiy Base!! Photo courtesy of Esquire.com .
The Vernadskiy Research Station is the longest continually running one on the entire continent. It was the British that put the pub there when they owned it!!! We were caught up in a crazy snowstorm off the coast of Petermann Island, and seeing an Argentine Research Station from the boat was the closest we got to the set of Argentine Islands where the Vernadskiy Station sits.
6. Drinking in Antarctica: A Pint at the South Pole
This would be the ultimate planet earth beer, and we didn’t go that far, but it can be done. It’s costly to get to the South Pole and if you do make it and manage to acclimatise, you will be pleased to know you can have a celebratory tipple, or if you really want to be a cheapskate, bring your own! There was a beer shipped out there last year called Pole Axed!
Having a beer at the South Pole must be a beer drinker’s dream. Sadly I didn’t make
If you have managed to do all six of these I salute you!! I was happy with the four I managed to get in on my amazing Antarctica adventure back in 2010.
Thirsty Thursdays – enjoying a beer in London, England in one of the ‘secret’ bars with my one time flatmate John Johnson!
Thirsty Thursdays today on Don’t Stop Living takes us back to the UK. I spent a year living in London in England and have been back countless times since. So here’s a thirsty Thursdays on all those secret bars in London! I bet you didn’t even know there were secret bars in London. This is one for the pub crawl lovers!
When I head back to London, I still manage to do it on a budget by the way, I stick to loyal companies that have served me well (and beer!) over the years. It’s worth checking out hotels in London from Travelodge which are easy to organise and of course within budget. Time to hit the town and find those secret bars!!
Quick tube stop on a night out before we went to check out secret bars in London, England!
Why head for the franchise bars for a drink when you’re in need of a bevvie in London? When you could head for a spot that is relatively unknown to visitors and tourists! England’s capital city is filled with independent bars that are off the beaten track and incredible to visit as an unforgettable experience rather than your normal English style pub.
While locals know the best secret hangouts, for visitors, they are hidden away and unheard of. Here’s a little helping hand if you fancy finding one for yourself, though, and just for a change, no photos of the bars, it’s a ‘secret’ remember 😉 Well OK, I’ll put a few up…
Having a beer in a secret bar in London, England with my good friend Steve Jones.
1. The Fourth Wall
This mega secret bar is about as hidden as you’ll get – seeing as it changes its venue every weekend. Although it wanders to alternative sites on a Friday and Saturday, the same familiar decor and drinks menu remains, wherever it is. It’s a good idea to sign up to their email alerts and you will receive a venue hint every Wednesday – if you can’t figure it out, just call or email them. Love the quirkiness of it all.
2. Drink, Shop & Dance
This is an off the beaten track hideaway in King’s Cross. Housed upstairs in an old sex shop, this super cocktail bar is a perfect find, if you can find it! Remember to book though – it fills up fast, so reservations are paramount.
3. La Bodega Negra
You can also find a speakeasy bar tucked away at the back of a porn shop, in Soho, called La Bodega Negra – it’s amazing what you can find if you look hard enough!
Rush Hour in Central London – bound to be a hidden bar for a pint…
4. The Black Door
You’d be hard pressed to notice this place in King’s Cross, considering it’s hidden behind an indistinguishable black door above The Fellow gastropub. Once you’ve found it though, you’ll be treated to cosy 1920s decadence with a rock n roll soundtrack.
5. The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town A basement bar that’s hidden behind a fridge – how cool is that (literally!)? Located in Shoreditch, in The Breakfast Club, this fabulous bar offers a fantastic ambience, plenty of fun and lashings of food and drink to keep you happy. Be sure to give them a call before you turn up, to avoid being turned away at the fridge door.
6. Bart’s Bar Ring the bell on the door tucked away behind an average apartment block in Kensington and you will be greeted by cocktail makers who are some of the best in London. With plenty of fun to be had, including a free-to-use dressing up box, you can be sure that an evening in Bart’s is well worth it.
7. Underdog If you ask the bar staff in Brewdog, in Shoreditch, they will direct you to this basement bar that oozes speakeasy charm.
Chilling out on a return trip to London – there’s a bar round here – but it’s a secret!
So that’s all the secret bars I can tell you about for now – there’s a fair few more, including one that me and my mates used to frequent in Leicester Square – but I can’t tell you where it is, it’s a secret! And remember you can cut your costs by heading to one of the many hotels in London from Travelodge.
Thirsty Thursdays is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you have a bar, pub, drink, restaurant, brand or idea that you would like reviewed or featured on Thirsty Thursdays, please get in touch via my contacts page or my advertising page. I’d love to hear from you! I’d also love a free pint and a meal. Cheers!
Thirsty Thursdays – Buenos Aires Pub Crawl. An amazing night out in ARGENTINA!
Buenos Aires will never be my favourite city on the planet, but I actually really enjoyed my big night out there so today’s Thirsty Thursdays takes us to the party zone of the Argentinian capital city. A pub crawl of the highest standard with a range of nationalities, languages, drinks, food and pubs. Plus I almost got arrested for smuggling drugs through the country…
The pub crawl was expertly organised by the Hostel Florida Suites. I wasn’t actually staying in that hostel, but the pub crawl from my hostel (Limehouse Hostel) was on a different night and due to my schedule I would miss it. I wanted to do a pub crawl in Buenos Aires so I booked this one along with Lena Hoffman from Germany, who I met on the airport bus on arrival at Buenos Aires. Lena was staying in Hostel Florida Suites, about 15 minute walk from my hostel, so I got that one booked. The irony was Lena took ill the next day and couldn’t make the pub crawl in the end, so I went alone ready to meet new people. The pub crawl cost 70 Argentine Pesos and this included a drink in 5 different bars, some food and other random things.
Here’s a bar by bar rundown of the epic crawl!!:
Bar 1 – Fusion, Florida Street.
At 8.30 pm The bar crawl starts in earnest at Bar Fusion. I buy 1 Quilmes in this bar, as a free drink here isn’t actually included in the price. It’s an underground bar under the Florida Suits hostel, but anyone can walk in. This is where the carnage began!
The first bar was Bar Fusion. This is where the pub crawl began. Bar Fusion is on the basement floor just below Florida Suites Hostel on Florida Street, in downtown BA.
After Bar Fusion, we all walked down the lively Florida Street to the end, getting to know one and other and deciding who to share taxis with. I don’t often take taxis actually, but this was part of the crawl as we were heading to the Palermo district to party. I met up with Dawie and Adelaine, a South African couple and we agreed to taxi share and hang out together!
Bar 2- The Bronx Bar, Palermo
Next up we got given a necklace with a bright light on it and were given free entry and unlimited beer for an hour in the Bronx Bar. It turned out to be a bit more beer and a bit of a longer stay!! A photo feast now from Bronx Bar!
Dawie and Adelaine, the lovely South African couple that I partied with!!
I was single at the time and there were a lot of girls there. I was rather shy, given that it was only my second night in Buenos Aires, but I still found time to chat to them later on after a few beers.Local girl Camila Crema was the one that caught me eye, as well as a hot Californian girl. The Californian girl got the party started in earnest with her flirtatious moves and dancing. I thought she was going to do a striptease at one point, when she whipped off her belt!
The queue for the bar at Bronx Bar – it was busy but you could always get served and the beer was unlimited for the first hour, until 11 pm.
I met up with some folk from Ecuador and Australia. I was speaking to the Ecuadorians for quite a while as I knew I would head there on my journeys later.
Then at some point things started to get more fun and crazy! We were given these plastic hats if we agreed to play a drinking game and myself, Dawie, Lucas a Brazilian, another Brazilian and two Australian guys got a team of six together for the drinking competition. Needless to say we won and kicked ass, which led to a glass of bubbly and more free beer, which we were now drinking out of plastic hats. I had a new friend in Lucas now too and it was all fun!
Below is Camila Crema, the hot local girl, and a Californian party girl who said “My reason for coming to Buenos Aires was because I googled online where the party capital of the world was and Buenos Aires came up!” She said all this while wearing a see-through white top, tight and short denim shorts and whipping her belt off, ushering the guys up to dance under her belt. Most of us were gasping in awe…
One of the organisers was Corins Lichtstein and we met up and chatted for a while during the entire belt frenzy! Lots of photos on this post for a change – it was just so epic!
So after the Californian honey wowed the guys with her flambouyance and willingness to lose her belt, it was time for me to go under the belt, I fell over in the process amid cheers and laughs! It was so much fun in Bronx Bar!
Lucas Fernandes, my new mate from Brazil – he was wearing a Guinness t-shirt and as we won the drinking competition and drank together, we somehow had enough beer to carry out with us in a plastic hat and onto the next bar!
This is me with the “hot Californian girl” – touching my belt – who is this travelling Northern Irishman she must have been thinking. I only wanted a photo, and I did win the drinking competition!
Some of the best legs in Buenos Aires, plus some cracking dancing!
More fun and games in the second bar including my shirt being stained by one of the kind drunk locals who spilt his beer on me. This was our winning drinking team!
The Facebook page for Hostel Suites Palermo Pub Crawl includes a ton more photos from the amazing night out, I’ve included one of us here:
Our winning team getting ready for the drinking competition in the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl in Argentina!
Then it was time to leave Bronx and walk to the next bar!
Bar 3 – Hat Trick, Palermo
Like Alanis Morisette, I found it ironic that the third bar was called Hat Trick and that we completed a hat trick of bars by heading there. A free mango shot awaited on arrival (I managed to blag two of them) and I thought of David Healy, twice a hat trick scorer for Northern Ireland in the 2006 – 2007 season!
It was in Hat trick bar that I really just started talking to and mingling with the locals. Buenos Aires is great like that and this organised pub crawl is an easy way to meet the locals. First up though I was posing with bar girl Gricelda who came from Paraguay. I had never met a Paraguayan before that day and suddenly I now knew two (both Facebook friends) and reasons to make Asuncion my next big city on my tour, which I did!
We found a seat at the back with the locals and really began to party. Drinking games, singing, dancing and the local Argentinian guys kept calling me the Irish Amigo, they talked about football and taught me some River Plate songs. They were disgusted to hear that I had visited La Bombonera – home of Boca Juniors, River Plate’s biggest rivals!
After a bit of singing, it was drug time. A night out in Buenos Aires wouldn’t be the same without drugs! It was just marijuana mind you (I call it “dope” since I’m a 1990s Northern Irish teenager) and I was soon smoking joints and feeling like a local. I’m not a fan of drugs at all, but I do like savouring the moment and enjoying other people’s company and it seemed like the right thing to do. One of the local guys was called Mario and he gave me an entire bag of cannabis as a present. Knowing we were out all night, I bunched it quickly into the back pocket of my jeans without thinking anything of it and thanking him for it.
After the madness of hat-trick bar, it was off for a midnight group photo of our entire pub crawl team, before heading to another bar, whose name I forget…
Bar 4 – The Bar With No Name
OK so it does have a name, but caught up in the moment and despite having my travel diary in my pocket, I neglected to write down the name of this pumping bar. It was a mix between a sports bar, a club and a beer garden style bar. Most of our group got up to party the night away on the dancefloor. I was given a free can of Brahma Beer and decided to chill out with the lads and watch the live football! Certainly a pub crawl with variety this. I’m sure that this bar was the last bar for some of those on our pub crawl, but we had one big club up next – Kiki Club
Bar 5 – Kika Club, Palermo!
Forgive me as my memory is hazy but after watching some football in the last pub we headed to the final bar of the night and the pumping nightclub called Kika Club. I was 30 years old and this did seem like a younger persons place, but that really didn’t stop me partying and indeed I stayed in there till about 4am before telling the girls and guys I had an early morning flight to catch…
The next big problem after leaving Kika Club was getting back to the hostel and then heading to the airport. I had been drinking with the hostel crew the previous two nights and they knew I was coming home in the early hours to catch a flight (which had been moved to a different airport at late notice). When I left Kika Club I realised we were miles from the hostel and I only had 20 Argentine Pesos left – I had gone out with only 60 Argentine Pesos that night by the way and my wallet and passport were in the hostel safe. 20 Pesos wouldn’t be enough for a taxi back to the hostel so it was blagging time.
I got in a taxi and told the driver where I was staying, on the main street, Avenida 9 de Julio at Limehouse Hostel but he wanted to charge the full whack so I came to an agreement, I let him dump me off somewhere close and on a main street and I then walked it from there. Past wakening tramps and premature sunlight, it took me about half an hour to walk back, but I made it and it had been one hell of a night out. Within minutes of getting to the hostel, I ordered a quick taxi to the Airport Bus station and caught an early morning bus to the airport.
If the madness of an incredible party night in Buenos Aires wasn’t enough, I was now heading on a flight to Ushuaia to head to Antarctica is just 2 days time on a 2 week cruise. This was an amazing rollercoaster I was living. One thing though, I still had those drugs in my pocket…
Buenos Noches, Buenos Aires (not a spelling error, just a pun)
Bars Visited – 6 (including the Limehouse Hostel Bar)
Drinks – Beer, mango shots, tequila and champagne
Nationalities Met – Argentinian, Brazilian, Ecuadorian, Paraguayan, United States, English, South African, German, Australian
Key Song:
Yolanda Be Cool: We Speak No Americano!!:
My videos from the epic Buenos Aires Pub crawl!:
Party taxi from Florida Street to Palermo:
Bronx Bar in Buenos Aires Pub Crawl in four parts:
Thirsty Thursdays on Don’t Stop Living: Canelazo and Ecuadorian Music in Old Town Quito
Today’s Thirsty Thursdays takes me back to December 2010 on my travels when I stayed in the Old Town of Quito in Ecuador. I simply loved the local charm of the Old Town in Quito and was staying at the quite excellent Colonial House Hotel. A four storey terraced house turned into a hostel. All very cosy and on arrival I met a girl from the USA called Erin who was working there. When I said to her that it was my first time in the city, she offered to take me round and after doing a heap of sightseeing, we headed to La Ronda to relax over a few drinks.
Today’s Thirsty Thursday takes us to the charming La Ronda district in Quito’s Old Town
La Ronda is pretty. It is Quito’s Oldest District. It is proudly Ecuadorian and if you want to sample real life as it happens in Ecuador, this seems like the place. My Thirsty Thursday experience in Quito was a lot more local and cultured than your average visit to the pub for a pint! I was immediately in love with this vibrant array of cool bars littered along these poky cobbled streets, bunged symmetrically with Ecuadorian and Quito flags to show that these people love their own city. This was my place – away from a commercial world that waits outside…
I loved La Ronda – imagine having a relaxing drink in this kind of setting!
So I don’t remember the exact name of the bar we went to but it was in La Ronda, it was busy and it was small, poky and atmospheric. Erin used her excellent Spanish to secure us a table and we ordered from the menu. When in Quito, try Canelazo.
The Old Town of Quito as viewed from the hostel window.
What is Canelazo?
It’s an alcoholic drink made from Aguardiente (a spirit made from sugar cane) and this is then mixed with fruit juice and served hot to form a delicious refreshingly sweet cocktail. I opted for Naranjilla flavour (a juicy South American orange!).
My Canelazo and empanada on my thirsty Thursday in La Ronda in Quito’s Old Town!
Where can you drink Canelazo?
It should be noted that although these drinks can be bought outside of South America, there is nothing in the world like drinking them in the country they are native to. Canelazos belong to Colombia, Ecuador and also Peru.
Another feature of this Thirsty Thursday experience was the decor – the bar we visited featured a lot of decent art, adding to the experience!
I loved them, and indeed sampled a few more in my jaunt round South America. On this night in Quito, I munched empanadas with it. There was the added bonus of paintings around the walls of this cosy bar – adding a lot of decent decor to the entire experience. Taking it all in and sampling it was a joy!
Me and my amazing Naranjilla Canelazo in a poky wee bar in La Ronda, Quito, Ecuador.
While sipping the sweet and fruity Canelazo, a band come into the room and start banging out local music. it’s fantastic. For a moment I stopped and realised how much I love the travel lifestyle. It was a really happy travel moment. The band played for a while and I chatted at length to Erin about her life and how she ended up living in Quito and becoming immersed in Ecuadorian culture.
Erin and me enjoying the Ecuadorian music and canelazo. We were kind of caught up in the moment, this is the only photo I got with Erin, and it’s blurred! Great memories.
So in short – Quito was a great city to visit, cheap and cheerful and oozing with charms for the average traveller. Going to La Ronda around 6pm for a Canelazo is something I would totally recommend. My thanks to Erin for taking me round the city. On life’s odd corridor, I never saw her again, but these are the joys of travel and this is one cherished existence we have my friends…
My Videos:
Having a Naranjilla Canelazo in La Ronda, Quito, Ecuador:
Walking round La Ronda in Quito, Ecuador:
Thirsty Thursdays is an ongoing regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel. If you have a bar, pub, drink, restaurant, brand or idea that you would like featured on Thirsty Thursdays, please get in touch via my contacts page or my advertising page. I’d love to hear from you! Cheers!
