Month: March 2009

Chile, PatagoniaLeave a comment

The Lake District

Raj Choudhury

After checking back into the Holiday Inn Express in Puerto Montt we decided to get some much needed laundry done and contacted some guy our cab driver gave us in order to book a rental car for the next three days. It was a Saturday night in Puerto Montt, but all we could handle was room service and some R&R after a long week of exhilarating riding. The next day we picked up our rental car, which I like to call “piece of shit car” after the Adam Sandler song (Jeff you know which one I mean). No joke, this … Continue reading The Lake District

Chile, Futaleufu4 Comments

6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and estancias (Part 2 of 2)

Raj Choudhury

Day 3: We woke up at Irvin’s a bit sore from sharing the tiny bed that sinks in the middle, and certainly in part from 2 long days of horseback riding. Seeing the location by daylight, however, was illuminating.  Though the small house was similar to how it looked by candlelight, the scenery around it was a pleasant surprise, as it was on hill overlooking the lake.  Once Fabian returned from a ride to the neighbors to buy some bread, the four us had breakfast, I helped Fabian remove a big splinter from his hand (thank you big tree from … Continue reading 6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and estancias (Part 2 of 2)

Futaleufu1 Comment

6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and haciendas (Part 1 of 2)

Raj Choudhury

Day 1: We woke up early in the lodge after a freezing night’s sleep that was often interrupted by crazy dogs barking all night long. We had a quick breakfast and then Fabian arrived to take us to his barn to meet our horses and load up the pack horse. Fabian and his dad introduced us to La Pinta, a very cute, gray and white smaller horse, and Al Tivo, a large, brown, beautiful horse. They were concerned about giving me Al Tivo because he often scares tourists with his intense desire to run, and more importantly, his tendency to … Continue reading 6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and haciendas (Part 1 of 2)

Chile, Futaleufu, Santa Cruz, Santiago1 Comment

As promised…

Raj Choudhury

Sorry for the week-long teaser! It wasn’t really intentional – we just ran out of time to write and also had no access to our computer or Internet all week. So, here we go… 1. Getting pulled over by la policia after drinking a bottle of wine – In Santa Cruz we drove out to a lovely dinner in a rural area at a traditional family owned restaurant. We shared a really nice bottle of Montes wine (for $13) and asked the owner/waiter to order for us (meat for raj and fish for me-although I’m eating meat on this trip, … Continue reading As promised…

Chile, Futaleufu, Santa Cruz2 Comments

10 Things we will tell you about next weekend (after we get back from #10)

Raj Choudhury

1. Getting pulled over by la policia after drinking a bottle of wine 2. What Santa Cruz Wine Valley is like 3. Wine tasting by horseback 4. GPS getting directions to Santiago airport wrong 5. Raj giving away his burger to the needy 6. Charter plane to Palena 7. Ride to Futaleufu Valley 8. “The Lodge” in the Valley 9. Why Tovah is no longer interested in Kayaking 10. Our 5 day tour through the mountains that have not been ridden this season (due to volcano eruptions that wiped out a town last year) and staying at haciendas with locals … Continue reading 10 Things we will tell you about next weekend (after we get back from #10)

Chile, Santa Cruz, SantiagoLeave a comment

Riding Horses through vineyards. What could be better?

Raj Choudhury

Unfortunately this is a quick post as it’s 2am in Peuto Monte, Chile and we have a 8am charter flight to Futaleufú Vally for a week of riding. more to come on the next post in about a week. Anyway the last few days in Santa Cruz have been amazing. From jumping into a rental car and finding our way down to what I’d like to call the James bond on wineries (Casa Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta), to riding through vineyards experiencing the beauty of the back country on amazing strong horses. I wish I could write more, but you’ll have … Continue reading Riding Horses through vineyards. What could be better?

Chile, Santa Cruz, Santiago1 Comment

Have we really only been here 36 hours???

Raj Choudhury

That is what I asked Raj about 10 minutes ago as we sat by the pool enjoying recounting everything that we have already experienced… So, our flight arrived in Santiago, Chile yesterday (March 10th) at 6:30 AM. We easily got through customs/immigration and hired a taxi to take us to our hotel. As you can imagine, the hotel wouldn’t allow us to check in at 7:30 am, but they were very nice and were willing to hold onto our bags so we could explore for a bit. So, without the opportunity to change or freshen up from our 16 hour … Continue reading Have we really only been here 36 hours???

AtlantaLeave a comment

ATL Goodbye Bash

Raj Choudhury

My bags are packed, everything on my to-do-list is pretty much done, and I’m ready to get the hell out of here. Our flight leaves Monday at 2pm. We fly to Miami and then to Santiago, Chile. Arrive really early Tuesday morning (6am) so that should be interesting. Thanks for everyone coming out to The Warren Saturday night. I’m still suffering from a hangover. Pretty sure that’s due to martini’s, Irish car bombs, lemon drops, and a shit load of Stella’s. Here is a link to all the photos and the evidence. We’ll miss everyone, our house, and our three … Continue reading ATL Goodbye Bash

engauge, spunlogic, vacation, world tour3 Comments

Yes we are leaving for a 4 month world tour

Raj Choudhury

We are less than a week away for an adventure of a lifetime and I can’t wait. For some of you this trip might be a little bit of a surprise, so perhaps let me provide a quick background on how we got here. As some of you know Spunlogic got acquired by Halyard Capital in March 2008. The Agency was renamed Engauge and I remained with the agency based out of Atlanta. I approached my executive team with a request to take a 4 month Sabbatical a few months ago and was lucky enough to get my request approved. … Continue reading Yes we are leaving for a 4 month world tour

packing5 Comments

3 Questions…

Raj Choudhury

There have been exactly 3 responses I have received from people upon them hearing about our trip: 1. “Wow, FOUR MONTHS?” 2. “Where are you going? and 3. “How do you pack for four months?” So, let’s get this over with once and for all 🙂 Yes, four entire months! We can’t believe it either. If you are interested in how this came about, check out Raj’s entry. We have a mostly loose itinerary. We are starting with spending about 3 weeks in Chile including Santiago, horseback riding in Patagonia, and trekking in the Torres del Paine National Forest. Then … Continue reading 3 Questions…