Bolivia - *Travel Special Part 2*

Another travel special already? ¿Que Loco? Like I said at the bottom of the last post, the journey to Tarija was something else. I think it merits it's own special and there's no better time than the present - it's all still fresh in my memory although I don't think I'll be forgetting a second of this one anytime soon!

 

It all begins in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The day before departure we took a stuffed micro bus (and they really mean micro - think a Ford Transit van, split it down the middle and cut a quarter off the back) to the Bimodal bus / train station. It was actually not such a bad place as you'd imagine for a developing nation, although I'm from Hull, so my homegrown standards of a bus or train station are not very high. We wandered for half an hour or so, looking at the various booths to see where each company departed to. Not one of them said Tarija. The hustlers pounced on our wandering eyes. As we walked up and down they constantly asked where we wanted to go; we told them, they gave us a price to Yacuiba - remember the border town from the last post? - and from there to Tarija as there was apparently no direct service. The prices didn't seem too bad, considering I had paid 80 Bolivanos to get here, but still.. surely there was another cheaper way around it. We checked the train, but that only went twice a week to Yacuiba and not on a Thursday. In the end we gave up and headed back to the Resdencial to check out my South America map to see if there was better connections through another city.

 

The map didn't give us the answers required.. although very clear, unfortunately it is still made of paper, and even me, "Mr Gadget", didn't bring a map that advanced! We decided we would just head down to the bus station an hour and a half before we wanted to leave (the next day) and work it out then. With nothing better to do we headed to another place Amanda had found, which served quite possibly the best Jugo de Banana con Leche in Bolivia, if not the world. One was simply not enough, if it'd been on tap, I think we'd still have been sat there now. That evening, in the absence of anything else we took the Lonely Planet advice for Santa Cruz and headed for a pizza restaurant, which naturally meant it was a gringo haven - at least 25 of them sat round one table, and I think I counted 3 Bolivians. The pizza was "passable with care" and the salad was not too bad, at least it was food I guess and I was able to eat it!

 

So Thursday came around. We had already decided we would get a night bus so would head down to the station around 4:30. Before this, we headed back to our "Jugo Hangout", but disaster had struck - NO JUGOS!!!! We searched for more.. we found, we drank, we were... disappointed - none could match this one, slightly deaf, Bolivian lady's creation. In the end we gave up and headed to the market. Here Amanda decided she would embark on trying native food. A rather large Bolivian woman stood commandeering a large silver pan of goodness knows what. The plate came piled high with rice, beans and sausage (dyed black by the beans!). After a few tries Amanda realised the sausage was sausage and being vegetarian passed it to me. I was none too keen, but dared to take a bite of the sausage. A Bolivian woman opposite was creasing herself laughing at me as I pulled a funny face as it went in, then slowly realised that it was actually very tasty. I cleared half the mountain and off we went in search of more delicacies. We stopped at a cake stall on the outskirts of the market. The chocolate cake looked good, but taste more like something a dog had left behind. We tried to give it to beggars, but they just pushed it away and laughed.. obviously they knew this cake game all too well! In the end it went in the bin where it belonged.

 

We next stopped to look at a church and got talking to a Bolivian lady who was insistent to show us round a few other buildings, despite our lack of time and need to get the bus station. It was all very interesting, but fortunately she understood after the first one so we headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to hustler central, pardon me.. the bus station. It really was "be hustled to you drop". After much searching, we settled for a ticket via Yacuiba for 75 Bolivanos each, it seemed a little dodgy though as when we got to Yacuiba we had to go and tell the ticket office there to give us a ticket for 30 Bolivianos to Tarija. We were in no mood to start arguing with the guy in the middle of the busy bus station, so we accepted. We had more Jugos (still not as good!) and headed down to the platform. The bus was supposed to leave at 18:30, but by 18:45 there was still no sign. We kept an eager eye out for our bags being carried out of the office to the bus. Finally the bus arrived at 18:50. We followed our bags to make sure they were on and took our seats. Despite fears that it was going to be freezing cold, it was the exact opposite - boiling. The bus left the station after a horn blowing match between the congested drivers at 19:30.

 

During the first couple of hours of the journey we attempted to open windows to relieve from some of the heat build up, but everytime we opened the window, it would be closed again a few minutes later by a Bolivian behind! They like riding on stinky, sweaty buses? Also to add to this, the people immediately behind us had four young children who would take it in turns to have a scream or cry. When the bus halted at two rest stops, these screams turned to "Papi, Papi", as there dad had got off to go to the toilet. Fair enough, I can understand this, but surely they could have been a little less deafening!

 

As the night wore on, thankfully other noise died down. Amanda was asleep, but I was awake more than asleep. Because of this, I knew everytime we stopped. It started to become very erratic. We would stop for 5 minutes at a rest station and then a few minutes down the road for 45 minutes. Would we reach Yacuiba in time for the connecting bus? At 6 AM, it all became clear. We had stopped down the road for no apparent reason since 5AM, and suddenly as daylight was starting to break, most of the population of the bus were gathering up all of there things. Had we broken down? Amanda woke and asked some people in front of us what was going on. ROAD BLOCKADE! For those of you not familiar with Bolivian current affairs, forget football, road blockades in protest at government policies is the national sport. We had to make a decision, either to sit it out on the bus or follow the herd down the road. Since I had spoken to someone in Uruguay that had been stuck on a bus for 10 days in one such blockade,  we decided to hop it. We leapt of the bus and turned to look down the road.. truck after truck after truck after truck as far as the eye could see was queued up on the left side of the road. Next to the trucks marched an exodus of people carrying all sorts of luggage. It really was something like out of a film.

 

We gathered our luggage.. or should I say, I gathered our luggage as a certain person was still sleepy. I managed my two bags, plus two of Amanda's - a true packhorse with 50kg around anywhere it would hang from! We had to stop every 200m or so for me to have a break as it was so hot even at 6:30AM.  Every 10 minutes or so a man or child with a wheelbarrow or cart would come past asking if we wanted them to push our luggage to town. Everytime we said no. One Bolivian man behind us succumbed and Amanda translated that his wife said "Come on lazy, how much are you going to pay for that?!". We were determined to do it without and eventually got to Villamontes, a town under siege - all roads in and out were subject to blockades.

 

Once in town we asked about how we could get out to get to either Yacuiba to get the connecting bus or if there was a road out direct to Tarija where we could hitch or get a Camion - a lorry with seats in the back. We decided on the latter and began the long walk up the road out of town. My shoulders began to feel the strain after 45 minutes of walking, so we had a reshuffle of bags and off we went. At the edge of town, salvation came in the shape of a Bolvian and a jeep. He offered us a ride to the frontier of the roadblock for 33p. As the ride went on, we were glad we took him up on the offer, the road winded 3km around, up and down a hill. Eager to find a ride, we crossed the roadblock and wandered down the long line of lorries looking for a driver to take us the rest of the way as neither of us were feeling like a further 250km walk. Sandwiched between two trucks was a taxi complete with driver. Amanda asked him about the journey, which he said would take 7 hours and cost us a suspiciously good 50 Bolivianos - 4 pounds. Naturally we said we would take him up on the offer. The only catch was that he needed another passenger and this may take an hour or two as there were not many people crossing. We found some shade between another two trucks and made ourselves comfortable  - well as comfortable you can be sat on a red dirt road, in the boiling sun.    

 

Our taxi driver reappeared at 12 (midday!) along with another passenger. Our baggage was strapped to the top of the taxi and off we went. We thought he was joking when he said 7 hours, as looking on the map it didn't seem that far, but as the journey unfolded it became clear this would be correct. We travelled up and down and around tiny mountain roads, seeing beautiful mountain ranges from our window. The scenery was second to none of what I've seen so far. We had to stop a couple of times so he could fix tyres and once in a village as he had to change it. Here we were dropped off at a restaurant where we had cooked corn - a simple Campesino (Bolivian peasant) dish, which I actually found to be very nice and a toilet break. This for me was quite an interesting experience! The toilet had no flush and there was simply a big butt of water outside with buckets... Mother, you just wouldn't have known where to start with your Domestos and mop!

 

We were a little sceptical if the taxi driver would actually return from wherever he had gone to get his tyres fixed. Thankfully he did 30 minutes later with our luggage still strapped to the top. Off we went again, winding our way around more stunning mountains - (at every corner the driver had to honk the horn because one false move and we would have been skydiving without a parachute), past rural villages, across dusty desert like plateau and eventually to picturesque Tarija. We stepped out of the taxi slightly dusty, but nothing compared to our backpacks which had changed colour to fit in with the terrain. At this point we thought surely it was going to cost us more than 50 Bolivianos each considering it had actually taken 7 hours, but I handed over 100 for us both and he accepted with thanks! Surely this was going to be the cheapest taxi ride we ever got.. can you imagine going from London to Edinburgh for 4 pounds each??!! I think not.

 

So here is where the journey ended. We found a hotel for a reasonable rate and stayed for 2 days. It's a beautiful town and has a very relaxed feel. More about that in the next post when I return to the original format! Hopefully then I'll be able to catch up as we're now in Uyuni awaiting our jeep for a 4 day trek to the salt flats, which promises to be another adventure! Until then, adios!

Bolivia - *Travel Special Part 1*

..."Peter, is this going to be another of your crazy train stories?" I hear you ask. The answer... yes & no. As the title suggests I am now in Bolivia. Probably about 800 miles north of Cordoba (maybe more!), which is where I told you I was going at the end of the last post. That was until a couple of crazy coincidences happened as follows.

 

Firstly I got up bright and early on Monday, packed my stuff and got to the bus station in plenty of time to buy my ticket to Cordoba. I went to the ticket office straight away and was asked a number of questions in spanish.. which I obviously got the complete wrong end of the stick about. I thought the guy said "Fecha or Noche bus", therefore meaning day or night bus. I answered Fecha. He printed my ticket, I gave him some money and looked. What he'd actually said was two different bus companies names! Flecha Bus is apparently one of these companies but their bus didn't leave Salta until 9:30PM. I thought, fine, my fault, I'll go kill some time around Salta, try other internet cafes to upload my photos etc.. So I left my rucksack at left luggage for the suspciously good price of 1 Peso - 25p, for the day and off I went.

 

This is where the coincidence comes in...

 

I was walking back to the centre and spotted another internet cafe I hadn't tried. I get logged in, onto MSN and to my surprise, Amanda whom I'd left in Paraguay a week ago is online. I say surprised as I hadn't heard from her in almost a week and to be honest, was getting worried.. Paraguay isn't noted for it's safety! To cut a long story short (and believe me there's still a fair bit of this to go!) it turns out she was no fan of Paraguay and had just got to Bolivia and wondered if I wanted to go meet up in Bolivia. I did, so began to try and work out how I would get there. A couple of hours later, I'd determined this was by bus and possibly train.. back to the bus station then!

 

I went and rambled some spanish to a guy in the ticket office at the bus station, who despite being most unhelpful in telling me about further connections, sold me a ticket to the Bolivian border. So unhelpful was this man, he couldn't even tell me what time it would arrive in the town - Pocitos. I got the bus and when asked the conductor told me it would be around 9:30. I was crossing my fingers and toes that I could get a night bus straight away so I didn't have to stay in another border town, there's something very strange about all the one's I've been to and I didn't think for a second that Argentina - Bolivia would be much different.

 

I was right... half an hour late, at 10PM, I arrived in Pocitos. It was all very dark, apart from the bus station. I got off the bus, and I looked around and there appeared to be no ticket offices open. Great, I thought, I'm not getting a bus to Bolivia tonight! Then two men popped up and asked where I needed to go, I told them and they said there was a bus that left at 10:30 to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and they would show me where I needed to go.

 

So, I followed them as they walked me first though customs, I got my stamps, and to the international bridge where they said some 3 Bolivian men would help me through to the bus station. It was at this point things got a little hairy. With one foot in Argentina and one in Bolivia, another Argentine joined the two that met me at the station and the three Bolivians on the other side. The Argentine´s were demanded US$50 for an "exit" tax. At first I tried to buy them off with $5, but it became clear this wouldn´t work, when the didn´t go away. I didn't actually have 50, but I managed to buy them off with a few pesos as well. Altogether I gave them about 20 Pounds. 

 

The Bolivians were a little more gentle and after visiting the Casa de Cambio at 10PM Bolivia time (1 hour behind), I managed to get away from them with only giving 4 Pounds. Then a sketchy taxi ride via an ATM got me finally to the bus station... only to find there was no bus! Fortunately there was a hotel opposite. I say fortunately, but I may well have been better sleeping in the bus station.. the lights didn't work and I would´ve been warmer on a Polar iceberg! Nevertheless, I got about an hour´s sleep before 6AM when I got up and crossed the road to the bus station. Thankfully I managed to buy a ticket straight away for the 8:30 bus to Santa Cruz and for some reason got charged less than the locals. Gringo tax rebate perhaps? 

 

The bus departed almost on time and I had a window seat which allowed to see all sorts of crazy goings on. First there was all manner of animals running over the roads and around the bus: goats, cows, dogs, pigs, chickens. It's lucky they were skilled in the art of recognising what a horn meant, as I don't think our bus driver would be handing out mercy very readily. Then there was police checkpoints which we must have stopped at least ten times for. Fortunately I only had to show my passport once, and at all the others the driver ran into the hut and out again in a matter of seconds. At every single one of these there were drinks and food sellers which would either board the bus or walk up and down selling through the windows. On one occasion they were so busy selling, they "forgot" they shouldn't have been on the bus while it was moving and got a free unwanted lift 3 miles down the road or in many places dirt track. 

 

After watching the sunset behind the mountains, there was less and less that I could see. Suddenly the woman next to me on the bus piped up and started asking me some questions (in spanish). I had watched this woman curiously when she got on the bus as she appeared to be talking to her blanket. I knew Bolivia had a different culture, but talking to blankets?! Had my insomnia that I'd had for a few days now, finally sent me insane? No. As the journey continued, out popped the head of a tiny puppy. Very cute. Anyway.. she started asking me the usual: "where are you going? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do in England? etc. etc." I managed to answer back most of the questions in spanish of some sort, although probably not all that correctly judging by her laughing.

 

I got to Santa Cruz a little later than was planned. Still, I was mighty relived after 11 hours on the sweaty bus. The Bolivian woman from the bus kindly got me a taxi so I didn't get ripped off, and I made my way to Calle Arenales to meet Amanda. Despite the taxi driver trying to drop me off at the wrong address - I know how to pronounce numbers, so it must've been his hearing, no wonder with the decibels his horn was pumping out - I finally made it to the Residencial. It was good to see a friendly face again after a crazy journey. Luckily she had found some good places to eat and we went to a great, but cheap one. Enough crepe was had to fill me up after not really eating for a day and I must have drunk there mineral water supply dry, I was so thirsty.  

 

We spent a couple of days more in Santa Cruz before starting the journey to Tarija, which is where I am now. But that journey is another story as they say, crazier than this one and you're going to have wait a few days more for that because it'll probably turn out as long again! Hmm it'll keep you wondering, I guess. Until then.. adios!

Crazy Crazy Nights

¡Buenos tea time from Salta! Yes I´m still here almost a week later. Why? Because this place has something really cool about it. I don´t know if it´s the feel of the city, the hostel I´m in, the nightlife or a combination of all three.. but there´s definitely something in the air.

Just an update on photos.. If you click the link to the right that says photos, this will take you to my page at photobucket.com. Currently there is only one photo there (of some of the Iguazu Falls) as when I started uploading the computer crashed and I was moved to another. Unfortunately it just wouldn´t let me do it! Despite my efforts of trying just about every internet cafe in town, I still haven´t been able to upload anymore. However, tomorrow I´m on my way to Cordoba which is much bigger, so fingers crossed I´ll have more joy there! Also I´ve switched on comments, so if you want to leave a comment, click the "comments" link at the bottom of a post, which will take you to a page where you can write. If you don´t have a blog account you can click "Post Anonymously" to leave one without having to create an account.

Live

Today I´m feeling pretty good. Much better compared to the last two days when I had a dodgy stomach and couldn´t sleep too well. I`m sure it was either from the amount of beer drunk - those litre bottles go down quick - or some vegetables I bought to use in a pasta. I´ve been told that in Chile they use some crazy pesticides that unless you take the skin off make you feel ill, so since it´s not that far to the Chilean border it could have been that. If any Chilean farmers would like to correct me on this or explain the use of stomach massacring pesticides, please leave a comment!

The hostel I moved to on Tuesday was definitely a smart move. When I returned to the hostel I met 3 Australians and 1 English almost as I walked through the door. We headed out for food but we were too early so had to settle with beer for a couple of hours (ooh, such a hard compromise!) until the restaurants opened. It would seem you can dream on if you think of eating in a restaurant in Argentina much before 8:30 and even then you´ll be on your own until 10! We went to some bar that was recommended but I think Tuesday is not the night to go out here, as it wasn´t all that great.

Wednesday I wandered the city again to have a look round. Whilst doing so I saw a very strange sight - a man walking through the centre of town with 4 Llamas tied together in tow. What it was all about I don´t know, but it certainly looked very strange! At night, we had a massive BBQ at the hostel. 40 people sat down as Jorge (the best BBQ chef in the world??) cooked a herd of cows on the grill. The wine flowed and the steaks kept coming for the next couple of hours. Afterwards we headed to a bar with the rest of the hostel. Several beers later I´m dancing like a lunatic on the dancefloor chatting to whoever would listen - where all the spanish was coming from I´ll never know. It got to about 4:30AM and I thought it was time for a little sit down, only it turned into quite a big sit down as I fell asleep (read: passed out) for 2 hours. I was only awoken by the sounds of glasses being collected as the club emptied at 6! Somehow I stumbled back to the hostel.

Thursday, I went for a walkabout with another Australian I met - Glenn as he was looking for some trainers. Argentine´s have a funny shoe sense, so it took a while. Got to see more of the city though, which I wouldn´t have done otherwise. I didn´t actually go out Thursday night (alright, don´t fall of your chair!) and went to bed so that I could get up to get some decent photo´s without being hassled by the ever present hustlers of restaurants, money and tourist trips that usually line the streets.

So Friday I went and took the photos I wanted around town. There really are some stunning buildings, mainly churches, around. I then went up a hill at the edge of the city to get a bird´s eye view down of the city and surrounds. Unfortunately it was too grey to get any of the mountains in the distance, but I did get a few of the city which I hope will come out well. Friday night, it was back to normal service as first we went out to a restaurant where I had my best steak so far and watched on as a tango show was given around us. All that for 4 pounds! After the show we headed to Zeppelin, which didn´t actually play any Led Zeppelin, but was still good. Another night of beer fuelled craziness on the tiles of Salta ensued.

Saturday was a day of rest. I woke up after 4 hours sleep and just couldn´t get back to sleep. I felt ill, and none of the usual tricks would work. I did manage to go to a market in the slums with a few others though. I´ve never seen so many clothes in my life! It was an experience, but rest assured we didn´t go wandering any streets down there. Another BBQ took place in the evening and Jorge did the trick once again. The wine didn´t flow for me though and I was the only one drinking water but it was worth it to feel good today :-)

Listen

Without doubt the most memorable sound in the last week has been the sound of AC/DC thundering through the hostel sound system at 11:30 to wake us up to let them clean! Other morning´s it´s been the Beatles, panpipes and other less awakening music, but a blast of Highway to Hell had all our room awake without fail. Other sounds include: someone in the dorm having a dream and shouting all sorts of spanish(!), the crackle of the huge BBQ burning away, more traffic (damn stuff gets everywhere), the chink of wine glasses sat at the long tables at the BBQ, the crazy horn noise made by some buses, the blur of languages heard in the latest hostel: spanish, german, hebrew, french to name the few I could recognise.

Travel

Being in one city for a week, means really I haven´t done all that much travel whilst based here. I´ve walked up and down Calle Buenos Aires numerous times, the central square and the surrounding streets, and up the hill at the edge of town. I also made the journey by cab to the slums, which by Montevideo and Buenos Aires standards are not too bad. Still some very poor people living there :-( .

The next real travel begins at 9:12 tomorrow morning when I board the bus for Cordoba. Catch you there!

Back in... La Republica Argentina

¡Hola! You read correctly, I am back in Argentina - Salta to be precise. Apologies for the delay of this post. I did write one and my e-mail server lost it and I haven´t had chance to do another til now!

 

To find out where I´ve been all this time and the adventures entailed look at travel below.

 

Good news.. pictures will be on their way soon too (meaning days not weeks)!

 

Live

 

Today I'm feeling well. After 27 hours on a bus sat down and plus a night´s sleep, I´m raring to go. I got here very early this morning and some guy from the official HI hostel offered a lift as he was picking someone else up. I took it as I was in no mood for hostel hunting at 1AM! The hostel wasn't that great though, so I found a better one when I got up this morning. It's much better with bar, common room and should be easy to meet people. Fairly central too.

 

Not quite the one we stayed in in Iguazu - which was more like a hotel with a swimming pool (bit cold to use it mind!) and large grounds, a bargain at 3 pounds a night. It was actually out of the town on a highway which meant flagging down buses - no bus stops! - but it was a nice change and the falls were not far away.... 

 

 

Listen

 

This may take a bit of thinking.. I've had a fair bit of contrast in 2 weeks! The things that stick out as chronological order as possible: Montevideo: traffic in Montevideo (nothing by the deafening roar Buenos Aires standards!), the voice of a Uruguayan man whom I ended up talking to about politics for a few hours, voices of people I made friends with in Montevideo at the hostel. Colonia: a marching band in Colonia, a storm battering the windows of the hostel in Colonia. Montevideo (again): the calmness of a Montevideo suburb where I stayed with some newly made friends, the yap of a puppy at a family party I ended up at. Salto: the constant hum of the night bus to Salto, the crazy thunderstorm in Salto only in one corner of the city at 5 AM, the wind howling round the courtyard at the eerie hotel, the stamp of the passport official at the port, the sound of the boat hitting the side of the wooden pier, the boat jutting across the river to Concordia. Concordia: More traffic, the quietness of the squares, more night bus noises and the terrible film showing on it! Iguazu: The stern voice of the lady at the hostel reception, the jangle of keys in the dorm door, the ABSOLUTE POWER of the waterfalls, the screams of a woman as we went on a boat under the falls as we got drenched, the stamp of the official on leaving to Paraguay, being told there was no buses back from Paraguay and that I would have to get a taxi, the clunk of the bus door which had me aboard for 23 hours, the hysterically funny voice of the bus attendant. Tucuman: "Si", when I asked if this was the bus to Salta. Salta: "Do you need a hostel for the night?", Bruce Springsteen's Atlantic City playing on the stereo of this internet cafe.... Told you there was a fair bit!

 

Travel

 

There's been a fair bit of this done since Montevideo! First an itinerary (without dates, as I'm not exactly sure myself):

 

1. Montevideo to Colonia (2 hours)

2. Colonia to Montevideo (2 hours)

3. Montevideo to a suburb (45 mins)

4. Suburb to the bus station (1 hour)

5. Montevideo to Salto (6 hours)

6. Salto (Uruguay) to Concordia (Argentina) (40 minutes)

7. Concordia to Puerto Iguazu - Iguazu Falls (12 hours)

8. Puerto Igauzu to Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) (1 hour)

9. Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) (30 mins)

10. Puerto Iguazu to Salta (27 hours - ouch!).

 

So, it'd be crazy to document all these like I did on the last post, so I'll do the most memorable ones. Number 1.. I was expecting so much when I got to Colonia, but I was disappointed. Lonely Planet said it was the second best thing in Uruguay.. not for me! Sure it has a nice little old town, but it takes 30 mins to walk around completely and there really is nothing new after seeing something like Bergen, Norway, last year. Luckily I met a cool dutch guy called Marcel at the hostel, so we ate drank and were merry as he too agreed it was a bit of a waste of time.

 

Number 3 was interesting. I'd made a new friend at the hostel called Amanda, and she had switched from the hostel to stay with a new friend in a nice suburb. We met to sort out our tickets to Iguazu as she was going the same way and we figured it made sense to travel together as it's a long way. Afterwards she met her friend and she invited me back to her house to drink Mate - it's like extra strong tea, which was good for me!

 

Number 5 was significant since it was the first night bus I'd taken so far. It wasn't too great though, as I hardly ot any sleep at all. When we got to Salto, it was very strange... to start of with there was a thunderstorm in one corner of the city only. Then when we got a taxi to the "hostel" it turned out not to be one at all like Lonely Planet had described. So we got the driver to take us to the first hotel in the book. Luckily this was actually a hotel.. but an odd one. There was a cardboard cut out of some guy called Carlos Gardel in the door way, but that was all we could see! We rang the doorbell and out popped a guy who sorted a room for us, randomly with 3 beds. He lead us through a courtyard and seriously, this hotel could have made a Hitchcock film.. it was that creepy. In the room, the wind swirled outside as the rain battered the windows. Very odd. We explored a little the next day, again it was weird. The streets were empty but apparently 55000 people lived there. We stayed one more night, and left, glad that the cardboard cut out hadn't animated.

 

Number 6.. we went down to the dock around lunchtime to catch the ferry, which actually turned out to be a tiny long boat type thing with a motor. The passport official on the Uruguayan side just looked like another passenger! Duly he stamped our passports and we boarded. At the other side it was much different, there was a proper office where we got through no problem.

 

Number 7.. another night bus.. luckily this time I slept.. well 2 hours anyway. We got off and fortunately Amanda had been tipped off about a good hostel, so we headed for that with some sketchy directions from a taxi driver. After a while, we gave up and got a taxi. Lucky we did as it would have been a fair old walk! It was worth the journey though, as I said above it was a good hostel. After dumping our stuff we headed straight to the falls. When we got there, people were hustling us straight away to buy extra trips etc. we declined apart from one boat trip.. which was well worth it! 

 

We entered the rainforest containing the falls with bated breath, waiting for our first glimpse. As you will see when I get the photos uploaded, we were not disappointed! It was incredible and these were only the small falls. a row of numerous falls, all collating together into the "Rio" below. We continued the route round amazed by these supposedly small falls trying to avoid the huge tourist groups on guided tours. We suceeded in the most part and then got a train up to the Garganuta del Diablo - Devil's Throat. On the catwalk down, we looked and could see the top and were a little disappointed. Then we saw how far the catwalk went down, got to the bottom and were completely stunned by the sheer amount of water and the power generated. Somehow there were birds flying through the spray. God only knows how! We crossed to the island on a boat and wandered round and found another catwalk to get a closer look at the smaller falls. So much spray was generated and with the sun shining, rainbows were forming in the grass leading up to the edge. It was an amazing sight. We got to the bottom and the spray drenched us. Incredible. I've never seen anything more amazing in my life. After crossing back to the mainland, we got strapped into life jackets, and onto another boat which we'd paid for. It took us around the island and actually underneath one of larger of the 275 falls. We got sooo drenched, but it added to the amazing experience of seeing them from above. If I ever get to see anything as amazing as that on my travels, I will be a happy man! We left the park still a little damp after drying in the sun, but amazed at what we'd seen.

 

Number 8 was the day I went solo again. Amanda was heading off to travel Paraguay and I back to Argentina. As my bus wasn't til the evening, I helped her across the border as she had a lot of baggage and also to have a glimpse of Paraguay. It looked as Amanda put it: "Very South American" - minor roads simply red dirt, lots of dodgy looking men on street corners and sadly some very poor people. We got a bus to get to the centre and ended up in the countryside! Well it was one way to see beyond the city! After that I tried to get a bus back to Argentina, but they'd stopped an hour previously so ended up taking a slightly extortionate taxi (by S.America prices) (Number 9, by the way). Maybe I'll go there if I have time on the way back round, but I don't know, I'll have to see.

 

Number 10 wasn't all that remarkable, just in its length. It was actually two buses but back to back - 23 hours and 4 hours with a 5 minute break in between! I saw some Argentine countryside and villages from the window, a contrast to anything I'd seen so far, and 6 movies on the DVD player they had on board. Luckily I was fed well and the energetic conductor had me entertained with is random outbursts of singing and "Gracia, Gracia, Gracia" when ever he gave us anything. He even had us playing bingo.. I'd love to see that on an English bus! 

 

So, that's up to date I think. Hope you are all well, and I'll try to keep it regular :) Watch for photos!