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!