Seeing Dave again was a bit surreal. I had been on my own for 3 months that I had gotten so used to having only myself to rely on. But it took all of 5 minutes for us to get back into the usual routine of making fun and teasing each other.
It was so good to have someone to share my trip with. Someone I will be able to recall memories with, because we all know one of my favorite things to do is play 'remember that time.'
We took in the usual sights, Evita's grave and museum, tango lessons and a tango dinner show, walks through the botanical gardens, bike trips through some parks, the antique markets in San Telmo and the 'Caminito' (a series of streets set up purely for tourists with people supposedly spontaneously Tango-ing in the streets) in La Boca.
Buenos Aires has got to be the most beautiful major city in all of Central and South America. It is a massive city with a bus system that requires a college degree to figure out.
Dave and I stayed in Palermo which is the young trendy area all the cool young people want to be seen in. There are about 20 billion restaurants in Palermo which is one of the many reasons I could have stayed in BA for much longer. While we ate out at least 2 times a day we didn't even scratch the surface of the massive restaurant industry. I must have had steak 5 nights in a row, but I'm not complaining because it was so delicious.
I spent my 24th birthday in Buenos Aires. I usually have a big dinner or night out with all my friends for my birthday, so I was a bit sad when my birthday rolled around and my close friends weren't there to share it with me. But I did have a few friends in BA at the time so we hit the town for some good old fashion celebrating with copious amounts of food followed by some binge drinking.
On one of our last days in Buenos Aires we hit up the world famous religious theme park called Tierra Santa. The whole idea of having a theme park recreating stories from the bible seems a bit sac religious, but if Argentines don't see it, as Dave would say, as 'taking the piss' then why not.
I literally had to hold myself back from hysterical laugher the entire time I was there. There aren't actually any rides at the park, just live reenactments of things such as Jesus' trail and shows that star mechanical life size dolls that recreate scenes such as the creation or the last supper.
The more I thought about, the bible does provide some good stories for actual theme park with rides. What about a water ride for the flood and Noah's Arc? I'm thinking about sending my ideas to Tierra Santa....
If you ever get the chance to check the place out I highly recommend it. You definitely won't find this anywhere else in the world.
8 days after arriving we set out for the coastal town of Mar Del Plata for some beach days and relaxing.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Argentina Norte
I have been neglecting my blog and now I am forced to cram so much madness into a couple of paragraphs. Argentina is an amazing country. Some place I could have easily stayed another month or so. The landscape is so diverse you literally get everything from desert to big city to massive glaciers.
After my short stint in Posadas I headed for Tucuman in the North of Argentina. There isn't too terribly much to do in Tucuman but it was a nice place to stop for a day and break up the endless hours on a bus you must spend to get south. From Tucuman it was off to Cordoba which is a wild university town with tons of young people and night life.
My first day in Cordoba was sunny and so warm and I took advantage of the warm weather and headed out to Alta Gracia the town where Che Guevara grew up. You are able to tour his home but more importantly for me I was able to learn a little bit more about a man I know very little about.
There are many great day trips out from Cordoba into the country granted you have good weather. I had decided to park in Cordoba for 6 days because I was a bit exhausted from traveling. Seeing as how there were more day trips that I had days there I thought I was set. Two things I didn't take into consideration, hangovers and bad weather.
It started to rain the second day I was there, but it was still about 70 degrees outside so it didn't really bother me. Its when the rain turned into a torrential down pour that I realized I would have to think of some indoor activities to occupy my time. Needless to say I scratched all my plans for day trips and hikes and enrolled in some spanish classes. The majority of the rest of my time in Cordoba was spent studying spanish, sleeping in late and taking in the night life.
Night life in Argentina is ridiculous. People don't eat dinner until 10 or 11 at night and then bars and clubs don't even open until 2am. By the time you have had a few drinks at a club, listened to some awful 80's hits that for some reasons argentines seems to be obsessed with, its 5am and the party is in full swing. A few of these days and waking up at 5pm the next day, still hung over, I realized that this isn't something I want to make a habit out of. After 6 days I had had way too much of Cordoba and packed my bags for Argentine wine country.
I arrived in Mendoza at 8am and after a scolding hot shower to wash off 14 hours of bus I was off on a Bikes and Wine tour. It sounds like such a great idea, rent a bike and ride around to different wineries. I hopped off the bus in the Maipu valley just outside of Mendoza and with my friend Rica bargained for a bike and hit the road.
No one tells you that you are actually going to be biking on the freeway, a two lane freeway at that, with the shoulders so muddy you are forced to bike on the pavement with the cars. I actually met a girl who was hit by a truck on the road! My first question is, who thought it would be a good idea to set up a bike tour here and second, out of the dozens of people I had met in the weeks prior who had been to Mendoza, why had no one warned me about the total tourist trap known as Bikes and Wine. I took it upon myself to tell everyone in my hostel how awful Bikes and Wine was and to definitely do a bus tour.
Even though I was forced to bike on the freeway and dodge cars that were doing about 100 mph while laying on their horns telling the bikers to get out of the way, I still had a decent time and met some pretty funny people.
The next day Rica and I decided to go horseback riding up in the hills of Mendoza. (There was already snow in the mountains so those were out of the question) The horseback riding was amazing with such beautiful country side as the backdrop. For lunch we rode back to our guide's ranch and he made us a traditions Argentine BBQ. It was so delicious and after another ride and a few rounds of mate it was nearly 8pm and time to depart from great company and a gorgeous day.
In a few days I would meet up with Dave in Buenos Aires.
After my short stint in Posadas I headed for Tucuman in the North of Argentina. There isn't too terribly much to do in Tucuman but it was a nice place to stop for a day and break up the endless hours on a bus you must spend to get south. From Tucuman it was off to Cordoba which is a wild university town with tons of young people and night life.
My first day in Cordoba was sunny and so warm and I took advantage of the warm weather and headed out to Alta Gracia the town where Che Guevara grew up. You are able to tour his home but more importantly for me I was able to learn a little bit more about a man I know very little about.
There are many great day trips out from Cordoba into the country granted you have good weather. I had decided to park in Cordoba for 6 days because I was a bit exhausted from traveling. Seeing as how there were more day trips that I had days there I thought I was set. Two things I didn't take into consideration, hangovers and bad weather.
It started to rain the second day I was there, but it was still about 70 degrees outside so it didn't really bother me. Its when the rain turned into a torrential down pour that I realized I would have to think of some indoor activities to occupy my time. Needless to say I scratched all my plans for day trips and hikes and enrolled in some spanish classes. The majority of the rest of my time in Cordoba was spent studying spanish, sleeping in late and taking in the night life.
Night life in Argentina is ridiculous. People don't eat dinner until 10 or 11 at night and then bars and clubs don't even open until 2am. By the time you have had a few drinks at a club, listened to some awful 80's hits that for some reasons argentines seems to be obsessed with, its 5am and the party is in full swing. A few of these days and waking up at 5pm the next day, still hung over, I realized that this isn't something I want to make a habit out of. After 6 days I had had way too much of Cordoba and packed my bags for Argentine wine country.
I arrived in Mendoza at 8am and after a scolding hot shower to wash off 14 hours of bus I was off on a Bikes and Wine tour. It sounds like such a great idea, rent a bike and ride around to different wineries. I hopped off the bus in the Maipu valley just outside of Mendoza and with my friend Rica bargained for a bike and hit the road.
No one tells you that you are actually going to be biking on the freeway, a two lane freeway at that, with the shoulders so muddy you are forced to bike on the pavement with the cars. I actually met a girl who was hit by a truck on the road! My first question is, who thought it would be a good idea to set up a bike tour here and second, out of the dozens of people I had met in the weeks prior who had been to Mendoza, why had no one warned me about the total tourist trap known as Bikes and Wine. I took it upon myself to tell everyone in my hostel how awful Bikes and Wine was and to definitely do a bus tour.
Even though I was forced to bike on the freeway and dodge cars that were doing about 100 mph while laying on their horns telling the bikers to get out of the way, I still had a decent time and met some pretty funny people.
The next day Rica and I decided to go horseback riding up in the hills of Mendoza. (There was already snow in the mountains so those were out of the question) The horseback riding was amazing with such beautiful country side as the backdrop. For lunch we rode back to our guide's ranch and he made us a traditions Argentine BBQ. It was so delicious and after another ride and a few rounds of mate it was nearly 8pm and time to depart from great company and a gorgeous day.
In a few days I would meet up with Dave in Buenos Aires.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Foz Do Iguaçu in 2 days
Its been awhile and I have been traveling so much that its hard to remember where I left off, or where to begin. I guess the most logical point is at Foz do Iguaçu with Megan.
Megan and I dashed around the Brazil side of the falls late friday afternoon and as we commented on the beautiful weather it started to rain, hard. It didn't last too long, well long enough for me to duck into the souvenir shop and buy a t-shirt. Brazil offers a more panoramic view of the falls, which is totally breathtaking but nothing compared to the Argentine side. Argentina owns 70% of the falls and therefore has much more infrastructure for tourists and well, just more waterfalls.
We started the morning out in Argentina with a jeep ride through the rainforest followed by a speedboat ride under the waterfalls. While it sounds really cool to whiz under and through waterfalls, when you're actually directly underneath the waterfall there is so much water everywhere that you have to keep your eyes closed and your head down because of the speed and pressure the water falls at. Still, you are driving under a giant waterfall which is pretty cool.
We parked on an island in between some falls for lunch and attempted to dry off. Luckily we had been warned and not only wore our bathing suits on the boatride but brought extra clothes for the duration of the day. The clouds were just beginning to burn off and for the rest of the day we were able to enjoy a completely sunny day.
We treked around catwalks and little hiking trails the rest of the day. In the 8 hours we spent at the argentine waterfalls I think I took a total of 100 pictures, all of waterfalls. It's amazing how they never get old.
At the end of the day we took a train out to garganta del diablo (devils throat). This is a massive u-shaped waterfall that is about 500 feet wide and 2300 feet tall, and is by far the most spectacular sight to see. Talk about feeling insignificant next to something of that size and power.
By the time we reached home we were both worn out, but of course not too worn out to join in some boozing next to the pool in the hostel.
All day I had had this uncontrollable desire for corn on the cob. So after a stop at the atm (because i didn't even have enough money to buy corn on the cob) then a trip to the store, then finding someone to light the stove (because I don't do gas stoves) the water was well on its way to boiling and the stove ran out of gas! After several drinks to ease the cravings, a few chicken fights in the pool (which I obviously dominated) I finally had my corn on the cob at around 12am. Shortly after, I had had enough Iguaçu so I took my corn filled belly to bed.
That was my last night in Brazil (our hostel was on the Brazil side of the waterfalls) and it was an excellent end to a 2.5 month stay in the country.
The next afternoon I offically crossed over into Argentina and hopped on a bus to the roaring town of Posadas. Posadas is by no means roaring and frankly I had a hard time finding a grocery store. But I was only there for one day and then it was on to Argentina Norte.
Megan and I dashed around the Brazil side of the falls late friday afternoon and as we commented on the beautiful weather it started to rain, hard. It didn't last too long, well long enough for me to duck into the souvenir shop and buy a t-shirt. Brazil offers a more panoramic view of the falls, which is totally breathtaking but nothing compared to the Argentine side. Argentina owns 70% of the falls and therefore has much more infrastructure for tourists and well, just more waterfalls.
We started the morning out in Argentina with a jeep ride through the rainforest followed by a speedboat ride under the waterfalls. While it sounds really cool to whiz under and through waterfalls, when you're actually directly underneath the waterfall there is so much water everywhere that you have to keep your eyes closed and your head down because of the speed and pressure the water falls at. Still, you are driving under a giant waterfall which is pretty cool.
We parked on an island in between some falls for lunch and attempted to dry off. Luckily we had been warned and not only wore our bathing suits on the boatride but brought extra clothes for the duration of the day. The clouds were just beginning to burn off and for the rest of the day we were able to enjoy a completely sunny day.
We treked around catwalks and little hiking trails the rest of the day. In the 8 hours we spent at the argentine waterfalls I think I took a total of 100 pictures, all of waterfalls. It's amazing how they never get old.
At the end of the day we took a train out to garganta del diablo (devils throat). This is a massive u-shaped waterfall that is about 500 feet wide and 2300 feet tall, and is by far the most spectacular sight to see. Talk about feeling insignificant next to something of that size and power.
By the time we reached home we were both worn out, but of course not too worn out to join in some boozing next to the pool in the hostel.
All day I had had this uncontrollable desire for corn on the cob. So after a stop at the atm (because i didn't even have enough money to buy corn on the cob) then a trip to the store, then finding someone to light the stove (because I don't do gas stoves) the water was well on its way to boiling and the stove ran out of gas! After several drinks to ease the cravings, a few chicken fights in the pool (which I obviously dominated) I finally had my corn on the cob at around 12am. Shortly after, I had had enough Iguaçu so I took my corn filled belly to bed.
That was my last night in Brazil (our hostel was on the Brazil side of the waterfalls) and it was an excellent end to a 2.5 month stay in the country.
The next afternoon I offically crossed over into Argentina and hopped on a bus to the roaring town of Posadas. Posadas is by no means roaring and frankly I had a hard time finding a grocery store. But I was only there for one day and then it was on to Argentina Norte.
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