Right...so Argentina was absolutely awesome. It really is one of the best places I´ve been (which I´ll probably say about everywhere). I´ll summarise but don´t be alarmed if this goes on forever!
When we intitially got to Buenos Aires the thoughts were kinda ..so what´s everyone talking about? Seemed like another big city. But as time went on we started to see it´s charm....and eat it´s steaks ...and drink it´s wine and lordy it was good. The steaks are unbelievable. We met some cool people and had a few great nights out. Also fit in a tango show. Included play, singing and dancing in the cellar of this old cafe... gorgeous. The people were patient with our lack of Spanish which was most highlighted when we went to post clothes home. Guide books tell you its a nightmare but it all went smoothly.. though i won´t be surprised if i see someone strolling around with a Dublin jersey one of these days. Anyway, great intro to Argentina (oh aside from nearly being robbed at the bus station. Luckily I´d heard enough horror stories to realise what these 2 lads were trying when they saw me on my own. No harm done. I clung to valuables & they lost interest..scary though).
Puerto Madryn was our next stop. We got our first taste of the fantastic overnight buses. I swear, I don´t think I´ve ever slept as well. They kept feeding us too...comfier than any airline I´ve been on. We did a day trip around Peninsula Valdes where we saw hundreds of penguins looking after their chicks, giant elephant seals on the shore, armadillo (needless to say, a highlight of the trip) but the best of the best was snorkelling with a very curious (and very big) male seal lion. It was just amazing. Aside from the wildlife the scenery also made the trip so good. It went from desert to the deepest blue sea you could imagine. The following day we went for a 30km gravel road cycle along the coast. A guanaco (kinda like a small lama) came over for a few photos and then seemed to think we were his family coz we couldn´t bleedin shake him. He started looking a bit frisky jumping behind me bambi style. I can´t recall ever having cycled so fast in my life.
Bariloche was our next stop, another bus...brilliant! 22hrs in total. This ended up to be about 30 hours as farmers decided a strike was on the cards so they blocked all the roads near the bus station where were gonna be getting our connection. Was slightly stressful walking after a group of people with the bags on our back not having a clue what was going on. Made it though. The scenery here was just outstanding. Very close second to New Zealand. Our hostel was the highest one in town so we had a panoramic view of the lakes & mountains. We took it upon ourselves to climb Cerro Otto. A 5hr return walk up a fairly steep mountain. It destroyed me for the first km or so but then started to level out & was really enjoyable and looked great from the top. Malte was keen to fit in some Fly Fishing. It was the same price if one person or 2 people go so obviously I jumped on board not knowing what to expect. It was the most gorgeous and clear river I´ve ever been on. So much so we could see the trout 5 feet below smiling up at us. As you can imagine it didn´t go down too well when I caught 3 with a spinner within the space of a couple of hours. ´Course the macho guide comforted Malte by telling him spinner is way easier. Malte caught 2 with fly and after a whole lot of practise I managed to get one as well. It was quite tough to learn but so worth it to feel the tug and pull out a rainbow trout. Had lunch & wine on the riverside before heading back. A great day all in all. Would love to do it again.
While in Bariloche we decided after much turmoil to brave the 36 hr bus journey down south to El Calefate. I slept a whole lot on the way & was surprisingly refreshed when we got there (feet very swollen, bit like Homer´s feet). We missed our last connection because they ¨couldn´t find¨ our reservation. hmmmm. Not to worry, still got to the town the following day. Was very very touristy & expensive but we signed up for the tour we made the long trip for - Perito Moreno Glacier. It was well worth all the hassle. This massive thing reduces in size by 2 metres a day (but also increases 2 meters a day from another angle). So basically, with hundreds of other tourists we stood facing this mass of ice just waiting. Wasn´t long before huge lumps of ice began falling from it into the water. The thunderous noise would give anyone the shivers. It went on intermittantly for the 4 hours we stood staring & it never got boring. We even took a boat trip & experienced the big waves it created as each part fell into the lake. Altogether quite breath-taking. Not a whole lot more to do in this place so following day we went to a bird sancuary around a lagoon. Really wasn´t expecting much but once we spotted the birds of prey, we headed that way. They swooped around us about an arms reach away, fighting each other & looking for food. Pretty impressive!
We went to get our flight back up to Buenos Aires & were shoved onto a later flight (hmm, really should have learnt Spanish) which detoured to Ushuiah (the end of the earth). Nice of Argentinian Airlines to give us the additional sightseeing.
We finally got to BA & went from there onto another bus to Mendoza, the wine region here. Was much more wary of thievery in the bus station this time! Mendoza was one of my favourite stops. Not just because of the fantastic wine tasting (which we incidentally did on a tandem bike...every couple should try this before planning a future together - talk about trust exercise), but the town itself was just so comfortable. It was the only place I´ve been here that I thought I could stay long-term. It felt safe and big enough that we didn´t stand out too much. It helped also that we had a gorgeous hostel (spotted my first humming bird in the garden - brilliant) with really nice people. Was a good laugh. In fact just as we thought things were going too well in Mendoza the heavens opened. Just as we were due to grab a cab to the bus terminal, rivers of water covered the town. We couldn´t get a taxi so we had to cut our losses. We started out on a 30 minute walk to the bus knee deep in god knows what kinda water (it wasn´t clear, put it that way). There are drains about 3 feet deep on the edge of some roads that we couldn´t see. We had to feel our way around or we´d have ended up being washed down...with 15kgs on our backs. Anyway, we thought we saw our bus roll away & a nice Aussie girl who´d just been through the same comforted us by letting us know there was still 5 mins to go. Thank god we booked with a great bus company. I changed into my pyjamas, was given a blanket, food and entertainment in the form of Bus Bingo and films. Was so happy. We went through some pretty impressive scenery including being out in the desert with the sky black from rain clouds & fork lightening ahead of us. Was stunning.
Unfortunately the weather followed us to Salta so was a bit frustrating not being able to do much. When there was a break in the rain we headed up St Bernard hill which overlooks the town. Was so humid, we were sweating by the time we got there. Fab views though. We met up with Rebel the Aussie girl we´d met earlier & went out with her & other people from the hostels. Bars had a lot to offer including 50c tequillas which didn´t bode well for Grainne who hadn´t been properly on the p1ss in a few weeks. Next day we walked around the markets. Very relaxing, not pushy at all. All the locals up for a chat (or charades in our case). We then went to a recommended Empanadas (bit like small cornish pasties) place on the square. Grease & salt was very welcome. After siesta (which incidentally I´m fully embracing) we went to a traditional place for food. Was really good comfort food. Humita (melted cheese in corn mash wrapped in corn leaves) - yum followed by Locra (best soup I´ve had in a long time - like a thick stew with huge lumps of meat).
Next morning, me, Malte & Rebel got the bus to border town La Quica, where we met another lad, Phil from Cork. Was generally decided foursome is a perfect number for travelling in Bolivia. We were all a tad aprehensive about the border crossing and what was to come after that. Fortunately it all went very smoothly. I even got the opportunity to hop from foot to foot saying ¨I´m in Argentina, I´m in Bolivia, Argentina, Bolivia...etc¨. The first time I´ve crossed a border by foot, was kinda cool.
Villizon on the Bolivia side was already dramatically different to La Quica in Argentina. Was so bizzare that two towns seperated by an imaginary line could differ so much. All of a sudden I felt...Argentina travel is p1ss easy compared to what we were going to experience in Bolivia. The standard of living was so much lower. Having said that, carnival was fully under way, the people were in high spirits & we were happy to be there. Me & Malte looked for accommodation while the others minded the bags (so great to be travelling in a group). All happy out to settle into our (not too shabby) hotel room having been sprayed with water guns, balloons & foam by the kids. Watched local league football game in the lobby with the locals & headed to bed looking forward to the Bolivia experience.
Already I have so much news about Bolivia, but I´ll give yez a breather. We´re having a great time & are meeting people all over the place. Love it!
