Downs - More specifically the waterfalls, still the Iguazcu Falls, but this time from the Argentinian side. I don´t care what everyone else has said - seeing the Igauzcu Falls from the Argentinian side is so much better than the Brazilian side. This opinion has nothing to do with the fact that the heavens really opened for all 3 hours we were at the falls in Brazil and it was gloriously sunny in Argentina. Its because in Argentina you have a series of trails to follow, which take you along the majority of the width of the falls, where you can take hundreds of different pictures (see attached), not just one spot.
Alongs - From Puerto Iguazcu we bused it up stream 12 hours to a town described in the Rough Guide books as one of the prettiest towns in the El Litoral (NE Argentina) region - Corrientes. It was not bad, but - I don´t think I would be encouraging too many other people to see the other towns if this was the prettiest. Corrientes is a port town some 24 hours up the Parana river from Buenos Aires, it must be some 300 meters wide at most points and has huge container ships sailing up and down it. The town itself is on a bend in said river, has a huge bridge crossing to the other side and has a few nice colonial buildings and very few tourists. We could only find a couple of hotels and no hostels in the town, so plumped for the first one we could find. Right in the main square and supposedly the best in town - not bad for GBP40 per night. As there was very little for us to do in the town bar, walking along the river, looking at the bridge and the old colonial buildings - thats exactly what we did. Nicola is currently downloading the pictures, but I would not be surprised if no pictures of Corrientes make it past her quality control.
Ups - After 2 days we had exhausted Corrientes. We looked at the map, trying generally to work our way south towards Buenos Aires (from now on to be refered to as BA) and spotted Argentina´s 3rd biggest city (Rosario) and helpfully it was another 1 day bus ride away. 10-12 hour bus journeys are the norm now - not so long, so that we might miss something interesting, still long enough to try and catch an over-nighter and save the cost of one nights accomodation. We arrived at 5 in the morning, dropped off our bags at the hostel and chilled in the local park (by the river) until our rooms were ready at about 11. We snoozed for the next couple of hours and then got up and investigated the town. Again on the banks of the Parana river, still 300 meters wide, still large container ships, but not on a bend this time. The city itself was split in to two, the main shopping/admin district and then some 10km of riverside. The city itself, had more old buildings, a good formal park, good shops - but the real draw is the riverside. We spent one day walking the length of it - we did about 8km in 2 hours - but in 35 degree heat, so it took a fair amount out of us. After that exhaustion we needed a swim - some people were in the river, but i could not over come my aversion to swimming in industrial rivers and we had spotted a public pool along the way, which seemed a better option. We jumped on the bus, failed to have the right change (cambio justo in Spanish), but the nice driver let us off anyway. We ran across the road and confidently said two for the pool please. In return we got a sentence back in Spanish that we did not really understand - something about a doctor and the next right! We stared back blankly and she repeated herself. Again the same message - but the context did not seem to demand a doctor - yes we were tired after the walk, yes we were a little damp due to the baking heat, but surely still fit enough for a dip in the pool! It turns out in Argentina it is quite normal to have to get a doctor's, well medic's certificate before going in to a public pool. We popped around the corner, first right, paid 3 pesos (c60 pence) and went in to a small cubicle, we had to take off our flip flops so our feet could be inspected, we had our throats checked for the early signs of an infection and Nicola (but not me) had a quick check for nits! We both got the all clear, and returned to the front gates of the swimming pool, with our certificates stamped and were soon splashing around in the pool with 300 other equally healthy individuals.
Now the riverside and the real reason for the 'Ups'. A various intervals along the riverside are recently renovated docks and railway buildings that have been turned in to good food restaurants and chilled out bars. Every night we ate/drank in these establishments and one night a table of girls, sorry, women over-heard us speaking English and we got chatting. Claudina, Danisa and Vani - all fluent English and experts in hospitality. We had a fair amount of questions about Argentina (the Spanish skills only take me as far as buses, directions, dinner, drinks and apologising for not speaking Spanish) and had not met any Argentinian English speakers so far and they had a fair few questions about England too. We had intended just to pop in for a pre dinner drink, but ended chatting until midnight and then sat down for dinner afterwards. It is normal in Argentina to sit down for dinner at this hour - so no annoyed waiters.
Whilst talking to the women (now I am not so sure, girls seems so much friendlier) they were kind enough to invite us for mate (pronounced mat-tay, the Argentinian national drink, herbs soaked in hot water, that you drink through a straw, which tastes a bit like tea, coffee and tobacco combined) the next day. Nicola made some shortbread which we ate with the Mate. From there we went back to Danisa's flat, then Claudina's for a pizza and a few beers and then on to a bar with some more of their work colleagues. We eventually fell in to bed around 3 am - shattered, but after having such a good day - very happy indeed. However - the hospitality did not end there - that night it was arranged for us to have our third lesson in Argentinian culture - the asado (pronounced asar-dough) or barbeque. Up the next morning, we tried to buy some Pimms (trying to contribute something), but fizzy wine and orange juice was as good as we could do and then met the guys by the river. Vani fired up the asado and cooked pork, beef and sausages - we chatted some more and we taught them the card game shit-head (sorry Nanny/Grandma, but thats the name of the game). Another great day.
It is all very well travelling around all these countries, but with out the ability to communicate with the locals it takes a huge chunk away from the experience. What the girls did for us was give us a real insight in to how they run their lives, how they entertain themselves at the weekends, how they eat/drink, how they interact with their close friends and their colleagues - it really brought Argentina to life and both Nicola and I feel like we have made some real new friends.
Roasario is a great place, a good balance of city and countryside, quiet and nightlife and I would not hesitate to recommend for other people to go there on their trips to Argentina.
Girls - it was great to meet you - now start saving for those flights to London and we can meet again. We won't be in London for a year or so, but that should be just enough time to get some cash together, so we can show you our city on the river. Pictures of the girls, the asado, the mate, the river and a couple of Nic and I - oh and Diego's (one of the girl's friends) really cool ford cortina GT 2.3 should be on the blog by now.
