First of all let me tell you we almost had a major situation just now. The USB that we are saving all of our photos onto got a worm on it and for a moment we thought we'd lost all of our photos etc...but we haven't...so we're all good. So I hope you enjoy the photos because you almost didn't get to see them!
Punto Del Diablo to Rosario
Our day started at 4:45am when we got up to get a 5:45am bus to Montevideo.
The bus got into Montevideo at 10am and we were planning to get another bus at midday to Rosario (Argentina). Unfortunately that bus wasn't running on the day and so we had to wait until 6pm (8 hours at the bus terminal) to get a bus to Rosario which arrived there at 3:30am. Luckily we had accommodation booked so we just trudged our way over there. The guy who was working there decided that 4am was a great time to show us a map of the city and explain where things were. We really didn't care.
Rosario
Rosario was much like Buenos Aires but smaller. We spent most of our time by the river (brown of course) eating (included in this was consumption of a steak sandwich by yours truly for all those interested in my meat consumption) and drinking and generally feeling like we were living the high life.
Rosario is the home town of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara. We went past the apartment he grew up in (we think- it was somewhere near the intersection we stood at) and saw a monument that has been erected in his honour (we only saw this from a distance as there were a group of what seemed like 'hoodlums- or perhaps young revolutionaries- around the statue and we didn't want to get too close). The photos we have are show a zoomed in shot so we could actually see the statue and the other photo shows just how far away we were when taking the photo.
Aside from that we didn't do much in Rosario, but it was very beautiful....oh and there was a day when we both got shat on by a bird on seperate occasions. The one that got me went in my hair and it was so large that Marcello thought it best to take a photo of it before attempting to clean it out of my hair. Isn't he lovely!
Rosario to IguazuI think this bus ride was 21 hours. We're getting used to them now. We just compare each provider and they all have their good points and their bad points. Some have decent dinners others don't (on one bus it took Marcello 10 minutes to realise he was eating Ravioli). Some have clean toilets throughout, others lack toilet paper and water to wash your hands with (i've learnt to take extra toilet paper when it's available for later use- also came in handy at our hostel in Puerto Iguazu).
This bus showed a total of 3 movies, all completely inappropriate for a bus on which there are often small children. The first movie covered the concepts of teenage pregnancy, adoption and then connection between a mother and her child. It had quite explicit sex scenes in it and was also rather depressing. Marcello and I both cried throughout the entire movie (luckily it was dark and so no one could see us). The second movie was 88 minutes which is a bout a serial killer (this movie stopped at the climax due to it being a bad copy) and the third movie (can't remember what it was) also stopped at the climax as a result of it being a bad copy. On one of our more recent buses they showed Captain America which is out at the movie now. This version had been recorded at the movies and featured the sounds of the audience coughing and laughing.
Puerto Iguazu and Iguazu Falls
I can't really explain too much of this experience with words except to say that it was amazing. You know something is great when you can look past the sea of tourists and just enjoy what is there. Marcello filled up 3/4 of a 1GB memory card with photos and video footage. There were so many different waterfalls there and standing near them you would get covered in a gentle spray of water which was very refreshing. We saw both ends of rainbows which formed in variou waterfalls (no pot of gold could be sighted at either end). We also went through a mass of butterflies when we were on the train going up to Garganta Del Diablo (the main waterfall)
In addition to seeing the almighty falls we also did a bit of a walk through an area which had signs warning us that we may encounter dangerous animals (a few years ago someone's child was apparently attacked and killed by a jaguar). We spent the whole time looking over our shoulder thinking we would see one of the mightly felines but there were none. We spent the entire walk whispering to each other so we wouldn't disturb any animals. We must have looked quite amusing creeping along the path with anxious looks on our faces. We did come across monkeys and some other animals thought which was cool. One of the signs we came acorss warned that monkeys can get dangerous if you try to feed them so we kept our food close.
Iguazu to Salta
Another almightly trip which totaled just under 24 hours. At the bus station in Puerto Iguazu we met another Australian who had pointy ears (Marcello claims he only had one pointy ear) like a pixie/elf. Turns out he's from Tasmania and enjoys working in a mine and plans to move to Noosa upon his return home. Needless to say we got away from him as soon as possible.
And now we're in Salta. Nice enough place but now much to do here. Yesterday we took the 'Telefonica' (much like the thing you can get at Taronga Zoo from one end to the other, but much longer and a much higher end point) to the top of a hill which looks out over Salta. After doing that I think we realised we'd pretty much seen everything Salta has to offer.
The next step (I've started reading the guide and planning a bit more)
Tomorrow we get a bus to San Pedro De Atacama in the North of Chile. This will be the start of places that are at a higher altitude and thus colder.
From there we will do 3 day 4 x 4 tour which will take us across the border into Bolivia and to see the Uyuni salt flats.
From Uyuni we will make our way up to La Paz (only a brief stop- can't say that we're too interested in Bolivia's big cities) and then onto Copacabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca.
From there we will cross Lake Titicaca to Punto on the Peruvian side and then make our way to Cusco for the Inca Trail trek to Macchu Pichu which we're doing on the 28th of October.
We're now at the end of our 7th week or travelling, we're quite used to things not working and the silly way that things that do work are done.
We're both enjoying ourselves immensley and suprisingly we've had very few disagreements.
We've hardly left each others side (I did go to the shops by myself in Iguazu the other night only to have Marcello run after me to make sure I was ok. He was calling out to me from across the street but I couldn't see who it was and couldn't hear him properly and so I thought I was being hassled and follwed by a local. He told me never to do go out without him again and I felt somewhat like a child being told off by a parent but at the same time was very relieved he came after me).
We're getting better at budgeting and as we travel into the poorer countries of Bolivia and Peru I'm sure we'll be spending even less money which will hopefully offset our splurges in Auckland and Chile.
I am coming to terms with eating meat- it provides a welcome relief from cheese.
Marcello has learnt the art of Facebook stalking and has been using my account to ´keep up to date´ as he calls it.
So that's us for the moment. Not sure when I'll be able to write again as it will depend on access to computers but we will have access to wifi (which is EVERYWHERE) and so will be able to check emails and facebook etc and write short things via Marcello's iphone (neve thought i'd appreciate an iphone so much!)
Love to you all
