Bowling into Bolivia

Our hostel last night was not the best, a little on the freezing side, especially after Anna used up all the hot water (not her fault, no one could have thought there would only be 10 minutes hot water!), but we all slept fine.

We were up early, managed to post some post cards, find some food (no breaky at our hostel) and got down to the bus station ready for our bus ride to the border. Of course the bus was running on Argentinian time and was about half an hour late. It was an uneventful trip through lots of nice countryside like we saw yesterday (although not as spectacular). We arrived at La Quiata (sp?) and walked down to the border. There were no signposts so we basically asked everyone we met along the way, including rather heavily armed police and military who were lovely. Once there, we found the window to get ourselves stamped out of Argentina, which was apparently very inconvienient timing for the oficial on duty who wanted to eat his lunch.

That done, we headed across a stone bridge to Bolivia. There isn´t a river or anything, just a space full of rubbish, a couple of stray dogs and a pig. There was a big line but a girl helpfully told us that we didnt need to wait in it, we could just head right in. A form was filled in, stamped and we were in Bolivia officially!

The street leading to the train and bus stations is full of little market stalls and places to change currency, so we changed our pesos to boliviarios and headed up the street. It was actually quite hot in the sun.

We got to the bus station and were immediately surrounded by people trying to sell the benefit of their bus service over the other. We established that the trains weren´t running and Anna picked a bus company that looked ok. By now we needed lunch, so headed over to the hopefully named Oriental Restaurant. We are so missing Asian food - the Italians have made it to South America but no asian resturant owners have apparently.

We were disappointed, no Asian but a decent meal of chicken, rice, noodles (maybe that was the Asian bit) and chips. We still had some time to kill so sat in the sun and ate pears.

The bus was, of course, half an hour late and certainly isn´t like the luxury Argentinian ones. The roads also aren´t the same, we are definitely in a developing country. We had 2 hours over 95km of bumpy, winding dirt roads. I tried to imagine I was in one of those vibrating massage chairs but it didn´t help much. They seem to be building a new dirt road, wider (i.e. more than one lane) and with actual things like bridges rather than fords, so the trip may get somewhat better.

The people here are exactly what you think of from the pictures. Tiny little people, the women with long black plaits, full skirts, those flat brimmed hats and aprons. The kids are incredibly cute. We went through a lot of small towns and the houses seem to be mostly mud brick with either thatch roof or tin held on with rocks. There is certainly a major economic difference crossing the border.

Totally covered in dust and vibrated to bits we arrived in Tupiza. Our hostel is really cute and we had a great dinner at a resturant filled with fellow backpackers who we swaped various hints and tips with. Sounds like we have picked a great place to stay in La Paz.

Tomorrow we are going to see the town and maybe even do a little horseriding, then it will be off to the salt flats. We have a great week coming up!

Peso for a Pisso

Despite full intentions of an early night, somehow it was midnight once again before we got to bed, which made getting up at 6am pretty hard. But we managed it and pretty soon were bidding farewell to Salta as we headed off on a tour of the region which was to end in Tilcara.

We were incredibly lucky to once again be the only people on the tour, just us and our driver/guide Tony. We headed north out of the city and first stop was at the railway of the clouds. This is the famous railway which runs over the Andes into Chile. Actually all we saw was the station and the train line but it was interesting to hear about nonetheless.

Just outside of the town is a fantastic viaduct which the train runs along. 200m long and 28m high, it is a great sight amidst the incredibly steep mountain sides.

Next stop was a tiny town called Santa Rosa. This was basically a toilet break, although we also got a hot drink as it was very cold. Nights out in that region can get well below zero but especially at the higher altitudes the days can be quite warm – if you are in the sun and the wind isn’t blowing that is. Santa Rosa was also our first experience with the locals selling handicrafts. It is a real tourist circuit we were on and not surprisingly, it is amazingly spectacular, however that also means in every town you are immediately surrounded by people wanting to sell you things, usually knitted things of llama wool.

Directly behind Santa Rosa is the remains of a pre-Inca city. It would have housed around 2,000 people and includes a cemetery and terraces which they used to grow things. We drove most of the way up to it but had to walk up a fairly steep path and at 3,300m it started to give us an idea of what we are going to experience when trekking at higher altitudes.

On leaving Santa Rosa we started to see the mountains that we had come for. The area is rich in minerals and as a result the hills are red, orange, yellow, pink, purple, blue and green. The photos do not do them justice, they are stunning, especially against the intense blue sky. In some areas there was snow on the top of the volcanoes (all dormant) which are the highest peaks, most up to around 6,000m. Ironically there isn’t much snow because it is winter and there is less precipitation.

Vegetation is very low as the area only receives about 80mm of rain in a year. There are lots of huge cactuses. They can reach up to 9m tall and some are over 500 years old so date back to the time of the Incas, but they only grow up to altitudes of 3,000m. The people generally graze sheep, goats and llamas. Llamas are particularly important as they provide transport, wool, meat and leather.

It was about then that our guide introduced us to coca leaves. We chewed them to help combat altitude sickness as we went over two passes of over 4,000m. Yes, they are the same coca leaves from which cocaine is made but given it takes 3kg of leaves to make 1gm of cocaine and we were chewing 10 leaves at a time I think we aren’t likely to become addicts! You basically chew it up until tiny and then swallow it. It tastes somewhat like chewing tea leaves, not bad but not brilliant.

We continued through stunning scenery, really it is hard to describe how beautiful the mountains are.

We stopped at another small town, San Antonio de Los Cobres (3,775m), for lunch. For 30 pesos we got a three course lunch and it was fab!!!! We started with a vege soup which thrilled us because we have been wanting soup ever since Amy first got sick. After the soup we had llama schnitzel with rice and salad. Llama was delicious, really close to veal and we loved it. Finally we had a choice for dessert, Amy and I had a custard and Anna had apple jelly. All in all it was a great meal.

Amy also succumbed to a very cute little girl and bought a llama wool llama doll before we left.

After lunch we had a long drive out to the salt flats. We all feel asleep at some point. The salt flats are small compared to what we are going see in Bolivia but it was really interesting to see anyway. They are blindingly white and from what we understand they harvest the salt by digging big pits, that fill with water from the water table below and allow the salt to go into solution and crystal in crystals that can be dug out with a spade.

This was also where the term peso for a pisso was coined as it cost Amy a peso to go to the port-a-loo. While she was doing that we discovered they were selling gorgeous plaques made of carved slate for about 10 pesos each. They are lovely and we each bought some.
Our final stop was a small town called Purmamarca. To get there we went over another pass of over 4,000m and then down a road which dropped 2,000m in a very short distance. At the bottom was the famous 7 colours mountain – that is right, there are 7 colours clearly featured in the mountain. It is a really stunning area and is a big tourist attraction with lots of flash hotels. We stopped for a hot drink and to look at the markets although resisted the urge to buy anything.

Finally, given we were the only people on the tour we convinced our lovely guide to drive us to Tilcara. It is 20 minutes the wrong direction for him as our tour was actually meant to go back to Salta, but he happily drove us to Tilcara and we tipped him well for it. We have found ourselves a hostel for the night and tomorrow morning will get on the bus to the Bolivian border – should be exciting!

Just a quick one tonight as it is late and we have an early start tomorrow.

We had a great day wandering Salta. Having a relaxed day was a good idea because at 2,000 ft we are getting the first signs of the altitude, basically in feeling a bit fatigued. We visited the cathedral a stunning building on the main square. It is incredibly ornate with painted vaulted ceilings, golden filigree, many statues of saints etc. There was a service happening as we visited so we didn't take any photos.

We then went to a museum with lots of pre-inca relics, along with some interesting stuff from the first Spanish in the Salta area. We then stopped off for a hot chocolate / coffee at Havanna. This is a coffee store we have seen everywhere. It is no Starbucks, everything was really delicious, particularly their buscuits. The cake in Argentina may have been a bit disappointing but we are in love with the bickies.

Finally we went to a muesum which has been set up as a result of an amazing archelogical find. In 1999 a team found 3 inca sacrifice victims at 6,000ft. As a result of the dry, very cold air they have been perfectly mummified and we got to see one of them, a 5 year old girl. It was just amazing how perfectly she is preserved. We also saw lots of the ornaments they were buried with which were also beautiful and fascinating.

After a siesta this evening we went to a local handicrafts market but it didn't thrill us, so we returned for dinner to the place on the corner - Toties - where we had lunch and dinner yesterday and lunch today. It may sound boring but the food there is really good and given that all the food places serve pretty much the same stuff, if you find a good place you go back. Of course they love ham there too - even our lasagne last night had ham in it - but we escaped today by ordering a vegetarian pizza!

We will now probably be off air for a few days as we make our way to the border and cross into Bolivia. We hope the internet access will be as good as it has been in Argentina but given we will be on tours etc, blogs won't be quite as frequent.

We have LOVED Argentina and still have a couple of days to go but incredibly soon it will be on to Bolivia!

18 hours on a bus

18 hours on a bus – surprisingly not as bad as you might think. We were on a different bus service this time, Andesmar, with cushier seats (which our bums enjoyed) and a nice temperature. The toilet was fairly awful though. The big difference was that the bus ride began with a game of bingo – yes that is right, bingo on a bus! It was good practice for our Spanish except that trying to understand as he repeated in different ways and through a muffled microphone – luckily the guy across the aisle repeated them for us in English, but we didn’t win anyway.

We watched a couple of movies, ate a bit of the very ordinary bus food, then knocked ourselves out with sleeping pills and got a really good night’s sleep – well not as good as in a stationary bed, but as good as you could hope for on a bus. The worst thing was being woken for breakfast by our grumpy bus attendant, he basically punched Amy in the arm.

Being an 18 hour bus ride meant we got to see quite a bit of country by daylight. The scenery is mountainous, we are really in the Andes now, although not at extreme heights yet. The land is covered is low scrubby vegetation and as we got closer to Salta we started to see large cactuses etc. We saw lots of birds, in particular peregrine falcons sitting on the power lines or fence posts, but also smaller hawks and a couple of birds that looks like ostriches. Also really interesting was the moss that was growing on the powerlines. In some cases it was like a little forest hanging from there, it was really interesting, I would like to know what it is. There are lots of horses grazing beside the roads and of course when you go through towns there are heaps of dogs, chickens etc.

The main crop seems to be sugarcane. There are also plenty of citrus looking trees, but being winter many of the fields are lying fallow.

We arrived in Salta at about 2.30pm and it is a lovely small city. The first view of the city as we came down a winding road was stunning, with it laid out below us. We made our way to our hostel which is just lovely. It is in an old (early 1900’s) renovated house. Our room has 10ft tall ceilings, you go through a small courtyard and up a winding set of dark wood stairs with a terracotta tile roof to get to it. Outside our window is a wrought iron grill with a red geranium in a planter box.

We were starving so just went to the nearest café. Luckily it is brilliant and seems to be a local haunt. In fact it was so good we went back there tonight and had dinner! While we were having lunch a sweet local girl who was having lunch with her parents engaged us in conversation. She was so sweet and enthusiastic, it was just a joy having a chat with her.

This afternoon we basically did some planning for the coming days including booking ourselves on a tour for Friday. To do this we managed to play various tour operators off each other. This does seem like more of a touristy town, there are heaps of tour companies but there are so many options, we really wish we could stay for a week in the area but time won’t permit.

The plan for tomorrow is to explore the city and it should be great.

Meandering around Mendoza

Our last day in Mendoza began with a great breakfast – cornflakes with milk and strawberries and vegemite toast. It might not sound like something particularly special but it was the most normal, un-sugarfilled breakfast we have had so far.

Amy wanted a quiet day to get over her cold, so Anna and I went out to finally (we hoped) post our parcel. We went back to the post office and the international section was finally open! After a wait we managed to get not only someone who worked in the section but someone who spoke English! He inspected the contents of the box, then gave us a small green slip and a number. We then had to wait to go into a little office, have the contents inspected again and the box sealed. We then had to go to another desk, fill in two more lots of paperwork, and finally the box is sent!!!! It took about an hour.

After that we went for a walk, a very long about 6km walk! But it was great, we went past lots of lovely houses and went down to the major park of the town. We found a small museum and went for a wander. It did seem really quiet, in fact we are pretty sure it was closed because when we tried to leave the doors were locked! Luckily we found someone who could buzz us out!

We wandered for a bit longer then got a cab back to the hostel. We have had a quiet afternoon and will head out for an early dinner ahead of catching an 18 hour bus ride tonight to Salta.

Mendoza has been lovely and relaxing, but now we are off to our last major stop in Argentina, Salta.

Argentinian Time - and the saga of the parcel

Our pace has slowed somewhat here in Mendoza. Amy wasn’t well again today but we are also starting to get the hang of Argentinean time. Basically, things are open from 8am till about midday. Then they close until about 4 or 5pm and remain open until 8 or 8.30pm. The streets only really come alive with people out and about after 6pm and most people wouldn’t head to dinner till 9ish. It is taking us some time to get used to but it is actually a really nice way to do things.

We had a very slow start to the day, taking our time to get up and ready, having another sugar filled breakfast (they do like their sweets here, we have yet to come across a breakfast food item without sugar in it) and then doing some planning for the coming weeks of the trip. All that done, we headed out for some lunch and to have another go at posting our box home.

Lunch was great, freshly made local hamburgers. They had plenty of salad on them, along with egg, good beef patties and of course ham and cheese. Everything in Argentina that isn’t sugar filled seems to have ham and cheese on it – actually we have even seen sweet glazed croissants filled with ham and cheese. It is really good ham and cheese, but there is only so much jamon y queso one can eat without getting mighty sick of it.

We then had another go at the post office, thinking third time lucky. From our previous trips we had worked out which type of post office we had to find, we had secured the appropriate box and had the right documentation. It was even a week day and in the usual business hours and having asked three separate people for directions and times we were feeling confident. Only problem, apparently you can only send international parcels between 8am and 12.30! Honestly, who could possibly have thought it would be this difficult to send a parcel!!!!

We headed back towards our hostel (carrying the f*ing box) deciding to stop for cake. While we had sampled a good selection of cakes at the market the other day, we had never managed to actually sit down in a café and try one of the fantastic selection they have on display. We chose three gorgeous looking pieces, but they didn’t really live up to the expectation. Unfortunately, they just like things here oversweet, it was all a bit much.

Heading back to the hostel we stopped in at a very small museum. It is basically dedicated to General San Martin who was instrumental in the battles between Argentina and Chile about the border. Much of the action took place from Mendoza. It was really interesting, particularly getting close up views of the ornate uniforms and the old weapons. Then Amy (who was ahead of me and Anna) said she wasn’t going into the next section without us because it was too creepy.

The next section was a series of life size dioramas, filled with appropriately costumed figures. However the figures were basically made of rag filled stockings with masks and wigs on. This meant they were life sized but somehow had an incredibly creepy atmosphere. The first one was a chapel scene complete with a bleeding Christ figure which made it even creepier. It was a little too like a horror movie, so we passed through reasonably quickly.

We dropped Amy back at the hostel and Anna and I headed off into town. We bought bus tickets for tomorrow then went in search of food. We had a bit of a wander and a detour and as a result, we ended up at the local central markets. They were fantastic, filled with stalls selling fresh veggies, fresh meat and fish, delicatessen items and a range of cooked things. We chose chicken quarters which were roasted over coals and served with chips or salad. There was some confusion as Anna and I tried to convey that we wanted to take the food away which lead to a bit of delay but we eventually got it back to the hostel and it really was an absolutely delicious meal, one of the best. I think we might be back there for lunch tomorrow!

Do I need another pair of earrings?

The cama busses certainly are more comfortable than your average Murrays coach, but none of us had what one would term a peaceful night’s sleep. Anna and Amy got cooked a few times by the heating under their seats while I occasionally froze from a draft from the window. But we arrived in Mendoza in early morning and found our way to the hostel.

Being so early (like 7.30am) we couldn’t check in so spent most of the morning catching up on email, watching DVD’s etc before we were able to check in properly. Being a Sunday we found out where the local handicrafts markets were and headed down there only to discover lots of empty stalls. It was 1pm so we thought we had missed them, but quickly realized that we were applying Australian/New Zealand market logic, not Argentinean time, they were only just setting up!

We headed off to find some lunch and found local place where we got salad (yay!) and lots of meat. There were sausages of two kinds, one beef, the other blood, which we tried and tasted quite good but the texture was awful, some other unidentified meat and really delicious ribs. We also tried some of the local wine to go with it.

Filled up with tasty meat and wine we headed back to the markets. Only half the stands were full but we found some lovely jewelry. At one of the stands we met two American girls who were deciding on earrings as well. They agreed that the jewelry here is fantastic.

We continued along the markets, then headed down to find somewhere for a drink. On the way we ran into the American girls, Rachel and Erin again and they joined us. We had a great chat, Rachel is working for the peace corp in Paraguy and Erin has just been working on a farm in Argentina before doing an internship in La Paz. We got on really well but wanted to go back to the market so agreed to meet up for dinner.

We headed back to find the market in full swing now and bought some seriously stunning stuff. It is mostly silver, all handmade filigree with local semi precious stones set in. We are doing pretty well with our purchases and we will have some lucky friends and family as well!

We headed back to meet Rachel and Erin who had also brought a guy from their hostel, David. We found a good pizza place, and over pizza (topped with various interesting things but of course this being Argentina there was plenty of cheese and ham) had a really nice dinner and good conversation including some good tips for Boliva.

On the way home Anna fed various stray dogs with hot dogs, becoming the sausage fairy as we like to call her.

It has been a really nice relaxed day, and even though we have eaten and drunk heaps we have walked miles so we are set for a really good night’s sleep.

Following the dinosaurs

After last night’s cocktails we all slept incredibly well and woke up feeling good. The breakfast was fairly ordinary so we decided to go out and find some of the beautiful cake we kept seeing in cafes. However as soon as we came to a cross road we spotted an enormous market. It was the local market held every Saturday where people buy their weekly supplies. There were masses of beautiful looking veggies, fresh chicken and eggs, cheese and other food supplies. There were also clothes, CDs and DVDs and items of all description.

But the thing that most captivated us was the number of yummy things to eat. We bought and ate:

• A slice of lemon meringue pie;
• A slice of jam pie (a little like lintzertorte);
• A slice of an orange cake, we think was made with something like polenta;
• Chicken empanadas – absolutely by far and away the best we have eaten;
• Hot chips – freshly made with local potatoes, quite different;
• Dulce de Leche filled donuts
• Bananas, apples and mandarins

This feast cost us a total 16 pesos, about $5 Australian!

It was really cold though, maybe 5 degrees with a significant wind chill factor so we gave our thermals their first real workout.

We wandered until 12.30 when it was time to meet Jorge and head off on the next leg of our dinosaur journey. Today we went out first to Project Dinosaur, the dig that Anna had first found out about. It is an ongoing dig, which was started in about 2000 when paleontologists from the local uni found a sauropod’s fossilized remains. Since then 3 very complete skeletons and many other sections of dinosaur remains have been found.

To get there we drove through beautiful countryside. It is desert like, covered with low scrub. Near town huge wind breaks of poplars have planted to protect the apple trees. Apples are a major industry here, but the real employer and job is oil. There are pumping stations and refineries everywhere and they are the major employers. It isn’t really surprising then given the oil deposits that it is a major site for finding dinosaur fossils.

Project Dinosaur is great. It is a working dig but the tour has been set up to explain the fossils, how they are created and the process for retrieving them. It is really interesting. One of the best things was a whole lot of fossilized tree. The minerals had made them go smooth and lovely to touch (yup, you can just touch the fossils here) and several had been fossilized with copper which had then oxidized The result was that they looked almost like they had been spray painted. We also got to hold a fossilized dinosaur egg which was really cool, like a pimply textured bowling ball.

From there we continued around the lake it is situated on. Another man made lake (this one to control flooding as well as for power), it looked stunning with its aquamarine blue water against the red-orange earth. Flocks of goats wander the landscape and occasionally you see horses freely grazing. Only issue was that Amy and I kept falling asleep missing the scenery!

We went to another museum (sorry, I can't remember the name) where they have a replica of the largest dinosaur found. It is truly huge, a single leg bone is longer than me, it is hard to believe that such a thing could have walked the earth, let alone that there could have been herds of them! They have a full scale model along with the various bones they have discovered.

From there, Jorge took us back into Neuquen. He had managed to fit our packs and other accumulated belongings into his golf so took us straight to the bus station. He was just lovely. The whole trip he was incredibly informative about the dinosaurs but also about the area, what things were (like the little shrines which line the roads in tribute to the dead) and even helping us with our Spanish pronunciation. We really liked him and appreciated the time he took with us.

We are now on the bus to Mendoza. It is an overnight bus ride but we have booked cama seats. This means that not only do they feed us, we have seats that recline back till they are nearly flat! Hopefully it will make for a comfortable trip (although of course the seats are a little short for me) and we will get plenty of sleep tonight.

Neuquen has been fantastic, now it is on to Mendoza.

Leaving the tourist track

Today we went off the tourist track - really off the tourist track! Anna had researched an area rich in dinosaur fossils. It is in the province of Neuquen which is at the top of Patagonia and the town we flew into is the capital, Neuquen. The main issue was that no one we spoke to in Buenos Aries seemed to know if the various dinosaur parks actually exisited, which means we were flying into a city we knew nothing about, to do something which might not exist. Also we had enormous trouble finding any information on places to stay so we had nothing pre-booked or even researched.

We got up really early to get to the airport in time and had a much less stressful time than our last flight.

We arrived at a tiny little airport, very obviously the only foreigners. We managed to find a taxi and get ourselves to the tourist office. At that stage we weren't very impressed, the cab was full of mud which ended up on our clothes and the town appeared to be just one giant industrial complex. But the tourist office was really helpful and directed us to a local tour agent who could organise tours of the parks - yes, they do exist.

Amy stayed with our packs and Anna and I headed off through the mud and traffic down to the tour operator. He was absolutely lovely. For a total of 530 pesos for all of us, he took us on a tour this afternoon and is taking us on another one tomorrow. He also gave us lots of tips on where to stay, so armed with this new knowledge we headed off to pick up Amy and find a place to stay.

We made it to the recommended place, Hosteria Belgrano and it is so cute. We booked in completely in Spanish, then managed to go and book bus tickets for tomorrow night to Mendoza - also completely in Spanish!!!

Totally chuffed with ourselves we got lunch - really good home made burgers before our guide - Jorge - arrived. He took us out to an area south of the city, Villa El Chocon, where they have a dinosour museum, Museo Palenontologico Ernesto Bachmann. On the way we got to see a huge lake they created in the late 60's by daming a river to create hydro power.

The museum was fab, some great fossils and several really excellent reproductions of the massive dinosours found in this area including the worlds largest carnivours dinasour - much bigger than t-rex. We had a really nice guide in the museum, she did her best to explain everything in english, although occassionally would lapse into Spanish when she ran out of words.

From there we went to see some dinosour footprints. They are in the rock by the lake and look exactly like the concrete versions we are all familiar with. They were amazing, to think that millions of years ago a dinosour stood there is mind blowing.

We came back into town and continued to wrestle with the Argentinian postal system. You have no idea how conveluted it is to try to send a package. We still haven't managed but we have managed to get stamps for our postcards.

We headed out again to get some dinner, finding a market and some gorgeous earrings on the way. Now we are waiting for a nice substaintial dinner, in a resturant with wi-fi (none in the hotel). Tomorrow we are touring the other two dinosour parks before catching an overnight bus to Mendoza.

We are very much the oddity here, they obviously don't get many tourists here but it is a fantastic experience. With a celebratory cocktail in hand, we are having a great time here.

Remembering the dead

Today was the day for doing some sightseeing in Buenos Aires. The girls were feeling up to a walk, so we walked from our hostel to Recoleta, which is the neighboring district from where we are staying. In order to get there, you must cross the Avenida 9 de Julio, one of the widest avenues in the world with something like 20 lanes of traffic which is separated by wide grass boarders and lined with beautiful trees. In the middle is the obelisk I’ve previously mentioned. It truly is massive.

The photo also shows one of the differences we have noticed in road rules. You will see what appear to be zebra crossings on the road. These certainly do mark where pedestrians are meant to walk, but you do not have right of way. It is tricky to remember that when we are so used to it being the other way around. The cars also drive very fast and close together, however if there is a slight gap between them, a motor bike or scooter will whiz through.

We were on our way to the Cemetery of Recoleta, which is filled with fantastic family mausoleums and where Eva Peron is interred. On the way however we took a slight detour caused by me missing that the street names are very similar but not the same. It proved to be a really nice detour however as the Recoleta area is just lovely. It is residential mostly, but wealthy residential. In the bottom of the gorgeous apartment blocks are little shops selling everything from fruit, pastries and meat, to clothes, antiques and books. On almost every block there is a little freestanding flower shop, everyone must have fresh flowers all the time and with things like freesias for 6 pesos ($A2) I would as well!

Everyone has dogs. Dachshunds seem particularly popular but we saw all sorts of obviously loved dogs being walked by owners or on mass by professional dog walkers.

We found our way to the cemetery and it was well worth the walk. The architecture is just stunning. The cemetery is made up of wide tree lined avenues with narrow lanes off it. Obviously your family wealth and prominence is denoted by how large your mausoleum is, the quality of the sculpture and the location in the cemetery. Most are very well kept, and in fact there was a team of workers repairing and cleaning them throughout the cemetery, however there are also some in disrepair.


Many have glass doors, which allow you to see in to the coffins. From what we could tell, generally (although it depends on the size) the recent dead’s coffins are in the top bit on show and the rest of the family are in the basement section which is at least a story below ground. You could look down and in some case count dozens. Some tombs are quite small and modest, others are massive with a whole little chapel in there. But it really is the sculpture throughout that makes it a must to visit. I would say if you are coming to Buenos Aires you must visit.


Eventually we made our way to Eva Peron (Evita) family crypt. It is quite modest to the standards of the cemetery in general but certainly attracts the crowds.

While outside the walls it is a dog’s world, inside is filled with cats. They are everywhere. Families, you will be pleased to know we all resisted the urge to pat!

We made our way back out into Recoleta and found a small café to eat in. It seemed to be a real local place and everything was beautiful. We ordered sandwiches, which were really delicious, definitely the best we have had over here, but before they arrived they gave us each a small slice of pate and some bread. It was really yummy – well I thought so, Anna and Amy weren’t too keen on pate so I got heaps! They also had some stunning looking cakes but we had to leave in order to get to the Plaza de Mayo by 3.30pm.

The reason we had to be there at that time, is that each Thursday, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo march around the central monument in remembrance of their children who disappeared during the ‘dirty war’ of the 1970s. Our taxi dropped us at the opposite end from where we needed to be due to the traffic but we made it in time to see it. It was unbelievably sad. They quietly walk around, wearing white headscarves which are their symbol (I don’t know if you can see it but they are also painted on the ground). The numbers are quite low, we saw a photo of what it was like in the early years when they started the march and there were hundreds, but 30 years on and no answers later there are just a handful left. It was an intensely moving thing to witness.

We are going to have a quiet evening before our very early flight tomorrow. I have really loved Buneos Aires, I would definitely like to come back and spend a week sometime, but tomorrow, it is off to Neuquen!

An unexepected evening of tango

This is the story of how Anna, Amy and I ended up at a gay tango bar …

As mentioned in my last blog, tonight we had booked a tour to learn some tango, have dinner and go to a milonga. I was a bit worried about not having appropriate clothing, having just jeans, casual clothes and flat shoes (I didn't want to risk blisters from the fab new heels). However as it was basically a course for backpackers I needn't have worried.

We booked through our hostel but the class was held at the sister hostel which is around the block. We headed around at 8pm and down to the bar in the hostel where we ordered a couple of caparingas (not as good as the ones in Rio) and the traditional Argentinean drink which is made with herbs and (I’m guessing not traditionally) mixed with coke. I would describe it as tasting somewhat like Yee Ting Medical Oil, a chinese medicine, although strangely it was actually ok to drink.

We sat for awhile then went into the dance area where a small group had gathered. Most were couples but there was a group of American guys so numbers looked reasonably even. Two people came out and demonstrated some tango very nicely then the woman invited us all to the floor. She asked if anyone had any tango experience and Anna and I indicated that we had, then she asked for a volunteer and I found myself propelled forward by Anna. Yes, even in a foreign country I end up the demo in a dance class. This was particularly hilarious as our teacher maybe came up to my shoulder height and of course she was taking the lead.

She did a very basic class, the basic footwork and how to turn was all really, cerrtianly stuff I knew but it was good to jog the brain cells. I had a pretty good time with the teacher as my partner, Anna and Amy ended up with two of the Americans who proved to have varying skills at the tango.

Class over, dinner was served steak and salad, a bit on the ordinary side, then quite a bit later, plates of fruit arrived and then we headed off to the milonga. This is what I had been waiting for, especially after the teacher said I was good at tango. I was really looking forward to dancing with an Argentinean.

We headed to the club, just near our hostel. It was up a set of stairs with a little desk at the top. I did notice a little rainbow flag on the counter as we walked in and the minute we did it was apparent why. There were about 20 couples on the floor and about 18 of them were male couples. I have to say, they were very nice dancers but somewhat disappointing for girls who were hoping to get a tango.

The odds were already stacked against us with girls not allowed to ask men to dance here, but when we realized the guys on our tour were the only ones likely to be hitting the dance floor, it began to get a bit silly. We watched for awhile, and really they were great dancers plus the tango version of Bohemian Rhapsody has to be heard to be believed but it was not the expected end to the evening.

So, tango in Buenos Aires – not quite the expected experience, but still a very funny evening – isn’t that what travel is all about?!

Beautiful Buenos Aires

Yesterday began with a bit of rushed drama. The day before we had sent a whole bunch of stuff off to be washed including all our soaked clothes from the jet boat adventure. It was meant to be returned that night but because the weather was so wet, it hadn’t dried in time. It was due to arrive early yesterday as we were heading to the airport at 9am. We waited, we enquired, we worried and at 8.45am, it arrived, much of it still damp.

We quickly packed up so we would be ready for our airport transfer due to arrive at 9am. We waited, we enquired, we worried and at 9.20am we called a cab.

The cab turned up about 10 minutes later which was starting to cut it fine to get to the airport by 9.55am for our flight at 10.55am. He assured us it would be fine, then ran low on petrol and had to pull into the petrol station which was full! He did manage to get some, and screamed off down the road, getting us to the airport at 9.56am. Anna dashed in while we got the bags, returning to tell us after all that, our flight was cancelled! It was rescheduled for 2pm.

We filled in the time by having lunch, but really by shopping for gem stones. Ok, much of it was wishing we could spend our entire holiday budget on one necklace, but Anna and I did get very nice and reasonably priced pendants.

Finally we boarded and got to Buenos Aires. It was an awful flight for poor Amy who is still feeling sick, but the sight of the city cheered us all immensely.

Buenos Aires is a gorgeous city. In many ways it reminds me of Paris, with the architectural style and wide tree lined boulevard down the centre of the city. But it is a city of contradictions, between the old buildings are absolutely modern ones and it is filled with billboards and neon signs. Next to the designer stores are tacky souvenir shops. In the middle of the pedestrian shopping mall near us (much like a much larger version of Pitt Street) people sell everything from paintings, to jewellery and handicrafts and things like packets of tissues or plastic toys.

Our hostel, Hostel Suites Obilesko, is located In the city centre just near the major obelisk that commemorates the city’s 200 year anniversary. It is very nice, it is in a renovated old house, we really like it although it is more impersonal than the last few.

Amy was feeling awful, so we left her in our hostel room and went in search of dinner. We found a supermarket and got pasta and sauce which we cooked up. Excitingly we also found Twinnings English Breakfast tea – South American tea is awful.

This morning, after a breakfast that did not match up to the last few, Amy decided to stay in while Anna and I explored. We wandered the streets, not really doing anything touristy or seeing any special sights, just savoring the flavor of the city. We each bought an original oil painting of tango dancers from a woman in the street. They are beautiful and at $30A each, a real bargain.

We collected Amy for lunch and headed off in search of something a bit healthy. On the way we got distracted by the many great shoe stores and I bought a gorgeous pair of ridiculously high heels, they are fantastic. We found a place where they made really healthy quiche type things and got two large pieces, one filled with chicken and pumpkin and the other with all sorts of veggies and rice accompanied by salad. Mmmm so good and our bodies thanked us for the veggies.

We found a camping store and got some more warm waterproof clothes for the coming weeks.

Amy also loved the paintings and got two smaller ones from the same lady. As we were about to turn back to the hostel, some tango music started up and some people started doing a tango in the middle of the street. They were promoting their DVD and CD and they danced beautifully. The older guy keep talking to the three of us, and although we are doing pretty excellently with our Spanish we had no idea what he was saying, well actually we got the gist pretty well. He came up, kissed our hands and then after the demonstration got us to pose with him (as per the photos).

We headed back to the hostel, stopping only for hot chocolate to rest up because tonight is more tango! We are having a lesson, followed by dinner then on to a Millonga, a tango dance party. It should be fantastic.

Geisha Steps

After our fab breakfast Amy decided that she was feeling awful so would stay in bed while Anna and I headed to the Argentinian side of the falls. We headed off under grey skies, successfully making our way out to the park. We are doing well with our Spanish but every trip where we manage to arrive at the right place still seems an achievement.

We hopped on a little train and headed to the top of the first set of falls. The Brazillian side gives you a grand panorama, but the Argentinean side gives you a close up view. The first set were pretty interesting but as we reached the far end of the track thunder sounded and the heavens opened. Within minutes we were about as wet as we had been after the jet boat ride yesterday. The paths you walk along are elevated metal walkways as they go over swap, river, rocks etc and in the rain they became slick, particularly the solid metal bits between the metal grill which makes up the majority. In order to stop slipping we had to take tiny little steps, but quickly to try to get out of the rain. The result was a bit of a geisha walk, just wetter and more daggy in our travelling clothes.

It was about then that we ran into queso boy. The Spanish guy from yesterday's jet boat ride had explained the word the spanish say when you are taking a photo is a type of bird and we had explained that we say cheese. which is queso in Spanish. He thought that this was hilarious and throughout the boat ride had exclaimed queso. We were walking back from the first falls when suddenly we could hear "queso, queso" and saw him madly waving but heading in the other direction. I think that is the last we will see of queso boy.

We hopped back on the train and went to the top stop. By then it had stopped raining so we walked out the 1.2km to the lookout at the top of the main falls. They are truly spectacular! The power and size of the falls when you are that close is amazing.

It started to rain again so we headed back to the main entrance, had some lunch and watched the small hird of agouti munching on the lawn. They are just like rabbits back home in how they wander about, it is just that they look like big guinea pigs. We then went to Guira Oga. It is a wildlife, mainly bird sancturay. They rehabilitate birds and wildlife that have been injured or donated to the park then when they are ready they release them into the wild. They get lots of injuries from hunters, mainly illegal and donations from people who buy stupid pets.

We decided it looked great so jumped in a taxi, collected Amy and headed for the tour. We saw lots of fantastic animals, hawks, eagles, birds of all descriptions including a tucan! Unfortunatly it was once again pouring with rain. We had a fantastic time but it was great to get back, shower and get warm.

Since then we have had dinner and investigated the local art store attached to the hostel. We are all very tired so are heading to bed accompanied by the sound of the continuing rain and the smell of drying clothes! Kenyon - your coat reeks.

Today has been a great day, unexpectadly wet though it was.

Tomorrow we head to Buenos Aires!

Best breakfast so far!

Timbo Posada just gets better, we have just had the best breakfast ever!

It started with cereal, a bit sweet but we haven't had it for a few days, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Then we had a selection of breads with various spreads, a cheese one, peach jam and our new favorite Dulce de Leche - kind of a caramel spread.

Then, they made us pancakes, crapes really, freshly on the spot! We ate them with sugar and lemon - the lemon looks like an orange but has a really sweet delicious flavour. Amy also added the fantastic Dulce de Leche.

All washed down with good tea and coffee.

Mmmmmm such a good breakfast, we are set for another great day at the falls.

How wet can you get?

So after our very soggy day in Rio, we woke to a sunny clear morning. Unfortunately all there was time for was to pack up and head to the airport ahead of our flight to Iguassu Falls. The falls are located on the boarder of Brazil and Argentina, just south of Paraguay. Being that close to all three countries, each take a proprietorial hold over them but there is basically a Brazillian side and an Argentinian side.

After the wait at the airport, the flight and making our way to the hostel (with a speed mad bus driver who tortured the three of us and our backpacks with speed, swerving and rapid braking) we arrived at El Shaddai, our hostel for the night. It was absolutely gorgeous. The people were so friendly and the whole place was extremely quaint. It was a quiet and safe area but everywhere here people live behind high fences, topped with barbed wire, usually video cameras and guard dogs. It is a little unnerving but a very friendly place otherwise.

It had been a long day and Amy has a cold (she is on the mend) so we just found a place for dinner and went to bed fairly early.

Today dawned beautiful and clear. It is considerably cooler here than in Rio, the top was maybe high teens, low twenties but very comfortable and the sun and clear skies were lovely. We took our time getting ready and farewelled the lovely people at El Shaddai before making our way (with a much calmer bus driver) out to the falls.

It costs $B21 to get in, and once in you board busses which drop you at various locations in the park. We chose to get off at a walk that takes you through the jungle to the falls, but to our surprise you could see them from the first corner you turn. They are as truly magnificent, in fact awesome was the word I used, as they are made out to be. Miles of stunning individual waterfalls, culminating (or rather starting really) in the massive devil's throat fall. The walk was 1.2km but flew by as more falls were revealled. We also spotted monkeys, racoons and numerous butterflies. Amy who loves racoons was particularly thrilled by them.

At the end of the walk is a catwalk out in front of the falls. We made our way out, but desipte the warnings we would get very wet there was only a light spray. It was brilliant being able to get out and so close to them - although little did we know about how close we would end up later in the day!

We headed up for some lunch, at which point we came across the racoons. They look very different to the north american versions as the photos will hopefully show. All through the park are instructions not to feed them as they can get very agressive and some have rabies, but people were of course feeding them! The woman holding her 2 year old out to pat them really annoyed me.

We had lunch overlooking the falls, a very nutricious cheeseburger and fries, but were pursued by bees after our coke.

Lunch over, we made our way to the next part of the adventure. Amy, being unwell, stayed sitting in the sun, while Anna and I headed to the river and a jet boat ride! It began with a trip through the jungle during which we saw an agouti (like a giant guinea pig, we couldn't get a photo) and lots of interesting plants which our guide told us about. Then we emerged from the jungle by the river. We knew we would get wet, so had brought our ponchos, left our shoes behind and rolled up our pants.

I was sitting in the very front of the boat with Anna behind, feeling quite secure in my poncho. Sitting next to me was a mad Spaniard who I believe rather fancied me, almost as much as he fancied himself! Between us was the crew member who videoed the ride. We didn't buy the video, hopefully my description will do it justice.


We began making our way up the river over a series of small rapids. This caused a fair bit of bouncing and a little spray - but our ponchos held tight. We paused in front of a whole set of the falls and had the opportuity to get photos from the base of the falls after seeing them from the top.

We then whizzed up the next set of larger rapids and paused again, this time in front of the much larger devil's throat for more photos. Then they collected all the cameras and locked them securely in a waterproof bag as we got right up close to the major falls. They are amazing so close up, but we turned around pretty quickly.

I was quite pleased by how well my waterproofing had worked - until the next phase of the trip, when they drove us right under a couple of the smaller falls!!! Being at the front Anna and I coped the brunt of it. At times the pressure and amount of water actually started panic attacks in both of us, it really felt like we were being forced under the water. But it was exhillirating.

Of course, no waterproofing could stand up to that, we were soaked right to the bone, we might as well not have been wearing the ponchos. But our wet appearance wasn't enough for the driver, he took us to a quieter part of the river and did donuts, creating wake that he drove to, dumping huge amounts of water on us each time! I ended up with litres of water sitting in my lap after each adventure. Overall, it was a fantastic journey, we loved every thrilling, scary, hilarious second.

Luckily we had our packs at the park so were able to get into dry clothes before the journey over the border. Only issue was that neither of us could easily reach our bras so entered Argentina bra-less. We caught a bus, then a cab (with a fantastic driver who helped us through the various customs processes) and found our new hostel, Timbo Posada. It is the cutest place we have stayed so far, lots of wood, lovely artistic touches (they also have a handicrafts store) a pool surrounded by lush tropical plants and breakfast is served in an open air kitchen, kind of like a cabana.

Tomorrow we will see the falls from the Argentine side which we are told is quite a different experience, but our real aim is to see a tucan.

Rio in the rain

Today was the anticipated tour of Rio. We had booked it through our hostel and we were picked up from there. The tour stopped at a couple of other hostels picking up some Mexicans, Germans, an Irish guy and a few others whose nationality we didn't manage to figure out.

First stop was the famous cable car ride up the sugar loaf. Almost vertical, this huge lump of rock takes two extremely steep rides to get up to the top, but the view from the top is spectacular. Rio is clustered around the base of incredibly steep mountains next to the ocean. The result is stunning as hopefully the photos show.

It rained a little while we were up there but as we came down and (after the Mexican's eventually joined us) headed to lunch. While we waited for them we chatted with the tour guide who professed a love of Australian rock and roll. It was a bonding moment.

Lunch was a fantastic buffet made up of hot and cold items. There were meats of many varieties, rices, various bean dishes and lots of salad. We tucked in but as we did the weather changed. It began to rain, and I don't mean drizzle, it bucketed down. The tour guide offered to hold the rest of the tour tomorrow, but as we are leaving tomorrow Anna, Amy and I elected to continue. Everyone else, however, decided not to so we had to drop them off and pick up a new tour guide before we could continue which was frustrating. It did give us a chance to stop by our hostel and get warmer and weather proof clothes though.

Next stop was the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. No doubt you will remember him in his arms out stretched pose from the famous travel posters or Baz Lurhman's Romeo and Juliet. The mountain he is on is over 700m tall and due to the weather was shrouded in cloud. We made our way up and our first view of the 38m soap stone statue was a vague outline in the cloud (as demonstrated by Amy).


Being so wet and miserable, we were the only visitors, so we had a good chat to Christ and like a good religious deity, he revelaed himself in his full glory! It was only momentary though, pretty quickly he once again disappeared into the swirling mist, however in that brief time many photos were quickly snapped.

We headed back down and indulged in some hot chocolate. It was hot, sweet and very chocolaty. Also cheap, what more could you want!

The tour continued back down the very misty mountain. It is beautiful jungle, but only fairly recently planted. Rio was basically completdly deforrestated by the Portugeaues when they first arrived. Amazingly the main reason was to get a dye from the wood to dye the red clothes of the clergy. The Catholic religion has a lot to answer for in this country. They also ruled that the native Indians and African slaves had no souls so it was no problem to kill, poison, starve and work them to death. Despite all of this, they intermarried and now as our guide described it, the people here are a cocktail of races. This does make for very attractive people.

The tour continued to the main stadium here which is huge but we weren't that interested, so headed to this amazing cathederal which is a huge cone shape. Anna and Amy told me it looks like the beehive in New Zealand. It also had a bell tower which resembled an oil rig. Apparently it is based on a Mexican building style and it can hold 22,000 people although I kind of doubt that number.

Finally we headed back to the hostel but given we were already wet just went straight out and bought yummy local cheese filled pastries for dinner. We brought them back to the hostel and ate them in the teeny, tiny kitchen.

Rio has been great, even if the weather wasn't the best, but tomorrow we are off to Iguazu Falls!

How to spot a tourist

Anna, Amy and I are tourists - and this is apparent to everyone. Maybe it is our general look, demenour, securley held bags or possibly there is a neon sign above our heads that we haven´t noticed but whatever it is, it is apparently very obvious. This has attracted a little unwanted beggar attention but mostly it just attracts helpful people telling us to be careful, or go to this great place etc. Even one of the beggars (who spoke good english, apparently he grew up in the USA) helpfully told us we looked like tourists and would get lots of attention!

Last night we picked up Amy from the airport. She had made friends with a Brazillian girl Sara on the plane. Sara had to catch a bus this morning and we had extra beds in our room so she stayed with us. She was great, telling us lots of interesting things, but the best thing to find out was that today was a public holiday - Corpus Christi. As a result lots of things were closed, however down at Copacabana beach, they had closed half of the major road to make a promenade. It was cloudy and hazy so visability wasn´t good but still warm 23 degrees or so. We wandered along the beach, watching the people.

In Brazil people have great body image. No matter how slim or big, taught or saggy, young or old, you still flaunt it all in the tightest, often shortest outfit you can find. Even the shop manikins are curvy to an extent we never see. It is rather lovely.

There are also no boardshorts here, the speedo still reigns supreme! Everyone was out in their skin tight best parading along the beach or playing beach volleyball. It is no wonder that Brazil wins the Olympics with the amount of people who play it here.

Amy found some great earings which were custom made for her so while we waited we stoped at one of the many tiny stands that line the beach and got a coconut to drink. Amy wanted to eat a bit and attacked it with her tiny pen knife causing great delight to the people watching until the stall holder took pity and brought out his huge knife to cut it up for us to scrape out. Yum - until Amy remarked on the comparison to things she sees on the gynecology ward - eww.

We picked up the earings and jumped in a cab to head to a feista that Sara had told us about for Corpus Christi. The cab ride was a wild one. This cab driver had a rather fluid notion of lanes of the road, speed limits and use of indicators. But it was kind of an amusment ride that droped us at an amazing structure we had seen on our way in from the airport in the morning. The stadium where Fevia de Sao Cristovao Fono was held looks a bit like a basket and the entire inside was filled with stalls. We were expecting lots of handicrafts, but it was more clothes and some food. The majority were traditional resturants, with hawkers out front calling for us to come and eat.

We wandered for awhile till we found a fantastic little cocktail stall. Alcohol is available at all hours of the day, everywhere. All along the street, beach etc are tiny bars and the market was filled with them. But this one had real personality. The owner made us caipirinha with great flair, the full overhead shaking, blowing a whistle as he added copious amounts of cachaca - a brazillian sugarcane alcohol. He danced, performed and sung along to his backing tape, keeping us entertained to the point that we had to have a second round.

Very merry, we headed off for food. We picked a resturant near to a stage where they had a live band and with a little hand pointing, gesturing and Anna´s tranlation skills managed to order the very traditional lunch or slices of steak cooked on a BBQ served with black beans, rice and

It was huge and fantastic, so nice but a lot so we decided to head back to Ipanema. But Amy and I conked out in the cab, so Anna stopped it at Copacabana and we went to walk back, but slightly disoriented, walked in the wrong direction! Many blocks later we turned around and had a really big walk back. We made it back over the gorgeous mosaic footpaths which are tretcheriously slippery after the rain (it did rain at points today) and collapsed into bed.

After a nap, we are refreshed but planning an early night. Tomorrow will be a tour of the city.

The day that lasts 36 hours

We made it!!!! Anna and I are successfully in Rio, waiting for Amy´s arrival in the next hour. After a 4am start to drive to Sydney, we had an uneventful 13 hour flight to Buneos Aires. Only issue was that neither of us slept much. Our first glimpse of the snow capped Andes mountains was extremely exciting, at some point we will post a photo - yes we took a photo out the plane window.

Buneos Aires airport is particularly unexciting and small, so we snoozed for a couple of hours to our connecting flight. We did have a great ham, cheese and tomato toasted bagette before the flight which was a good idea as the food on Aerolineus Argentinas is not up to Qantas standards. But finally we were over Rio!

We arrived, had a great (somewhat cute) taxi driver (it is fantastic how they bid for our custom - $55 Roias) and got to the hostel. It is pretty basic but fine. Having a shower was WONDERFUL! We have managed to use an ATM (although Anna forgot her pin number - all fixed) and buy water and bananas so won´t starve before breakfast.

We are about to head back to the airport to pick up Amy then to bed. Sleeping pills are on hand but after a day lasting 36 hours, we won´t take long to go to sleep.