We’ve had a couple of steaming hot n’ humid days recently but even with three fans going full blast in the apartment, it’s still been pretty hot. I had a feast of turkey cooked in my honour last night (xmas eve), as the custom here is to celebrate the night before Christmas Day. This includes opening the presents after the countdown to
Seasons Greetings, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to ALL!
There is an unusual custom here of paying bills in cash. e.g. You get a telephone, electricity or gas bill and you can go to a pharmacy to pay the bill in cash. You do have an option to call and pay by credit card or direct debit but there seems to be a big reluctance to do so.
Certain pharmacies and stores have a special section known as Pago Facil (Easy Pay) where you can go to the counter and pay your bill in cash. The strange thing is you often have to queue for considerable time to do this. It's as if the impatient porteno's distrust of financial establishments supercedes their reluctance to 'wait' and they just get on the long line and tolerate the wait. More bizarre is the fact that the Pago Facil is often short on change so unless you have close to exact change, you may have to go searching nearby shops willing to break a 100 peso bill.
The change problem is more widespread and has been around for a while (see BBC News link attached from 1 year ago - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6163238.stm). It's obvious there is a huge shortage of coins to go around so why not mint more? Generally the first thing you're asked when paying in a shop, supermarket etc is, do you have a smaller bill or more importantly do you have close to the exact small change. I was refused point blank at a shop recently for trying to buy a 50 cent item with a 5 pesos note.
Above: Avenida 9 de Julio (20 lanes)
Buenos Aires has a mix of extra wide avenues and narrow cobblestone streets and a confusing one way system in many places. I used to think it was a figment of my imagination, that taxis seemed to veer across the street to try and run me over (extra points for a gringo n' all that) but others have also confirmed this to be the case. These are typically busy taxis since the available taxis curb crawl annoyingly slow as they try and pick up a fare.
Zig zag driving is par for the course for most porteΓ±os as they try and get a fraction ahead of the car in front so they can cut them off and hence gain one spot advancement in the traffic. It's almost comical as you watch the constant criss cross in the flow of traffic as porteΓ±os have debunked the theory that the quickest/shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Oh contraire! - It's actually more like a snake pattern.
Avenida 9 de Julio in the micro center lays claim to being the widest avenue in the world with twenty lanes and as a pedestrian you need to cross two sets of traffic lights just to get to the other side. The most interesting driving concept however is in the suburbs, where intersections have no traffic lights ('right of way' and 'stop' signs don't exist here). Thus ensues a perilous game of 'chicken'. Cars will literally brake then accellerate as they approach a blind intersection, seemingly hoping (praying), that if there is an oncoming car, it will back down and brake. Amazingly, this seems to work and I've yet to see a serious accident (touch wood).
Car theft is a big problem and steering wheel locks do big business, although there are some more novel approaches to car security as shown below.
There are several large beaches and the further out of town you head, the less crowded they become. The ‘in’ thing to do seems to be to rent your own little canopy and set up base camp on the beach. These private enclosures have access to cafΓ©’s, clean toilets and showers and even sports activities (paddle ball = mini tennis, volley ball etc)
While we were in town they just happened to have the annual Reina del Mar (Queen of the Sea) beauty competition where we somehow managed to blag our way into the VIP section for a close up view of some of the local chica talent and mighty fine talent it was too! (purely from an artistic perspective of course!)
We visited the neighbourhood of San Telmo at the weekend. It's most famous for its 'touristy' market set in a plaza surrounded by cobblestone streets with restaurants, cafes and bars. As with most tourist destinations there plenty of old gypsy women and young kids trying to coerce you into giving them money. Some of them are very determined and a bit hard nosed and pester you even if you respond with a firm 'No'. One enterprising young lad claimed he needed just 20 pesos for his school and his target donation dropped in 5 peso decrements till just a 'moneda' (coin) was required as he reeled off his oft practiced speech. I'm not belittling the fact that some of these folks really need the money, but the approach is a little too much in your face and the philosophy is to drive you to the point of handing over somehthing just to get rid of them.
The market itself is interesting and has plenty to offer in the way of jewelry, trinkets and souveniers albeit overpriced. There were three cruise ships in town and there were people handing over dollars and pesos for trinkets like it was monopoly money, which considering the exchange rate it, I suppose pesos are like monopoly money.
A wee 24 hour delay due to the snow and I headed back to
There is something strange and unfamiliar about seeing Christmas trees, Santa’s and advertisements plugging the holiday but people wearing shorts / tee-shirts, literally on the back of seeing snow in New York. It is a novelty however, to plan a trip to the beach resort of
The big question right now is can we survive without air con in our apartment or will the experiences on the buses have acclimatised us to the extreme heat?
Five days after the five week trip around Argentina, I headed to New York for a work opportunity to help subsidize my newly found life of leisure…hmm … working for leisure, isn´t that a oxymoron or something?
The work which was actually in New Jersey, involved disconnecting and removing computer servers at one data centre and reinstalling at another location. I clocked up 70 hours in the 5 days including an 18 hour day on Friday, which will buy a lot of beer vouchers back in B.A. even after the flight and shopping. While I was there, they turned on the Christmas lights in NY, including the tree at Rockefeller Centre and to cap things off, the first snow of the season arrived. It was great to catch up with some old friends but unfortunately I didn’t have time to catch up with everybody. As I write, the forecast is for more heavy snow and flights are being cancelled all over the north east, so fingers crossed I can get out on time.
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We looked at the guide book for the highlights on route from IguazΓΊ back to Buenos Aires but compared to what we’d already seen, they were few and far between, so we decided to finish on the high note of the falls and head straight back to the capital.
We got on a ‘cama’ (bed) bus which is supposed to be the most comfortable with DVD’s, fully reclining seats and a steward to serve meals including wine. This was going to stand us in good stead, considering the 18 hour journey ahead. However, it wasn’t long until we noticed the air-con wasn’t working properly and everybody was shifting around in their seats in sweaty discomfort.
To make a long story short, despite numerous protests and a near riot onboard and despite being promised the air-con would be fixed or we’d get a change of bus, we had to endure the 18 hours with no air-con in hot, humid, stifling conditions, but, we made it. They say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger and after more than five weeks on the road and more than six thousand Kms on the clock as the crow flies and closer to nine thousand Kms on those winding roads, crossing five international borders (Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil), it was good to be back in B.A. and more importantly, off long distance buses (for a while).
In retrospect, much of the north of Argentina (where we spent most of the trip) is still very under developed for tourism which is both a blessing and curse. It’s much cheaper than visiting the south of Argentina (Bariloche, Patagonia etc) which is almost over developed and in my opinion over priced. The diversity of the scenery in the north is immense and spectacular. The people in the north seem somewhat reserved and in some cases detached. It’s almost as if they haven’t made the connection that their PorteΓ±o and southern cousins definitely have and that is happy tourists equals more tourists equals better economy. If you’re coming here with pounds, euros or dollars, then your money will go a long way and your only problem will be allocating enough time to see as much as possible. Anyway, although the road trip may be over, but the adventure continues, so stay tuned.
| Journey | Kms |
| Buenos Aires to Cordoba | 641 |
| Cordoba to San Juan | 413 |
| San Juan to Mendoza | 152 |
| Mendoza to Vilparaiso | 260 |
| Vilparaiso to Mendoza | 260 |
| Mendoza to San Juan | 152 |
| San Juan to Tucuman | 616 |
| Tucuman to Salta | 226 |
| Salta to Villazon | 573 |
| Villazon to Potosi | 379 |
| Potosi to Sucre | 78 |
| Sucre to Santa Cruz | 302 |
| Santa Cruz to Asuncion | 873 |
| Asuncion to Foz | 311 |
| Foz to Buenos Aires | 1075 |
| Total Distance as the crow flies | 6311 |
Four hours east of AscunciΓ³n, three countries meet (Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina) with 3 border towns, literally minutes apart from each other and all in close proximity to the widest waterfalls in the world, the IguazΓΊ Falls, which is a serious contender for one of the 'wonders of the world'.
Ciudad del EstΓ© in Paraguay is a smelly, congested market town where you can buy anything from an apple to an Apple MAC computer. Visitors (mostly day trippers) from Brazil and Argentina, arrive in droves to buy and sell. Beware, as lots of the merchandise is fake, especially the electronics, perfume and clothes. You can use any of the three currencies of these countries in shops, restaurants buses and taxis etc in addition to dollars and euros.
You only have to cross a bridge to go from Paraguay (Ciudad del EstΓ©) to Brazil (FΓ³z de IguazΓΊ a.k.a FΓ³z). FΓ³z is a well develeloped commercial centre and from here you can visit the panoramic Brazilian view of the Iguazu falls (cataratas) which many people say has the best photo opportunities. We did a boat trip to the base of a thundering waterfall which is highly recommended.
Twenty minutes from Foz you can cross over to Argentina (Puerto IguazΓΊ) which is smaller and less developed than its Brazilian neighbour. From Puerto Iguazu its about 30 minutes to the Argentine side of the falls, where you have by far, the better perspective / experience of the sheer gargantuan size of the IguazΓΊ falls. You can take two walking circuits (upper and lower) which will take you above and below some of the most impressive cascades in the world and also provide excellent photo ops with rainbows almost guaranteed.
You need to resign yourself to the fact you are going to get wet, whether its the boat trip or the walk out to the viewing point for the highlight which is 'The Garganta del Diablo' (Devils Throat) where several waterfalls collide into one huge gushing cascade, but it's absolutely worth it. No trip to Argentina or indeed South America is complete until you've seen IguazΓΊ.
Visiting Claudia's brother and family in AsunciΓ³n
In Photo above, left to right, Alex, Pablo, Giuli, Me, Claudia
Photo: Our nephew, Lucas.
The 24 hour bus journey departed on time and it was actually fairly comfortable. Dinner, breakfast, lunch (albeit a bit basic) and movies were included in the price (USD$45). Compared to the Bolivian bus ride, this was going to be a VIP ride (he said to himself, with hopeful optimism.)
We were travelling thru the
The a.c. on the bus was struggling to cope with the heat but at
At about
The flight arrived on time and the only hitch was that the temperature shifted from about 15 Celcius to 35 Celcius so we were baking hot. We got on a bus (or an oven with 4 wheels) to the centre and found a reasonable hotel with air conditioning. It was
Second time around didn’t start off too smoothly either. We asked the taxi driver to stop at the bus terminal on the way to the park so we could reserve our tickets for the next destination,
We had the rest of the day to spend in the park which was actually really good. It has the largest butterfly enclosure in the world. There are numerous activities like hiking, biking, kayaking and horse riding, but rather than risk burning precious calories, I voted for veggin’ by the pool drinking beer and when the votes were counted, thankfully I won. After five hours of hard core veggin’ we got the taxi back to bus terminal and boarded the bus to
We escaped the bus from hell and were the only two passengers to alight in PotosΓ at
We discovered we had just missed our connection to
I had read the so called highlight of PotosΓ is a visit to the nearby mines, but it gets a bad rap due to safety issues e.g. unprotected baths of sulphuric acid and toxic fumes, so we decided to give it a miss. We had no regrets either, after the taxi driver gave us the low down on the high level of crime and stories about tourists getting into taxis, only to be brought to some remote area, stripped naked and robbed blind. We waited in the taxi as the driver ensured his heavy set wife, sprinted two blocks thru the no go zone to reach their home in safety.
After an interesting dawn drive, we arrived at
We weren’t too keen to jump on a 12 hour bus ride so soon so we stayed two nights in
East of the Salinas Grandes is the small village of Pumamarca and the descent into the village from over 4,000 metres is absolutely spectacular. Trivia fact: Much of the landscape appears in Lord of the Rings. (so it wasn't all New Zealand)
Pumamarca itself is pretty small and the locals will try and flog their wares (llama skin, gaunaco skin, in hats, gloves, scarves etc). The local specialty is llama meat which tasted like tender beef and its really good.
When you are ascending and descending this type of altitude quickly, the locals recommend you chew cocoa leaves, so we decided to give it a try and it definitely seemed to work as we had very limited symptoms of altitude sickness. If you'd like to get a idea of cocoa leaves are like, then for the taste, try chewing some leaves from the garden and for the buzz, wash it down with an espresso (repeat as required).
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