Buenos Aires

Day 8

While we woke up on Brazilian soil, we wouldn't be there long as after a hotel pick up, our tour for the Argentinian side of the Iguacu Falls took us over the border. With great joy, Ellie and I attended the hotel buffet for breakfast as it was included in the accommodation at the Colonial hotel. This helped the budget as we didn't spend money on breakfast and lunch. Not because we ate so much, but because we made sandwiches and packed them for later in the day. The border crossing was straightforward, mostly thanks to our tour guide, who walked us through border control on the Brazilian side, meanwhile on the Argentinian side they just opened the van door to count us after the guide had been in to get the passports stamped. We did have to have a document showing we have paid a tourism fee, which was online and a cost of 100US$ each.

Now that we had crossed the border, the tour started with our driver and guide Gui. A nice Brazilian man, who has been doing the same tour for 15 years but was still happy and very patient with everyone as we walked around the park. There were 10 of us on the tour from different nationalities including, American, Dutch, German, United Kingdom, ourselves and more. All of which were really nice people, who made the downtime interesting with travel stories and experiences in South America that provided some tips for some of our destinations. The first stop on the tour was not the national park and waterfalls, but the 3 points lookout, where you can see 3 countries: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. While it's not much to look at it's pretty cool and reminded me of the same experience we had in Switzerland with German and French borders over the river.

Second and final stop on the tour was the waterfalls on the Argentinian side, which I wasn't really looking forward to as yesterday I was almost sick of chasing waterfalls. TLC said not to, but we did it again and I'm glad we did as the Argentinian side was much better than the Brazilian side. Not only was there 80% of the falls on this side, but there are more trails and viewing areas to see more. Gui, our guide, led us along the lower trail first spotting numerous spiders and more quatiz (raccoon like animal) before coming to several waterfalls. After about an hour or so of trails we came to the base of the river and decided we would do the waterfall boat experience as it was much cheaper than yesterday's - 90 real compared to 230 real. Given lifejackets and a waterproof bag, we prepared to get wet. How wet we weren't sure but we would soon find out. At first the boat drove up into the mouth of 2 large waterfalls but kept its distance allowing us to take photos with cameras and then asked us to put them away. We then drove right up into and under the falls of both large downpours, it was so powerful that you could barely, if at all, open your eyes. I captured it on our action camera as it is waterproof and will share below. We got absolutely drenched, taking the next 3-4 hours to become fully dry. It was really refreshing to be under the water and to have damp clothes as it was a hot 33 degrees and the sun had a strong bite. Fortunately, many of the paths in both parks are shaded by the natural landscape and foliage from the forest, otherwise it would have been very difficult to stay if we did.

After the drenching, we completed the lower trail and stopped for lunch, yummy homemade sandwiches for us, yucky restaurants for everyone else. I was keen on Argentinian barbecue but the budget came first today. Except we had to buy about 5 bottles of water and an ice block. Following lunch, we completed the upper trail, which offered views from the top of around 30 large waterfalls and many smaller ones before making its way back where we saw more spiders, 2 toucans, some monkeys and a caima (small crocodile). In the afternoon, we took a small train, which took us 3km away to the largest of the falls known as the 'Devils Throat' that we had seen from the bottom yesterday in Brazil and would see this time from the top. The spray coming off this waterfall that dropped 90 meters was strong enough to return as rain, as it moved with the help of the wind. It was really refreshing at the top as the path to get there had the least amount of shade. To end the day, we took the train back to the entrance and were then shuttled to the bus station by our guide, farewelling our tour buddies and awaiting our bus to Buenos Aires.

Hot and sweaty, smelly and exhausted, Ellie and I sat waiting for an 18-hour overnight bus. With sunscreen, sweat and BO all over us, at least all over Ellie, we really wanted a shower so I went for a walk and found a hostel over the road. For 50 Argentinian Pesos, each, we could shower. That's 4 Australian dollars, so you bet we cleaned ourselves up and got on the bus fresh and fabulous, at least in Ellie's case. We got some snacks for the bus, but not too much as this bus service comes with a hostess and meal service, to accompany its big reclining 'bed' seats. Again, I'll say bed for anyone under 6 foot, even though I managed to sleep. It was nicer than our first bus with Nordeste, but Crucerodenorte didn't have Wi-Fi, however, they did have whisky. Yep, whisky, and champagne just after take-off, or drive off, beers with your dinner was also available. Dinner was a small portion of carbonara pasta, with lots of sides to fill you up and breakfast was probably too small but it was something. They also played movies in the evening to keep you entertained, a little bit, it was an Adam Sandler movie after all. Having been in Argentina for 26 hours, with 18 of that spent on a bus, we desperately wanted/needed to get off and start the day, or at least half a day as it was 1:30pm by the time we arrived.

The first thing we did after arriving was find the metro station, which was a short walk from the bus terminal. I noticed busy streets, mostly dirty, with a mix of old run-down buildings, dirty modern buildings and the odd nice building filling the skyline in the distance and a park near to us. We were in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, a place I know little about. There are no famous landmarks or significant history that I am aware of, only Soccer is big here and Lionel Messi plays for them. We also knew that Argentina is well known for its beef industry and that good steak can be found with good wine here. Having had little to terrible steak in London for a year, I was excited for this reason. As we took the metro to our hostel, Hostel Fiesta, we checked in and had a bit of a rest before heading out to find a laundromat. Our clothes needed a wash, so we found the 'lavanderia', Spanish for laundromat and a friendly lady, who became a little impatient with our lack of Spanish. We assumed we would complete our washing as per most laundromats but we simply had to leave it with her until 10am tomorrow. Only problem was, we thought she wanted the money in 10 minutes so we ran off to find an ATM and returned in 10 minutes. We then found out that deis manana means 10am, only with the help of a taxi driver on the street we now knew she did the washing and we collected it the next day, simple. If it was not for the taxi driver, the nice lady may have lost her voice shouting deis manana even louder then she had been. We got there in the end and then proclaimed we would take the Spanish phrase book with us from now on.

Following the laundry ordeal, Ellie and I were starving as we hadn't eaten lunch and it was close to 4 in the afternoon. We had purchased some bread, ham, tomato and avocado on the way to the laundromat, expecting to eat it while we waited for the laundry. As this didn't pan out we ate our sandwiches in the shade in the middle of the boulevard named 9th Julio, the busiest street in Argentina. When you’re that hungry, you can eat anywhere. After our picnic, we arranged with Carlo, a nice man from Holland that we met on the bus to meet for dinner somewhere. At the recommendation of friends Tom and Rana, we went to a restaurant called Don Julios, a steak house near the Plaza Italia neighbourhood. It was their comments about the great steak they had here, along with it being the top restaurant on trip advisor that we decided to lash out and have a nice meal. So, Ellie and I met Carlo at the metro station nearby and travelled to the restaurant.

Outside the restaurant, a relaxed line was formed as people waited for a table. Instead of a line we put our name down and we're given a glass of bubbles, on the house we thought, but not the case. They also provided some nibbling food while we waited no longer than 20 minutes to be seated. A bread basket and antipasto was served, this time on the house and we ordered our meals. Thick sirloin beef steak, medium rare with vegetables and fries for sides to share. Not long after we were treated to huge pieces of meat, perfectly cooked, easy to cut, melt in your mouth steak. The best I've had in over a year and possibly the best steak I have ever had. I'd say it was at least 400-500 grams and only cost us around 360 Argentinian Pesos, which is a new currency and around 30 Australian dollars. It was all delicious food, and a decent (cheap) wine to wash it down with some extra company. After having met Carlo on the bus, we found him very friendly and easy to talk to. As a sole traveller, we asked him to join us, sharing in the delicious meal and sharing stories. Having eaten at close to 10pm due to the late opening times of restaurants and having to queue, we left the restaurant at 11 in the evening. Unfortunately, the metro closes at 11 so we were forced to take a taxi home: a much costlier expedition (metro = 7.50 Pesos per person - taxi = 50 Pesos per person). Saying goodnight to our new friend and returning home, we went to bed very tired and happy to be sleeping in a non-moving bed.

Day 9

On our first full day in Buenos Aires we woke to have the free hostel breakfast, a basic selection of bread, croissants and 2 raw eggs to cook how you liked. As it helps the budget, we ate it and added our own Vegemite to make it more enjoyable. Having worn the same clothes for close to 2 days I really wanted to collect our laundry, which we did, returning it home and changing into fresh clothes and then heading out again.

Ellie had a plan for the day, sourcing a walking tour and information on the sights off the Internet. Navigating our way around the city, we came across churches, museums, landmarks like an ugly bridge and an obelisk, shopping streets, government buildings and more. Ellie had done a good job giving us a low down on what seemed a dull city. I would probably be offending Buenos Airians to give it my full description so I'll avoid it. One thing that wasn't too bad however, was the food. For lunch, we stopped in the city and had a very cheap lunch and for what we paid, we got a lot of food. Ellie had a delicious caesars salad and I had a creamy chicken dish, both tasty.

After lunch, we attended the city walking tour with a focus on politics and history of Argentina. I found the history the most interesting, beginning with indigenous people the Spanish arrived in the 1500's expecting to find gold given its recent discovery in Brazil only they didn't find any so they left. They did, however, return 300 years later to find the cattle they had initially brought over had multiplied significantly with lots of land and cattle, agriculture become the mainstay of Argentina. In addition, the town of Buenos Aires became significant for its access to trading routes across the Atlantic because of a large river intersecting the continent of South America. The river could reach Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and could get close to a Chile, which made it a very profitable place to have a port. The city became wealthy, very much so in the early 1900's when a lot of the world was at war and Argentina stayed out of it. After the first word war, many Italians immigrated to Argentina, which has left a strong influence on the culture in Argentina, particularly in Buenos Aires. As the biggest city and the nation’s capital it has a population of 2.8 million, with over half living in or around BA. One thing the tour guide did point out that was interesting was that the city has always been changing, with different leaders aiming for different ideals for the city. The most notable being that they wanted to be seen as more than just wealthy farmers so knocked down buildings and areas in the city to rebuild them in the same style as those found in Paris. Buildings then took on the facade of those in France and wide streets were created, along with the worlds widest boulevard, 9th Julio, among other smaller ones. It was interesting to notice the mix of influences in the buildings after it was pointed out to us. Over time many of those buildings have been removed or altered, leaving a large mix of architecture in the city. I told you BA isn't that exciting, the tour talked about building facades. It was an informative tour, not the best one and particularly difficult to hear as it was a huge group of people, but it gave us an overview of Argentina that we didn't have before hand.

Returning home after the tour, we prepared for dinner. Deciding to have Italian after hearing about the Cultural and human influence in Argentina, we walked to a pizzeria with traditional looking pizzas. Unlike Pizza Hut, we had very simple and extremely cheesy pizza to share. It cost us 310 Argentinian Pesos (25aud) and come with a drink each. Pretty good we thought, but not the best pizza we have ever had. Maybe the Italians didn't send the best cooks over with them or we went to the wrong place. Once again with full bellies and weary legs from a big day of walking, we returned home and made for bed once again as tomorrow we have a day trip to Uruguay.

Day 10

Waking up and sleeping in Argentina didn't mean that the day was spent here. Instead we did a day trip to Colonial del Sacramento, a city on the river opposite to Buenos Aires in the country of Uruguay. You can read about it in the Uruguay blog HERE.

We did return in the evening and have an unexciting dinner at the hostel accompanied by a nice, cold beer. A Quilmes beer for 55 Argentinian Pesos (5aud) and it only came in one size, 1 Litros. Delicious. The remainder of the evening was spent packing once more in preparation for our journey early the next morning to Mendoza, a city near the western border of Argentina. That means it's time to farewell Buenos Aires, an unexciting capital city with an interesting history, a mix and match of building styles and boulevards. It won't be high in my recommendations for travellers to South America, but there is something there for some people and a history to uncover if you’re interested. If not there is always the nightclub underneath our hostel room that has a fantastic sound system that rattles the floorboards in the rooms above, might be a good night out. Rather than saying seeya later, I think we will say goodbye Buenos Aires.

#Argentina #Travel #Holiday #BuenosAires #IguacuFalls