Sign In
Register
Help
This topic is locked
Hello everyone,
In a few days Kristin and I will be flying to Argentina to begin a long-awaited four month journey of South America...as we blaze a trail across the southern half of the continent, we'll be sending out daily accounts of our experiences...as always, feel free to pass our letters along to anyone who might enjoy them...in terms of untamed adventure,South America does not disappoint; so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
Loose Itinerary: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile...and budget-willing, a side trip to the fabled Easter Island (we'll cross our fingers and pray that our money holds out).
devoting our lives to purposeful wandering,
Lance and Kristin
U.S.A.
***"The earth belongs to anyone who stops for a moment,gazes and goes on his way."---Colette.
Toggle shoutbox CGC Shoutbox
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The South American Tour Revisited
Rate Topic:
MultiQuote
#2
Sacrifist 
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 07 January 2010 - 05:08 PM
We have arrived....
we have arrived in sweltering Buenos Aires, however ourbackpacks have not...for some reason beyond my comprehension, our packs were notloaded onto our connecting flight in Washington D.C....needless to say, it hasbeen a rough start...i´m too tired and aggravated to provide detailstoday, so it will have to wait until tomorrow...our sole possessions at thispoint are winter jackets (it´s 85 degrees), beef jerky, a guide book and a boxof crackers...all of this will be hilarious in a week or two.
in search of a toothbrush,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
we have arrived in sweltering Buenos Aires, however ourbackpacks have not...for some reason beyond my comprehension, our packs were notloaded onto our connecting flight in Washington D.C....needless to say, it hasbeen a rough start...i´m too tired and aggravated to provide detailstoday, so it will have to wait until tomorrow...our sole possessions at thispoint are winter jackets (it´s 85 degrees), beef jerky, a guide book and a boxof crackers...all of this will be hilarious in a week or two.
in search of a toothbrush,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
#3
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 08 January 2010 - 07:05 PM
and so it begins....
Our two hour flight from St. Louis to Washington D.C. went off without a hitch...as we began our descent, the lights of D.C.stretched out in every direction for as far as the eye could see; it was a sight to behold...our connecting flight to Buenos Aires was already boarding by the time we made it to the gate...settled into our not-so-comfortable economy seats and prepared ourselves mentally for the ten-hour overnight flight...shortly before midnight, meatloaf was served and it was all down hill from there...i´ve never been able to sleep on planes; other than the occasional blackout, i was awake for the majority of the flight...we landed in Buenos Aires shortly before eleven a.m. exhausted, but in good spirits...but the good spirits soured when we learned that our packs were still in Washington D.C. (a mere 5200 miles away)...customer service assured us that our packs would arrive on the very next flight (a mere twenty-four hours away)...we stormed out of the airport in the clutches of a mighty rage silently vowing to single-handedly put United Airlines out of business, all the while trying to figure out what to do with our winter jackets in the eighty-five degree heat...hopped on a local bus bound for the downtown area...though I've done my fair share of traveling, the first day of a trip in the Third World always delivers a near-fatal dose of culture shock...we traded in the frozen plains of Illinois for the sweltering streets of Buenos Aires...the bus ride was as pleasant as could be expected, given the circumstances...it took two hours to reach the center of the city...checked into a hostel where we paid way too much for a ten by ten room with our first-ever Third World water beds (the ceiling dripped water onto our beds nonstop, thanks to the upstairs bathroom)...spent the remainder of the evening in the vicinity of our hostel; we were too exhausted to wander.
...unfortunately, the bulk of our first full day in Buenos Aires was spent trying to locate our backpacks...after way too many frustrating hours on the phone, our packs were eventually delivered to our hostel in the early evening...we did manage to wander the downtown area for a few hours...Buenos Aires is a surprisingly pleasant, clean, litter-free,hassle-free city (especially by South American standards) with a bit of a graffiti problem and a heavy European influence...this is by far the nicest South American city I've been to...tomorrow we´ll finally have the opportunity to do some proper exploring.
no one said this would be easy,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Our two hour flight from St. Louis to Washington D.C. went off without a hitch...as we began our descent, the lights of D.C.stretched out in every direction for as far as the eye could see; it was a sight to behold...our connecting flight to Buenos Aires was already boarding by the time we made it to the gate...settled into our not-so-comfortable economy seats and prepared ourselves mentally for the ten-hour overnight flight...shortly before midnight, meatloaf was served and it was all down hill from there...i´ve never been able to sleep on planes; other than the occasional blackout, i was awake for the majority of the flight...we landed in Buenos Aires shortly before eleven a.m. exhausted, but in good spirits...but the good spirits soured when we learned that our packs were still in Washington D.C. (a mere 5200 miles away)...customer service assured us that our packs would arrive on the very next flight (a mere twenty-four hours away)...we stormed out of the airport in the clutches of a mighty rage silently vowing to single-handedly put United Airlines out of business, all the while trying to figure out what to do with our winter jackets in the eighty-five degree heat...hopped on a local bus bound for the downtown area...though I've done my fair share of traveling, the first day of a trip in the Third World always delivers a near-fatal dose of culture shock...we traded in the frozen plains of Illinois for the sweltering streets of Buenos Aires...the bus ride was as pleasant as could be expected, given the circumstances...it took two hours to reach the center of the city...checked into a hostel where we paid way too much for a ten by ten room with our first-ever Third World water beds (the ceiling dripped water onto our beds nonstop, thanks to the upstairs bathroom)...spent the remainder of the evening in the vicinity of our hostel; we were too exhausted to wander.
...unfortunately, the bulk of our first full day in Buenos Aires was spent trying to locate our backpacks...after way too many frustrating hours on the phone, our packs were eventually delivered to our hostel in the early evening...we did manage to wander the downtown area for a few hours...Buenos Aires is a surprisingly pleasant, clean, litter-free,hassle-free city (especially by South American standards) with a bit of a graffiti problem and a heavy European influence...this is by far the nicest South American city I've been to...tomorrow we´ll finally have the opportunity to do some proper exploring.
no one said this would be easy,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
#4
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 09 January 2010 - 09:39 PM
a day in the city....
We spent the entire day exploring the city...took the subway across town (for twenty-five cents a ride, you can't beat it) to visit the much celebrated (and somewhat overrated) Recoleta Cemetery...the richest dead folks in the city are buried there, including the world-famous former First Lady Evita...Evita was a hero to the poor and now enjoys a near-saint status in Argentina...a few years back, Madonna portrayed Evita in a movie which apparently pissed the Argentinians off in a big way (perhaps Madonna wasn't the wisest choice for the part)...with narrow walkways and towering mausoleums, the cemetery looks more like a small city than a graveyard...wandered through the maze of tombs and eventually found Evita´s surprisingly modest grave...many of the surrounding tombs were the size of small houses...Recoleta is definitely worth a look around, though I've seen much more impressive (and less talked about) cemeteries...we exited the cemetery gates unshaken in our belief that it is better to be poor and alive than rich and dead...hopped back on the subway and headed over to the Botanical Gardens...the gardens are filled with plants from around the world and stray cats from around the city...alley cats from all walks of life were represented there; all of them undeniably rag-tag, all of them undeniably happy (we are surely kindred spirits)...strolled through the gardens until our feet could take it no more; we've been idle for several months and our feet have gotten soft...by the time we made it back to our neighborhood, we were completely exhausted...this is a great city and we've enjoyed our time here, but we´re getting restless...so tomorrow we'll head north out of the city in search of new surroundings and new adventures.
forget schools, forget careers...just travel,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
We spent the entire day exploring the city...took the subway across town (for twenty-five cents a ride, you can't beat it) to visit the much celebrated (and somewhat overrated) Recoleta Cemetery...the richest dead folks in the city are buried there, including the world-famous former First Lady Evita...Evita was a hero to the poor and now enjoys a near-saint status in Argentina...a few years back, Madonna portrayed Evita in a movie which apparently pissed the Argentinians off in a big way (perhaps Madonna wasn't the wisest choice for the part)...with narrow walkways and towering mausoleums, the cemetery looks more like a small city than a graveyard...wandered through the maze of tombs and eventually found Evita´s surprisingly modest grave...many of the surrounding tombs were the size of small houses...Recoleta is definitely worth a look around, though I've seen much more impressive (and less talked about) cemeteries...we exited the cemetery gates unshaken in our belief that it is better to be poor and alive than rich and dead...hopped back on the subway and headed over to the Botanical Gardens...the gardens are filled with plants from around the world and stray cats from around the city...alley cats from all walks of life were represented there; all of them undeniably rag-tag, all of them undeniably happy (we are surely kindred spirits)...strolled through the gardens until our feet could take it no more; we've been idle for several months and our feet have gotten soft...by the time we made it back to our neighborhood, we were completely exhausted...this is a great city and we've enjoyed our time here, but we´re getting restless...so tomorrow we'll head north out of the city in search of new surroundings and new adventures.
forget schools, forget careers...just travel,
lance and Kristin
Buenos Aires, Argentina
#5
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 11 January 2010 - 07:09 PM
Looking for Che....
checked out of our lovely room this morning (we´ll certainly miss the single electrical outlet, the window that won´t shut and the bathroom that never has less than half an inch of water on the floor) and took a taxi to the long-distance bus station...Argentinian buses are some of the nicest in South America; they´re also some of the most expensive...there is no such thing as a second-class bus in Argentina;it´s first-class all the way (whether you like it or not)...i´d rather ride in a smashed-up heap filled with local imbeciles and long-haired goats, but no one here seems interested in catering to my preferences...so we bought a ticket to the city of Rosario four hours away and settled into the air-conditioned double-decker monstrosity that passes for a bus...it felt great to finally be on the road again...after leaving the downtown area, the road ran briefly along the Atlantic coastline...we passed by, among other things, a Wal-mart, a Ford manufacturing facility and an RR Donnelly factory (perhaps you Illinois Donnelly workers should consider getting a transfer)...it took an hour to get out of the city; the wide open spaces of the country side were a welcome sight...for the next three hours we passed through a flat landscape not unlike that of the American Midwest...miles and miles of horse and cattle pastures and endless fields of corn, soybeans, sunflowers and sorghum...arrived in Rosario in the early evening and eventually checked into a nice hostel after an hour of searching...this city is most famous for being the birthplace of Che Guevara (Communist extraordinaire, philosopher,martyr and messiah to millions)...Rosario is also considered to be one of the country´s prettiest cities...but we´ll have to wait until tomorrow to see it for ourselves; the daylight is fading and so is our energy.
searching for the ghost of Che Guevara,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
checked out of our lovely room this morning (we´ll certainly miss the single electrical outlet, the window that won´t shut and the bathroom that never has less than half an inch of water on the floor) and took a taxi to the long-distance bus station...Argentinian buses are some of the nicest in South America; they´re also some of the most expensive...there is no such thing as a second-class bus in Argentina;it´s first-class all the way (whether you like it or not)...i´d rather ride in a smashed-up heap filled with local imbeciles and long-haired goats, but no one here seems interested in catering to my preferences...so we bought a ticket to the city of Rosario four hours away and settled into the air-conditioned double-decker monstrosity that passes for a bus...it felt great to finally be on the road again...after leaving the downtown area, the road ran briefly along the Atlantic coastline...we passed by, among other things, a Wal-mart, a Ford manufacturing facility and an RR Donnelly factory (perhaps you Illinois Donnelly workers should consider getting a transfer)...it took an hour to get out of the city; the wide open spaces of the country side were a welcome sight...for the next three hours we passed through a flat landscape not unlike that of the American Midwest...miles and miles of horse and cattle pastures and endless fields of corn, soybeans, sunflowers and sorghum...arrived in Rosario in the early evening and eventually checked into a nice hostel after an hour of searching...this city is most famous for being the birthplace of Che Guevara (Communist extraordinaire, philosopher,martyr and messiah to millions)...Rosario is also considered to be one of the country´s prettiest cities...but we´ll have to wait until tomorrow to see it for ourselves; the daylight is fading and so is our energy.
searching for the ghost of Che Guevara,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
#6
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 11 January 2010 - 09:19 PM
On the banks of the Parana River....
the rumors are true; Rosario is a great city...we spent the day sweating it out in the sun while on an extended walkabout (we´re now a nice shade of pink)...had lunch in a restaurant where they cook their homemade pizzas on large barbecue grills; it sounds bizarre, but it was actually quite good...walked until we found ourselves at the edge of the Parana River; its chocolate-brown water is swift moving and well over a mile wide...i haven´t seen a river that large since we were in Cambodia...followed a walkway along the river lined with huge Eucalyptus and Ceiba trees until reaching the city´s flag monument...not only is Rosario the birthplace of Che, it´s also the birthplace of the Argentine flag (a serious point of pride for locals)...the monument is basically a huge tower of stone ona bluff overlooking the river; climbing to the top affords you a panoramic view of the river below...strolled back into the city to find nearly everything closed for the afternoon siesta...though Latin Americans wouldn´t dream of going a single day without an extended siesta, i can´t stand them...there´s something about closing down all the stores for three or four hours every afternoon that just doesn´t sit well with me...pulled through the siesta with the help of a local beer or two and headed back out to see the apartment building where Che was born...the building is privately-owned and off-limits to the general public; other than a small sign reading``Che´s Birth House´´, there´s not much to see...but this is a very walkable city and there always seems to be something worth looking at...tomorrow we´ll do it all over again.
in a country where Subway restaurants serve beer,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
the rumors are true; Rosario is a great city...we spent the day sweating it out in the sun while on an extended walkabout (we´re now a nice shade of pink)...had lunch in a restaurant where they cook their homemade pizzas on large barbecue grills; it sounds bizarre, but it was actually quite good...walked until we found ourselves at the edge of the Parana River; its chocolate-brown water is swift moving and well over a mile wide...i haven´t seen a river that large since we were in Cambodia...followed a walkway along the river lined with huge Eucalyptus and Ceiba trees until reaching the city´s flag monument...not only is Rosario the birthplace of Che, it´s also the birthplace of the Argentine flag (a serious point of pride for locals)...the monument is basically a huge tower of stone ona bluff overlooking the river; climbing to the top affords you a panoramic view of the river below...strolled back into the city to find nearly everything closed for the afternoon siesta...though Latin Americans wouldn´t dream of going a single day without an extended siesta, i can´t stand them...there´s something about closing down all the stores for three or four hours every afternoon that just doesn´t sit well with me...pulled through the siesta with the help of a local beer or two and headed back out to see the apartment building where Che was born...the building is privately-owned and off-limits to the general public; other than a small sign reading``Che´s Birth House´´, there´s not much to see...but this is a very walkable city and there always seems to be something worth looking at...tomorrow we´ll do it all over again.
in a country where Subway restaurants serve beer,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
#7
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 13 January 2010 - 04:45 PM
Surviving a South American Sunday....
i don´t think too highly of the South American tradition of not working on Sundays...when ninety-nine percent of businesses (restaurants included) are closed on the same day, things tend to get a little boring...Rosario was an absolute ghost town today but we made the best of it...the local cathedral was one of the only buildings with open doors so we walked on in to have a look around...a large portion of the city´s sinners were gathered inside listening to a sermon; we spent a few minutes admiring the beautifully painted vaulted ceiling and headed back into the relentless heat...took the elevator to the top of the Flag Monument (it was closed yesterday) and enjoyed a nice panoramic view of the city and river below...the man in charge of the elevator was clearly curious about us and began asking us questions; when we told him we were from Chicago (in the Third World, everyone knows Chicago but no one knows Illinois) he made his hands into the shapes of pistols and said bang! bang!...we all got a good laugh out of that; as we exited the elevator he was firing an imaginary machine gun into a crowd...every city has to be famous for something and apparently (in the minds of many) Chicago is famous for gun violence; ain´t America great?...we spent the bulk of the afternoon walking along the river and loafing in the shade beneath towering trees...it took some time and a lot of walking, but we did eventually find a restaurant that was open for supper (so we´ll consider the day a success)...tomorrow we´ll continue our journey north to the city of Santa Fe.
a long-haired tramp and his dread-locked lady,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
Sweating it out in Santa Fe....
our hostel room was uncomfortably hot last night; i would have happily slept on a giant bed made of ice if someone would have just offered...needless to say, it was a long night...predictably, our lack of sleep robbed us of much of our energy and ambition today...but we did manage to leave Rosario...boarded a bus and headed north for two hours through an endless stretch of soybean fields...arrived in Santa Fe just as the entire city was shutting down to begin a three hour afternoon siesta (we've got great timing)...thankfully, our hotel room has an air conditioner; the farther north we travel, the hotter it gets (it´s now well over ninety degrees)...walked across the city center to visit a seventeenth-century Franciscan monastery with a beautifully carved wooden ceiling and one of the coolest/creepiest paintings of Jesus Christ i´ve ever seen (complete with a bloody forehead and closed eyes that appear to be open from a distance)...and now we find ourselves in search of a restaurant that opens before 8:00 p.m.(most Argentinians have supper around 9:00, by which time we have nearly perished from starvation)...this city is home to the large Santa Fe Brewery which keeps the shelves of nearly every Argentinian store stocked with bottles of Santa Fe, Heineken and Budweiser brews...we have high hopes of touring the facility tomorrow; wish us luck.
perhaps we should arrive at the brewery in shirts that read"Will Work For Beer",
lance and Kristin
Santa Fe, Argentina
i don´t think too highly of the South American tradition of not working on Sundays...when ninety-nine percent of businesses (restaurants included) are closed on the same day, things tend to get a little boring...Rosario was an absolute ghost town today but we made the best of it...the local cathedral was one of the only buildings with open doors so we walked on in to have a look around...a large portion of the city´s sinners were gathered inside listening to a sermon; we spent a few minutes admiring the beautifully painted vaulted ceiling and headed back into the relentless heat...took the elevator to the top of the Flag Monument (it was closed yesterday) and enjoyed a nice panoramic view of the city and river below...the man in charge of the elevator was clearly curious about us and began asking us questions; when we told him we were from Chicago (in the Third World, everyone knows Chicago but no one knows Illinois) he made his hands into the shapes of pistols and said bang! bang!...we all got a good laugh out of that; as we exited the elevator he was firing an imaginary machine gun into a crowd...every city has to be famous for something and apparently (in the minds of many) Chicago is famous for gun violence; ain´t America great?...we spent the bulk of the afternoon walking along the river and loafing in the shade beneath towering trees...it took some time and a lot of walking, but we did eventually find a restaurant that was open for supper (so we´ll consider the day a success)...tomorrow we´ll continue our journey north to the city of Santa Fe.
a long-haired tramp and his dread-locked lady,
lance and Kristin
Rosario, Argentina
Sweating it out in Santa Fe....
our hostel room was uncomfortably hot last night; i would have happily slept on a giant bed made of ice if someone would have just offered...needless to say, it was a long night...predictably, our lack of sleep robbed us of much of our energy and ambition today...but we did manage to leave Rosario...boarded a bus and headed north for two hours through an endless stretch of soybean fields...arrived in Santa Fe just as the entire city was shutting down to begin a three hour afternoon siesta (we've got great timing)...thankfully, our hotel room has an air conditioner; the farther north we travel, the hotter it gets (it´s now well over ninety degrees)...walked across the city center to visit a seventeenth-century Franciscan monastery with a beautifully carved wooden ceiling and one of the coolest/creepiest paintings of Jesus Christ i´ve ever seen (complete with a bloody forehead and closed eyes that appear to be open from a distance)...and now we find ourselves in search of a restaurant that opens before 8:00 p.m.(most Argentinians have supper around 9:00, by which time we have nearly perished from starvation)...this city is home to the large Santa Fe Brewery which keeps the shelves of nearly every Argentinian store stocked with bottles of Santa Fe, Heineken and Budweiser brews...we have high hopes of touring the facility tomorrow; wish us luck.
perhaps we should arrive at the brewery in shirts that read"Will Work For Beer",
lance and Kristin
Santa Fe, Argentina
#8
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 13 January 2010 - 04:53 PM
A story about a brewery, a zoo, and a puma....
late last night i made a quick run from our hotel to the corner store...our seemingly normal neighborhood by day apparently transforms into a whores, hustlers and pimps free-for-all when the sun goes down...there were more prostitutes than you could shake a stick at...talk about a freak show; one of the women weighed well over three hundred pounds (i suspect she is willing to work for food, though i can´t verify that)...i picked up the pace a bit and made sure not to make eye contact...i think i´ll just stay put tonight.
...we walked to the Santa Fe Brewery today with hopes of getting to tour the facility...the man in the front office informed us that there will be no tours today or tomorrow...the fact that we´re five-thousand miles from home and will most likely never have another opportunity to visit their brewery didn´t seem to impress them...defeated, we left empty-handed...while on walkabout we noticed a city bus with Wal-Mart listed as one of its destinations...we had nothing else going, so we hopped on...the store is located outside of town next to an out-of-business mall...the entire store (inside and out) looks a lot like a circa 1987 Wal-Mart slowly decaying somewhere in a ghetto...in typical Third World fashion, the store was filled with lots of useless/bizarre items...there was even a whole rack of t-shirts that read "University Of New Hampshire", which must surely be a big seller here in Argentina...again, we left empty-handed...took a city bus north of town to visit an experimental zoo in a small forest...a powerful storm that passed through the city last night showed the zoo no mercy...there were uprooted trees, smashed fences and downed power lines...a majority of the zoo was without running water or electricity, but they were still open to the public (oh, how i love the Third World)...after seeing all of the smashed fences, i can only assume that there is now a wild puma loose somewhere in the city...though conditions were certainly less than ideal, we enjoyed our time there...and i suppose the fear of being electrocuted and/or eaten alive by a loose animal added a sense of danger to the whole experience that i rather enjoyed...so this is our last night in Santa Fe...tomorrow we´ll head east toward the Uruguayan border.
survivors of the Santa Fe Zoo,
lance and Kristin
Santa Fe, Argentina
late last night i made a quick run from our hotel to the corner store...our seemingly normal neighborhood by day apparently transforms into a whores, hustlers and pimps free-for-all when the sun goes down...there were more prostitutes than you could shake a stick at...talk about a freak show; one of the women weighed well over three hundred pounds (i suspect she is willing to work for food, though i can´t verify that)...i picked up the pace a bit and made sure not to make eye contact...i think i´ll just stay put tonight.
...we walked to the Santa Fe Brewery today with hopes of getting to tour the facility...the man in the front office informed us that there will be no tours today or tomorrow...the fact that we´re five-thousand miles from home and will most likely never have another opportunity to visit their brewery didn´t seem to impress them...defeated, we left empty-handed...while on walkabout we noticed a city bus with Wal-Mart listed as one of its destinations...we had nothing else going, so we hopped on...the store is located outside of town next to an out-of-business mall...the entire store (inside and out) looks a lot like a circa 1987 Wal-Mart slowly decaying somewhere in a ghetto...in typical Third World fashion, the store was filled with lots of useless/bizarre items...there was even a whole rack of t-shirts that read "University Of New Hampshire", which must surely be a big seller here in Argentina...again, we left empty-handed...took a city bus north of town to visit an experimental zoo in a small forest...a powerful storm that passed through the city last night showed the zoo no mercy...there were uprooted trees, smashed fences and downed power lines...a majority of the zoo was without running water or electricity, but they were still open to the public (oh, how i love the Third World)...after seeing all of the smashed fences, i can only assume that there is now a wild puma loose somewhere in the city...though conditions were certainly less than ideal, we enjoyed our time there...and i suppose the fear of being electrocuted and/or eaten alive by a loose animal added a sense of danger to the whole experience that i rather enjoyed...so this is our last night in Santa Fe...tomorrow we´ll head east toward the Uruguayan border.
survivors of the Santa Fe Zoo,
lance and Kristin
Santa Fe, Argentina
#9
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 14 January 2010 - 01:33 PM
On the move again....
we left Santa Fe this afternoon on a bus bound for the border town of Concordia...it was a five-hour drive through farming country where the endless pastures were dotted with cattle and the tractors seemed to outnumber the cars...the roadside scenery thus far has been a bit on the boring side (it looks too much like home), but we´ll be in the mountains soon enough so i´m doing my best to appreciate it for what it is...arrived in the city of Concordia in the early evening, checked into a nice room and began our nightly quest for an open restaurant (but we found an internet cafe first, so here we are)...this seems like a really nice city, much smaller and laid back than our previous stops...we've decided to stay here for two nights to help offset the cost of our bus tickets...the cost of traveling by bus has nearly doubled in the last two years (gasoline now sells for $4.00 a gallon in Argentina), so we´ll be forced to move from town to town less often than we prefer...tomorrow we´ll have a proper look around.
two hours and thirty-five minutes late for supper,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
we left Santa Fe this afternoon on a bus bound for the border town of Concordia...it was a five-hour drive through farming country where the endless pastures were dotted with cattle and the tractors seemed to outnumber the cars...the roadside scenery thus far has been a bit on the boring side (it looks too much like home), but we´ll be in the mountains soon enough so i´m doing my best to appreciate it for what it is...arrived in the city of Concordia in the early evening, checked into a nice room and began our nightly quest for an open restaurant (but we found an internet cafe first, so here we are)...this seems like a really nice city, much smaller and laid back than our previous stops...we've decided to stay here for two nights to help offset the cost of our bus tickets...the cost of traveling by bus has nearly doubled in the last two years (gasoline now sells for $4.00 a gallon in Argentina), so we´ll be forced to move from town to town less often than we prefer...tomorrow we´ll have a proper look around.
two hours and thirty-five minutes late for supper,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
#10
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 15 January 2010 - 05:21 PM
a palace in ruins....
we spent the morning in beautiful San Carlos Park at the edge of town...from the high forested bluffs, the view of the pretty Uruguay River (forming the border between Argentina and Uruguay) down below is a sight to behold...but the ruins of a nineteenth century palace (abandoned long ago for reasons unknown) are the real highlight...the ruins are now city property and visitors are allowed to wander them at will...the roof is long gone and many of the stone walls are crumbling, but the palace is still quite beautiful (an optimistic multi-millionaire might consider it a"fixer-upper")...checked out a small botanical garden nearby before heading back into town as the afternoon heat intensified...we bought a rotisserie chicken and had a fantastic hobo´s lunch...our bed became our table, our plastic spork became our silverware and our hotel towel became our napkin (the maid is gonna kill us)...we looked like a couple of wild dogs tearing into a carcass, but we sure enjoyed it...we later visited a museum in a palace that is nearly in ruins (it´s slowly being restored) in the city center...the building is in serious decline,so a majority of it is off-limits...all of the signage was in Spanish and as with most museums, i had no idea what i was looking at; let´s just say it was a collection of antiques...this evening we strolled along the river near our hotel where the locals spend their evenings fishing and loafing in the shade...apparently, Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) came to Concordia last year; he spent a week fishing in the Uruguay River...very few people recognized him, but the local couple who told us about it were still very much in awe...we've decided to linger here for one more day; this is our favorite stop so far and there is still more to see.
the world´s happiest hobos,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
we spent the morning in beautiful San Carlos Park at the edge of town...from the high forested bluffs, the view of the pretty Uruguay River (forming the border between Argentina and Uruguay) down below is a sight to behold...but the ruins of a nineteenth century palace (abandoned long ago for reasons unknown) are the real highlight...the ruins are now city property and visitors are allowed to wander them at will...the roof is long gone and many of the stone walls are crumbling, but the palace is still quite beautiful (an optimistic multi-millionaire might consider it a"fixer-upper")...checked out a small botanical garden nearby before heading back into town as the afternoon heat intensified...we bought a rotisserie chicken and had a fantastic hobo´s lunch...our bed became our table, our plastic spork became our silverware and our hotel towel became our napkin (the maid is gonna kill us)...we looked like a couple of wild dogs tearing into a carcass, but we sure enjoyed it...we later visited a museum in a palace that is nearly in ruins (it´s slowly being restored) in the city center...the building is in serious decline,so a majority of it is off-limits...all of the signage was in Spanish and as with most museums, i had no idea what i was looking at; let´s just say it was a collection of antiques...this evening we strolled along the river near our hotel where the locals spend their evenings fishing and loafing in the shade...apparently, Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) came to Concordia last year; he spent a week fishing in the Uruguay River...very few people recognized him, but the local couple who told us about it were still very much in awe...we've decided to linger here for one more day; this is our favorite stop so far and there is still more to see.
the world´s happiest hobos,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
#11
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 16 January 2010 - 05:21 PM
A dam fine day....
Argentinians are firm believers in skeleton keys; nearly every lock in this country requires one...in fact, we've been carrying skeleton keys since we arrived here because every hotel uses them...as skeleton key enthusiasts, we decided it would be a cool idea to get a couple of them made so we could turn them into necklaces...so last night we paid a visit to the local locksmith...the old man running the shop didn't speak any English and was clearly confused as to why we were so excited to see the large assortment of blank keys...we each picked out a key and had him cut notches into them; for two dollars each, they´re an absolute steal...delighted with our new souvenirs, we paid the man and thanked him...he looked at us as if we had lost our minds; after all, what sane person would buy keys that won´t open anything?...a couple of days ago we learned of the massive hydroelectric dam spanning the Uruguay River fifteen miles north of town where they offer a free hour-long tour (to anyone who can figure out how to get there)...only one city bus goes anywhere near the dam and it only passes through town every hour or so...a few locals told us there was no way we could get there unless we hired a taxi, but we were determined to prove them wrong...we missed the first bus by eight minutes,but caught the next one an hour later...it took an hour to reach the vicinity of the dam, but we weren't sure where to get out (because almost no one in Argentina speaks English and almost no one in Argentina understands my heavily accented Mexican-Spanish) so we rode the bus for an extra thirty minutes while it drove around in circles through forested campgrounds...we eventually bailed out half a kilometer from the dam, walked the wrong way down a highway and crossed through a large ditch full of cattails and weeds to reach the dam museum...but we were walking tall when we entered the museum with sweat-soaked shirts and trousers covered with cockle burs...we somehow managed to arrive just in time to join the next tour...loaded into a bus and rode across the mighty dam to the far side...stepped foot on Uruguayan soil for the first time and snapped a few dam photos...then we headed inside the dam to see the massive turbines (weighing one thousand tons each) that generate two-thirds of Uruguay´s electricity...the tour was in Spanish, but the guide spoke a little English and did his best to let us know what we were looking at...arrived back on the Argentinian side just in time to miss the city bus by five minutes...we were tempted to hitchhike, but our Spanish is so shaky that we were afraid of where we might end up...so we loafed in a shady Eucalyptus grove near the highway until the next bus came an hour later...after a short hour and a half bus ride, we were back on the plaza where we started...it took a lot of trouble and five hours of our time but it was well worth it...so this is our last night in Concordia...tomorrow we´ll head two hours south to make one more stop in Argentina before crossing into Uruguay.
just two blocks from the local Communist Party headquarters,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
Argentinians are firm believers in skeleton keys; nearly every lock in this country requires one...in fact, we've been carrying skeleton keys since we arrived here because every hotel uses them...as skeleton key enthusiasts, we decided it would be a cool idea to get a couple of them made so we could turn them into necklaces...so last night we paid a visit to the local locksmith...the old man running the shop didn't speak any English and was clearly confused as to why we were so excited to see the large assortment of blank keys...we each picked out a key and had him cut notches into them; for two dollars each, they´re an absolute steal...delighted with our new souvenirs, we paid the man and thanked him...he looked at us as if we had lost our minds; after all, what sane person would buy keys that won´t open anything?...a couple of days ago we learned of the massive hydroelectric dam spanning the Uruguay River fifteen miles north of town where they offer a free hour-long tour (to anyone who can figure out how to get there)...only one city bus goes anywhere near the dam and it only passes through town every hour or so...a few locals told us there was no way we could get there unless we hired a taxi, but we were determined to prove them wrong...we missed the first bus by eight minutes,but caught the next one an hour later...it took an hour to reach the vicinity of the dam, but we weren't sure where to get out (because almost no one in Argentina speaks English and almost no one in Argentina understands my heavily accented Mexican-Spanish) so we rode the bus for an extra thirty minutes while it drove around in circles through forested campgrounds...we eventually bailed out half a kilometer from the dam, walked the wrong way down a highway and crossed through a large ditch full of cattails and weeds to reach the dam museum...but we were walking tall when we entered the museum with sweat-soaked shirts and trousers covered with cockle burs...we somehow managed to arrive just in time to join the next tour...loaded into a bus and rode across the mighty dam to the far side...stepped foot on Uruguayan soil for the first time and snapped a few dam photos...then we headed inside the dam to see the massive turbines (weighing one thousand tons each) that generate two-thirds of Uruguay´s electricity...the tour was in Spanish, but the guide spoke a little English and did his best to let us know what we were looking at...arrived back on the Argentinian side just in time to miss the city bus by five minutes...we were tempted to hitchhike, but our Spanish is so shaky that we were afraid of where we might end up...so we loafed in a shady Eucalyptus grove near the highway until the next bus came an hour later...after a short hour and a half bus ride, we were back on the plaza where we started...it took a lot of trouble and five hours of our time but it was well worth it...so this is our last night in Concordia...tomorrow we´ll head two hours south to make one more stop in Argentina before crossing into Uruguay.
just two blocks from the local Communist Party headquarters,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
#12
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 17 January 2010 - 12:43 AM
It's up and down....
Let´s just say we found out the hard way that arriving in the tourist town of Colon on a Saturday afternoon was not a wise move (every hotel, hostel and spare room we could afford was booked up)...two hours down,two hours back and we are now in Concordia where we started this morning...Colon is not only a popular destination in this part of the country;it´s also a popular border crossing into Uruguay...after getting a taste of a serious Argentine tourist trap and all of the aggravations that goes along with it, we have decided not to visit Uruguay until the end of our trip...January and February are the most popular months to visit Uruguay, which means high prices, no vacancies and large crowds (things we can certainly do without)...after much deliberation we have decided to continue our journey north towards the mighty Iguazu Falls...we´ve purchased tickets for an overnight bus to the city of Posadas...it has been a long day and it promises to be an even longer night.
we just ate supper in a pizzeria that has french fries as a topping,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
Let´s just say we found out the hard way that arriving in the tourist town of Colon on a Saturday afternoon was not a wise move (every hotel, hostel and spare room we could afford was booked up)...two hours down,two hours back and we are now in Concordia where we started this morning...Colon is not only a popular destination in this part of the country;it´s also a popular border crossing into Uruguay...after getting a taste of a serious Argentine tourist trap and all of the aggravations that goes along with it, we have decided not to visit Uruguay until the end of our trip...January and February are the most popular months to visit Uruguay, which means high prices, no vacancies and large crowds (things we can certainly do without)...after much deliberation we have decided to continue our journey north towards the mighty Iguazu Falls...we´ve purchased tickets for an overnight bus to the city of Posadas...it has been a long day and it promises to be an even longer night.
we just ate supper in a pizzeria that has french fries as a topping,
lance and Kristin
Concordia, Argentina
#13
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 18 January 2010 - 01:19 PM
In the land of capybara....
last night went better than expected...though i despise traveling at night, it´s the only way we can afford to travel long distances in Argentina (we consider night buses a sort of "moving hotel")...we managed to sleep through half of the eight hour drive...arrived in the city of Posadas early this morning, took a taxi to the city center and checked into a nice room with air conditioning...by the time we dropped our packs in our room,we were zombies (we've only had ten hours of sleep over the last two nights)...by some miracle, the grocery store next to our hotel is open on Sunday mornings;it´s the first place we went to...we only ate one meal yesterday, so we were elated to find a huge selection of fresh-roasted rotisserie chickens...had"breakfast in bed" and crashed out for hours...made a half-hearted attempt at wandering the city center this evening, though Posadas is an absolute ghost town on Sundays...nothing is open and no one is out; not to mention, it´s extremely hot and humid...the best we can hope for tonight is a very late supper; wish us luck.
with chicken grease on our bed sheets,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
last night went better than expected...though i despise traveling at night, it´s the only way we can afford to travel long distances in Argentina (we consider night buses a sort of "moving hotel")...we managed to sleep through half of the eight hour drive...arrived in the city of Posadas early this morning, took a taxi to the city center and checked into a nice room with air conditioning...by the time we dropped our packs in our room,we were zombies (we've only had ten hours of sleep over the last two nights)...by some miracle, the grocery store next to our hotel is open on Sunday mornings;it´s the first place we went to...we only ate one meal yesterday, so we were elated to find a huge selection of fresh-roasted rotisserie chickens...had"breakfast in bed" and crashed out for hours...made a half-hearted attempt at wandering the city center this evening, though Posadas is an absolute ghost town on Sundays...nothing is open and no one is out; not to mention, it´s extremely hot and humid...the best we can hope for tonight is a very late supper; wish us luck.
with chicken grease on our bed sheets,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
#14
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 19 January 2010 - 09:58 PM
A rough start with a smooth finish....
today got off to a rough start...we really liked our hotel room and had intentions of staying there for a few nights, but this is a country where nothing is easy...this morning when i tried to pay for another night´s stay, the owner informed me that every room in the hotel was reserved for tonight (including ours)...we had exactly fourteen minutes to pack up our stuff and leave before the mandatory 10:00 checkout...pulled ourselves and all of our belongings together in time to beat the checkout and left in a justifiably bad mood...spent way too long searching for a new place to stay...we eventually found a vacancy in a large house ran by a very sweet old woman who couldn´t win a foot-race against a dead tortoise if her life depended on it...there is a stuffed snapping turtle mounted on a board in the defunct fireplace (where the logs used to be), the bedspreads are adorned with animated tigers and the walls are hung with faded photos of deceased family members...but the price is right, it has an undeniably 'down-home' feel and besides, it´s common knowledge that everyone sleeps better at grandma´s house(in all honesty, we love the place)...after settling in at grandma´s place, we paid the Paraguayan Consulate a visit...ninety dollars and two hours later, we were the proud new owners of Paraguay visas...obtaining a visa is normally an intensely aggravating experience; we were pleasantly surprised...walked across the city center to the edge of the Parana River for a fine view of the international bridge that links Argentina to Paraguay...a small crowd had gathered at the water´s edge; city police and two of the local news channels were also in attendance...we later learned that three bodies had been pulled from the river and five more were still missing (and we thought /we/ were having a bad day)...headed back into town drenched with sweat and weary from the relentless heat...found a place to do our laundry; we haven´t laundered our clothes since leaving home two weeks ago and my nose tells me it is indeed time...tomorrow we´ll head out of town to visit the four-hundred year old ruins of a Jesuit Mission located deep in the jungle...i can´t think of a hotter place to spend the day; i´m sweating just thinking about it.
hot, sweaty and happy,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
today got off to a rough start...we really liked our hotel room and had intentions of staying there for a few nights, but this is a country where nothing is easy...this morning when i tried to pay for another night´s stay, the owner informed me that every room in the hotel was reserved for tonight (including ours)...we had exactly fourteen minutes to pack up our stuff and leave before the mandatory 10:00 checkout...pulled ourselves and all of our belongings together in time to beat the checkout and left in a justifiably bad mood...spent way too long searching for a new place to stay...we eventually found a vacancy in a large house ran by a very sweet old woman who couldn´t win a foot-race against a dead tortoise if her life depended on it...there is a stuffed snapping turtle mounted on a board in the defunct fireplace (where the logs used to be), the bedspreads are adorned with animated tigers and the walls are hung with faded photos of deceased family members...but the price is right, it has an undeniably 'down-home' feel and besides, it´s common knowledge that everyone sleeps better at grandma´s house(in all honesty, we love the place)...after settling in at grandma´s place, we paid the Paraguayan Consulate a visit...ninety dollars and two hours later, we were the proud new owners of Paraguay visas...obtaining a visa is normally an intensely aggravating experience; we were pleasantly surprised...walked across the city center to the edge of the Parana River for a fine view of the international bridge that links Argentina to Paraguay...a small crowd had gathered at the water´s edge; city police and two of the local news channels were also in attendance...we later learned that three bodies had been pulled from the river and five more were still missing (and we thought /we/ were having a bad day)...headed back into town drenched with sweat and weary from the relentless heat...found a place to do our laundry; we haven´t laundered our clothes since leaving home two weeks ago and my nose tells me it is indeed time...tomorrow we´ll head out of town to visit the four-hundred year old ruins of a Jesuit Mission located deep in the jungle...i can´t think of a hotter place to spend the day; i´m sweating just thinking about it.
hot, sweaty and happy,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
#15
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 20 January 2010 - 05:14 PM
Socialism in the jungle....
headed to the bus station early this morning and bought tickets to San Ignacio to visit the Jesuit ruins for which the little town is famous...though it was a cloudy morning, we didn't actually expect it to rain...boy, were we wrong...shortly before boarding our bus it began to rain;then it began to pour...the wind was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets...we had already paid for our tickets, so there was no backing out...settled into our seats with an unshakable sense of impending doom; our timing could not have been worse...it rained all the way to San Ignacio; one of the windows in the bus was broken and leaking like a sieve...the floor was covered with water; we felt like sailors on a sinking ship...bailed out of the bus in San Ignacio and took shelter from the rain on someone´s porch...the downpour was eventually reduced to a sprinkle, so we began the short walk to the gates of the ruins...paid our admission fee and began to wander the ruins of a once-great socialist experiment in the jungle...shortly after the Spanish began intense domination and exploitation of South America´s indigenous population,the Jesuits began to build Utopian societies in the jungle...headed by a handful of European priests, locals were recruited to join the new society...the people of the jungle renounced cannibalism in favor of Catholicism and began to enjoy the many fruits of a socialist society...religion and the arts were considered necessities, work and its rewards were divided equally and the people flourished...they built beautiful cathedrals, schools and houses...things were going well; too well...the Spanish crown eventually began to resent/hate the Jesuits; Spaniards lived for gold and had no tolerance for peace, love and understanding'...the Jesuits were eventually banished, their societies collapsed and the jungle soon reclaimed what they had created...the present-day ruins of San Ignacio are impressive...the site is dominated by a large plaza and an enormous (now roofless) cathedral adorned with beautiful carvings...dozens and dozens of rows of small stone houses complete the picture...even in ruins, the Jesuits' accomplishments are undeniably beautiful and triumphant...it rained on and off during our time there...we found out the hard way just how difficult it is to find shelter from the rain in a city without a single roof...we were soaked, happy and in awe of the natural beauty of the jungle surrounding us...many of the houses are covered with strange mosses and flowering orchids...we watched in amazement as an incredibly tiny hummingbird (not much bigger than a bumble bee) moved from flower to flower...it was hard to leave such a place, but our hunger eventually forced us to head back to Posadas...made it back to Grandma's place hungry and exhausted;we didn't have lunch until 5:30 this evening (looks like it's going to be a late supper)...tomorrow we'll head five hours north to the town of Puerto Iguazu...the mighty Iguazu Falls await us.
wandering the world,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
headed to the bus station early this morning and bought tickets to San Ignacio to visit the Jesuit ruins for which the little town is famous...though it was a cloudy morning, we didn't actually expect it to rain...boy, were we wrong...shortly before boarding our bus it began to rain;then it began to pour...the wind was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets...we had already paid for our tickets, so there was no backing out...settled into our seats with an unshakable sense of impending doom; our timing could not have been worse...it rained all the way to San Ignacio; one of the windows in the bus was broken and leaking like a sieve...the floor was covered with water; we felt like sailors on a sinking ship...bailed out of the bus in San Ignacio and took shelter from the rain on someone´s porch...the downpour was eventually reduced to a sprinkle, so we began the short walk to the gates of the ruins...paid our admission fee and began to wander the ruins of a once-great socialist experiment in the jungle...shortly after the Spanish began intense domination and exploitation of South America´s indigenous population,the Jesuits began to build Utopian societies in the jungle...headed by a handful of European priests, locals were recruited to join the new society...the people of the jungle renounced cannibalism in favor of Catholicism and began to enjoy the many fruits of a socialist society...religion and the arts were considered necessities, work and its rewards were divided equally and the people flourished...they built beautiful cathedrals, schools and houses...things were going well; too well...the Spanish crown eventually began to resent/hate the Jesuits; Spaniards lived for gold and had no tolerance for peace, love and understanding'...the Jesuits were eventually banished, their societies collapsed and the jungle soon reclaimed what they had created...the present-day ruins of San Ignacio are impressive...the site is dominated by a large plaza and an enormous (now roofless) cathedral adorned with beautiful carvings...dozens and dozens of rows of small stone houses complete the picture...even in ruins, the Jesuits' accomplishments are undeniably beautiful and triumphant...it rained on and off during our time there...we found out the hard way just how difficult it is to find shelter from the rain in a city without a single roof...we were soaked, happy and in awe of the natural beauty of the jungle surrounding us...many of the houses are covered with strange mosses and flowering orchids...we watched in amazement as an incredibly tiny hummingbird (not much bigger than a bumble bee) moved from flower to flower...it was hard to leave such a place, but our hunger eventually forced us to head back to Posadas...made it back to Grandma's place hungry and exhausted;we didn't have lunch until 5:30 this evening (looks like it's going to be a late supper)...tomorrow we'll head five hours north to the town of Puerto Iguazu...the mighty Iguazu Falls await us.
wandering the world,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
#16
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 22 January 2010 - 06:05 AM
Iguazu at last....
Checked out of Grandma's place this morning and boarded a bus to the city of Puerto Iguazu...it was a pleasant five and a half hour drive through scenery that finally looks like the South America i'm familiar with...gone are the endless cattle pastures and soybean fields that remind me of home...we crossed through a decidedly tropical landscape of rolling hills covered with tea plantations and pine forests (planted especially for harvesting lumber)...our bus stopped briefly outside the gates of the El Dorado Penitentiary...there was a large crowd of women waiting there to catch the bus (Wednesday is apparently the day of choice for visiting locked-up husbands)...though the prison didn't look like a nice place to linger, it was a step up from many others i've seen in the Third World...arrived in Puerto Iguazu and spent an hour searching for an affordable room...this is a big tourist destination, so hotel prices are quite inflated...we eventually checked into a decent hotel located directly across the street from a Manpower office (i guess if we run out of money, we know where to look for a job)...people come here for one reason and one reason only:to see the world-famous Iguazu Falls...but we're finding ourselves quite exhausted after the last few days of traveling; we don't feel up to the task of tackling the enormous Iguazu National Park just yet...so tomorrow will be a much needed day of catching up; Friday we'll visit the falls.
there's no stopping us,
lance and Kristin
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
Checked out of Grandma's place this morning and boarded a bus to the city of Puerto Iguazu...it was a pleasant five and a half hour drive through scenery that finally looks like the South America i'm familiar with...gone are the endless cattle pastures and soybean fields that remind me of home...we crossed through a decidedly tropical landscape of rolling hills covered with tea plantations and pine forests (planted especially for harvesting lumber)...our bus stopped briefly outside the gates of the El Dorado Penitentiary...there was a large crowd of women waiting there to catch the bus (Wednesday is apparently the day of choice for visiting locked-up husbands)...though the prison didn't look like a nice place to linger, it was a step up from many others i've seen in the Third World...arrived in Puerto Iguazu and spent an hour searching for an affordable room...this is a big tourist destination, so hotel prices are quite inflated...we eventually checked into a decent hotel located directly across the street from a Manpower office (i guess if we run out of money, we know where to look for a job)...people come here for one reason and one reason only:to see the world-famous Iguazu Falls...but we're finding ourselves quite exhausted after the last few days of traveling; we don't feel up to the task of tackling the enormous Iguazu National Park just yet...so tomorrow will be a much needed day of catching up; Friday we'll visit the falls.
there's no stopping us,
lance and Kristin
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
#17
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 22 January 2010 - 06:18 AM
two rivers, three countries....
got caught up on some much needed rest and set out to explore the town...had lunch in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves nothing but fresh-made pastas...i've never eaten a more delicious spaghetti; and for three dollars, the price is right...the town of Puerto Iguazu sits at the confluence of the Parana and Iguazu Rivers...there is a small hilltop park at the edge of town from where you can enjoy a bird's eye view of the two rivers meeting...the viewpoint also allows you to see three countries at once...across the Iguazu River lies Brazil, across the Parana River lies Paraguay and below your feet is the blood red soil of Argentina...the panoramic view is beautiful to behold; we loafed in the shade for a while just trying to take it all in...gazing across at the jungle-clad bluffs of Brazil was bitter-sweet; though the international bridge to Brazil is only a few miles away, we won't be going (not yet, anyway)...unfortunately,Americans must pay one hundred dollars for a Brazilian visa; not to mention,prices in Brazil are nearly double those of Argentina (our current budget wouldn't stand a chance)...however, we will be visiting Paraguay next week,although the nearest border crossing is back in Posadas (Puerto Iguazu is essentially a dead end for us)...today gave us a chance to catch our breath,but tomorrow will surely take it away...for tomorrow, we'll visit the mighty Iguazu Falls.
as Metallica plays to a sold-out crowd in Buenos Aires,
lance and Kristin Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
got caught up on some much needed rest and set out to explore the town...had lunch in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves nothing but fresh-made pastas...i've never eaten a more delicious spaghetti; and for three dollars, the price is right...the town of Puerto Iguazu sits at the confluence of the Parana and Iguazu Rivers...there is a small hilltop park at the edge of town from where you can enjoy a bird's eye view of the two rivers meeting...the viewpoint also allows you to see three countries at once...across the Iguazu River lies Brazil, across the Parana River lies Paraguay and below your feet is the blood red soil of Argentina...the panoramic view is beautiful to behold; we loafed in the shade for a while just trying to take it all in...gazing across at the jungle-clad bluffs of Brazil was bitter-sweet; though the international bridge to Brazil is only a few miles away, we won't be going (not yet, anyway)...unfortunately,Americans must pay one hundred dollars for a Brazilian visa; not to mention,prices in Brazil are nearly double those of Argentina (our current budget wouldn't stand a chance)...however, we will be visiting Paraguay next week,although the nearest border crossing is back in Posadas (Puerto Iguazu is essentially a dead end for us)...today gave us a chance to catch our breath,but tomorrow will surely take it away...for tomorrow, we'll visit the mighty Iguazu Falls.
as Metallica plays to a sold-out crowd in Buenos Aires,
lance and Kristin Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
#18
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 24 January 2010 - 05:28 AM
Iguazu the beautiful....
It's like nothing you've seen...it's like nothing you've heard...Iguazu Falls explodes from the jungle with immeasurable force and fury...simply put, you haven't seen a waterfall until you've seen the falls of Iguazu.
...got up earlier than we wanted to and took a city bus to Iguazu National Park...paid the budget-busting $22.00 entry fee and entered the park...you can hear the roar of the falls long before you catch a glimpse of them...the park consists of three main sets of trails: the lower circuit,the upper circuit and the trail to the famous 'Devil's Throat'...we just couldn't leave without seeing it all, so we walked every bit of the required eight miles (we've got the aching muscles, sunburned skin and a collection of great photographs to prove it)...with superbly maintained trails, bridges and steel catwalks, Iguazu is one of the nicest parks i've had the privilege of visiting...and then there are the unbeatable falls; dozens and dozens of falls(in some areas, the falls are over one mile wide)...we followed the lower circuit for breathtaking views from the base of the falls...the upper circuit is a series of catwalks that gives you the unique opportunity of standing at the edge and looking over...and then there is the infamous 'Devil's Throat'; a watery place where all hell breaks loose...to view 'Devil's Throat', you must follow a kilometer-long catwalk that stretches across much of the Iguazu River...the catwalk dead-ends at the edge of a mighty abyss where the raging river plummets into a seemingly bottomless pit obscured by massive plumes of rising mist...the roar of the falls is deafening; the force of the raging water is palpable; i have never experienced anything quite like it...the powerful lure of 'Devil's Throat' reaches far and wide; people from all walks of life seem to gather there in droves...i even saw a blind man there (he was facing the wrong direction, but he was there)...if you only visit one waterfall in your lifetime, make sure it's Iguazu; even the most jaded of world travelers (myself included) walk away in awe...it nearly killed us, but we managed to see it all; by the time we made it back into town we were drained of all energy and ambition...tomorrow morning we'll make the five hour trip back to Posadas in preparation for our crossing into Paraguay.
Iguazu Falls...beautiful enough to attract the blind,
lance and Kristin
Puerto Iguazu,Argentina
It's like nothing you've seen...it's like nothing you've heard...Iguazu Falls explodes from the jungle with immeasurable force and fury...simply put, you haven't seen a waterfall until you've seen the falls of Iguazu.
...got up earlier than we wanted to and took a city bus to Iguazu National Park...paid the budget-busting $22.00 entry fee and entered the park...you can hear the roar of the falls long before you catch a glimpse of them...the park consists of three main sets of trails: the lower circuit,the upper circuit and the trail to the famous 'Devil's Throat'...we just couldn't leave without seeing it all, so we walked every bit of the required eight miles (we've got the aching muscles, sunburned skin and a collection of great photographs to prove it)...with superbly maintained trails, bridges and steel catwalks, Iguazu is one of the nicest parks i've had the privilege of visiting...and then there are the unbeatable falls; dozens and dozens of falls(in some areas, the falls are over one mile wide)...we followed the lower circuit for breathtaking views from the base of the falls...the upper circuit is a series of catwalks that gives you the unique opportunity of standing at the edge and looking over...and then there is the infamous 'Devil's Throat'; a watery place where all hell breaks loose...to view 'Devil's Throat', you must follow a kilometer-long catwalk that stretches across much of the Iguazu River...the catwalk dead-ends at the edge of a mighty abyss where the raging river plummets into a seemingly bottomless pit obscured by massive plumes of rising mist...the roar of the falls is deafening; the force of the raging water is palpable; i have never experienced anything quite like it...the powerful lure of 'Devil's Throat' reaches far and wide; people from all walks of life seem to gather there in droves...i even saw a blind man there (he was facing the wrong direction, but he was there)...if you only visit one waterfall in your lifetime, make sure it's Iguazu; even the most jaded of world travelers (myself included) walk away in awe...it nearly killed us, but we managed to see it all; by the time we made it back into town we were drained of all energy and ambition...tomorrow morning we'll make the five hour trip back to Posadas in preparation for our crossing into Paraguay.
Iguazu Falls...beautiful enough to attract the blind,
lance and Kristin
Puerto Iguazu,Argentina
#19
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 24 January 2010 - 07:58 AM
Grandma's Place, part II....
said our goodbyes to the pleasant town of Puerto Iguazu and boarded a bus bound for Posadas...stopped at a military police checkpoint shortly after leaving town...gun-toting soldiers boarded the bus, asked for identification, searched through luggage and did their best to intimidate everyone in their presence...such instances are rare in Argentina; it reminded us of our days in Colombia (where every bus is searched by the boys in green)...twenty minutes of searching turned up nothing; the soldiers eventually tired of the routine and waved us on through...it was a tolerable five hour journey through now-familiar territory; a weak air conditioner and nagging hunger kept us in the all-too-familiar state of 'not quite comfortable'...arrived back in Posadas, caught a city bus to the center and walked three blocks to Grandma's place where her son enthusiastically checked us back into the same room we stayed in before leaving for Iguazu...it felt great to be back at Grandma's house; she won't be awake until tomorrow, but boy, will she be surprised to see us...devoured our first meal of the day at 6:00 p.m. (constant hunger is a big part of Third World travel)...we haven't quite had our fill of sunburned skin and aching muscles, so tomorrow we'll visit the Jesuit Ruins of Santa Ana.
if you're attached to the comforts of home, i recommend you stay there,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
said our goodbyes to the pleasant town of Puerto Iguazu and boarded a bus bound for Posadas...stopped at a military police checkpoint shortly after leaving town...gun-toting soldiers boarded the bus, asked for identification, searched through luggage and did their best to intimidate everyone in their presence...such instances are rare in Argentina; it reminded us of our days in Colombia (where every bus is searched by the boys in green)...twenty minutes of searching turned up nothing; the soldiers eventually tired of the routine and waved us on through...it was a tolerable five hour journey through now-familiar territory; a weak air conditioner and nagging hunger kept us in the all-too-familiar state of 'not quite comfortable'...arrived back in Posadas, caught a city bus to the center and walked three blocks to Grandma's place where her son enthusiastically checked us back into the same room we stayed in before leaving for Iguazu...it felt great to be back at Grandma's house; she won't be awake until tomorrow, but boy, will she be surprised to see us...devoured our first meal of the day at 6:00 p.m. (constant hunger is a big part of Third World travel)...we haven't quite had our fill of sunburned skin and aching muscles, so tomorrow we'll visit the Jesuit Ruins of Santa Ana.
if you're attached to the comforts of home, i recommend you stay there,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
#20
Sacrifist
- Im an E-Athlete
-
Posted 25 January 2010 - 05:30 AM
the ruins of Santa Ana....
It's Sunday again, which means the entire city is shutdown...rather than wandering around in a ghost town, we decided to spend the day visiting the Jesuit ruins of Santa Ana...headed to the terminal and boarded a bus bound for Iguazu; thirty minutes later, the bus dropped us off at the edge of the highway next to a large tea factory (Argentinians are hopelessly addicted to hot tea)...following the signs, we walked along a sweltering,deserted road that ended abruptly at the ruins...as luck would have it, we had the entire place to ourselves...at its peak, the Santa Ana Mission was populated with over seven thousand inhabitants...dominated by an enormous plaza and a once-grand cathedral, it must have been quite beautiful in its day...but the last three hundred years have left their mark; the cathedral is a crumbling shell, the plaza is overgrown and most of the buildings are completely covered with the dense vegetation of the jungle...there is an abandoned cemetery next to the cathedral; like the rest of Santa Ana, it too has fallen on hard times...with toppled tombstones, crumbling vaults and spooky-looking mausoleums, it would be a great place to film a horror movie...most of the mausoleums have had their doors kicked in; there are busted wooden coffins and broken glass everywhere...i couldn't resist looking into a few of the coffins;predictably, most of the bones have long since vanished (skulls always seem to be the first to disappear)...while leaning into an open doorway for a closer look at a shattered coffin, i was attacked by a wasp (i'm fast but he was faster)...for my trouble, i received a painful sting right on my forehead...my desire for a pain-free existence is more powerful than my passion for exploring mausoleums, so we quickly left the graveyard...much to our dismay, the cathedral is currently undergoing a major restoration, so a majority of it was off-limits...other than a few smaller structures, the rest of the site is buried in the jungle...though much less impressive than the ruins of San Ignacio,Santa Ana is definitely worth a visit...walked back to the highway and flagged down a passing bus on its way to Posadas...this will be our last night in Argentina for a while; tomorrow we'll cross into Paraguay, a seldom-visited country with a less than stellar reputation...it's due time we head across the border to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about.
hungry...as usual,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina
It's Sunday again, which means the entire city is shutdown...rather than wandering around in a ghost town, we decided to spend the day visiting the Jesuit ruins of Santa Ana...headed to the terminal and boarded a bus bound for Iguazu; thirty minutes later, the bus dropped us off at the edge of the highway next to a large tea factory (Argentinians are hopelessly addicted to hot tea)...following the signs, we walked along a sweltering,deserted road that ended abruptly at the ruins...as luck would have it, we had the entire place to ourselves...at its peak, the Santa Ana Mission was populated with over seven thousand inhabitants...dominated by an enormous plaza and a once-grand cathedral, it must have been quite beautiful in its day...but the last three hundred years have left their mark; the cathedral is a crumbling shell, the plaza is overgrown and most of the buildings are completely covered with the dense vegetation of the jungle...there is an abandoned cemetery next to the cathedral; like the rest of Santa Ana, it too has fallen on hard times...with toppled tombstones, crumbling vaults and spooky-looking mausoleums, it would be a great place to film a horror movie...most of the mausoleums have had their doors kicked in; there are busted wooden coffins and broken glass everywhere...i couldn't resist looking into a few of the coffins;predictably, most of the bones have long since vanished (skulls always seem to be the first to disappear)...while leaning into an open doorway for a closer look at a shattered coffin, i was attacked by a wasp (i'm fast but he was faster)...for my trouble, i received a painful sting right on my forehead...my desire for a pain-free existence is more powerful than my passion for exploring mausoleums, so we quickly left the graveyard...much to our dismay, the cathedral is currently undergoing a major restoration, so a majority of it was off-limits...other than a few smaller structures, the rest of the site is buried in the jungle...though much less impressive than the ruins of San Ignacio,Santa Ana is definitely worth a visit...walked back to the highway and flagged down a passing bus on its way to Posadas...this will be our last night in Argentina for a while; tomorrow we'll cross into Paraguay, a seldom-visited country with a less than stellar reputation...it's due time we head across the border to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about.
hungry...as usual,
lance and Kristin
Posadas, Argentina