Buenos Aries, Argentina
 |
| Plaza De Mayo |
 |
| Statue of Christopher Columbus |
 |
| Government House |
After a vary hot day, this evening if quite pleasant however.... I walked a few kilometers over to the Avenida de Mayo and the Plaza de Mayo area. There are a lot of very impressive old and large buildings here - mostly related to government. There was an interesting spray painting on one of these buildings (that appeared to be undergoing an extensive renovation) questioning the expense when the people didn't have any money... It struck me because I had been noticing the general decay of everything (buildings, streets, buses, subway, sidewalks) up to this point and then these beautiful buildings... It took me a while to orient myself today; not being fully conversant with the southern hemisphere for a while, I found I kept going in exactly the opposite direction to what I wanted - perhaps due to the odd placement of the sun...anyway I sorted it out and now if I think I ought to go in a particular direction, I turn 180 degrees and go that way instead! Easy-peasy! Now if only learning Spanish could be that easy!
 |
| Shopping on a quiet day |
I got a bit better at realizing the sun is in the wrong place, and so I made less wrong turns today. Today was a holiday for the working people, and as a result, the streets were fairly quiet which made walking around easier, and it was somewhat cloudy which kept the temperature down a bit (although the humidity is still huge) but I realized these things too late and unfortunately I didn't take proper advantage. I did come across a shopping street, or mall, in the financial district which is where a few of the people were hanging out....
 |
| Docklands area |
 |
| large Eco park at edge of town |
Next day (being noon on a working day) I needed a bank and thus happened to be back in the same area, so I found the same street just so I could compare.... I didn't do an exact count, but I'm petty sure nearly all 15 million of the population was there! Well, all I could say was "Wow!"....or maybe "Yikes!" ...or probably, "Get me out of here!". And that is exactly what I did. A subway station magically appeared in front of me and it just happened to be the line that went in the direction I wanted, so off I went.... The weather forecast said it was to be hot today so some of the people where I am staying were off to the pool, but I thought I'd find some big trees and parks and so I was off to Recoleta, which is one of the old upper class neighborhoods and of course has the famous Recoleta Cemetery.
 |
If they ar not designated
as historical, private plots can be sold and so you get
a bit of new mixed with the old |
If you've been paying attention, you would recognize Recoleta Cemetery as a place to visit with KC ( thanks to Beaner) and as such, was on my 'must do' list. It's a little odd, but I've been agitated for days and for a little while as I sat on the steps of somebody's mausoleum and had my lunch, I felt a little bit of calm. This is where the rich and famous are buried including María Eva Duarte de Perón. Some of these tombs are the size of small churches (as can be seen from outside the fence).
 |
Eva Perón's tomb is
always popular |
 |
| Statue for Evita Peron |
Just East and North of this are a number of parks and monuments and 'sight seeing stuff', so I went for a stroll. After I had gone through about the tenth park, I was thinking to myself "This is nice, but it would be more relaxing if there weren't busy streets on every side making a huge amount of traffic noise". Guess what? Just then I walked into Plaza Holanda. For a moment I could imagine I was back in Spain. It was fabulous, with a rose garden and other gardens of different flowers, a lake and best of all, quiet! (relatively)!
 |
| Plaza Holanda |
 |
| a very popular pastime in the parks |
 |
| Plaza Holanda |
 |
with all these sights to see, even
the locals occasionally run off the
streets and crash into trees... |
I previously implied that the subway was needing attention, but that seems to be because I was taking the purple "Line E' which appears to use the oldest cars and may also have the oldest stations. The other lines I've been on are much less 'rickitty' and the stations are much neater. ...and, although I just found this, it is an excellent street map and map of the Subte (subway) in BA... http://mapa2.buenosaires.gob.ar/ ...unfortunately things like park names and other 'touristy' sights haven't been incorporated.
-Section; 310km -Trip total; 19294km
Rosario, Argentina
 |
| one of the central plazas |
I decided I had had enough of Buenos Aries and decided to
go
somewhere smaller and quieter... what I didn't know at the time is
that
this is a very popular weekend place for people from BA...and this
is a
weekend. On the drive into town I was beginning to wonder if I had
made a
mistake, as it was looking a lot like a slum, but things gradually
got better
and in the middle of town it is quite nice. There are a number of
parks, a main boulevard walk, a shopping area and the Parana River which
has a park along much of it and even a couple of beaches.
 |
| National Flag Memorial |
 |
| Flag Memorial |
 |
| War Heroes Falklands Memorial |
 |
On the weekend, everyone goes to
the park and on a hot day all the
shady spots are well used |
 |
| Parque de la Indepencia |
 |
building techniques are
always interesting |
I decided to do a little reading up on where I am and was amazed
to find Rosario is Argentina's 3rd largest city with over a million
people... I wonder if that includes the people in the corrugated tin
shacks at the edge of town? On a side note, on thing that has amazed me
thus far is the cost of living. In the cities, real estate prices are
similar to any major North American city, as well as the groceries and
other city life necessities, so it makes one wonder how these people in
the hovels manage to survive...and there are a lot of them about in
Buenos Aries also, living in parks, under the overpasses, even some
between the stone columns at the front of a public building in Plaza de
Mayo.
 |
| Waterfront promenade and park |
 |
It is said that the Argentinians like
their food, but this is ridiculous! It was
supposed to be just a sandwich... but
it was more like 4 large cheese burgers! |
Coming to Rosario was the right thing to do for me as it is much less hectic and of course only one tenth the people. I found a hostel with a nice
garden and a fairly international clientele so I am able to have
conversations, relax and study. I am staying fairly close to the central
part of town which is convenient as most things can be accessed by
walking. Rosario central has a nice character with the parks, shopping
streets and boulevards. Along one boulevard signs have been erected showing some of the original historical buildings in an attempt to preserve some history even though many buildings no longer
exist. There is also the parks and promenade all along the river, much
of which used to be a shipping port. The river is, of course, the
Parana, and large container ships are still able to navigate this
channel for another 20 or so kilometers up river from here where there
is a very large port. Small passenger ferries take you to the other
shore where there are more beaches. This is really just a main channel,
and the other shore is actually just the first island of the river delta that is 60km wide here.
 |
| Garden at the hostel |
 |
lots of monuments
and fountains |
 |
| Beach on the island across the river |
 |
| Island ferry |
I keep wanting to go and do things and have to continually remind
myself that that is not my primary purpose here, but, I have decided to
allow myself one excursion in each place, so the other day I took a
kayak tour of the river and was given some tips from a member of the
Argentine national team. I think that was worth the price right there.
I put my studying to practical use and went to the bus station to
arrange my next journey to Puerto Iguazu. I was successful (I think) in
that the price I paid was only 2/3 of the price I found online. I guess
I will know exactly how successful I was when I arrive. ;)
-Section; 401km -Trip total; 19695km
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
 |
| one of the upper falls |
 |
Bus supper - mini pizza, mini sandwich
bun, cookie, mayonnaise &
huge piece of fried chicken |
I arrived! I was traveling with a company called Rio Uruguay and when
I bought the 'semi-cama' ticket and it only cost $500 instead of the
$760 online price I was not surprised when I was told there was no food
and drink and it would take 20 hours. In fact I got dinner and
coffee/water/pop and it only took 18.5 hours (which was the 'express'
time)! I was seriously impressed.
And to top it off, the time went by
rather quickly - I guess I must have slept for some of it, probably
thanks to the semi-cama seat. I recently took a trip with Greyhound for
similar $ which was about 1/2 the distance, had no 45° reclining seat
and no food or drink (or stewardess) -- I think they could learn a thing
or two from the bus system here. ....oh, by the way, those are
|Argentine $ quoted and that is the expensive foreigner price.
 |
I told you...people everywhere!
(and taking pictures of ....?) |
 |
Devils Throat
-the boats give some perspective |
So, being that I arrived at 9:30 in the morning, I stashed my luggage
at the hostel and went to Iguazu Falls a day early. Oi! Busy! ...'cause
of course, it is a long weekend (Carnival) ...yes I know I am not
really in the right place for Carnival, but by the time I found this
out, plans had been made. There was a small parade here and there is
stuff on TV from other places if I want to view.... but, back to the
falls.
 |
Today the spray from the falls
just sat in the valley ( which
made for great rainbows) |
This is another place that you astute ones will recognize...and
hence a must visit.
 |
| At first everything is serene |
 |
| ....and then you see this |
 |
looks like a snake, but
just more people |
I think everything that can be said about this place
has already been written by others so I won't bother with stats and how
it compares with the other top 3 waterfalls in the world. While I was
there, I was thinking it seemed to be very commercialized, but in
retrospect it was probably just the long weekend crowds, and is in
reality still somewhat under exploited.
 |
| ...and finally this! |
From Puerto Iguazu bus station, take the bus to the park which is about 20km out of town.
 |
| rainbows are everywhere |
Once you arrive at the falls park a
small gauge train (think Disneyland) takes you to various points around the falls where systems
of paved trails and catwalks have been constructed to allow visitors a safe front row view. These trails form roughly 3.5 circuits, of which I was able to do 2.7 (...it was hard to fight through the hoards of people and it takes time to compose over 200 pictures...) :) ...and it was hot!
These trails and catwalks are very well placed and make it significantly
easier to get very excellent views without getting wet or risking
falling off a cliff. Overall, I was impressed - the falls are really everything they are made out to be and, unfortunately, pictures just can't capture the grandeur. :(
 |
Argentine marker
with Brazil marker
in the distance |
Puerto Iguazu is located at the junction of the Parana and Iguazu rivers which form the borders between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Each country has erected a Flag Memorial at the junction to commemorate this tri-border.
I don't know if it is just the long weekend, or just that it is a very
nice evening, but it is really busy this evening in the central area of
town - several markets are running and all the restaurant patios are
quite full, and of course the parks and plazas are stuffed as well. One
of these markets was quite different from what I have seen previously in
that there were enormous amounts of olives, sausages, cheeses and wine
for sale. I am always curious how people decide which vendor to buy from
when there are 20 or so all selling the same things. Evenings are
interesting - lots of communal socializing going on. Any lit park or
plaza (or if those don't exist, then a park-like open space like a
highway intersection) seems to be eligible, in that people drive there with their trunk full of lawn chairs and coolers full of gigantic jugs of juice and wine and snacks and sit and socialize till early in the morning.
I booked another long distance bus ride for tomorrow; una diez hora viaje a Resistencia, seguido una doce hora viaje a Salta. Allí, escribo poco españoles!
--Section;1474km -Trip total; 21174km
Salta, Argentina
24
hours on the bus(es), which once again passed rather quickly. I knew I
had to change buses at the half-way point in Resistancia, but when we
got to Posada, all of the passengers that were traveling through were asked to move onto another bus. This wasn't really an
issue (once it was established that it was in-fact going to Reistancia),
except the new bus was already half full and thus our seat assignments
were no longer valid. Not knowing what the rules are, I just picked a
new seat...which was a good thing as I was now on the non-sunny side of
the bus.
The part where I began to get nervous is when we stopped about
15 times over the next 50 kms to pick up new roadside passengers until
people were standing in the isle, and then, as luck would have it, we
had to stop for a security check and by this time I was sure we weren't
going to be getting to Resistancia in time to connect with my next bus.
In my best Spanish, I asked the conductor/steward what time we would
arrive and he returned a look of incomprehension, so I just handed him
my next ticket. He assured me we would be there a half hour before my
connection. ...I didn't believe him. I tried not to think about it and
studied my Spanish notes instead.
As it turned out, we arrived 45 minutes late, but still 15 minutes before my connecting bus arrived, and in
a way, this was also a good thing, as it is so much nicer to sit in a
reclined, padded seat with air conditioning rather than standing around
on a crowded bus platform in the
sweltering heat.
I
arrived in Salta at 8am and spent the next couple of hours wandering
around town checking out the various hostels that I had short-listed
before eventually finding one that I liked and that was in budget. It is
one of the most expensive so far at AR$75 a night, but that equates to
$15 which sounds way better! Most of the trip from Iguazu was across
flat plains and reminiscent of the central plains of USA/Canada, but
just before Salta the hills began to grow.
Salta itself seems to be a
rather nice colonial city with a fair bit of history still intact, and
walking around, I actually found I was rather relaxed today. Once again,
I chose a place to stay that is fairly close to the town center and bus
station, so it is quite busy, but it is also the most picturesque part
of town with all the parks, plazas and historical buildings. The city is
by no means clean, but it is in somewhat better repair than Buenos
Aries and Rosario were, which also gives the perception of being
cleaner.
--Section;1528km -Trip total; 22752km
Road trip to wine country on the Cuesta del Obispo
As will happen in hostels, there is a tendency to meet people who often
have similar interests and this is how I ended up joining up with two
others and taking a road trip southwest of Salta. The plan was to visit a few small
towns over the mountains in a region that is beginning to be known for
its quality wines.
 |
| Looking up at the cliffs |
The distances were not far, but we knew the roads
were not all paved and may not be in perfect shape, so we planned for
two days. As expected, the drive slowed down substantially after leaving
the main highway and beginning westward. The road west soon enters a
valley and for a short distance travels through a tropical rain forest
before it slowly begins to climb and get increasingly 'curvy' as it
works its way around the rather steep and sharp terrain.
 |
| Looking across at the cliffs |
 |
| It looks like there are several, but it is only one road |
After
climbing slowly away from the river for several kilometers, the road
then begins to climb in earnest and the twists, turns and switchbacks
become more frequent. Soon the road is level with the cliffs I
had earlier been looking up at, and the road was still climbing as it went further up the valley. A while later we appeared to have reached the end of the valley, and looking back I could see we were now well
above the earlier cliffs.
 |
| Looking down on the cliffs |
There was no pass in sight, but we could make
out the road snaking and switchbacking up the mountain face at the end
of the valley and into the clouds. Up we went. First and second gear
were all that were required.
After what seemed a few thousand twists, turns and
switchbacks along with many stops for pictures and sightseeing, we
eventually reached what appeared to be the top. It wasn't. The view was
amazing as we looked over many of the mountains and back down the valley with the road snaking is way below us.
Shortly we did reach the pass, which wasn't really a
pass, as we were virtually at the top of the mountain. The mountain also
wasn't really a mountain, but rather a high plains plateau which
gradually descends into the next valley and the towns where we were
headed.
 |
| Cuesta del Obispo |
At the summit (elevation is 3180m), we had traveled about 50 km
and it had taken about three hours; the last section was 21km by road
and 6km in a straight line, with a 1200m elevation gain.
I know that everything in the desert has developed protection - usually in the way of thorns, but why would a cacti develop a 14" spike?!
 |
| ...and on the other side, the road is.... |
The landscape
on the plateau and beyond is full on desert with forests of cacti, red rock bluffs, sand, rock and even the occasional lama. There
were quite a few more human residents than I was expecting through this
region.
Looking across the plains to the west, the Andes are clearly visible, with many snow topped peaks rising to over 6000 meters.
 |
| Ruta 40 |
Descending to the valley (to about 2100m) brought us to the famous Ruta 40, the road that runs the lengh of Argentina along the foot of the Andes. Travelling along Ruta 40, brought us to Cachi,
the first major town and one that has several wineries.
The area here is
very reminiscent to me of the Okanagan Valley and because of the high
elevation with hot days, cool nights and lots of hot sunshine is
starting to attract more wineries and vineyards. (It is apparently
beginning to threaten the famous Mendoza wine region so much that I
heard an official of Mendoza made a law that only Mendozan wines could
be served in Mendoza.)
One winery we visited had released their first years production of 9000 bottles, so of course buying one was a must - like a limited edition painting, except that you drink it!.
Much of the time Ruta 40 is narrow, winding and dirt or gravel, so travel is slow but
distances are not too long. The towns in the area are quite similar in their
rural colonial look and feel with lots of colonial architecture, central
plazas, churches and the majority buildings being constructed of mud
bricks. Tourism is picking up in the area and many of the towns are doing a fair bit of work to rejuvenate their central colonial areas.
--Section;356km -Trip total; 23108km
Back in Salta, I took in a little culture and visited a bar/restaurant that encourages musicians to bring their instruments and play at their table. The building is an old mill, built in the colonial style of rooms surrounding a central courtyard. All the rooms open to the courtyard and each other, and most of the rooms had at least one group of singers/musicians entertaining all the other customers. There was music everywhere!
Next a one day side trip to Tilcara, a small town a couple of hours north of Salta and then on to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to get a bit acclimatized for the 4500 m elevations on the way to the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats of southern Bolivia).
After a vary hot day, this evening if quite pleasant however.... I walked a few kilometers over to the Avenida de Mayo and the Plaza de Mayo area. There are a lot of very impressive old and large buildings here - mostly related to government. There was an interesting spray painting on one of these buildings (that appeared to be undergoing an extensive renovation) questioning the expense when the people didn't have any money... It struck me because I had been noticing the general decay of everything (buildings, streets, buses, subway, sidewalks) up to this point and then these beautiful buildings... It took me a while to orient myself today; not being fully conversant with the southern hemisphere for a while, I found I kept going in exactly the opposite direction to what I wanted - perhaps due to the odd placement of the sun...anyway I sorted it out and now if I think I ought to go in a particular direction, I turn 180 degrees and go that way instead! Easy-peasy! Now if only learning Spanish could be that easy!
I got a bit better at realizing the sun is in the wrong place, and so I made less wrong turns today. Today was a holiday for the working people, and as a result, the streets were fairly quiet which made walking around easier, and it was somewhat cloudy which kept the temperature down a bit (although the humidity is still huge) but I realized these things too late and unfortunately I didn't take proper advantage. I did come across a shopping street, or mall, in the financial district which is where a few of the people were hanging out.... 
If you've been paying attention, you would recognize Recoleta Cemetery as a place to visit with KC ( thanks to Beaner) and as such, was on my 'must do' list. It's a little odd, but I've been agitated for days and for a little while as I sat on the steps of somebody's mausoleum and had my lunch, I felt a little bit of calm. This is where the rich and famous are buried including María Eva Duarte de Perón. Some of these tombs are the size of small churches (as can be seen from outside the fence).
24
hours on the bus(es), which once again passed rather quickly. I knew I
had to change buses at the half-way point in Resistancia, but when we
got to Posada, all of the passengers that were traveling through were asked to move onto another bus. This wasn't really an
issue (once it was established that it was in-fact going to Reistancia),
except the new bus was already half full and thus our seat assignments
were no longer valid. Not knowing what the rules are, I just picked a
new seat...which was a good thing as I was now on the non-sunny side of
the bus.
In my best Spanish, I asked the conductor/steward what time we would
arrive and he returned a look of incomprehension, so I just handed him
my next ticket. He assured me we would be there a half hour before my
connection. ...I didn't believe him. I tried not to think about it and
studied my Spanish notes instead.
I
arrived in Salta at 8am and spent the next couple of hours wandering
around town checking out the various hostels that I had short-listed
before eventually finding one that I liked and that was in budget. It is
one of the most expensive so far at AR$75 a night, but that equates to
$15 which sounds way better! Most of the trip from Iguazu was across
flat plains and reminiscent of the central plains of USA/Canada, but
just before Salta the hills began to grow.
Salta itself seems to be a
rather nice colonial city with a fair bit of history still intact, and
walking around, I actually found I was rather relaxed today. Once again,
I chose a place to stay that is fairly close to the town center and bus
station, so it is quite busy, but it is also the most picturesque part
of town with all the parks, plazas and historical buildings. The city is
by no means clean, but it is in somewhat better repair than Buenos
Aries and Rosario were, which also gives the perception of being
cleaner.
The distances were not far, but we knew the roads
were not all paved and may not be in perfect shape, so we planned for
two days. As expected, the drive slowed down substantially after leaving
the main highway and beginning westward. The road west soon enters a
valley and for a short distance travels through a tropical rain forest
before it slowly begins to climb and get increasingly 'curvy' as it
works its way around the rather steep and sharp terrain.
Looking across the plains to the west, the Andes are clearly visible, with many snow topped peaks rising to over 6000 meters.
The area here is
very reminiscent to me of the Okanagan Valley and because of the high
elevation with hot days, cool nights and lots of hot sunshine is
starting to attract more wineries and vineyards. (It is apparently
beginning to threaten the famous Mendoza wine region so much that I
heard an official of Mendoza made a law that only Mendozan wines could
be served in Mendoza.)
One winery we visited had released their first years production of 9000 bottles, so of course buying one was a must - like a limited edition painting, except that you drink it!.
Much of the time Ruta 40 is narrow, winding and dirt or gravel, so travel is slow but
distances are not too long. The towns in the area are quite similar in their
rural colonial look and feel with lots of colonial architecture, central
plazas, churches and the majority buildings being constructed of mud
bricks. Tourism is picking up in the area and many of the towns are doing a fair bit of work to rejuvenate their central colonial areas.
At the summit (elevation is 3180m), we had traveled about 50 km
and it had taken about three hours; the last section was 21km by road
and 6km in a straight line, with a 1200m elevation gain.
Back in Salta, I took in a little culture and visited a bar/restaurant that encourages musicians to bring their instruments and play at their table. The building is an old mill, built in the colonial style of rooms surrounding a central courtyard. All the rooms open to the courtyard and each other, and most of the rooms had at least one group of singers/musicians entertaining all the other customers. There was music everywhere!
