It´s hard to decide where to begin in telling about our adventures yesterday... 1. With the amazing geography we saw? The winding, dusty, and spectacular mountain road we took? 2. With our.... interesting, tour guide? 3. With the great young Argentinian/Norwegian couple who shared the day with us? They were great fun to talk to and introduced us to mate, the national drink. We left at 7:30 am for an all day, two couple, guided tour to Cachi (a small mountain town), with a drive through the mountains to the highest point around, and back down to Cachi. We were lucky [View Full Entry]

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After another long and mostly sleepless night on a bus, we are now in Salta. Bill has named the zombi-like feeling we have "bus-lag". We arrived here this morning at 6:30, in a well-organized bus station...big clean bathrooms (but no toilet paper..the norm) and a great cafe with the best coffee I´ve had yet here. We found a room at the first hotel we checked, and walked around town til it was ready. There are really beautiful buildings here...the town is sophisticated and friendly, but has a calm feeling to it. The weather this morning was cool and the air fresh [View Full Entry]

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Our hotel: The Alexander, across the intersection from the bus station Decent price (180 pesos) includes breakfast Good restaurant is the second on Cordoba on the right that has an open terrace. Great helados on the corner by the Alexander. Family run, makes their own ice cream. Grocery store at the same intersection has good cheese and bread. Buy some for the long bus rides! At the falls: if you take the train, hang around a bit and let the masses move through the walkways before you start out, and you can actually be nearly alone... The boat to San Martin [View Full Entry]

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We had an uneventful 10 hour trip from Iguazu to Corrientes yesterday (We did see some rheas which are like ostriches and endangered...) ...except for noticing for the first time that the guide book explained that Corrientes has one of the biggest Carnavals in Argentina...and that this weekend was during Carnaval....and that hundreds of thousands of people attend.... We did not have a reservation and you can the total number of hotels in town on your fingers.... Well, we found a room in the worst hotel in town...across from the bus station. It was strange place...charged extra for air c [View Full Entry]

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Tons of water passing over countless falls...butterflies of every color...we visited Iguazu Falls yesterday and today! We tried to visit the Brazilian side first, but didn´t play it right and had to go back, since we didn´t have visas ($180, due to US visa requirements for Brazil....thanks to those who in the previous administration that made that happen...) So we returned to Puerto Iguazu and took a bus the Argentine National Park instead. The photos and video tell the rest. This little tourist town of Puerto Iguazu is nice...lots of restaurants and shops...touristy, but still friendl [View Full Entry]

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Nothing like being on the top of a double decker bus, in the front seats, as a wind and rain storms hits and the bus starts blowing around a bit! That´s where we were early this morning on the way between BA and Puerto Iguazu...After a few flying branches hit the front of the bus, we almost switched seats, but by then the worst was over. The bus was good, but not as outstanding as some had described it. Maybe because we´ve taken many lux buses before, we are accustomed to them...this one had a slightly stinky WC beneath us, and [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we went to the race track! Bill had read that it was an beautiful old building...and fun way to spend an afternoon. Lynn was less enthusiastic.... We walked part way and then took a cab with a great driver who explained the sights along the way. We passed the private "Club des Amis" with its swimming pool and grounds, a few museums and many parks. Since it was Sunday, people were out everywhere, bike riding, walking; whole families sleeping in the shade of the giant rubber trees. The track grandstands were beautiful....we sat outside on benches near the finish line. [View Full Entry]

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The restaurants here are many and wonderful....and there is a strong cafe culture too.... We fix an omelet every morning in our room, with toast and coffee. We then stop and have another coffee somewhere a few hours later. Since Italy is a great influence here, the usual is an espresso with milk. Most cafes serve water, a few cookies, or other treat with the coffee, or you pay a bit more and get the mediaslunas, or small croissants that are on every menu. The restaurants often open for dinner around 8:00 pm, but it is easy to find food at [View Full Entry]

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We spent today walking from our hotel in Recoleta to the Recolta Cemetery (where Eva Peron and many other people are buried), and then the street market outside.....then on to the National Museum of Bellas Artes (free and full of works by renown Europeans)....through the "hip" Palermo neighborhood (seemed a little like the Ballard of BA) to the shopping area....and tonight, all the way back! On the way, we found bars that became clothing shops on the weekends, beautiful old homes, graffitti, cold beer, and an inexpensive dinner. We had planned to go out tonight, but everything seems to sta [View Full Entry]

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It´s a bright, warm, and sunny day! We are slowly recovering from jet lag, but took our first malaria pills today, and can feel the effects.... We will stay in BA til Sunday or Monday, and then take the overnight bus to Iguazu Falls (an 18 hour trip) (but there are recling seats so, in theory, we will sleep. The women here are almost all very well dressed, thin, and tanned. Even older women are dressed very fashionably, as are the little kids. Lots of clothing shops everywhere.... Yesterday we ate brunch in a cafe (probably one the more expensive ones [View Full Entry]

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