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Published: July 31st 2008
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Ross:
OK. Been a bit lax on the old blog updating recently so here goes...
After the excitement of the waterfalls we decided to calm things down a bit by enrolling on the Iguazu Extreme excursion. After postponing it for 24 hours due to an episode which I´ve attributed to dodgy chicken (although it could´ve been the cow's intestine the night before...) we jumped in the transfer taxi to the start location. The excursion involved a short trek through the jungle with brief demonstrations of the traps employed by indeginous tribes, followed by a rock climb, a couple of zip-lines and an abseil. The tour finished with a boat ride down the River Iguazu to it´s confluence with the River Parana, the point at which the Brazilian, Argentinian and Paraguayian borders meet.
Saturday we decided to hop countries again, back into Brazil, for a trip to the Itaipu Hydroelectric Powerstation (the largest in the world in terms of electrical output). The organised excursions were all demanding silly money so we opted for the DIY option, again stopping at both borders for exit and entry stamps and papers. Annoyingly, the public buses don´t wait at the Brazilian border so
we trekked to the main road to flag down another one.
After a hearty, cheap lunch at a self-service per kilo restaurant on Foz do Iguazu we bussed it to the dam visitor centre. We opted for a short panoramic tour which provided us with a close up of the dam structure, spillways and reservoir. We crossed the dam to the Paraguayian side though the area the dam is built on is designated as no-man's land so technically we can't tick Paraguay of the list. The dam is jointly owned by Brazil and Paraguay and spans the River Parana. The electicity generated is split 50:50 between the two countries and satisfies 95% of Paraguay's electrical demand and a quarter of Brazil's. Enough of the numbers...
Over the past few days we'd been toying with the idea of ditching our Sao Paulo - Buenos Aires flights and jumping on a bus instead. Puerto Iguazu is about 17 hours from Buenos Aires and the buses on the Argentine side are reputed to be a cut above the Brazilian ones. Seeing as a similar length bus trip back to Sao Paulo would've been necessary to catch the flight we duly cancelled
Ross tackling the tricky bit
(I pussed out and went round the side) it (after some lengthy discussions with both BA and Quantas) and bought our bus tickets. We had heard a fair bit about the different service levels available so opted for 'Cama Total' - fully-reclining seats, all meals and free drinky-poos (including bubbly!). How could we refuse for only 7.50GBP over the basic service...
We caught the bus at 2:30pm on Sunday and arrived in Buenos Aires (after numerous stop-searches with sniffer dogs at police checkpoints along the way) at 7am on Monday morning. Despite the bed-style seats our choice of location was poor (top floor at the back) resulting in Pol developing travel sickness and both of us having a generally restless night. Still, at least we didn´t have to go to work (sorry).
Aiming for the first hostel on our list via tube (which ended up being a bus due to Pol's sharp eyesight and my inability to find the tube station) from the main bus terminal, we got our first few glimpses of our host city for the next 10 days. On the surface Buenos Aires looks very much like a European city - wide tree-lined boulevards, stately-looking buildings, small parks and monuments everywhere. The weather
is somewhat overcast and a lot cooler so jackets are a requirement in the evenings. The only difference is the notably higher level of pollution. The main drag consists of two main carraigeways of seven lanes each with two minor side roads running parallel, both with two carraigeways each. As a result the volume (and speed) of traffic running through the Centro & Microcentro areas is collasal.
The first hostel on the list couldn't confirm availability until midday but offered to hold our bags while we traipsed around looking for other options. After seeing about 7 or 8 hostels we settled on Hostel Che Argentina, on the northern edge of a cobbled quarter called San Telmo. The hostel is clean, quiet and cheap (we bargained them down to about 4.50GBP per person per night for a seven night stay including breakfast) and we're currently in a 4-bed dorm with two guys from Barcelona (though they're off up north tonight). We're hopping rooms tomorrow due to an existing booking but this is no bad thing as we seem to have an infestation of woodworm within the bed slats which make a constant low-level scratching noise. Wierd?! I´m on the top
bunk so let's hope they don't eat too much of the bed otherwise Pol might be a little flatter in the morning!
We had a good old march around Centro today, clocking up about 4 miles or so. Navigation is easy as the streets are all laid out in blocks. The cost of living is noticably higher than up north but hopefully our accommodation cost will help to offset that. Having said that lunch for two today (Canneloni and Steak Milanese with a bottle of mineral water) set us back a whopping 3.50GBP so not exactly breaking the bank...
Possibly heading out to Buenos Aires' biggest Drum and Bass night (+160 @ Bahrein) tonight if we stay awake long enough, otherwise it'll be next Tuesday. Currently also trying to source some Spanish lessons as they're dirt cheap here as well as a good old bike tour around the city soon so watch this space...
MEAT NEWSFLASH:
Went for a proper late-night steak last night to a parilla recommended by Time Out, called La Brigada. None of this touristy BBQ at the table rubbish. Meat like we've never eaten before! It´s true what they say about being
able to cut it with a spoon! I went for the sirlion, a choice cut the size of a child's forearm, whilst Polly settled for the rib eye, an outstanding chunk of meat, accompanied by a peppercorn sauce, crunchy garlic and herb patatas fritas and a simple rocket and parmesan salad! Tasty!
Needless to say, we didn't make it out to the aforementioned nightclub...
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