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Published: March 17th 2005
Breakfast in San Telmo
My last meal in San Telmo before heading to Puerto Iguacu.In the end, it came with a rush. I was off to the airport, all those months of happy list-making were over and I had to face the reality of actually going. My control-freak personality had taken perverse pleasure in those little black and white security blankets and one of them even managed to make it onto the plane with me! As I laughed at myself and took a photo of the Last List, the Peruvian family next to me became curious and we began a conversation which would ramble on for the whole flight. By the end of it, they were trying to adopt me and gave me a long list of attractions in their home town complete with the address of the family home, should I get in trouble. Amazing. They were incredibly warm and were full of advice and warnings about their country.
To my left was Pablo, my Chilean flying buddy who had just said goodbye to his Australian girlfriend with little hope of returning. I had tried out some Spanish on him and asked if he was sick (partly because he was sniffing but mostly because I knew how to say it). Turns out he
Bootcamp
Buenos Aires or Bootcamp? An enthusiastic haircut. was crying, so I spent the flight taking his mind off it, and we ended up sitting in the quiet dark somewhere over Chile laughing uncontrollably at the in-flight movie.
My introduction to the South American people was very cool and it was a great introduction to the warm nature of the people.
Suddenly I was squinting in the bright light outside Buenos Aires International Airport. They really shoot you through customs and I was surprised at how quickly I was awash in a sea of staring Argentinean guys in untucked shirts. I grabbed a registered cab and gave him the directions as casually as possible.
My introduction to set-price cab fares… The driver has nothing to gain by going slow, so it was like I had been teleported to The Nascar Rally. Nose to tail at plus 100.
We had to drive around some sort of demonstration and made our way through the back streets into the bumpy cobblestone streets of San Telmo. My first view of Buenos Aires was a beautiful street in the artistic quarter of town but I was too busy hyperventilating to notice.
Check in. No reservation. No English.
The Last List
This photo set me on the cool path with Pablo and the Peruvians All full. Sorry.
Not the greatest start. I managed to lie convincingly about having made a reservation long ago and how unhappy I was. A bed (several actually) magically appeared.
Turns out that I am lucky that I lie like a rug, all the hostels were full as it was holidays here last week. Good research Alex.
It is safe to say that I was pretty freaked out last week, I was awash in a sea of uncertainty with no Plan B and I always have a Plan B. Luckily, all it took was a chat to a nice Irish girl staying there and a proper walk around the city to realise that it is a great city full of beautiful friendly people.
Since those first moments of panic, everything has just fallen into place. On the second morning I magically met up with Kirstie, an old friend from England. We had been arranging to meet but several mistakes that I made on the way there meant that I was later than intended and managed to walk in the door to the hostel when she was right there in front of me. This was the beginning of a
Doyouthinkhesaurus?
He only looked up at the very last second and I was already running! series of serendipidous events that have followed me around and combined to create a strong feeling of being looked after by a positive karmic bubble. This past week, I have started to accept everything that happens with a shrug and a smile. So far, every seemingly annoying occurrence or delay has resulted in much better path revealing itself. Loving it.
So, after a fun day around town with the English crew and a great night drinking German beer in San Telmo - it was off to Puerto Iguaçu on the night bus (surprising luxury) to the borders of Brazil and Paraguay. It was sad to part company with Kirstie so soon, she and her friends are hilarious and they provided the perfect soft landing. I hope to see her again soon in Bolivia for more beers and laughs.
Iguacu was Amazing. I had seen the pictures and read all about it but I still wasn’t prepared for it, my jaw literally dropped open several times. I spent a day on the Argentinean side and the next in Brazil and was blown away by the spectacle. Two nights had been booked for me at a large resort-style hostel
Lunch with the English
My first real meal since Sydney
Kristen, Jenny, Steve, Me, and Kirstie and I made good use of the massive pool and tiny gym. I was the only guest to use the pool which was surprising considering how humid and sticky it was but I didn´t mind. Had a couple of great sunsets lolling back on the stairs.
This hostel was much bigger and I was soon lunching with the Germans (Mike and Ollie) and having dinner with the Norwegians (B, Ole and Cristina) and then introducing them all to each other over drinks. Good times. I had no idea that Norwegians were so patriotic… they are completely mental. Dinner with them was a classic, as I sat there eating the same amazing steak that I had for lunch, another crappy Eighties song rolled around on the PA and Ole says:
“Ah ha”.
Riiight…
Then B says: “Ah HA!” and they both start dancing on their chairs in a sight that should have embarrassed them but didn´t. Turns out that the song was
Take on Me by the Norwegian group and they were way too excited to be Norwegian for a second.
I made a great connection with B over her rapid fire interrogation about my knowledge of Norway (“You think
Evita
The tomb was boring but I liked this bit. Recoleta Cemetary. it´s part of Sweden DON´T YOU?!”) and by the time we parted company we were firm friends.
So, the parties were fun but the real star were the falls. It is just an incomprehensible amount of water. I had a very cool moment at The Devil´s Throat - the point at which the earth drops away and the Rio Iguaçu plunges into a chasm that is surrounded on all sides by other massive falls as far as the mist allows you to see - and it is here that I nabbed the first stones for my South America Necklace. The perfect spot.
The Devil smiled and I stole his teeth.
Wow… this is long. Impossible to fit one week into one page. I am sitting in Central Buenos Aires after my first Spanish lesson with a private tutor at her home. She is brilliant (a recommendation from Norwegian Cristina) and we had a great belly laugh as I struggled with Spanish Grammar. My head hurts but my heart feels great!
I am staying in the hostel that Kirstie was in. It is like the 90210 of backpacking. Lots of hair gel and posturing. Good fun though, not much
Smite!
I have had an angel with me for every step so far... sleep.
My travel guru Russ told me that I could NOT leave Argentina without learning the card game “Truco” and this was another amazing path to send me down. I had probably my best night so far as the beautiful Mercedes (hostel employee) taught me how to play the very complicated game amongst a haze of cigarette smoke and the warm fog of Quilmes Beer. I laughed so much it hurt. She was very proud of the national game and was an excellent teacher. I got my butt kicked but I am literally counting the minutes until tonight when I can get back in the ring and play with some experience. I have dinner and a tango show tonight with an American girl that I met at the bottom of the falls in Brazil but I am going to race back to the hostel through the madness of St Patricks day to play Truco.
I am lost to Buenos Aires. I can already tell that leaving for La Paz on Sunday is going to be difficult.
On a long walk home from my Spanish Tutor´s district I was just drifting on a stream of yellow and black
Shh...
The art in this place was amazing. Recoleta Cemetary taxi cabs, locutorios, dog walkers, beautiful colonial buildings alongside high-rise slums, shoe shiners, children picking through bins, botoxed women carefully reverse parking their BMWs, police struggling to loosen their bullet-proof vests in the heat, beautiful strutting women cutting a comical path of
staring men, more motorbikes than can be counted, smog, smog smog, demonstrations, banging drums, businessmen kissing each other on the cheek, cars locking up the brakes as they lurch and lunge and gaps in the chaotic traffic, a big shiny bus from another era flying past and sucking all of that… everything…into the warm vacuum above it´s tailgate.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Jealous as hell!!!!
Hey Al! Well I am officially jealous as all hell! Looks like you have already seen some amazing thing and you have only been gone for a week!! Keep the entries coming cause they are a great read! Sounds like you are savouring every moment which is the way to do it! Have fun! Sam - Sam