Buenos Aires

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So the trip began with a hearty farewell at 90 Barriedale. Both me and Dec went our separate ways at new cross gate, the next time we would see each other would be 7000 miles away in Buenos Aires. Im guessing most of you have seen Argentina on a map, well its pretty bloody big in real life too. Everything here seems infinite, the roads, the sky, the rivers and the bus journeys. Im currently making these notes whilst on a bus from Pasadas to Rosario, its like going from a quiet, neighborhood esc city to a bustling hub of nightlife and culture. Norwich to London would be a fair comparison, although our route is a little bit more dramatic than the M11. Me and Dec are looking forward to finding somewhere we can call home for a few days. Now that we have fully settled in and recovered from the our initial journey, I think we can really breath Rosario in. Getting back to things, ill try and record what has been a crazy week or so, amongst all the tiredness and stress, we have both firmly got our traveling heads on.

After fortuitously bumping into each other at B.A airport, without an arranged meeting point or working phones we stumbled onto the infamous number 8 bus and headed for the capital. 4 pesos, two and a half hours and a packet of M&Ms later we arrived at our hostel delirious and excited. We had shared the bus with locals, and an assortment of livestock and dogs, this was definitely how I remembered parts of the continent from 2010. However, once we dropped our bags and wondered round the avenues and streets, we both agreed the place had a distinct resemblance to New York or Madrid. I knew the argentinians saw themselves closer to Europeans than south Americans and it certainly showed, there was a pace to the city that rivaled that of London. Giant video billboards littered Avenue 9 de Julio, similar to that of Times square New York, or stockport plaza.... Over the next three days we soaked up the architecture through free guided tours, saw elaborate family tombs, drank copious amounts of beer and perused boutique markets. All in all we were treated to an incredibly sophisticated and subtle welcome to the continent. B.A Is certainly somewhere I want to dedicate more time to, its enormity and mystique was alluring, and its for those two characteristics that the city felt wonderfully unattainable.

We then boarded a 20 hour bus to Porto De Iguazu, needless to say the falls were the next box to be ticked. After a lazy afternoon in the hostel reading and watching Boca Juniors with some fanatic argentines, we got some rest in wake of the falls the next day. As some of you may have seen via Facebook, and know through your own experience, the falls are breathtaking. Millions of tons of water, with the power to mold the earth to its will, its enough to stop anyone in their tracks through fear or admiration. We managed to get some great photos, alongside having plenty of time to just enjoy the view, something not often said with regard to natural wonders. The place certainly conjured the recurring sense of permanency, a scene that appeared infinite and dramatic. The Falls, and other wonders of such magnitude appear to me to present some sort of origin, or justification to belief in the eternal. Peoples longing for meaning greater than themselves and the impermanence of human life may just take inspiration from such wonders, and the seemly infinite scenes they present. This can certainly be seen in the Animism and Shamanism practiced throughout the Amazon. However, coming back to reality, we then boarded a boat that would take us up close and personal with the falls. Seriously, the best 25 quid ive ever spent, we were wet, cold and without a change of clothes but the horrified look on everyone else's faces was priceless. We were driven within meters of the falls, meters from death, both me and dec were are the front, staring it in the face, all we could do was hysterically laugh. Obviously we all got off the boat in one piece and the adrenaline distracted us from the cold. That night we capped off a a brilliant day with beer pizza and some welcome new faces. Right, that's enough for now. Ill put another one up in a week or so. I will update you with blurry details when im back.



Hope you enjoyed

Hasta Luego

Will (and dec) x x





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