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Published: January 11th 2011
We weren´t sure of our route from Iguazu but after a little debate we thought we would just head to Buenos Aires (BA) early for Christmas so we hoped on another bus south and arrived the next day. After a little difficulty getting across the city (none of the public transport systems seem to be connected or want anything to do with each other) we found our hostel for Christmas. It was set right in the middle of the city in an old colonial building with high ceilings and lots of character so we thought we would be happy there. We settled in an set about exploring the city. BA already seemed less chaotic than a lot of the capital cities we had been to before, especially with its wide avenues and tall old buildings. It is separated into lots of different areas, all with their own character. We wandered around Ricoleta, one of the more upmarket areas with grand parks and buildings. There is a huge cemetary there that is very famous. It´s not your traditional one with lots of grass and gravestones but has alleyways of grand tombs where entire families are placed in the coffins, some deep in
a crypt but others, presumably the patriarch of the family on display behind the doors. Some were very old and many new, with lots of marble and decoration. There is also the tomb of Evita buried there, found by the tourists crowded around it.
Before we entered New Zealand it was necessary for us to apply for our working visas so we thought we would get this done in good time. Unfortunately what we didn´t realise was that once we clicked the apply button we would be required to submit a chest X-ray within 30 days. As we had spent more than 3 months in countries that have TB, i.e. all of South America, it was a requirement for our visa. This then meant that instead of getting the X-rays done in Australia as planned we would have to get them done in Argentina, made difficult by of ever lack of Spanish. Fortunately the hostel were really helpful and two days before Christmas found us a clinic that was authorised. So we trudged down to the clinic and after some paperwork was done we were sent over the road to an X-ray clinic. We sat and waited our turn
and again after some language difficulties (especially concerning how much of our clothing we needed to remove, the nurse not speaking a scrap of English, fortunately we both erred on the side of caution and removed the minimum clothing), we had our X-rays taken and were sent away for a couple of hours for them to be developed. We returned to the clinic and collected the X-rays, all fine of course and with our sealed reports were sent on our way. All fine so far, although a few hundred pesos poorer. We found a post office and after queuing for an eternity asked to post the giant X-ray envelope with DO NOT BEND writted all over it, to the embassy in Auckland. The first problem is that in Argentina, all mail has to go in their special blue and yellow envelope but naturally they didn´t have any large enough. So eventually, hot and bothered we just had to fold the X-rays down the middle and post it, fingers crossed they were acceptable. We met up with friends that night from our Macchu Pichu trek in a great little bar in town and forgot all about it.
The next day
we took a walk round the center. As it was Christmas Eve the city was fairly quiet as in Argentina they celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We visited Casa Rosada and the balcony where Evita ( and Madonna!) made her famous speech. The large house taking up an entire block is a strange pink colour ( hence the name) which apparently is a tribute to the days when they used to paint houses in bulls blood. Nice! After enjoying some time in the square facing the house we walked Florida which is a pedestrianised street where market sellers set up their stalls on the pavement. The stalls stretch the whole way along the street ( about 15 blocks) and they sell everything from clothes to tacky plastic toys. We even passed a few trying to pursuade us to buy leather jacket and fur coat. In 36 degree heat we politely declined. When we reched the end of the street we went into the most elegant shopping mall in BA. In the middle of the mall they have a huge Christmas tree covered in Swarovski crystals. We had a wander round the mall but with shops such as Versace, Tommy and
Gucci we were sadly only wimdow shopping.
As it was Christmas Eve the hostel had arranged a party. The party was free with everyone asked to bring a dish to contribute to the table. The party started at 10pm in typical Argentinian style and the selection of dishes was interesting and from all over the world. The owners provided the best empenadas ( according to Tom) and the drinks were flowing. At midnight we had a countdown and everyone said Merry Christmas. It was a bit like New Year at home. We got given a glass of champagne and champagne sorbet and then everyone started to celebrate. It was nice to be somewhere with local people and exprerience how they do things here.
On Christams Day we woke up and opened the presents that had been sent from home. We even had stockings from Tom´s family so it made it feel like Christmas Day at home. In the afternoon we took the metro to Palermo and spent time in the huge park there. Everything in the city was closed and so it was nice and quiet. We sat for a few hours people watching by the lake before
taking a walk through the Palermo district. That night we had a restuarant booked for dinner down at the dock area. This was to be our first steak and wine in Argentina and so we were quite excited. The meal definately didn´t disappoint. The steaks were huge ( we even got given extra large steak knives) and so tasty and the wine was amazing. After finishing our meal we took a very satistied walk back to the hostel.
Boxing Day was to be our last day in BA and we spent it in San Telmo. On a Sunday they have a huge hippy market along the main street there and its a great place to see tango dancing. We had not had time to see a tango show and so were glad to see some in the streets of San Telmo. The dancers just set up in squares or on street corners and dance while hoards of people stand around watching. It was quite mesmerising watching them. For the rest of the day we spent time having farewell drinks to some friends.
The next morning we boarded our bus to Cordoba thinking how nice it would be that
the journey was ´only´10 hours. How wrong we were. About half way into the journey it suddenly became very hot on the bus. Everyone started to complain and eventually the driver admitted that the air conditioning was broken and we finally stopped at the next station. We were all told to get off the bus and had to sit by the platform until a mechanic turned up. When the mechanic turned up and opened the back of the bus he staretd pulling out piles of broken belts. We can only assume that the air conditioning was struggling so much in the 30+ heat and had finally given up. While he tried to fix it another bus turned up and we were told that we could get on that one if we wanted to which we did. We all piled on the already full bus and again took off for Cordoba. About 10 minutes into the journey it became apparent that the air conditioning on the second bus was also not working so with one open window throughout the whole bus the rest of the journey was very hot and sticky. When we arrived in Cordoba late and dying of heat
exhaustion we were very glad to get off the bus. Having found our hostel and checking in we went for dinner. After dinner we collapsed into bed.
We explored Cordoba the next day and found out to our disappointment that it was not as fantastic as Lonely Planet makes out. Sure it has a square with a nice church and a fountain like most of the towns here but it wasn´t the most impressive so we struggled to find things to occupy ourselves. We spent a couple of days not doing a lot before moving on to Mendoza, where we were to spend New Year, it seemed we were just travelling from one celebration to another!
We had booked our Mendoza hostel long before and it didn´t disappoint with very friendly staff. We had booked a dorm room as it was cheaper than a double at that time of year but was oddly a two person dorm, meaning of course that we shared a bunk bed in a room on our own. Mendoza is known for its wine production and the area produces something like two thirds of Argentinian wine, including its famous Malbec. Much of Mendoza was
closing again for New Year (there´s a bit of a theme running here for Argentina so far) and half the town seemed to be leaving. All the ATMs and money changing banks had queues stretching down the street. We had some trouble finding an ATM with money in it and had begun to worry we wouldn´t get any but we did in the end. We fortunately booked our bus out as soon as we got there as it became apparent that the busy season had begun as we got the last two seats some four days before. So with much of Mendoza closed or closing we spent time walking around the town with its many squares and in particular a huge park with a large lake where people were jogging and some rowing on the lake. For New Year´s Eve our hostel was laying on a party with a black and white theme, fortunately easy for us when you have very few clothes or things with you. The hostel had promised to lay on unlimited cocktails, empanadas and fireworks for the evening so it was likely to be interesting at least. Most of the people staying at the hostel were
there that night so it was brilliant fun meeting everyone and having a good time. Even the torrential rain that began falling about 10 o´clock, as it had done every night in Mendoza, didn´t disrupt the party much. The fireworks still took place on the roof terrace with everyone sheltering under a tiny canopy. I think the fireworks had been bought from one of the many touts who had been hanging around the street corners selling dodgy looking cheap fireworks though as they only managed a quick fizzle before going out. The most exciting bit was when one fell over though as the guy lit it. He jumped behind the umbrella he had been holding as the green and red fireworks began firing straight towards us under our little shelter, about 20 of us, from about 10 foot away. We all tried to duck and avoid them, all hilariously funny of course as we were all several sheets to the wind by that point. Naturally the cheap firework stopped firing at us within 20 seconds anyway. We returned to the dry of the hostel afterwards to enjoy champagne at midnight and everyone as best of friends by this point hugging
and kissing each other.
We spent the next day recovering and didn´t manage anything apart from a stroll around town feeling sorry for ourselves. We occasionally had to dodge out of the way of a firecracker thrown by one of the kids around town though, more like mini sticks of dynamite than the little ones we get at home. Our last day in Mendoza we finally got to do the wine tour by bike that it famous in the area. We headed out of town to the centre of it all, to an area called Maipu. Once there you just head to one of the main two places for hiring bikes, the most famous being Mr Hugo. My Hugo is a bit of a character and we were soon set up with a couple of bikes, a rough map and a bottle of water. With hot sun beating down on us we peddled out of town on fairly busy roads towards the wineries. The first was very posh, with a newly built building where you could see through glass windows to the vats, barrels and bottles. We tried four of their wines, with a good measure of each for
a few pesos. You got to sit out on a beautiful verranda overlooking the vines growing in the field next door. There was none of the pressure to buy any of the wine either once you had tasted it as we have found on previous wine tours nor any of the pretentious guff. We were simply left to our own devices with a tasting card and the great views. We happily went onto our next winery over the road, a little more rustic this time but enjoyed another few glasses of wine. The next one we had chosen was some cycle down the road but by this point we were starting to feel the effects of wine and the sun so the kilometres passed quickly. This last winery was the most commercial but we still got to enjoy several wines, whilst sitting with a group of Argentinians (fortunately the girl explaining it all could speak both Spanish and English). On our way back to Mr Hugos we stopped of at a micro-brewery, rather an oddity in these parts of course. We arrived at a little wooden shack and ordered a couple of pints. There were none of the explanations of
the process or indeed any sign of brewing, but we were given a couple of cloudy but tasty beer and sat in the shade with some Bob Marley playing in the background (why does he seem to follow us around?). Eventually we returned to Mr Hugos and although we were going to leave he pressed another couple of glasses of wine onto us. Very nice of course, and always welcome, but the vinegar he served us in plastic cups was a little bit of an anticlimax after the great wine we had been drinking all day. So a little worse for wear we caught the local bus back to town and boarded our bus to Bariloche, at least we were guaranteed a good night´s sleep this time.
We glimpsed some of the view we were to expect of Bariloche way before we even arrived. Bariloche is located down in the lake district of Argentina, near the Chilean border and almost in Patagonia. It has as it sounds lots of lakes, all surrounded by hills and mountains, the smaller ones covered in dense forests and greenery and the higher ones still with snow on top from the winter. The hostel
that we had booked looked like an Alpine lodge and the atmosphere reminded us of New Zealand and so we knew instantly that we were going to love Bariloche. As we were pretty tired after our night bus we had a relaxing afternoon walking round town and a nice evening at the hostel getting to know fellow travellers.
The next morning Tom had decided that he wanted to do his long talked about paragliding in Bariloche and so attempted to book it. Unfortunately due to weather and a large amount of bookings he had to wait a day and so we decided to do one of the many walks around Bariloche. We walked for about 6 km up to Cerro Otto which is a viewpoint on a hill overlooking the main lake in Bariloche. The track up was a dirt track that wound roudn the hillside giving several viewpoints on the way up of the amazing scenery below. When we arrived at the top the view across the area was stunning. Clear blue lake, snow covered mountains and lush green forrest. Unfortunately the restuarant at the top of the hill charged you to get in ( we thought that
restuarants only charged you if you ordered something but apparently not!) so we did not have the drink that we had planned to have at the top. We sat on a rock outside having our picnic lunch before starting our walk down. On the way down we took a different roite that took us straight down the hill via a dirt track. It took us through the forest until we met the road and then walked along the lake back to town. When we arrived back at the hostel we collapsed into a sofa. That night we had arranged to meet some people for dinner so at 10pm ( dinner time, not bed time, in Argentina) we headed to a highly recommended steak house. So highly recommended that when we got there there was a huge queue and we had to give our names to the woman and go back an hour later when there was a free table. If you were vegetarian it would have been advisable not to step foot in the place. The menus and chairs were covered in cow hide and the meat was laid out on a huge table in front of the massive BBQ
in preparation for being cooked to order. When we did finally get our dinner it was the biggest steak w ehave ever seen. One portion could have fed a small army and the side orders were ridiculously huge. The steak was the best that we have tasted and cooked perfectly. At 1am we all waddled out of the restuarant full of meat and vowing that we would not eat meat for a week.
The next day was a bit wasted with us having to hang around for a phone call letting Tom know if he could do his paragliding. At 12.30 they called to say that the wind was too high and that they would have to wait and see if it changed. We hung around until about 3pm and he then decided to cancel it and try to do it in NZ. We didn´t want to waste another day not out enjoying the amazing scenery.
Over dinner at the steak house we had arranged with the people we had met that we would all hire a car and do the ´Seven Lakes´road trip. So, at 9am the next morning our hire car was delivered and we set
off for what we heard was one of the best things to see around Bariloche. The drive took us along some pretty terrible roads up to San Martin de Los Andes but the terrible road was definately made up for by the amazing scenery. We stopped literally every 10 minutes. There was of course some amazing lakes, deep blue in colour and all surrounded by densely forested hills. We took a different road back which although didn´t have many lakes there were loads of spectacular rock formations. The road on the way back was much worse that on the way and I (Tom) was driving for this section. A couple of times the front of the little car that was pretty low to the ground with five of us in it would clatter against rocks. At one point there was a sign that I understood said caution but couldn´t understand the rest. As we rounded the corner there was a wash-out crossing the road and I was convinced that the bumper could have been ripped off, but no it was fine. We were in rather a rush as it was beginning to get dark (although in Bariloche the sun didn´t
set until about 9.30 at night). We rounded one corner when out stepped a huge brown and white bull onto the road. I quickly managed to stop in good time some distance from the bull. There were no other cows to be seen and the bull simply stared at us indifferently. Afraid we would startle it I kept back and thinking it would just carry on across the road. The bull had other ideas and began to very slowly meander up the road away from us. The road was barely wider than single track so we had no option but just to slowly follow it. Eventually it pulled over, allowing us to pass and avoid a bull shaped dent in the bonnet. We got back late to town that night, about 10.30 after driving for about 12 hours, but we felt we couldn´t stop there and all five of us headed out for drinks and food. Around 4 o´clock that night and it still feeling early (they do things late here) we finally got to bed.
The following day we wanted to go for a bike ride that seems to be on the must do list for Bariloche. There
is a circuit that goes through one of the national parks, the famous bit being about 24kms. We hired some bikes and headed out down the road. We had been warned that the cycle was tough but fortunately the bikes were well maintained for a change so we were looking forward to it. The road wound round the hills and if you weren´t going up you were going down, there wasn´t much flat. We passed through forests, stopping at a ´hidden lake´ that was so hidden that it was over-run with local kids. One particularly steep hill was a little too much for Kat when, struggling to keep the bike in a straight line at slow speed in the lowest gear in slow motion she fell sideways, landing in a bush. A few tears later and scaring a passing cyclist she picked herself up, fortunately none the worse except for a few twigs stuck in her hair. Fortunately as our energy was leaving us there was a micro-brewery hidden in the trees that we had been told to look out for. Suitably refreshed with some nice local brews we took off again up the hill. The view once we had
finally reached the top of the hill with burning legs is one of the most spectacular we had seen with amazing views over the lakes and mountains, postcard worthy.
We spent our last night in Bariloche with good friends we had made watching the sun go down over the lake at a bar drinking more micro-brews, perfect. The next day we had to leave but we had at booked a ´full cama´bus which basically has seats that go almost flat like a bed. The food too was great, we even got wine with our dinner so we slept pretty well that night arriving in BA the next day.
Next stop Melbourne!
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Marcus
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Looking Good!
Hey my Amazon friends! Great to read your blog...incredible to think you´ve travelled so far! Me, I´m in the North East of Brasil, ensconsed in my apartment, enjoying myself as ever... The boat to Belem was different; and I got into trouble with a girl from Rio who had a tatoo on her back and her own cabin; and I also had a wee bit of excitement with that girl from reception in the hostel in Manaus; who turned out tobe crazy & told me she was going to kill herself!!! Seems like Brasilś the country for me! I also met a drunken girl one evening in Sao Luiz whoś invited me to the carnival in march, and I´ve got mixed up with a girl who I met in a church who comes to my apartment everyday and I eat lunch with her mum...sheś 45 I slept with her twice & don´t want a relationship with her but she does & the girl I met here 3 years ogo got married but still wants tocome and see me in secret; so all in all my life´s in complete chaos!!!