http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Argentina en-us Wed, 14 May 2008 01:39:21 BST Wed, 14 May 2008 01:39:21 BST After leaving Easter Island several days ago we have been constantly on the move catching planes and buses and living as gypsies on the road. We landed at Santiago in Chile in the evening and headed straight out to catch the airport bus to the omnibus terminal. Here we hoped to transfer to the next overnight bus over the Andes to Mendoza and on... So we hopped onto the bus with precision timing an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tucuman/San-Miguel-de-Tucuman/blog-275841.html Brief IntroIguazu Falls is the latin Niagara Falls or so Ive named it havent actually seen that written any way as its stands alone on impressiveness. The falls are made up of 275 different waterfalls spanning an area 3km wide thought Id throw in a bit of geography as after all this is my fortay. Iguazu Falls borders Argentina Brazil and Paraguay and can be viewed froim all three countrie http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-275656.html During our 8 months of travelling we have experienced many things that have rendered us speachless. I think you will agree that this is odd for a couple like us who seem to never stop talking Almost every country that we have been to so far has had a least one Wow moment. Seeing and experiencing Iguazu Falls has left us utterly lost for words to describe it adequately. Our attempt at doing so i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Iguazu-National-Park/blog-275546.html Saturday was an even earlier start as we headed out to a hilltop Pachamama memorial and then to the HUGE salt flats. There is no road through the salt flats but the idea is to drive around on them wherever you wanthellipthis is where having rented a car and being on my own with a couple other people would have been FUN. The salt flats were pretty similar to those in Utah except much bigger and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Jujuy/Purmamarca/blog-275272.html In case you donrsquot want to read the whole thing herersquos the highlights Intensely precise indigenous flute players Multicolored mountains A night out at a bar in Tilcara Argentina Numerous giant cacti PingPongDrinking games with the bus driver Incredible stars lying next to llamasOk now onto Jujuy Tilcara Humahuaca La Quebrada Los Salares y Purmamarca. If all those names http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Jujuy/Tilcara/blog-275271.html Irsquom back in Buenos Aires after a great weekend in and around Tilcara Jujuy Province in Northwestern Argentina. Besides being overwhelmed with city life I was more than bogged down with schoolwork and ready to get out of the city for a bit. Having never lived in a big city I experience new things every day without exception. Unfortunately I have not been able to write them all down and w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-275270.html Nuestro viaje a la ciudad de San Carlos de Bariloche o simplemente Bariloche ubicada en provincia de Ro Negro Argentina.Es una importante ciudad de turismo invernal en Sudamrica con espectaculares paisajes y la ciudad ms poblada de los Andes Patagnicos. Est ubicada en el Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi en el sudoeste de la provincia de Ro Negro junto a la cordillera de los Andes en la ri http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-275234.html We arrived in Buenos Aires just after midnight and headed for a hostal in the San Telmo area recommended to us by four South African lads we met in Ushuaia. What was ideal for them did not turn out to be ideal for us. We failed to pick up on some subtle clues as we checked in. The hostal was above a bar and all the residents were having a jamming session with bongo drums in the hostal courtyard a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-275228.html Things are winding down but not without a ton of work and play and of course another Argentine Crisis.My 25th BirthdayI turned 25 about a mth ago but I have been slacking on my blog entries so I thought I would start with that. I had a fantastic Birthday thanks to all of my friends especially Jennifer We had a huge American Southern food fest in her house which the Argentines seemed to like. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/La-Plata/blog-275190.html On Sunday April 27 I went a tour to San Telmo with Julieta Liz Bill Sebastian Ravi. We rode the city bus although itrsquos almost close enough to walk from the Tango House. San Telmo is the oldest neighborhood in the city. It was abandoned by the rich residents in the mid 19th century due to an outbreak of Yellow Fever. Many of the old buildings are still standing and have never been http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-275119.html We decided to stay in Buenos Aires for a while to try and improve our Spanish which we were much in need off So we booked ourselves into a Spanish school for a couple of weeks to give it a go... We also rented an apartment near to the school which was great as we could really enjoy a bit of normality again which was a nice for a while. Sometimes it is just nice to stop in a place for a whil http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-274881.html After hours of driving on a dirty road from Cafayate to Cachi I saw a sign Casa de Campo La Paya saying in French that it was the place where Europeans want to stay. An impulse of curiosity pushed me to explore that place even though I didn't necessarily want to end up in a French hangout. I thought that place would be a few kilometres from the turn but the dirt road was being endless. It was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Cachi/blog-274851.html We crossed the Andes during the day to get the best views of both the Chilean and Argentine sides. It was a short bus journey only 8 hours winding our ways up through the Andes to the highest border crossing in the world so it is claimed at 3158 metres. The views were spectacular and the snow capped mountains shone magnificently in the midday sun.Mendoza is famed for its wineries and produces http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-274843.html Thursday Evening there was a tango lesson at the hostel which was fun although im no good at it. Afterwards...at 1am which is fairly early for Buenos Aires we went out to a milonga tango house that the teacher recommended. It wasnt at all touristy in fact there wasnt even a sign letting you know it was there. The group of us mostly tried to fade into the background and just watch because http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-274792.html El Solar del Convento in Salta is fantastic Bubbly on arrival and a massive 220g steak each weve had a fab eveningSell your house and come to Argentina NOW http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Salta/blog-274344.html This morning i went for breakfast cafe con leche y medialunas otherwise known as a latte and croissants at a cute little cafe and then I wandered around San Telemo the area im staying in for a while. Its a cute neiboorhood with lots of art and antique shops and at least one internet cafe on every block which is useful for updating this. I got some empanadas to go for lunch and ate the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-274293.html Tigre is basically a suburb just north of Buenos Aires. It takes over an hour by train because it stops every 30ft or so. It is on the delta of the Rio Parana. We took a boat tour through the delta and had lunch at a restaurant next to the water. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Tigre/blog-274288.html The Cemetario de Recoleta is in Central Buenos Aires. We spent the afternoon wandering around graves and stepping over cats. I took over 200 photographs there so this is just a sample. I heard multiple times before we went that the grave of Eva Peron was not very impressive which is true but the cemetary itself was amazing. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-274286.html Hallo allemaalJa er is eventjes een radiostilte geweest maar ik leef nog hoor Ik speel al een dag of tien met de gedachte dat ik maar weer eens iets op het internet moet plaatsen en tada vandaag is die dag. Net als iedereen die een weblog schrijft heb ook ik de laatste weken natuurlijk weer de meest unieke dingen meegemaakt de mooiste plaatsen op aarde gezien de leukste mensen ontmoet en bl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-274272.html Uspallarta is both the name of a small village and a remote pass between Mendoza and Santiago Chile. Travelling between Santiago and Mendoza was a joy beautiful craggy mountains twisting roads that double back on them selves over and over looping up the mountain.After arriving in Mendoza I headed back to the village spent an afternoon on horseback taking photos when I could convince the be http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Uspallata/blog-274247.html April 23 2008Waking up on a bus is always hard. We travelled for 18 hours through Pantogonia to a town called Rio Gallegos where we hoped to catch a bus to Ushuaia home of tierra del Fuego but found out there is no bus until nine in the morning the next day. We have no choice but to grab a hostel for the night. The town itsef seems pretty laid back and it is pretty small. The main thing t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-274001.html Of course the people make the experience. That was especially true in Buenos Aires. We stayed at the Che Lagarto Hostel two blocks from Avenida 9 de Julio. We planned on staying four days and ended up staying ten. We hung out with people from all over the world and had a blast. We were even invited to a true family asado BBQ at Natalia and Florencias home. I would have to say that so far http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-273999.html The plane ride was really long and uneventful. I took the bus into the city its not short it took over 2 and a half hours. But i like trying to figure my way around public transportation systems in languages i dont understand. The plus side of taking the bus is that i got to see pretty much the entire city and figure out how to use the bus system. First i had to use my limited spanish skill http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-273977.html So nature it seems did have other plans for us. Volcan Chaiten just over 100km away but in Chile started throwing up ash which was being blown over to Esquel and beyond. The night of the eruption we felt an earthquake caused by the volcano and then woke up to an ash covered tent and town. Even so we met up with Phillipe and Laurence and then spent a day getting ready for our hike cl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-273927.html written by HollyWell we're getting on to the blogging bandwaggon quite late but having just been recommended this site but fellow travellers Michael and Sarah Jane and I are going to have a stab at keeping it updated.Please excuse any typos and excessively dull bitsSo where to begin A brief recap of our route so far would be a good place i suppose.We left England on 27th March 2008 and fl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Salta/blog-273906.html I don't know if the big city blues made Mendoza my favorite side trip but I do rank this city second to our Patagonia hiking excursion. Enjoying the beauty of the fall weather in Mendoza was a real treat Sunny days falling leaves colorful surroundings and exceptionally friendly people who spoke at a tempo other than a presto. Our activities were somewhat limited due to time. Regrettably w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-273672.html The wine tour was a very educational and fun day and although we had a perfect blue sky once more we were oblivious to it from the depths of the underground cellars.It was a mixed group of Americans Israelis French Dutch and 1 Argentinean. So much to the amusement of the local Argentinean he spent the day listening to broken English speaking guides in his own country.We visited 4 wineries with http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-273613.html You could sure finally feel the heat in the sun again as we woke and stepped off the bus into the perfect blue sky of Mendoza. Looking at a map its hard to imagine how far we have travelled over the last few weeks. But with Winter approaching it is nice to be chasing the sun and heading towards the northern hemisphere. Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina with approx 60 of the countrys wine p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-273416.html Day 15The journey to BA was a beast but was mostly overnight so it wasn't too bad. We got told food was included so we didn't take any on and by about 8 we were absolutley starving. Hours kept passing until it hit about half 11 and we finally stopped. We were expecting to have to get out and buy food but we got led into a little cafe in the bus depot and only got a bloody 3 course meal with drinks http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-273176.html