gabanie

Our 4 day, 3 night offroad tour was so epic it deserves two blogs. This is the first installment, covering days 1 and 2. The adventure started in Tupiza at 8am, where we met the other two travellers who would be sharing our vehicle for the next 4 days. It turned out they were a nice irish couple who were also on their honeymoon. The vehicle was a toyota landcruiser, and we later found out that every single tour agency all use landcruisers. They call them Jeeps though, so I will too. Our driver Mario spoke little english but he spoke very slow and simple Spanish that we were all able to understand. We were glad we saved the $20 each for the english speaking guide option. With the introductions made, we threw our big bags ... read more

Tilcara was one of my favorite towns in Argentina. Our first night in Tilcara we went to a local peña per our hostels recommendation. A peña is basically a little restaurant featuring live music during dinner. I had one of the local stews, which was awesome. The music was great too. It was about this time we decided we wanted to stay in Tilcara until we had to be in Bolivia. The next day I contacted the car rental place and they agreed to take a bus up to Tilcara (4 hours north of Salta) to pick up the car. This meant we were 4 hours closer to the border of Bolivia, which saved us a total of 8 hours of driving (4 on our own, 4 on a bus). It cost some extra $$ for ... read more

In the 5 days we spent in the Salta / Jujuy provinces in NW argentina, we took almost 400 pictures and videos. The scenery up there is just mind blowing; we couldn´t stop taking pictures. It will be a while before I get them all uploaded with the sluggish internet around here (in Bolivia now). Needless to say I´m quite a bit behind with pictures and the blog, but it will get done eventually. Anywho... Our bus to Salta was the longest bus ride so far: 18 hours. Another bummer was there is no company that offers a super cama (seat that lays all the way flat) on that stretch. But this time we wised up and took sleeping pills which made the ride much more bearable. The bus left Mendoza at around 8pm, and got ... read more

The overnight bus from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires was our first experience on an Argentinian overnight bus. They know how to do it right. We went for the top of the line ¨super cama¨, which actually lays all the way flat. Each seat has its own TV with a selection of movies (most in Spanish but a few in English). They serve dinner, a nightcap, and breakfast. We got into BA on a Saturday morning. We had a hostel in the San Telmo area, which is an older neighborhood with cobblestone streets and old buildings. It was a pretty good location, close enough to walk to the central plaza where subways can take you around the city. After showers we walked to the plaza and checked out the Red House, pretty much the Argentinian version ... read more

We´ve been travelling pretty quickly since Floripa, no time to upload pictures and do blogs until now. Finally have some time to relax and a decent internet connection here in Mendoza so I´ll try and catch up. Getting the car returned in Floripa was a bit of an adventure. Traffic is pretty laid back on most of the island but it is hectic in centro, where the car rental and bus station are. Lots of 1 way streets and intersections without stoplights or stop signs, drivers are crazy too. Luckily we made it to the gas station to refuel and then to the car rental place without any new scratches on the car. Success! We took an overnight bus from Floripa to Foz do Iguacu, on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Foz´s main draw is ... read more