WEEK 20 - RETURN TO BUENOS AIRES

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WEEK 20 - RETURN TO BUENOS AIRES

My last long journey from Puerto Iguazu to Rosario was on a Rio Uruguay bus. There were only 9 of us for the first 10 hours - and it was quite a party. My only two Scottish encounters of the trip had a flask of gaelic coffee which set the scene. These buses run continuously - only stopping briefly for passenger pick up and set down. All meals, coffee and water are provided - but this time the meals were excellent. Hot chicken and vegetable rice, ham and cheese, fresh bread, coca cola and creme caramel! The second half of the journey was busier with two longer stops while police checked identity cards, passports and the luggage. Invoices have to be produced for all new goods and they make a thorough search. I guess they know just what they are looking for.

I arrived in Rosario before dawn and I enjoyed a coffee con leche in the bus terminal until it was light enough to read the road signs! Everywhere was busy and I tried four hotels before I found a bed.

Rosario is reputed to be Argentina's perfect city and the country's second port. Colonial buildings, beaches along the Rio Parana, lovely cathedral and a grand monument towards the riverside with live music and dancing.

Saturday must be christening day with six or more christening parties and tiny babies dressed up to the nines. The riverside was crowded with locals enjoying relaxing, fishing, drinking mate, sunbathing, boating, tinkering with cars and playing games. An old coal-fired paddle steamer belched out black smoke as it plied up and down the river with trippers. Lots of shops - nothing very special - but I did have a nostalgic browse in C&A.

Sunday is not the best day to be in a city. - A walk round the streets revealed a dowdiness - perhaps still reflecting the currency crash and crisis of a few years ago - and consequent lack of investment in the fabric of the city. Most colonial buildings require lots of TLC.

Buenos Aires - the last stop. I arrived safely. The four hour journey on a very posh bus with 'camas' (seats like large leather parker knoll recliners which lie almost flat) was very comfortable. Route 9 motorway was again through horizontal pampas. This time more land was cultivated with huge expanses of maize, soya and oats dotted with small homesteads sheltered by clumps of trees. In the wetter areas was tall pampas grass. Closer to Buenos Aires - vegetables, fruit and flowers, poly tunnels and agricultural related suppliers of machinery and fertilizers. On the urban fringes - industrial estates, bill boards and huge water towers to provide a head of water for consumers in this extensive tract of flat land.

Am I a sustainable tourist Graham Barrow (an old colleague) asked? Certainly not regarding AA batteries. I feel quite guilty having disposed quite a few on my trip. Next time I will take a charger - and even though it will add to the weight it will probably not weigh much more then the six or so batteries I find myself carrying. Otherwise I think I am a reasonably sustainable tourist. I travel on local buses, shop in markets and local stores rather than supermarkets, stay in hospedajes (local homes) and locally run hostels rather than big hotels and eat in small cafes and restaurants. We did meet cyclists who were cycling from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego - they were the really sustainable tourists

Where have the 20 weeks gone! Home is looming - I have a self hypnosis course to run for Dundee Uni and the builder is coming to put new windows in all in the first few days. The weeds will be knee high and I guess I will have lots of chicks as the hens have been laying away!
Next time this week Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru will seem like a dream.

It was wonderful experience - fulfilling, challenging, relaxing, exciting, adventurous and really easy! I would like to think that I have stirred up some enthusiasm in the potential would be traveller - and I sincerely hope that some of you will now take the plunge and plan a travelling adventure!

Lastly many thanks to my wonderful friends worldwide for all the emails with out which I could not survived so well!

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Photos

Pampas
Grain growing area

Relaxing bus journey
Cama in a Chevallier bus

Obelisk
Buenos Aires

Comments

[Barbara]

Welcome home!
Have printed out all your adventures, Vida. Had to forward them to home, as the school network filters blogs, not allowed!! What a trip! Hope to be retired in just over a year, John and I have South America on our agenda. Get in touch on your return to Perth, be great to see you when we're next en route to Edinburgh - both boys still there. Hope you had a safe journey home, Barbara and John