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Published: January 31st 2011
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Still in the midst of our passport fiasco, we met up with our group in the lovely Pucon. We were greeted with a basket of goodies (containing all of our favourite treats) from our Brit friends, Charlie and Nuala and were treated to a celebratory barbeque in the evening by our Aussie friends, Charlene and Danny. Pucon is a summer haven for affluent Chileans and is situated in the Lake District of Chile. This area resembled central Europe, largely due to the German and Swiss immigrants who have settled there. We spent our limited time here relaxing and walking around the lovely town sampling the delicious chocolates which were on offer!
Our next stop was Puerto Varas, where we spent a lot of time running beside the majestic lake lapping up the rays and trying to work off the exorbitant amount of Swiss chocolate and German burgers which we were consuming on a daily basis!! We actually spent longer in Puerto Varas than originally planned due to the fact that our Argentinean visas had still not arrived and our group were forced to proceed without us once again. At one point, we were so annoyed with the Argentinean Embassy that
we actually considered flying straight to New Zealand and missing out Argentina all together! However, once we had calmed down we decided to stay positive and make the best out of the situation.
Once our passports arrived at our hotel in Puerto Varas and I had kissed the courier in a moment of excitement (oops!), we headed straight for the bus station and booked our bus to Bariloche where our group were. The journey through the mountains of Upper Patagonia was beautiful and when we finally crossed into Argentina all was forgiven! Bariloche, with its unusual alpine flavour, immediately won us over. Unfortunately, we only had one day in Bariloche and as outdoor activities were in abundance, we decided that there would be no better way of seeing the exquisite scenery than going on a bike ride. Well.... I can honestly say that it was the most spectacular bike ride that I have ever had the pleasure of completing. The majestic and snow capped Andean mountain range, as well as the vast forests and crystal clear blue rivers, streams and lakes were awe inspiring. Riding a mountain bike along hidden paths in direct contact with nature would have been
relaxing if we hadn´t gone for the ádvanced´ option involving long steep hills the majority of the way. I was fine but Ben had to get off his bike and walk a few times!! In all seriousness, we could have found no better way to celebrate finally arriving into Argentina and taking our minds off our recent stressful experience.
Our last port of call with our tour group was Buenos Aires, the ´Paris of the Americas´. Despite a 25 hour bus ride to get there, we were all itching to explore the city which we were told has such a creative energy that it can almost put New York to shame! One of the best things about Argentina is that it is a carnivore's paradise...I have never eaten so much steak in my life and the red wine isn´t bad either! I think that I may have trouble getting Ben to leave this place... nothing to do with the beautiful Argentinean women of course!
One of my favourite nights was when our group had a tango evening. We started the night with a one hour tango dancing lesson... I am sure that some of you would have paid
good money to watch Ben fall over his own feet! We then sat down for a 3 course meal (steak of course!) and enjoyed a very flamboyant and passionate professional tango show for the rest of the evening. A good night was had by all!
Ben and I both agree that BA has more in common with the cities of Europe than the rest of South America. Wandering the pedestrian walkways and markets, seeing dancing in the streets and enjoying a drink in the local cafés made BA a real pleasure to adventure. We particularly liked the District of La Boca (the home of the famous Argentinean football team, The Boca Juniors) due to its unique character. Its brightly coloured walls and buildings and its street markets were marvellous.
In order to end our South American journey on a high, we decided to venture north to the border with Brazil to see the world renouned Iguazu Falls for a couple of days with some friends from our tour. After a 17 hour bus journey, we arrived in humid Puerto Iguassu and headed straight over to the Brazilian side of the Falls. The Falls can be accessed from both
Argentina and Brazil but we were told in advance to visit the Brazilian side first - whilst the Brazilian side is more panoramic and will give you a better perspective of the immense cascade, the Argentinean side is more spectacular. We were not disappointed! The Falls were one of the most extraordinary sights which we have witnessed in South America. Vast torrents of water thunder over various cascades with such a force that the violent spray absolutely drenched us. The Brazilian side gave awesome views of the most spectacular section of the Falls, ´The Devil´s Throat´, where 14 falls combine forces.
The next day we ventured over to the Argentinean side of the Falls which was jaw dropping. We were able to get so close to the Falls it was incredible. To top the experience off, we completed a speed boat ride through the main section of the Falls which was immense. As you can imagine, we were soaking wet but it was most welcome in the sticky and humid heat. Ben and I have both agreed that the boat ride is up there with our best experiences so far on our travels.
We are now back in
Buenos Aires and are due to fly over to New Zealand this evening to meet up with Ben´s parents, David and Diane, which we are both very excited about. We have both loved our South American trip but, must admit, we will be pleased to return to the western world again. Let´s hope that they let us into NZ with our dodgy emergency cream British passports... watch this space! xxx
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aine brown
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loving it
loving it all..... but missing you even more now i have seen your lovely faces!!! SO EXCITED for london life with you!!! :) :) :) hope you are having a fabulous time in the wonderful NZ! xxx