Archive for January, 2009
Livin’ La Vida
January 23rd, 2009 | 
Author: I’ve been here over 2 months now, so what do I make of it all? I chose to come to Argentina based on a 2 week holiday I spent here in 2007. Buenos Aires felt then, as it still does, like a place I could spend some time. It’s a big, noisy, smelly place certainly, cheaper than Europe (although it had gotten a lot more expensive between trips) but it feels small. People talk to each other on the streets, they hang out in shops talking to their mates, they walk their dogs (lack of owner discipline is a big cause of the smell), they shout, they laugh. It feels like a friendlier, yet still recognisable version of Europe. And then every time you feel yourself getting comfortable, you see something that could only be South America. It might be two adults and a child on a moped tearing through the traffic with no helmets on or a cartenero pulling his enormous load of recyclable cardboard down the middle of a 6 lane road or some kids sitting outside a shop drinking a bottle of beer and offering you some.
Driving round the Northwest, I suddenly realised that I simply hadn’t got used to it and whilst the initial shock of seeing all these different things has worn off, I’m still surprised by so many things. Guys in shops with huge wads of coca leaves in their mouths, police checks every 50 miles or so, and very polite policemen, driving on a dirt track and seeing nothing for 40km and then coming to a busy little town in the middle of nothing where people live their lives without a thought of what is going on in Europe. Can’t really blame them.
Back in Buenos Aires
Yes, yes I’ve missed you too…
Haven’t been able to write an entry for the last few weeks as I’ve been travelling round and the internet in the house is a little temperamental. I left Buenos Aires for a well deserved break after Christmas to go to the falls at Iguazu, which are said to be better than Niagara and I can disagree with that. On the Argentine / Brazilian border they’re made up of over 200 individual falls, all in the middle of a national park. The national park is all jungle and there are lizards, toucans, cayman, turtles and huge butterflies all around you. After that I spent a few days in Paraguay, staying with a friend who is there for two years with the Peace Corps. I’ve never felt more in the middle of nowhere than there, but it was all very relaxing, although the heat (42 degrees on New Year’s Eve) was a little bit too much to be honest.
Iguazu Falls
A week back here, most of it spent on my bed with a cold and stomach troubles and then off to Salta, Jujuy and the Quebrada de Humahuaca in the Northwest on the Chile / Bolivia border. Only got back yesterday so I haven’t done the photos yet, but the scenery was incredible, jungle and desert on the same road. A fair bit was on gravel roads which were one hell of an experience to drive on, through amazing coloured rock formations and enormous cacti as far as the eye could see…
Mountains of Purmamarca
Posted in Argentina, Paraguay, South America | 
Tags: buenosaires, mountains, salta, water | 
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Not Angry, Not Sad, Just Don’t Like Shaving
Six things I learnt in Paraguay
- Chickens and ducks like mangoes
- If you try to get out of Paraguay without an entry stamp in your passport they fine you 363,000 Guaranis (about $90). If you tell them the bus on the way in didn’t stop at Customs, makes no difference
- It is possible to fit a family of 4 on a motorbike
- “Haku” (could be spelt wrong) means “Bugger me it’s hot” in Guarani. Used it a lot.
- You can buy fireworks from a little fella that comes on the bus
- Paraguayans think facial hair means you’re either angry or sad
Am back in Argentina, which honestly feels like a bit of a relief. Paraguay was certainly different and 5 days was just about enough. Enough of standing on buses, which I’ve done a lot of, but did meet some great people, and have certainly seem some things I never thought I’d see. I’m not quite back in Buenos Aires yet, had to stay an extra night in the Argentine town just across the border from Paraguay as couldn’t get on a bus until tonight, but will be back by mid-morning tomorrow. Really kind of looking forward to it..
