Argentina

Argentina: Salta, Posadas, Encarnacion Paraguay, Puerto Iguazu, Foz do Iguazu Brasil, Buenos Aires

26.04

T: San Pedro de Atacama  Salta Andesmar 8:30 20000 CLP 10h
F: Argentina
S: Salta by night
H: Ferienhaus 10 EUR

27.04
S: San Bernardo
T: Salta Posadas Flecha bus 1763 ARS 15:15 - 10:00 (+1)

100 ARS = 5.87 EUR

Salta

I was to cross the Andes once again through Paso de Jama, the highest point being at 4810 m. The border control on the Argentinian side is at 4200 m. One could feel the altitude to be higher than in the previous crossing into Chile at Paso Chungara - 4350m but then I was coming from La Paz and better acclimatised. We had to dismount the bus with all our luggage and line up for inspection. The leftmost backpack is mine, quite unimpressive as compared to others.

Paso de Jama border control

The road passes next to a salt lake, so I had an idea what Uyumi in Bolivia would be like. As we descended, scarce vegetation appeared with some cacti first. The slopes of the mountains were multicolored.

Salinas Grandes in the Andes

We reached Salta at dusk. At the bus terminal I bought my ticket to Posadas next day where I could change for Puerto Iguazu. The Flecha bus was quite expensive but they took my card and it was going straight to Posadas where Encarnacion in Paraguay was just across the river. With the other lines I would have to change ealier at Resistencia. paying by card is always more expensive in Argentina, who was plagued by a huge inflation several years ago. Changing money is also more complicated, I preferred doing it in regular offices, rather than with street cambistas.  I also withdrew some cash as I was going to spend about 10 days in Argentina (and around).

From the bus terminal I walked through the Parque San Martin to my hostel, I stayed at the Ferienhaus, impeccably clean.  Changed some leftover Chilean pesos and ate two enormous Don Panchos, in Salta these were  hot dogs with as much salads you could stuff in. In Buenos Aires they were just some meagre hot dogs and at a higher price. 

Salta lies at only 1200 m so the evening was quite pleasant. I walked around the Plaza de Armas with the illuminated Cathedral and the Cabildo, where, rumours have it, sometimes there is a gauchos change of guards. 

Salta Cathedral

Cabildo

In the morning there was some good breakfast at the hostel, I left my backpack in the storage and went to the Cerro San Bernardo, a hill offering a good viewpoint for the whole city.  You start the ascent at the monument of General Martin Miguel de Güemes, local hero of the wars of independence. Argentina has the most monuments of generals on horseback per capita, even the 20th century ones, possibly because the military ruled the country for a long time.

General Güemes

As you climb the 270m to the top of Cerro de San Bernardo there are small chapels with the traditional scenes from Via Dolorosa, below is the scene IV where Jesus meets his mother. 

Salta and the Andes from Cerro de San Bernardo

From the top there is a panoramic view. Did I mention there is also a cable car if you don't want to walk up? The bus was leaving at 3 PM and the journey was to last about 16 hours for the 1000km.
The long distance buses in Argentina are quite comfortable, usually double deckers. The lower deck is the luggage storage and a dozen real beds - camas. On the upper deck  you can only recline - semi camas. You are also served meals on the way. I was trying most of the time to book the very first row on the double decker so as to take photos, but usually they don't offer enough legroom, so on the night buses I was just taking any seat. We woke up next morning to the sight of some cows knee deep in the inundated pastures and finally reached Posadas. I bought a ticket to continue to Puerto Iguazu in the afternoon, left my backpack in storage  and headed to the river Parana.

Cows in the water

28.04

Encarnacion

T: Posadas Encarnacion 42 ARS
F: Paraguay
S: Encarnacion
T: Encarnacion Posadas
T: Posadas Puerto Iguazu Rio Uruguay 15:30 300 ARS
H: Guembe Suites EUR 10

My initial plan was to do a foray into Paraguay at Ciudad del Este from Puerto Iguazu, but it is less convenient as you either need to take a ferry across the river,   or first cross into Brasil and from there into Paraguay. For some reason (smuggling?) prices in Paraguay border cities are much lower than in Argentina and Brasil and this attracts many bargain hunters. So I decided to cross into Encarnacion here. There is a city bus taking you from terminal to terminal across the bridge, but you need to dismount for border control and especially when going back into Argentina there was a lot of traffic.

I went first to the Plaza de Armas, it has some monuments from immigrant communities: Italian, German, Japanese... It was a nice warm 33 degrees Celsius. There was the 200 years old Curupay tree, declared a Natural Monument. I wonder if 200 years is much for a tree, the oldest one in our mountains is over 1300 years and there is a pine tree in California dated at 4,765 years.

Curupay tree

Encarnacion Cathedral

Encarnacion itself celebrated recently 400 years. I talked to some nice old ladies in the park, bought some souvenirs, they directed me to the Cathedral, which, unlike most Spanish planned cities I had been to is not at the Plaza de Armas. The whole city felt somehow peaceful, friendly and cosy, there was no hurry from anyone. Maybe because of the warmth. Then I headed back to Posadas, the bus took me all the way to the terminal.

The journey to Puerto Iguazu was uneventful.  We passed by the ruins of some Jesuit missions, the whole province is called Missiones. For over a century the Jesuits managed the territory establishing among the Guaranis communities similar to early Christian ones, until the Spanish king ceded part of the territory to the Portuguese. After so much desert the lush vegetation was a comfort.  I was staying at Guembe Suites in Puerto Iguazu for 3 nights in a row and it was the best hostel for the whole journey. It had everything: porch, lounge, kitchen with dining room, garden, even a swimming pool. There was even some homemade pudding for breakfast and every possible information and smiles at the reception. I was sharing the room with some girls from Israel, just like in Machu Picchu, they explained that after military service most Israelis, boys and girls alike, come into some money and use it to travel around the world for several months.

29.04

Brasil
T: Puerto Iguazu - Foz do Iguazu 80 ARS return
F: Brasil
S: Foz do Iguazu  63 BRL
S: Parque das Aves 40 BRL
T: Foz do Iguazu - Puerto Iguazu
H: Guembe Suites

1 BRL = 0.27 EUR

Iguazu falls  Video clip

The purpose of going all the way up the narrow wedge of Argentina between Paraguay and Brasil were of course the "Cataratas" - the Iguazu waterfalls. There is the Argentinian side, which is spread over a much bigger space than the Brazilian side, where the biggest waterfall is -  Garganta del diablo - Devil's throat. The Israeli girls had been to both and told me the best place to watch the Argentinian side is from the Brazilian bank of Iguazu, so that settled it for me and next morning I boarded the bus that goes from Puerto Iguazu terminal straight to the Cataratas. They take cards on the Brazilian side. There is an internal bus after the entrance that takes you to the Cataratas proper, when you descend, you are greeted by a horde of coatis, seemingly tame and friendly, but known also to bite, there were warning signs of bandaged hands here and there.

Coatis

First glimpse of Iguazu falls

The falls on the Argentian side are spread across a much larger front, the raging primeval bodies of water are closer to the Brazialian side. You work your way through the forest and the noise of the falling waters becomes louder and louder, with minuscule droplets of water dancing in the air and arcing in rainbows over the falls.

Eleanor Roosevelt has said "Poor Niagara" when she saw Iguazu. I can also offer the video clip, as one must see all this water  in motion as well as hear it. Awed and wet, but happy, I took the bus back to the entrance.

Parque das Aves. 

The entrance to the Parque das Aves or Bird Park is very close to the one for the falls. After watching the brute force of the waterfalls for hours, it was a very welcome change to see the delicate beauty of the many species of birds, butterflies and ... snakes. I took photos  with a tucan and a tame boa constrictor, watched the flamingos dancing against the mirrors of their cage like ballerinas. There is a huge cage with parrots, their splendid feathers contrasting with their coarse cries.

30.04
S: Tres Fronteras
S: Lancha Rio Iguazu
H: Guembe Suites

Puerto Iguazu

Next day I felt tired and lazy in the morning, decided to try the swimming pool, but the water was cold. It was end of April already and April equates to October in the southern hemisphere. There were no other enthusiasts so I went back to the porch and tried to make friends with whoever was available. There were a group of travel guides from Brazil, and Daniela, with the best smile of my whole journey.

With Leticia and Alessandro from Turistche

With Daniela

I felt with less than 10 days left now my journey is coming to en end. Daniela recommended that I go to the port to take a lancha boat trip and also go to the Tres Fronteras place where Parana meets Iguazu river at the triple border point of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.  Before I leave Puerto Iguazu, a good tip: there is the Arbol Real bakery and confectionery close to the bus terminal, where I took most of my meals: you can choose from a variety of salads and meals and you pay by weight, about 1 EUR per 100g.

01.05
T: Bus Rio Uruguay Puerto Iguazu Buenos Aires 1100 ARS 14:00

02.05
S: Buenos Aires: Puerto Madero, Costanera Sur
H: Hostel Fiesta

03.05
S: Buenos Aires : Recoleta, Bellas Artes
H: Hostel Fiesta

04.05

S: Buenos Aires Tango, City Tour
H: Hostel Fiesta


Buenos Aires

After a final walk through Puerto Iguazu in the morning I boarded the bus and next morning was at the Retiro Terminal in Buenos Aires. It was still early morning and I thought I could go to the Museo de Bellas Artes, which is near, but somehow took the wrong direction, then read wrongly the map as if I could cross the railway and highways some place ahead and finally got lost in something like a favella, asking the police how to get out. I had to go back all the way, but no one even looked cross at me.

To play it safe, I bought a metro card. You can ride 3 times on it without recharging, but it also depends on zones. Buenos Aires has all the aspects of an European city and in fact the overwhelming majority of the population are immigrants. As our tour guide joked, The Mexicans come from the Aztecs, the Peruans come from the Incas and the Argentinians from the ships. Although it looks as if on the sea coast on the map, it is actually on the Rio de la Plata estuary, formed by the Rio Parana, Rio Uruguay and Rio Tigre.

Looking for some wilderness among the concrete, I went to the Costanera Sur on the bank of Rio de la Plata, which claimed to be a an Ecological reserve. The two lakes were nearly dry with neither ducks nor gulls. The river bank was full of signs the water is polluted and swimming prohibited, indeed for a swim in the sea one must drive several hundred km away from the estuary.

The new buildings in Puerto Madero have been built in place of former docks, just like in London. I tried to find the branch office of my company near the exit of the Costanera, but it turned out they had moved out a year ago and I only found them the next day.

Puerto Madero with Puente de la Mujer by Calatrava

The Presidency: Casa Rosada

Buenos Aires: Old meets New

I was staying in Monserrat, the street runs in parallel to the Avenida de Mayo all the way from the Congreso to the Casa Rosada, seat of the Presidency. The Fiesta Hostel however was not a very nice place to stay or at least I happened to be in such a room. People came and went through the night, talked loud, lit the lamp etc. I am used to sleeping with other people in a room from the mountain chalets and the alberges on the Camino de Santiago but there people try not to disturb each other, even if they cannot help snoring. Next day I went to the Recoleta and the Museo de Bellas Artes, which really has an impressive collection. No wonder, at some point Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world and the big landowners spent half of their time in Paris.

 

The museum had chosen Manet's La nymph surprise on their billboard, but I chose a Modigliani for my online album cover.

Recoleta is a fashionable quarter, famous also for its cemetery, where many renowned Argentinians are buried, including Eva Peron, much loved by the Argentinian people. There is also a monument near the art gallery.

Monument and tomb of Eva Peron

In the nearby park there is also the Floralis Generica by Eduardo Catalano, a steel flower opening and following the sun.

Florailis Generica

On the third day I meant to find a tango class, some restaurants offer their space for free lessons in the afternoons and Buenos Aires is the tango homeland (although in Montevideo I would learn the Comparcita is actually Uruguayan!) . So I found that restaurant and thought I could even dance some with a willing  señorita. But most people in there were well... my age.

Tango class

I hurried to a BA guided tour that was starting at the Congreso building and it was more interesting than the tango, We learned not only about the city, but also about the history of Argentina and hopefully it will reemerge as one of the great nations on earth. Especially interesting was the story of the Palacio Barolo by Italian architect Mario Palanti, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. There is a twin building across the estuary in Montevideo by the same architect.

                 Tania explaining the story and mysteries of Palacio Barolo

I am tempted finally to include a couple of photos from my second visit to Buenos Aires that occurred in a couple of months. I had two weekends so one I went to the Tigre delta and one to Lujan, a pilgrimage site about 50 km from Buenos Aires. At Tigre, I could also shoot my first clip with a model, Miss Moon, now this is a promising carreer.

Tigre Art Museum

Lujan Cathedral

And, to round up, my travelogue would be incomplete without a photo of the notorious bife Argentino.