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On 9th May we started our adventures in Argentina, and what a fantastic 3 weeks!
We went first to Salta in the North of Argentina- a beautiful small city surrounded by wine country. We immediately noticed a massive cultural difference between Argentina and the other South American countries-better food, more style, and much more European. Unfortunately that also meant much more cash. We walked around the city, had a picnic in the park, drank a beer in the plaza and finished a very relaxing day with the best meal by far that we´ve had since we left--absolutely perfect filet steak and red wine. Such a nice surprise!
From Salta we headed East to Puerto Iguazu, home of the Iguazu falls (2nd largest waterfall in the world). We hiked around the park and eventually caught sight of the magnificent falls, and they didn´t disappoint! There are several viewing points each with a different perspective, and the last one gets you right into the ´devils throat´ at the heart of the falls. We took a speed boat under the falls which completely drenched us but really refreshing!!
From Iguazu we caught a night bus down to Buenos Aires. Argentina knows how to make buses (basically, if Carlsberg made buses this would be it) Best bus so far--wide leather seats that recline to 150deg, personal TVs, waiter service with a full meal and even a glass of bubbly to finish it off! Citylink take note.
We spent 6 days in BA - it was so nice to be settled in one place, and to not have to re-pack every couple of days. Spent the 1st day walking around the vibrant city and seeing the sights, then headed to a suburb to check out the parks and Japanese gardens followed by another steak dinner (well, when in Argentina...).
Headed to a town near BA called Tigre the next day, which is built in a river delta so that numerous small islands are inhabited, and the only way to get around is by boat. Had a lovely afternoon wandering on one of the islands until we got a wee bit lost in the woods and my feet got completely covered in thick mud-not nice when I couldn´t wash my trainers and had to head back on the train. A glass of wine in the sun while waiting for the boat back cheered me up no end though!
Walked around the nature reserve in the centre of BA the following day before heading with a tour group to a Boca Juniors vs. Fluminense (a Brazilian team) footie match for a quarter-final (equivalent to the champions league). Started with some beer & pizza with the group in a supporters pub,then headed to the stadium and straight for the standing section right in the heart of the action. Absolutely amazing atmosphere being in amongst some die-hard albeit civilized fans. It was a great game with loads of singing and Boca won 1-0. The atmosphere when they scored was electric and the whole stadium moved up&down with all the jumping.
The next day was rainy (we didn't sign up for this!) so we decided to get a day pass for the gym (oh how I'd missed it!). Went on an organized pub crawl at night, so headed to the designated bar at 10pm. However they obviously changed the location last minute so we couldn´t find them, but we had a great night on our own anyway.
On our last day in BA we had the compulsory tango lesson (complete with Ali doing his best ´tango face´expression--see photo). It was good fun and we learned a few steps,but afterwards we watched a professional tango show who showed us how it´s really done.
BA is really close to Montevideo in Uruguay so we caught the boat, stopping in a little port town called Colonia on the way. It was full of cobbled-streets, vintage cars and (expensive) cafes. Stayed in a great hostel there with a big fire, and at night they had a traditional ´asado´ (a typical BBQ done on Sundays for big family get-togethers) which was fab!
Continued on to Montevideo which has a 22km promenade along the coast, so we managed a couple of runs (we discovered we can still run 11k without too much difficulty which was both a relief & a surprise!) and a cycle. Also visited the Centenario stadium, which was the venue for the 1st ever world cup final in 1930 where Uruguay beat Argentina.
Headed West this time to Mendoza, not far from the Chilean border, and home of the best wineries and olive groves in Argentina. Spent a few days here exploring the San Martin Park (largest park in S.America), cycling around the vineyards of Maipu just outside of Mendoza (which involved lots of tastings of wine, olive oil and jams, yum), and taking a bus tour up into the Andes. Unfortunately due to some early winter snow the road was blocked so we couldn´t see much and had to head back early. That night we went out for dinner at 10pm (getting into the Argentinian way of life--this is still quite early by Argentinian standards believe it or not) and then went for drinks with a couple from our hostel. We managed to stay out until after 5am (which is when the bars shut here, the clubs are later still) so we felt like locals for a change. We were a little tender the following day so we got up with the hangover munchies and headed for an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch--this place was amazing and had more food than we´d ever seen in one place! On our last day we did some much-needed tasks i.e. washing and haircuts (we both got cuts for 3.50 GBP!!!). Luckily the worst of the snow had passed which meant that the road to Chile, which passes over the Andes, was cleared and we caught the bus to Santiago early the next day.
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