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Things don't always go like in the movies… This time we were in a really bad comedy movie called; "No es posible". Everything went really well before arriving in Resistencia. The plan was to take the next bus straight away and arrive in Salta the next morning. We went to ask for the bus tickets and soon we understood that every company was selling tickets to the same bus and there was only one ticket left. "Is there any way to get two tickets?" and every time the answer was "No es possible".
What do we do then? The next bus to Salta was in 20 hours, but we had no options. Nice old couple selling tickets helped us, sold us tickets for the next day and gave us a map of Resistencia. We took a bus to the center and started to hunt for a place to stay. Lonely Planet had few hotels to offer (there are no hostels in Resistencia) so we wanted to try them first to get some good deal. The first place we found had no rooms left and we got a bit worried. Sleeping on the street is not very tempting idea and it was already dark. We found and expensive hotel close and walked in. I guess the guy at the reception felt sorry for us, so he told us cheaper places to go ask first, haha. Really helpful!
Once again, the first place had no rooms left… Oh no. Luckily the next place was not far while we had our backpacks and everything to carry. Soon we found the other "cheaper option" and rang the doorbell. Old lady came to open the door and we were really happy to hear that there was room for us, yay! Definitely not the cheapest night in South America and have to admit that totally not worth the money, but at least we got our own room with bathroom and a place to sleep. This was the first night that breakfast was not included and the hotel was in a need of update. Oh well, we had no options and we were happy to have this place.
So we were stuck in Resistencia. All the information we found about the city told us that the city is like an outdoor museum with lot of art and sculptures and it has the biggest plaza in South America where you can find native trees. It didn't take long to walk around the whole city and see what the sculptures and the trees were about. Pretty city, but not that much to do there. We spend most of the time at a nice café having first breakfast in the morning and in the afternoon we went there to have fruit smoothies, yum!
We were really lucky with the weather. The sun was shining the whole day and it was warm. To enjoy the sun we went to Carrefour to by something to drink and we sat down on a bench at a pedestrian street. While sitting there we saw a shopkeeper to walk there and back on the street and it didn't take long for the man to come to talk to us and he brought us chocolate as a present from the shop… Umm, friendly people I guess?
Resistencia was the first place to see a lot of dogs on the streets. The bus station was full of them and we had many friends while eating dinner there. One of the cute ones we named Roger and he followed us all the way to the bus door.
Now it is a good time to write something about the trip in general. Everything on out trip has gone really well, actually surprisingly well. There have been no scary situations, no bigger problems and this was the first time the buses didn't go as planned. Sometimes people have cheated some money from us, but we talk about really small amounts and those might have been accidents. One funny thing that has followed us everywhere, besides the endless attention from men is something called "dulce de leche". It is everywhere; in breakfast table, in coffee, in every dessert, in cookies, in ice cream, in yogurt… It is not easy to describe the taste, but it is made by sweetened milk to create a product that derives the taste of caramelized sugar. It is like toffee, or like jam, but still nothing like it. Well, the main point is that IT IS EVERYWHERE!
Now it has become the point where the weather should get warmer and maybe we will get some tan before going back to Finland. I guess it is crazy for many people to think to travel to winter from the Finnish summer, but for me the tan and the warm weather are not the main points of travelling and not of this trip. We have experienced a lot already, met amazing people and learned a lot about South America and different cultures. No food poisonings or anything that we can call that negative has happened, and hopefully it will stay like this later also. We have had lots of fun and the same will continue! Awesome experiences.
There are some things that occur in every country we have visited, that are funny for at least Finnish people to understand. The whole continent has a bit of bungle culture. Easy things are made so difficult, people find it extremely important to look important (nothing happens anyway) and people just can't see other people or their needs. Good example of this is the way to queue. No matter how many people are standing there, it is always okay to run to be the first. It is crucial to be the first one, no matter if the doors are closed or other people are coming from the other direction. I don't say that this applies to everyone, but for many people yes. Huge cultural difference that has taken some time to get used to.
Other thing in the whole continent is the crazy traffic. Cars drive super-fast and there are no traffic lights for pedestrians in most of the places. For example in Paraguay it was common not to follow the rules and we saw even police to do whatever they want. I'm sure there are lots of accidents around South America and I am happy that I don't have to drive here.
More about the whole trip is coming and we continue the trip. One month left and many places to see and explore. Can't wait. Good night and next blog will be written in Salta!
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