Argentina

Buenos Tardes Amigos!!

We arrived at the Iguazu Falls after another gruelling 19 hr bus trip to torrential rain, no power, no accommodation (all full) and no food being served anywhere!! Finally finding a room in a hostel in town, we set out in search of food...soon coming across a local deli where we stocked up on health food e.g. chips, cheese & wine.

We spent the afternoon/evening hanging out by the pool and napping. Going out for a late snack, we stumbled across our new favourite bar/cafe where we ordered hamburgers minus the meat ( to the amusement of our waiter) and 1L daiquiris!! This was one of our most satisfying meals yet! And we knew we would be back!!

The following day, we spent the morning running around town trying to find the Brazilian embassy to get our visas sorted. SWEATY & hot we finally found it & were delighted to have our visas processed in just 10 minutes!!!!!!! Of course, some bribery was involved!!

Having only had a light breakfast, we decided to splurge & treat ourselves to the Sheraton buffet lunch. This amazing hotel overlooks the falls & rainforrest. Arriving with 45 minutes to spare, we embarked on a 45 minute frenzy of plating up & stuffing our faces! Particularly Kate who took a particular liking/ obsession to the desserts & sampled at least 8 different cakes/desserts!!

Barely able to move, we decided to walk it off by following the various trails around the falls. The afternoon was spent admiring the beautiful falls, the wildlife, avoiding Jaquars & having a huge water fight (which left us dehydrated as we did not actually drink any of our bottled water!!)

The next day, we attempted to get to the falls early BUT didnt make it there till around 12, just in time for lunch We boarded the park train to the Devils Mouth falls, the most spectactular of them all!! HOWEVER, our plans were derailed by an evil south american jungle wasp of pain!! Photographing the native wildlife (including swarms of butterflies and large lizzards), Kate was viciously attacked by one of these cruel creatures! In the moments that followed....Kate started jumping around like a crazy woman, Monique was too scared to get the freaky pulsating sting out & strangers rushed in to help!! Unsure of whether or not Kates leg would fall off, we caught the train back to first aid. Ironically we received the same treatment here as we had from the first people who rushed to our assistance...ice & sting cream!!

Despite the palm sized swollen welt, we returned to Devils mouth and followed the trail to see the falls. On the way there, we saw more wildlife including an alligator like creature, a large turtle, birds BUT no toucans to our great dissapointment. The falls were incredible - absolutely mesmerising. We took our time taking it all in & then made a dash back out of the harsh harsh sun.

After a nap, we headed back to our favourite cafe, with our favourite waiter for more "burgers" and daiquiris...much to his amusement.

Our final morning, after seriously oversleeping, we found ourselves cashless as we came to pay up our hostel debts. Dismissing the prospect of doing a runner, Kate scored a ride with the helpful receptionist on his motorbike to the bank. Paying up, we set off to the bus station where we jumped on a local bus to take us across the border to Brazil - our 5th and final country. Crossing the border, the bus dropped us off & we went through a swift and uncomplicated entry process.

Onto another bus to take us to ANOTHER bus, we finally set off for Sao Paulo. On our brief tour of Sao Paulo, we managed to successfully use the metro system, have lunch and then get onto ANOTHER bus to the beach town of Parati.

Thats all from the falls.

See you all soon!!!

Love

xxox

M & K

Yo yo,

Finally ridding ourselves of Oruro and its bad children, but not before Kate was attacked one last time by kids washing cars. We set of on our second train adventure in South America. We were reasonably impressed with the train, we had originally been skeptical as we went for the 2nd class carriage. It was roomy and reasonably comfortable, it also had a dining cart which helped waste away the 16hour ride. The consistent thing with South American trains is definitely their lack of speed!! The most exciting thing on the whole trip was when Kate spotted flamingos. We have been obsessed with seeing them and as we were about to leave Bolivia our hopes were slim. However there was a flock of them flying over the salt plains, it was an amazing site.

The train arrived in a tiny town at the bottom border of Boliva, Villazon. After fighting the masses for our bags, there are definitely no organised systems in place, we had the worlds most painstakingly slow breakfast where we practically had to serve ourselves. Scarred we decided not to get in a Bolivian taxi for fears it would take 5 years to get to the border 2km away, so walked to the Argentinian border. Getting our stamp out of Bolivia was simple, but then we faced what looked like a 2 hour line to get our passports stamped for Argentina. We were unsure we were in the correct line, as all the Bolivians were telling us to go in the other line (and trying to charge us for the advice in true Bolivian style) so we asked a military official for advice. We handed over our passports thinking he was jsut checking our nationalities and he started to walk off with them to our horror. Kate ran after him while Monique guarded the bags. Kate was forcefully told to stay put while he ran from building to building with our treasured passports. He finally emerged and handed back the passports and Kate was pleasantly suprised to find they were stamped and we were set to skip the huge line and enter ARGHentina.

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Sorry this blog is taking a while (ie 2 days), we had to adjourn to have more 1L strawberry Daiquiris (at a rate of only $3 Aussi!!!).

So fresh over the border we were in a little town called La Quinta. We decided to bite the bullet and head straight to Buenos Aires so we would have more time there. So off a 16hr train ride we got straight onto a 26hr bus ride!!! Yes we did look, feel and smell terrible by the end, but it was worth it.

In Peru we had met some Argentinian boys, one of whom owned a hostel. So armed with only a vague memory of the name and location we trapsed around Plaza Congreso (not a small plaza) for at least an hour. Defeated we went ot an internet cafe and found another hostel. On our way there we happened upon Hostel Km.0 the one we were originally looking for, turns out the sign can only be seen walking one direction!

We settled into our new dorm room and SHOWERED immediatly, in addition to 42hrs in transit, we had spent an hour walking in 35 degree heat at 100% humidty with increasingly swollen backpacks (particularly Moniques backpack......we all know how that girl likes to shop!!!) (It is all presents for Oli!!!!) (No its not Oli - she has at least 3 new dresses etc) (i NEEDED them!!!!!) hehe

Fresh clean and all dolled up, we headed out on the town. We stumbled across a restaurant that had Tango shows. The Tango was very impressive, the girl was amazing, however we felt her male partner lacked the passion that she displayed. We thought our Spanish was greatly improving until Kate was approached by one of the singers who asked her a question, confused Kate replied "We are Australians", the question was infact "Can you dance the tango". This in combination with Moniques bright red embarrassed face caused much amusement. We finished off the night drinking lovely Spanish wine and briefly learning Tango.

The following day we set off to explore the city and perhaps do a little shopping. We found our way onto Calle Florida where we window shopped (not really - ofcourse we shopped up a storm). Exhausted after a strenuous day, we returned to the hostel for naps. Getting up around 12am, we set ourselves up on the balcony for a light dinner and beers. BA & particularly our hostel, we soon discovered, thrived at night with people hardly sleeping and clubs largely opening at 2am or later. That night, we met a new crew of ppl in our hostel with whom we spent the entire rest of the night drinking beer and chatting. In particular, a contigent of ex-army Israeli boys who shared with us their plans to take over the world....starting with Argentina & then Australia (due to our relatively small armed forces).

Finally seeking some sleep around 6am, we crawled into bed only to discover that we werent the only ones to crawl into our beds that night!! PS Not boys.....BED BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our new posh NY room mate freaked and dashed around the room seeking them out & killing them! Tired...we killed as many as we could, sprayed ourselves with insect repellent and climbed back into bed. The next morning, we demanded a new non-infested room & moved into it.

The next day, still tired from the previous night, we set out with 2 new friends to find Retorio, where there were apparently great markets. We spent the afternoon exploring the markets & surrounds. Then headed back to the hostel for a nap, with the intention of firing up later for a night out painting the town red.

At around 12am, we joined friends on the roof terrace for beers. We began to assemble a crew to go out & were surprisingly convinced to go to a club where they serve $1.50 red bull & vodkas!!! The club didnt open till 2am and we didnt make it there until around 4am. A great night of dancing and shenanigans was had by all....and we finally returned to the hostel around 6am for some much needed bug-less sleep!!

The next day, a little tender and tired, we set off to see some of the main Buenos Aires attractions...Cemetario (Evitas grave) & antique markets at San Telmo. The cemetary was like nothing we had ever seen, huge tombs!!

After a proper nights sleep, we spent the final day in BA seeing some of the remaining sights ie Plaza de Mayo & then scoffing down huge Lomo steaks in honour of Uncle Ben.

Then, onto the bus for Iguasu Falls.

More stories from the falls to follow & photos

Love xxox

Kate & Monique