6 days, 1,063 kilometers (660 miles), a 23 hour bus ride, severe rainstorms, a pina colada poolside, the Iguazu falls, a 40 peso lunch on the side of the highway (can you say rip off), a yerba mate factory tour in Apostoles, a random gas station that was home to an ostrich, attempt at staying in the sketchiest town ever, a 10 peso dinner, another 18 hour car ride, a 4 hour protest, arriving in BA at 10am, all finished off by breakfast at our sanctuary, Oui Oui.
Jessica and I really have had quite the week. It all started on Thursday afternoon when we left for the train station around 2pm. Our bus, packed with 50 fellow international travelers (or students I should say) took off from the Retiro bus station at approximately 4pm with plans to arrive in Iguazu at 6 the next morning. What we didn’t plan for was the intense rain/thunder storm that threatened us the entire way up there. What started as a fun bus party with lots of wine, beer, fernet, whiskey, etc, eventually turned into a long nap with a variety of movies. Needless to say, after an extremely annoying pit stop at a “diamond mine” in a place called Wanda at 2pm the next day, I was more than ready to just get there! Approximately 24 hours later we finally pulled into Iguazu and were greeted by a very pleasant hotel. Exhausted from the ride, Jessica and I showered up, took a nap, and then headed into town for a delicious meal that we both thoroughly enjoyed. While I enjoyed a variety of appetizers, Jessica indulged in a local fish, Surubi, that is caught in the Igauzu River that runs right through town. Following our delicious meal we had a couple of Capriska’s at Jackie Brown’s before heading back to catch up on some more sleep.
Day two our group headed to Brazil to view the fall’s from the Brazilian, but without a Visa Jessica and I were unable to go. Therefore, we figured we would head to a place where we could really enjoy the sun and the warm weather: Hotel Panoramica. With a poolside view of the river Jessica and I enjoyed some delicious drinks while trying to tan our now pale BA winter skin… After an amazing dinner at La Rueda with our friends Leonardo and his Italian amigo, Smiranda, we all went to the one and only club in Iguazu, "Cuba Libre." A rather famous spot for travelers who come to see the falls, this place was packed with kids from all over and we found ourselves dancing well into the night… or should I say the morning.
Jessica and I dedicated day three to the waterfalls. We drove to the park with our friends Haig and Jeff (fellow Americans) and spent an endless amount of hours just walking around and enjoying the beyond imaginable sights. The Iguazu falls truly are an experience that every person must enjoy. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. Not to mention there are these rainbows that literally extend throughout the entire park. They are just incredible- a sight to never forget.
After hours of walking and some rather sore feet, us four decided to head up the road to the Sheraton Hotel that is actually built in the middle of the Iguazu National Park. Here we enjoyed a delicious hamburger and (a few) mango daiquiris! After watching the sunset over the falls we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before going back to town for dinner. Exhausted from our long day of sightseeing, we ate some yummy homemade raviolis at a local spot called Charo, and then headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day of travels.
Haig, a Jersey native, has now lived in Buenos Aires for two years and lucky for Jessica and I, owns a car that Jeff and him had driven up to Iguazu. We were the lucky recipients to an offer to drive back to BA with them rather than riding on the bus. We were pretty excited about this not only because we would be able to experience more of the countryside, but also the fact that we would probably get home in a much quicker manner really excited us. Our plan when we left Sunday morning was to drive 6 hours to a town called San Martín making some random stops along the way, and then wake early the next morning and drive the last 6 hours to BA. Our first stop was for lunch at a random Parilla on the side of the highway, and assuming our meal would total about 60 or 70 pesos, we were rather surprised when the old man told us our bill was 160 pesos. To put this into perspective, an amazing meal at a nice restaurant in Buenos Aires would cost less than this. So once we were back on the road we figured we needed to make another stop to boost our spirits. Therefore, about 4 hours later we found ourselves in a cute town called Apostoles. Home to the yerba mate tea we decided to check out a factory to see how this native Argentine favorite is made. Although the tour was in Spanish and I didn’t really catch anything that the guy was saying, I did learn a bit through translation. Here are some fun facts that I will share with you:
- Yerba Mate tea has more caffeine than coffee
- Yerba Mate trees grow up to 15 meters tall
- Yerba Mate is better when it is lighter in color
- After it is picked the leaves sit for over a year before they are packaged and sold
Anyway, those are a few random facts and it actually wasn’t even until we left the factory that I tried mate tea myself! One very interesting fact about Argentina actually, is that every gas station has a hot water faucet (rather than ice that you find in the US) outside for people to fill up their mate tea thermos. Therefore, after receiving some free tee from our tour, we made a stop at a rather interesting gas station for some hot water. Here not only did we find hot water, but we also found that the gas station is home to some rather interesting animals: dogs, ostriches, and these oversized rat things that I can’t remember the name of (I’ll fill you in once I remember). Anyway after a nice pot of mate and interacting with the animals we headed back on the road. Our next stop was a town called San Martín, which was the town we decided we would stay the night in since so many people had ranted and raved about it. The closer and closer we got to this ‘quaint’ little town we started to think otherwise. Instead of cute buildings and little hotels, we found graffiti, empty shacks, and some places we decided we would rather not risk our lives in. Therefore, after a delicious meal that totaled 40 pesos we decided we would drive through the night and arrive back in BA by morning.
What looked like it was going to be a smooth ride took a turn for the worst at around 5:00am. After an hour in standstill traffic because of a fatal accident, we were back in standstill traffic at about 6:30am because of a protest that was taking place in the middle of the freeway. After 3 – 4 hours of sitting in the same spot all of our tempers started to rise and we decided that we would take the country road however far out of the way it would lead us back to BA. Therefore, after an interesting detour we finally made it back home at around 10:30am. After dropping our bags inside Jessica and I B-lined it to Oui Oui for a hearty breakfast at our favorite local spot. After eating all we had our minds set on was our big comfy bed, which is where we spent the remainder of the day!
Today we went back to our normal routine, heading back to work and now preparing for a night out on the town as tonight at midnight marks my 23rd birthday! We are going to dinner at a place called Kansas, which most people here refer to as the Houston’s of Buenos Aires (cant wait!) Afterwards we are going to host a pre-game party (we taught Ferdinand that term tonight) and then we are going to go to a club here called Rumi.
Updates soon to come ;) CIAO!
