Foz do Iguacu (BRASIL) - Puerto Iguazu (ARGENTINA) - Big Water

Foz do Iguacu (Brasil) - Puerto Iguazu (Argentina)
04 JUNE - 06 JUNE 2015

We spent a couple of days getting to Foz do Iguacu from Havana. The first night was via a stop in Cartagena and the second was a stop back in Lima. After a couple of jumps we touched down at Foz do Iguacu/Cataratas international airport on the afternoon of 04 JUNE.

Havana had somehow felt like the apex of our journey. Even though our scheduled traveling time was for three months and 04 JUNE essentially marked the '1 month to go point', somehow the slip across the continent to 'the other side' felt like the halfway mark.

This attempt was actually my third try to get here. Back in 2010 I had turned back from travelling South America due to a pilfered wallet, and in 2012 I actually had flights booked from Buenos Aires. On that occasion I left a credit card in a hungry ATM on the back streets of Montevideo (Uruguay), thus denying me access to funds. So whilst I had the flight available I had not much else to support me had I arrived on terra firma in Puerto Iguazu

So lets call this third time lucky. 

Iguazu Falls - Argentina / Brazil

Entrance to the Argentina side  - 260 pesos - Parque Nacional Iguazu

 Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

 Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

For our time in Foz do Iguacu we actually stayed in a pretty cool hostel. Hostels are generally a role of the dice, some are good, some aren't, some draw randoms from the oddest, weirdest part of the cosmos, and others are just cool. Che Lagarto Hostel in Foz do Iguacu was the latter. Clean, spacious, great staff and a bit of a sanctuary. I don't know if they still do this now but when I was there they were providing free caipirinhas to guests between 6pm & 7pm each evening That was all the invitation we needed. Once the clock hit 6:01pm we were already a caipirnha down and our hand was reaching out for delivery of the second. Thank you Che Largaro! Thank you.

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional  Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional Iguazu

We commenced our discovery of the falls with a visit to the Argentinian side on day one - it felt kind of nice to be back in my 'self adopted country'. From memory we jumped on a small tour provided through the hostel, so I don't remember the cost exactly. I did note however that there was no formal border crossing as such, so no real stress for travelers if wanting to move between the two parks.

Note to travelers also, whilst the Argentine side has access to 'more of the falls', the more impressive views are from the Brazilian side. If you had to chose one side and had limited time then I'd say do the Brazilian side, although from the Argentine side you'll be able to get up close and personal with the falls.

The walkways here are essentially above the falls, or rather, set on top of the waterfalls edge. So after covering a few trails and with a short train ride within the park you actually get to traverse the Superior Iguazu River, above the falls, then walk across to San Martin island on your way to the Devil's throat. There's specifics that I may have missed there but what I can tell you, as clear now as it was then, is that there's a ferocity and power to the vantage point you get on this side. The sheer magnitude and volume of water kind of takes you by surprise. I mean, you can hear the roar of the falls a long time before getting to the falls proper but that intensity is surprising. On average 1500 cubic mtrs of water flow over the falls every second and depending on the time of season that can actually increase to 13.000 per second when the rains have swung into gear - apparently the size of five Olympic pools every second, that's simply a staggering number.

The area span/width of the falls in 2.7kms and when you stand at the edge of the Devil's throat then you're looking at that water fall away some 80mtrs into a milky abyss that also throws up a permanent mist cloud, the associated bonus of which can throw up some inspiring rainbows when the sunlight hits it.

 Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

What you get on the Argentine side is something ferocious & brutal, a little like the famed Latin temperament. On the Brazilian side its more samba & show, there are sweeping views of the cataracts where you can get a chance to dance and play with the falls. From here you can also take boat rides that will literally roll you in and out of the base of some of the falls. Fair warning too, the crappy little raincoats that they provide before getting on the boat will serve as just an irritation. They offer absolutely no protection other than making you look like a bit of a dumbass in photos. My suggestion, either where a Hazmat suit or strip to the bare essentials - it's like taking a bath in a washing machine, hell of a lot of fun but no place for the aquaphobic.

Parque Nacional Iguazu - Argentina

 Parque Nacional do Iguacu - Brazil

Parque Nacional do Iguacu - Brazil

Parque Nacional do Iguacu - Brazil

Parque Nacional do Iguacu - Brasil

Somewhat of a different treat in this area, especially for a person like me, is access to the triple contingent border. After our visit to the falls on our first day we were able to go to view the triple border between Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay. For political and factual accuracy, the border representation actually resides well inside Argentina whilst the actual border is at the intersection of the Rio Parana & Rio Iguazu, or even more accurately, in the middle of the Rio Parana. No matter, from where you're standing you can probably take a good guess as to where it is, and the photo you can take is kind of cool.

Iguazu falls rightly takes its places amongst the new 7 natural wonders of the world. Visually intoxicating and insta-freakin'-gramable, don't miss it!

Sydney - Your Saturday best - 7 years of sin and sensation (part 2)

Sydney (Australia)
26 April 2013

In the last few weeks I've taken to scheming once again, scheming and hatching plans. And why is that you ask? Because I'm restless, because 'wanderlust' for me is more than a word and is about as integral to my daily living requirements as caffeine, fibre and vitamin D. Sometimes I don't even understand how some of these plans present themselves in my mostly occupied mind, take the 'Osaka whimsy' for example. I was sitting at home reading the paper one Sunday morning, beams of sunlight from a beautiful April morning cutting strips across the pages of print in my hands and then BAM-O! In a flash of either genius, insanity or perhaps both I just thought 'Osaka!..yeah, I think there's good food there, maybe I should go!' ...and that was it! Sometimes the want of my own discovery is as simple as a flash of inspiration and a heavy dose of perserverence in order to be able to get me there. So Osaka? A place that is probably everything that I never knew that I wanted! And also a story that is waiting to be written another day because it's on standby, moments waiting to be lived out a few months away from where we are now, and this entry on the contrary is part of a series dedicated to the last 7 years.

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Today I'm starting off my trip down travel lane with  a nod of the the head to those lengthy journeys where it was 'better to travel hopefully than to arrive'. An idiom that I've kindly borrowed which suggests that sometimes the process of travel should be enjoyed in equal equivalence to, or perhaps even with more anticipation than that which exists for the arrival at your chosen destination.

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The top 5 '...ummm, how did you get there?'

This top 5 is dedicated to those journeys where brain cells were forever lost, sanity was checked at the counter never to be seen again and patience was erased from the turbid sea of resilience by the subtle brush strokes of time.

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1. La Paz (Bolivia) to Buenos Aires (Argentina) - 2010 - Overland bus (60hrs) - You read that duration correctly by the way! It was 2.5 days locked into the one seat on the same bus. Intermittent stops made only for 20min refreshment breaks and an achingly long lunch stop somewhere in Northern Argentina in the final 12hr stretch. But how you ask? But why even? All pertinent questions, so let me answer them below.

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Back in 2010 I'd taken an extended break from everything and was living out an age old dream of mine which was to travel South America with no planned agenda, just to take it as it presented itself, but then came the WildRover Hostel 'incident' which can be read here - You've got what you're worth and also here - Shaken not stirred - La Paz to Buenos Aires, it was a 'happening' where my wallet was ever so elegantly lifted from my bag whilst I was out of the room and without going into those specifics let me fill you in on what happened next.
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I had decided to take the cheapest  travel option back to Buenos Aires as I the wallet lifting escapade meant that I was preparing to head back home. The cheapest option out of La Paz to BA was a $100USD bus ride through the wilds of the altiplano, into Northern Argentina and then south east to Buenos Aires on the Rio de la Plata.

Somewhere between La Paz and the border - high on the altiplano - Bolivia
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Now bus rides don't harm me, I can switch off my internal systems and dose away those bland and boring hours on the road quite easily. In instances where mere mortals tend to 'lose the plot' I'm happily off in my slumber world, oblivious to anything but the creation of images and dreams that meld with the relentless hum of tyres on bitumen and the relentless rocking of the transporation chariot. On this trip however I broke down, I became 'one of those' people that get overwhelmed by cabin fever and there was nothing that I could do to reign in the internal carnage.
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What broke me however was not the 3hrs in took to cross the border at Villazon, the same one that I had walked across a month earlier in under 10mins, nor was it the 14yr old kid that kept leaning on my shoulder right through the second night trying to find a comfortable position for his head, nor was it the constant police stops in Argentina and requests for me to produce my passport every few hours, BUT, what flipped me out was the fact that our scheduled time of arrival was meant to be 10hrs earlier than when we actually arrived AND the fact that it felt as if the speed that we were doing from the border all the way down to Buenos Aires was never more than 40kph! I absolutely lost my shit!!! I started hitting windows, hitting seats, swearing out loud every now and then, there was just nothing to control that internal fury of being locked up in this tin can without knowing when the end would appear.

Rainy day in Buenos Aires - Argentina

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2. Gibbon Experience - Bokeo Province - near Huay Xai (Laos) - 2009 - Huay Xai is a two street town that lies on the Lao bank of the Mekong  which itself acts as the Lao/Thai border in the north-west part of the country. Getting there by road or water is a long proposition, so we elected to fly in from Vientiane, a 2.5hr flight with 'Air Maybe' from the capital - Air Maybe - The Gibbon Experience. From Huay Xai it was then a 2-3hr right on the back of a truck to a small village outpost that was overun with chickens, stray cows and all other things related to this particular version of the 'Lao farming Disneyland', and then to get to the 'huts in the sky' it was a 6hr walk across the smoke and haze riddled jungles of the remote Bokeo province.

'Air Maybe' - safely on the ground Huay Xai - Lao PDR

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This place is fairly remote. I mean if you sustained a serious injury whilst out in the jungle then you would be in a fair amount of trouble. Getting back to the small town of Huay Xai was difficult enough but needing to be evacuated anywhere else? Well, thankfully it didn't occur, we all survived our food poisoning with Lao parasites that we'll carry for life and we'll remember a journey into the back of nowhere.

The two street town of Huay Xai - Lao PDR

Our ride - bounced from pillar to post - Bokeo Province - Lao PDR
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3. Sydney (Australia) to  Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) - 2011 - (48hrs) - I know that there's a direct way to get to South America from Sydney, I know that flying across the Pacific from Sydney is the DIRECT route and is probably something like 20hrs faster than the route we actually took, but, by the time JJ, Jet and myself had all gotten on the same page to attacking Rio for NYE the prices of direct flights were hovering in the $5K range and flights from Sydney to Dubai to Sao Paulo were in the $2700 vicinity. Do the maths on that! That's $115 per hour saved, or $115 per hour for the pain transference of not paying the additional $2300. Honestly I was ok with not having to pay the additional sum. So we busted out of Sydney on Christmas Eve, had Christmas drinks in Dubai 14hrs later, had an odd Christmas Dinner in Sao Paulo 14hrs after that and then  jumped a 4hr bus ride from Sao Paulo to Rio the following day. It was 'the long way' and then some but it did the job when it came to value - Hitting up Sampa

Dubai to Sao Paulo - only 14hrs to go! Dubai International Airport - United Arab Emirates

'Merry Freakin' Christmas Jet!!' - Frichot crashed out in the lobby of our hotel after suffering 28hrs of air travel trauma - we still had the Sao Paulo to Rio bus ride the next day! - Sao Paulo - Brasil
 

4. Stockholm (Sweden)  to Belgrade (Serbia) - 2010 - (28hrs) -  This ride was one of the most epic pieces of driving 'endurance' that I have ever been part of and had the good fortune to witness first hand. I'm not entirely sure whether it was the intention from the start or whether the competitive spirit of my cousin (Big V) just overtook all his good sense about what a 'comfortable' amount of time driving through Europe would account to but we commenced our journey from Stockholm after an afternoon/night out drinking with a friend  of the family- Gumball Rally (Part 2) - We woke up the next morning at somewhere touching 4am with dry mouths and the stench of whiskey still oozing from our pores but still harnessed the will and requisite insanity to point our vehicle south with the full intention of cutting the great continent of Europe in two.

We exited Stockholm at 5am on day one. In those next 28hrs we cut through the countries of Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and then finally Serbia. At a little after 9am the next day, with my cousin only having taken a 90min power nap on the backstreets of Slovakia we cruised into Belgrade triumphant, with trumpets blowing, marching bands out on parade and our car parked proudly at its destination in Topcider.

Sunset on the road - 'somewhere in Denmark'

Great Belt bridge near Odense - Denmark

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5. San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina) to Sucre (Bolivia) - (30hrs) - For some reason this ride even now feels like a haze of early morning stops, blurry faces and the metaphorical transience of movement. I recall making port in places such as JuJuy, Villazon (and a ram shackled hostel that had a view into a mechanics workshop) and then a 5am arrival in the quaint town of Sucre which had us arriving to our hostel several hours prior to the time that out hostel could actually accommodate us and thus we find ourselves sprawled out on the couches in the common room until suitable beds were found.

Morning stop near JuJuy Argentina - It's 4am, you just 'gotta drink' after 16hrs in the saddle

The Bolivian border town of Villazon

The top 5 - 'Best sunsets'

I love an aesthetically pleasing view and additionally I adore the glorious wash of colours that comes with a sunset that decides to paint itself over the canvas that is the view that I'm appreciating. The shots below are the best sunsets I've witnessed during my travels thus far. Hopefully the shots do these places a little bit of justice.
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1. Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) - 2012

Porto Bay hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Porto Bay hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
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2. View from Tanjia restaurant - (Marrakech) - Morocco - 2010



Marrakech - Morocco

Marrakech - Morocco

3. The dunes of Dubai - (United Arab Emirates) - 2012

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

4.On the beach in Mazatlan - (Mexico) - 2011

Mazatlan - Mexico

Mazatlan - Mexico
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5. View from the Eiffel tower - Paris - (France) - 2010

Paris - France

Paris - France

Top 5 - 'You're a little bit of an idiot aren't you?'

These stories are dedicated to some of those moments where hindsight would have been the advantageous card to have been pulled from the deck prior to the moment of impact, but they are also moments where the value of the story in the present far outweighs any of the consequences suffered at the time.

1. Dicing with Yuma - 'That's the jaw of a puma around my knee right now isn't it!?' - Parque Ambue Ari - (Bolivia) - 2010 - This one takes out the title purely for the fact that there were moments of blinding flashes in my head when I thought that my being was going to be terminated on the jungle floors of the Bolivian Amazon! I always laugh when I read this entry - 3:10 Express from Yuma - because I remember the speed at which my brain was processing information regarding 'the situation' and the conversation that it was engaged in with itself in those few moments when puma jaw enveloped human leg. Reflecting on it now its quite hilarious but I recall that at the time I was doing an express sanity check that followed some logical pattern akin to the below conversation, i.e.,

Brain: Question to Henry - 'This is real, is it not?'

Henry: Answer to Brain - 'F**k, the flipped out b*tch has her mouth around my knee and is ripping into my leg with her claws! I think it's freakin' real!!!'

Brain: Follow up question - 'Huh...interesting'. Additional question. You do realise that wild animals like this can kill people, right?'

Henry: Answer to Brain - 'Yeah bro, I'm onto that caper as of right now!'

Brain: Response to Henry - 'OK, best of luck with that, I'm checking out now!'

Henry: Response to Brain - 'Ah brain, hello!? Hello!!!??!?'

When my brain checked out during that experience then I realised that there was the potential for there to be much carnage. I can only thank Ms Puma that on this day her 'moody b*tch dial' was on low otherwise you may not be reading any of this!

Big jaw, sharp teeth...around my LEG!!!!! Parque Ambue Ari - Bolivia

That's right, you eat that chicken and leave me the hell alone!

2. Smuggling goods out of a jail - San Pedro prison - La Paz - (Bolivia) - 2010 - You'll start to see a pattern with my stay in Bolivia, am just calling that out up front. Initially made globally famous by a little write up in the Lonely Planet guide for Bolivia some years back and by the name of the book from which the title of my blog entry was borrowed - Marching Powder - San Pedro prison is somewhat of an oddity. Prisoners of San Pedro pay for the privilege of staying within their walls and paying rentals on their pieces of real estate depending upon where in the prison they are located. The place operates like a small closed economy, shops, restaurants, gyms, hair dresses etc, all being operated by prisoners for prisons, within the prison. It's an interesting set up, which additionally allows for visits by tourists such as myself to help sustain and grow their little enterprises. Their main form of income by the way is not from the payment that 'we tourists' make as our 'safety assurance' on entry but rather the sell ingof cocaine base which is made in the prison.

So, the additional part of the story now logically follows. You reach the end of your tour and you're taken to a small-ish room away from all other inmates. The guide  then poses the following question, 'Would you like anything else'? It doesn't take a Nobel prize laureate to work out what this tienda  is wanting to offload. My cohorts and I quickly look at each other and just nod, 'sure' we say collectively. OK, so how many times in your life will you rack up lines inside the joint? For me I sincerely hope it's just the one time! There is more to the story however...

...Preparing to make our departure the question is then posed on whether we would enjoy taking any goods out of the prison, you know, for our own entertainment purposes. Several members of my group do so. My mind still active at this point declines the invitation but realises that it's now part of a group of people that are smuggling drugs out of a jail!.....'Ahhh F*cksicle!'...Now I don't know how many tourists get busted doing this, obviously this method is well accepted at the prison and tolerated within reason, but what happens if the guards decide to do a search? What's the bribe to be paid? What's the penalty? Can you actually get busted for taking drugs out of San Pedro? Who's backdoor bitch will I become if I stay inside? These were all questions that thankfully did not require any answering other than evening scrutiny and discussion of the event upon our successful exit.

3. Mountain biking the 'Death Road'- La Paz - (Bolivia) - 2010 -  Do you have that annoying and nagging sensation that perhaps the altitude in La Paz played a little with my ability to make rational life choices? Another unique Bolivian experience involved mountain biking down the notorious 'Death Road'. It should be known that this is the 'little boulevard' where at one point during the 80's they were clocking something close to 600 deaths per year and averaging 2 bus loses a month into the Coroico valley. These days traffic is mostly from those oddballs such as myself that feel the need to freewheel the 32kms of the Death Road and live to tell the tale,although, with that said, there was as of November 2010 (33) biking fatalities on the road. I've also included a link to the blog entry here if you want to have a read - El camino de la muerte

My little dice with the Death Road came from the relative weight of speed that I assigned to the portion of the road that I was on and the fact that rain in the previous days had turned section of the camino into mud pits. I realised how treacherous the road was 'if you weren't paying attention' when I crossed up my mountain bike prior to a turn in the road and stared into a 50mtr drop that would have had me headbutting forest floor at 100kph! Not so bad considering drop in some places are known to be 600mtrs!

The cruise before the storm - outside of La Paz - Bolivia

'The Balcony' on the Death Road - Yungas Rd - Bolivia

4. Here, have a phone, and let me pay you to take it from me! - Marrakech - (Morocco) - 2008 - Oh brother, if  this wasn't the screenplay to a C-grade horror movie then it should have been. Actually it was the exact script lifted from 'what not to do' when encountered in the exact same situation.

So I'd just taken a 6hr  ride down from Fes to Marrakech on a relatively comfortable train. The only problem being that it was 50 degrees outside and the air conditioning on the train was losing its will to live, so it was warm and the stench of Moroccan man sweat was starting to pervade all cornices of the carriage. Encountering direct sunlight and the furnace of Marrakech was a completely different proposition after the travails of the train adventure. Thankfully Marrakech presented a dry heat but it was pushing the 50 mark on the day that I arrived. I jumped a taxi from the station and took a ride to where my riad was located. Somewhere 'near' my riad the driver stopped, grunted and pointed me to 'somewhere' down the street. The entries that relate to this exercise in stupidity can be accessed here Marrakech and here Marrakech C.S.I. The short of it is that I asked a 'random' passer by for assistance to my accommodation, this opportunist then assisted himself to my mobile phone, 100 dirhams and walked away from me without me so much as blinking. I still recall this guy walking to the end of the alley where he'd directed me, turning left and then me thinking at that moment 'Ahh f*ck! He's got my mobile hasn't he? He's not coming back either, is he? And I still don't know where my accommodation is!? I'm just a rip roaring mong right about now!'

Back alleys of Marrakech - Morocco

5. Entering Mexico without acquiring a visa - Tijuana - (Mexico) - 2011 - Now this isn't exactly as dumb as it sounds. The Mexico/US border is fairly liquid in terms of allow foreigners to pass through without a visa, well, from the Mexican perspective anyway. The deal is that if you want to stay in TJ then ok, there's no visa required but for escapades further into Mexico you'll need one. At the time Jet and I entered Mexico we thought we would only be staying in TJ and then making our way back into the US and then across it, funds put pay to that. Thr residual affect of not acquiring the needed visa at the border gave rise to a spectacular sequence of event at the airport in Mexico City which had us waving goodbye to our flight to Los Angeles as we picked up our offloaded luggage from the flight on the tarmac. Again, it's one of those days/nights when on reflection you just have to laugh but at the time, man did it suck balls!!! This entry for it is amusing I think, check it out - The Project



No skateboarding across the border! Remember that! - Tijuana - Mexico

That's the border exit! Turn right and walk 5mtrs and you have yourself good 'ole Mexican tacos! Of course that's exactly what you're looking for after you've crossed - Tijuana - Mexico









It's a wrap - Argentina/Uruguay

Argentina/Uruguay
18 August 2012 - 29 August 2012

The two-timer tour - WRAP

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina (2010)

As has become standard for me when I've ended a trip I've taken to doing a last summary or a 'greatest hits' review whenever I managed to complete the final entry on the 'how, why, when and whatever else may have been alcohol related' blog series of my most recent escapades. Sticking with tradition and therefore adopting the same template that I've used in the past, see also;

 

[Morocco - Europe wrap - June/July 2008]

[Laos wrap - April 2009]

[Vietnam-Malaysia wrap - December/January 2009/10]

[Europe - Morocco - South America wrap 2010]

[USA - Mexico wrap - February/March 2011]

[Brazil/U.A.E wrap - December/January 2011/12]

 

I therefore bring you the close out of the Argentina/Uruguay experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. In actual fact the two-timer final cut is more of a tale of two cities than two countries, that being Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but I'm sticking with tradition in terms of delivery for this final entry. So lets do it, lets check out the highs, lows, hits and misses of the two-timer tour!

Argentina-Uruguay - 'The Final'

Favourite places

Usually my 'favourite places' are  a city based list but as I didn't hop around from city to city on this tour this list is going to be more about places within the cities themselves.

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - Oh the irony! Actually, may I make the point of re-stating that by saying, 'oh, the dramatic irony!', because in that sense what I now say about Montevideo and it's relation to my ironic conidtion is in actual fact correct and hence I need 'no lecture or tickets to a disco!' regarding the use of irony and its context! Just to advise,when the character or shall we say main protagonist in a movie or play does something out of ignorance or that which is contrary to the truth that the audience is already well aware, then that my friends is known as dramatic irony. For example,  it's like that time I got married... (...ummm, ok, lets leave that story for another day also!). Anyway, many of my friends would have known that I should not have returned to Montevideo, we don't really gel all that well, and low and behold I got kicked in the teeth for tempting fate in any case. Broadcasting the fact that I think she, Montevideo, sucks sweet juicy balls, may not have done my cause any good at all, BUT...

..........then there came the Mercado del Puerto (sound the trumpets, or at the very least just imagine them being sounded!)

How is it that a place like Montevideo, a place so bland, so boring, so uninspiring, has a space that is a shrine to all things grilled meat related! If you were making a sauce from all things meat inspired then this place would be the exquisite reduction of all things good, and wholesome, and just and honourable about meat.

Prior to making my way to Montevideo I read somewhere that the Uruguayan love for meat makes Argentinians look like vegetarians! If you know anything about how Argentinians roll then that is a MASSIVE statement to be throwing out into the wind. The mercado however is literally just jammed with parillas, their wood fires churning out lomo, morcillas, chorizos, pollo, asado...just keep talking. It's smokey, it's intoxicating, it's got my stamp of approval! Montevideo, you may not like me but I can almost forgive you for providing me with the Mercado del Puerto. I'm happy to call it even!

 

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

C'mon, give me more jamon (yeah, I said that!)
...how about this then, 'I was jamon a good time!?'
Didn't Bob Marley have a song called jamon? I'm sure he did!

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

2. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I sometimes wonder how it is that places just take up residence in your head and constantly nag you to hunt them down, ex-girlfiends aside. South America managed to somehow draw me into its space even as a youngster. It was a dark, mysterious continent that had an edge about it, a pervasive edge that permeated into that impressionable young mind of mine and ballooned into an enigma by the fact that (I) didn't know a great deal about it. In the same fashion La Bombonera, the home ground of the legendary BA team Boca Juniors, existed in my mind in the very same fashion. As a kid I would watch grainy games replayed on World Soccer each Saturday afternoon and wondered where the hell it in this world that crowds would erupt into a wild frenzy just for the fact that their team turned up on the pitch! Down the tack I ended up finding out the answer to the question, and on this trip I ended up satisfying one of the many travel wants (....or is it needs)! La Bombonera is a cauldron, the fans are typically passionate and emotional. Designed by a Yugoslav, painted in Swedish colours and with the atmosphere that you can only get in Latin America, this was a great place to be!

 

 La Bombonera - home of Boca Juniors - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Game time! It's time to 'set it off' in La Bombonera!!

 

3-2 with 10 mins to go. It was a cracking game but unfortunately for Boca and the home town faithful the game ended up in a 3-3 draw. Advertising boards were thrown!

 

 

3. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Sometimes you learn by the process of osmosis, right? Isn't that when a liquid passes through a 'semi-permeable' membrane and then settles elsewhere? I don't know actually, I'm trying to recall facts from my Yr 8 science glass and I'm drawing blanks, but there's a point here. My first time in BA was in 2010 and I elected to stay in San Telmo for that initial stop. Why? Because somehow, from somewhere by some fanciful process that I haven't as yet figured out I made the assessment that San Telmo was the 'cool part' of Buenos Aires. In actual fact it's not - Palermo Soho is the 'cool part' BUT  San Telmo is my style cool. Cobble stoned streets, old classical style architecture, the aroma of charred meat filling the air from the  parillas that inhabit every corner, establishments that exude the charm of those old world speakeasy's...it just suits me down to the ground, and I have to say that if I was to ever live in Buenos Aires or stay here for any 'real' amount of time then this barrio would certainly be my home.

 

 

San Telmo street art - near the corner of calle Peru y Chile -San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Calle Chile, San Telmo, on a brisk Sunday morning

 

On La calle Defensa, Bernabe Ferreya, aka 'Gardelito' - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Bernabe has been peforming the songs of Carlos Gardel since 1972

 

Gente caminando por San Telmo

 

4. La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is the 'working class' barrio of Buenos Aires and is the cities true cultural melting pot. It has a strong Italian influence but also has pockets of Spanish, Germans, French, Arabs and Basque. It's kind of gritty in that true working class manner but also colourful, has soul and is full of life. Apparently it's not the 'safest' barrio to just wonder around but since when have I taken notice of 'safety measures' outlined in any notable travel guide - please see the entry on a puma tried to rip my nuts off for proof of that! It's right here if you're interested -  The 3:10 express from Yuma

 

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Puerto La Boca Riachuelo Transbordador - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Calle Caminito - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Backstreets of La Boca near La Bombonera

5. Panamericano hotel - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I'd seen many photos taken of the famous Avenida 9 de Julio and the Obelisk but had not quite figured out  from where they were taken , that was until I zeroed in on the top floor of the Panamericano hotel. What the top floor of this hotel should be is a bar, perhaps one that opens out magnificently onto the BA skyline for all to enjoy. What it is however is some type of ordinary observation deck that backs off a pool that can only be utilised by hotel guests.I was not a hotel guest. I did however try my luck and took a ride to the top floor. I managed to time my run so perfectly that the gentleman attending the service desk just stepped aside for the briefest of moments as I took my first steps onto the floor - nice timing dude!

 

 The view was spectacular, let me say that now.

 

View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

 

Most Surprising

 

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - I had hoped that the Mercado del Puerto would be good, especially for the fact that I didn't make it there on my last visit to Montevideo, but man oh man, it exceeded all my expectations and then whilst in that process it  also held court as my heart palpitated and the exhiliration brought on by the endorphin rush made me forget that I was actually in a town that I had quite some contempt for. Love is blind, it's a fact!

 

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

 

Coolest place for a night out

 

1. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I know this isn't the 'cool bar' centre of Buenos Aires but that doesn't concern me, but it does have its fair share of cool bars let me just add that now. This barrio is vibrant, it's inviting, warm and like the rest of BA it only starts to think about turning in for the night when the colour of the dark sky starts to change. Heading our for dinner early here means that you're in a restaurant at 10:30pm, seriously, that's an early dinner and that in itself is the signature of a barrio that resides under the tag line that says 'Cool, yeah we invented it'.

 

2. Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Now this is the fashionable corner of BA. For those that are wondering the Palermo Soho cocktail is a shot of fashion, a shot of restaurants and a double shot of bars. It's hip (cliche), it's trendy (cliche), it strives to be hip and trendy in an alternative way (cliche squared) and it's where all the BA 'young guns' hang out.

 

Street art - Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

3. Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is reclaimed territory of sorts. An area that used to be a land of forgotten and worn docks and warehouses has in the last 20 yrs been revitalised and is filled with restaurants and bars that are more than happy to satisfy both the carnivorous and alcoholics amongst us, or if you're like me, then the carniholics amongst us.

 

Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Best accommodation

 

1. Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place takes out the honour by default as I only stayed in one other place for a night and there's just no way that anything from Montevideo was going to take out a title, well other then the Mercado del Puerto but I think it claimed sovereign rights from Montevideo long ago under the 'We're not accepting responsibility for a crappy city like you' Act.

 

Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

Best place to get lost

 

1. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)  - This may appear to be an odd choice in that my track record suggests that usually the best place to get lost would be in a specific town or suburb of a town, but the crown has to go to the reserve. Fronting the Rio de la Plata and acting as the 'intermediary' between the city of BA and the Rio de la Plata, this 3.5km2 tract of lowland is just the tonic for those jaded Portenos and tourists alike who just need to drop out and lose themselves in nature for a little while.

 

Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

Best drink

 

1. Malbec - (pick your restaurant or bar) - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) -  Its ubiquitous, it has become the national varietal style of wine and considering that the Argentinians predominantly drink red the odds are that if you're wanting a glass of red then you're going to be having a malbec, in all likelihood, from Mendoza...and who the hell is going to complain about that? It's freakin' glorious! It's absoutely my favourite grape variety and it flows in the streets as easily as the dulcet tones of Barry White will put you in the mood for some afternoon delight. It's partnership with Argentinian beef is what Serbian dreams are made of!

 

 

My malbec from Mendoza, my beef in Argentina!

(Apologies to E.Hemingway for bastardising his line)

 

2. Pisco sour - Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - So this isn't Pisco sour heartland, in fact I'm having this drink a long way from Peru, the place where it originated...but....I haven't been to Peru, nor have I been to Chile where they have their own style of sours, and of the ones that I have had thus far the several in Buenos Aires were so far ahead of their predecessors that I had to honour it with a place on the roll of achievement.

 

Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

3. Cortado - Cafe Tortoni -  Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - So this is just an expresso cut with a little bit of warm milk but that's the way I like my coffee these days, I think the location, Cafe Tortoni, had a lot to do with the sell of this caffeine hit. How could Jorge Luis Borges have been wrong? He couldn't! Don't think about it because I've provided you with the answer!

 

Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

Best meals

 

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - it was just THAT good! The morcillas were the best I had ever had! Some would say 'delicious', I would say delectable, and of course I could wax lyrical about the mecado but it still pains me that a place so exquisite, a place so in tune with my needs is located in THAT city! Damn you Mercado del Puerto, just move already!

 

Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

 

2. Brasas Argentinas Buffet and Grill - Avenida Alicia Moreau - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Some may not rank this the culinary experience as one that epicureans may strive for because a buffet by definition is more based on quantity that quality, but man alive, the meat! Of course, right!? Blood sausage, chorizos, beef, lamb, ribs! It's all that I wanted and as much as I wanted! It was bliss!

 

Make no mistake, I was in heaven!

 

 

3. El Desvivel - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I love this place, it's what 'tourists' would call 'authentic', whatever the hell that means. By the looks of it though its where the locals like to eat too. The decor isn't spectacular but it doesn't have to be, if I wanted to pay to sit in a place that likes nice then I would have gone to a day spa (or something like that).  This place did a mean bife de chorizo and I know for a fact also created magical morcipans, choripans and all else meat related. It was also a 5 min walk from where my hostel was located, it was an easy choice.

 

 El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

Honorary mention - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is on the higher end of the scale in terms of expense but it's well worth it, for the meal and for the service. I made it there one lazy mid afternoon and had a fantastic experience. It has been noted in my future to do list and I will return, with reinforcements!

 

My meal! La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Dedication to the cow - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

Best Bars

 

1. Pool bar - Faena Universe - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) -  I might have to spend a couple of nights in the Faena Universe, it's a world unto itself, suprise, suprise. The pool bar is the place to be seen and leans a greadt distance to having a type of Moroccan feel to it without going the full Moroccan monty.

 

2. La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place was located one block down from where I was staying. From what I know it had only opened up in the last several years but felt as though it had been there from the turn of last century. Pleasant vibe, great service and its proximity to where I was staying made it an absolute favourite.

 

La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

3. Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - this place IS genuinely old school and you can feel it the moment you enter. I love the warmth, charm and character that wood gives to an old style bar. San Telmo has plenty of them and this place for me was one of the best.

 

Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)

 

 

My guilty pleasure

 

1. The morcipan or choripan - El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I've got a thing for blood sausage, and chorizo's for that matter, go figure. At El Desvivel they throw them onto the grill, with the wood fire flaming away and the smell of charred meat fills not just your nostrils but washes over your skin, seeping through your pores as you wait...And the reality of it is that it's very, very basic fair, it gets thrown onto a bun and then it's your decision as to what you'll utilise in order to construct your masterpiece. My masterpiece would include a little bit of salsa and then I'd flood the market with turbo charged chimichurri! Perfection!

 

A typical Sunday afternoon on Defensa - chorizo's anyone? San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

Self acknowledgment that I'm a 'World Cup tragic'

 

Even on the day that Montevideo beat the fun and mischief out of me I still had to make my way to the Estadio Centenario. It's where the the final of the very first football World Cup was played and the pilgrimage paid homage to the years of legendary World Cup football that has shaped many elements of my life (in odd ways of course).

 

Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

 

 

Favourite photos

 

1. 'Gardelito', aka, Bernabe Ferreya - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

 

 

I've got a black and white photo of this guy (actually the one at the top of this entry) framed and hanging on my wall at home. I walked down to see if this guy was still plying his trade on Sunday afternoons, of course he was. He's an institution and can be found on too many postcards to count. I'm not sure if he's impressed by the fact that I stole his image, he looks as though he could go all Mike Tyson mafiosa on me if he wanted to.

 

 

2. Mural - backstreets of La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 

 

 

I like the intensity of this mural. Part of the reason that I included the edge of the wall on the left hand side of the phoot was to create strong lines and angles which were meant to add to the character of what was painted. I did take another photo of the mural, as below, in order to capture it in its entirety but the photo doesn't have the same feel to me as the first.

 

 

 

3. Window frame - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)

 

 

There are places where taking photos are just so easy, you point and shoot, everyone's a winner baby. La Boca is one of those places. This shot just has the character that typifies the colour, atmosphere and attitude of this barrio.

 

4. Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - (Uruguay)

 

 

 

There's nothing fancy or pretty about this end of town in Montevideo. They (the Montevideans)  kind of shun the river, turning their back on it in very much the same manner that the folk from Buenos Aires do. Still, I like this photo.

 

 

5. Obelisco - Avenida Presidente Roque Saenz Pena - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

 

 

 

This is just a typical BA shot to me. Can't beat a city that looks good in black and white now can you?



 

 

Coolest moments

 

1. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the simple passion and atmosphere of the game there wasn't anything else that could go past the experience.

 

2. Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the fact that I slipped past security with the skill and dexterity of a Romanian pickpocket.

 

3. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - It was the realisation that there was a small area of ground in this world that had invaded my dreams, taken out an element and created a reality that only ever existed in my imagination.

 

4. Calle Defensa on a Sunday - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - There's nothing better to do on a Sunday in BA than to cruise Defensa, check out the markets, check out the food, listen to the music and just get caught up in the sweet vibe of the barrio.

 

5. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - With next to no pesos in my pocket and lamenting the fact that I wasn't on a flight to Puerto Iguazu that morning this reserve proved to be the perfect foil for that wave of loss that came with the realisation that I was getting jipped on seeing one of the natural wonders of the world for the second time in 18 months!!

 

Un-coolest moment

 

1. ATM fail - Ciudad Vieja - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - This was Montevideo getting me back for telling all and sundry that the Big M sucks balls! Well you know what, it does, and now even harder than it did previously! Fair enough, it was my ignorance or perhaps absent mindedness that led to the situation but that's simply because the Latin American process is different to that which I've experienced everywhere else in the world. The ATM's here keep your card in the machine after your money has already been dispensed, asking you 'whether you would like to undertake another transaction', in other places you receive your card first prior to the cash being dispensed. For some reason my mind interpreted this process as  - 'cash in my hand = transaction complete = you can walk way now'. Sure I could walk away, but I would also be leaving my card in the machine! Oh well, Montevideo!!! You've screwed me again!!!

 

Most Random but still cool moment

 

1. Running into Jorge - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Running into people you know quite by chance in a completely foreign place is also known as complete randomness. Literally running into them however is complete randomness with a dose of bizarre. So the story goes like this. Coming back from my night out at La Bombonera my ride drops me off near the Ayres Portenos hostel on calle Chile. As I step off the bus I jink inside a man that's walking up the street and he quickly steps the other way and then just as quickly spins on his heel, 'Hey Henry' he calls out..................'Ahh what now!?' is the way my mind summed up the situation. I realised in just a second that it was Jorge, a guy that I got to know on my last stay in Buenos Aires whilst hanging out in Boedo. He was now living in San Telmo on calle Chile about a 40 second walk from the front door of where I was staying. Random and cool all at once.

 

Best comeback

1. There's nothing like a free meal, or is there? H. Elisher dining out with no $ to his name - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - To say that I took advantage of Mike would be to do me an injustice. I will admit to playing up to the good nature of my room-mate and betting that he would take the bait. In all honesty if someone had told me the same story I would have done the same thing, so I guess in a way good 'ole Mike was paying it forward by taking me out for a cracking meal and somewhere down the track I might just be able to do the same, but please make my recipient Spanish, female, with long dark hair and....well you can guess the rest!

 

Travel breakdown

 

Total number of flights - 2

 

Total flying hours - 28hrs

 

Total time spent in airports - 'Not many, if any...' - All recognition and rights to that line go to Scribe, not may people can roll like him!

 

Total number of bus rides - 1

 

Total number of ferry rides - 2

 

Total distance travelled - 23906kms

 

Total bottles of Malbec that I downed - 22 (give or take)

 

 

...and there we have it, that's a wrap of the Argentina/Uruguay 'two-timer tour'. Now that was a hell of a lot of fun and totally unexpected. I thank Aerolineas Argentinas for adding on a new service from BA to Sydney and considering promotional offers as the way to increase patronage! Under $1000 return was just a ridiculous bargain, and like that offer was ever going to get past this Wile E Coyote!?

 

So where to now? Well I have plans of course! The idea of Cuba has been gently simmering for a while and is now coming to the boil, it's definitely the front runner, but there's a dark horse in Nicaragua and Costa Rica that's just hit the turn and full speed. So thanks for hanging out with me here and look for me somewhere far, far away in the near future, relatively speaking.