So there we were in Puerto Iguazu on the border of Argentina and Brazil, we desperately wanted to get to Bolivia as soon as possible but everyone kept telling us that Salta - Argentina was not to be missed! The Mavrix are not in the habit of listening when spoken to so it took quite a bit of convincing (our Moms will know this), especially since it meant going all the way back across Argentina. But we cleared the wax out of our ears, packed our ear plugs into our ever growing bags and got ready for a 23 hour bus ride cross country to Salta, and soon came to experience and relise that Salta is a place unlike no other in all of Argentina. Back to the bus journey into Salta.. 23 hours sounds pretty bad... how about adding 6 hours because some farmers are protesting and have blocked the only road out of town! Sheesh and you thought Load Shedding traffic was bad.... we didnt move a step in 6 hours and the driver refused to serve dinner till the next town, this meant eating our already reheated schnitzel, which landed on our laps wrapped in the cheapest plastic money can buy at 4am... and we all know that the only thing that tastes good at that time of the morning is Bimbos burgers or their breakfast in Pita!
We arrived in Salta mid afternoon and after doing the mandatory check in and bag drop we took a walk to explore the city. Using the trusted Gringos travelers coincidence rader system it was only a matter of 10 minutes into our walk before we ran into a German friend of ours Hari Har - quick one - Hari Har nicknamed Harry, was born in India but is a German through and through, he looks like he was once the kid on the KinderJoy chocolate pack with a curly blonde afro and blue eyes, holds powers of exceptional reasoning and despite being quite a funny guy himself just cant get our jokes all the time ¨it iz jist not logikal¨.- Hari was with a Red headed, blue eyed Irish girl on his arm like Long John Silver and his squaking parrot. Hari like his forefathers before him had conquered the Irish and was in full colonisation mode. Eimer was her name (yeah we struggle to pronounce it as well) and being typically Irish was her game. She has a mouth like a truck driver and stories that dont sound all together Catholic! So then there were four!
We used the rest of the afternoon to look at the Niños de la Montañas. These 3 kids were found at the top of the Andean mountain peaks frozen to death after being sacridiced to the God of the mountain. They now lay in the Mummy museum in a state of perfect conservation, thats what below zero temperatures will do to you! Unfortunately the museum sucked and we only got to see one little Niño (guess it was passed the others bedtime) that had been cracked on the head by lightening. Still, seeing The little child of lighting´s ancient teeth peaking out from her mouth, her curled fingers and eyelashes all perfectly preserved after 500 years was pretty cool.
But she wasn´t the real reason that we or anyone else really comes to Salta, everyone comes to Salta to drive out of Salta because it is a region of great beauty in the non traditional sense, one that needs days to explore from the comfort of a luxury german made sedan. Unfortunately all the luxury german sedans were rented out that day (read as ridiculously expensive) so the fantastic four hired the towns best bargin - a red Fiat Uno with more scratches and bumps that we could count ( avery useful trait when returning the car for inspection, "No Sir that scratch was there before... I swear it was"). The surrounding area is just brilliant, spectacular and almost uncapturable on camera as we soon discoved. The landscape goes from city, the beautiful green farmland to multicoloured bare rock mountains (reds and purples and greens OH MY!), full on rainbows of earth and rock creeping out of the ground! Also the shapes are crazy as mother earth was turning in her bed alot in this region and therefore all the formations look like many books piled ontop of each other and then pushed up creating jagged edges and definite changes in colours and line. Wow. Me Gusta!
But before we could head out on our road trip the FF´s had some celebrating to do Irish style, that means lots of wine and food (no Guiness in Salta) and much singing and story telling. It was Eimer´s birthday and we used the opportunity to sample the local cuisine and do as much of the above as possible...we did well. So well in fact that the waiter asked us about 5 times if we needed the bill before we caved in and headed back home by taxi. Our sore heads the next morning would soon eroded as the beauty of the landscape greeted us.
The Mavrix dont think that words or pictures can do the scenery the justice it deserves!!! The mountains you drive through would embaress a rainbow with the diversity of colours. They continually change colours with large slabs of reds, blues, yellows and purples being common and pinks, greens and pure whites jumping out at you around every corner. It was amazing to see how over millions and decades of years the earth has pushed her plates together so hard in this region that there are literally thousands of mountains around, and to to this crazy rock fomations have been formed making a clear distinction between each colour and creating a gobstopper effect. The Mavrix took over 300 photos in the space of 2 days on that road trip (I think I´m turning Japanese, I think I´m turning Japanese, I really think sooo) did we mention that none of the photos did the place any justice, only a trip there will truly bring understanding. We are so glad we washed the wax out our ears and went
Some of the highlights included the Ampitheatre - a deep hole in the mountain with its own in house band, some land art in the form of a multidirectional mirror in the middle of nowhere, the funny cactus pics we took, the local people - gauchos living off the land and the all round barren yet beautiful scenery. Basically we saw cool stuff and smiled a lot.
We had however miscalculated the time needed to do the trip (I guess its longer when you are Japanese) and had to wake up at an unreasonable hour to return the Uno in time to the rental guys. Negotiating mountain passes at 4 in the morning from an extrem altitude of 3500m is a chilling experience and quite cold too! We managed however to return the car in time and even managed to avert the rental guys eyes from the broken seatbelt in the back seat. Score!
The rest of the day involved washing dirty socks (seems as though we have a constant flow of incoming dirty socks) and downloading the photos from the trip (2 CD´s worth Japanese style). We would say goodbye (Konitchiwa) to Salta and Argentina this evening as we walked to the bus station with 8 other Gringos (a Gaggle of Gringos?) to boarder our final luxury bus to the land of runny tummies, crazy bus drivers, high altitudes and amazing adventures .... Next time Bolivia!
Saturday 24 May 2008
Sunday 18 May 2008
Iguazu Falls - 9 May 12 May
Thanks to The Froopers, The Mavrix were about to enjoy their first FULL CAMA bus experience journeying to the Great Iguazu Falls. In case you haven´t heard, Argentina has some of the best buses in the world, they range from very basic to basically first class. There have extra wide seats that recline ALL the way down, foot rests, in bus movies (if you´re lucky they´re in English), hot dinners and chilled champagne, all this somehow makes the 20 hour bus journey feel like a mere 18 ... but seriously the booze did help us snooze, and in almost no time and one really bad Jean Claude Van Damme movie that was unfortunately in English, we were in the town of Puerto Iguazu.
We immediately loved Puerto Iguazu, mostly because the sun had rolled out a golden carpet to meet us and the Mavrix were able to tan their pasty white skins next to the hostels giant pool (ex casinos rock!). After some tricky footwork and social fact finding we found the best (read cheapest) way to do the falls and see stuff the next day, and thus with a spring in our step and last nights big buffet dinner powering us on we (Mavrix with Froopers in tow, or was it the other way round?) caught a taxi to the waterfalls. On this day we would see one of Mother Natures master pieces, see local wildlife and learn that Cooper sings about everything, all the time, same tune ...different words...
Now you must understand, the falls are a full day experience, a ¨quick¨tour just isnt possible, they are too wide too high and too mighty to let you get away with that! While not as high as Vic Falls they are much much wider and just as mighty with the ability to inspire the kind of awe that would make even the most devout Mormon pick up a camera and take a few happy snaps for his 7 wives back home. So after splintering our jaws on the floor for a few hours looking at the falls from the many walk ways and look outs, we jumped on a boat and donned our mandatory life jackets. The boat takes you on a nice little tour of all the many sections of the falls allowing for pictures from many a vantage points until, quite unexpectantly, it goes right INTO the falls and drenches you from head to toe and down below. Thus after a couple times into the Devils Throat and other torrents of water, M was thoroughly wet and a little deaf from V´s screams of delight and de-fright but it was all good, we were having the time of our lives!!
Next we jumped onto another boat driven by an Argentinian who had eaten a few too many pies and therefore didnt need a floatation device to a little beach overlooked by part of the waterfall. We´d spend the next hour there sunning ourselves and pouring water out of our shoes thereby freeing the fishes and letting the tide back in. After what felt like far too short in this paradise beach we climbed back out and headed to the Devils Throat (the last part of these insanely wide falls and one of the most spectacular). What was also great about this view was the walk way there, you pass through an Amazon like landscape that made the Mavrix long for the river up north, it conjures up images of wild jungles, lost tribes, giant snakes and J-Lo.... go snake GO! Actually we cant wait to go there ourselves!
Still slightly damp but no less happy after an exhausting 10 hour day of site seeing (traveling is such hard work!) we got back to our hostel where M´s weary legs none the less ran him from end to end of the hostels football pitch giving him some much needed and much appreciated excerise and a couple scars to show the kids one day. That night the hostel served up a giant Asado (braai) that had the Mavrix so full of meat we couldn´t move much less dance. However the Asado comes with ¨Loads of meat and a ¨Show¨¨ the hostel notice board said so when first Vix and then M got dragged up in front of the whole hostel to take part in some real Brazillian Samba booty shaking we had to oblidge. Vix managed to fare pretty well in the spotlight wiggling her hips and twirling her finger tips while M lost a bum shaking competition to Football hooligan from Essex...Oh the shame... the night ended with a giant congo line winding its way through the hostel with almost ever able bodied traveler joining in the fray... what a day...what a night.
The Froopers would leave Iguazu and return to their Buenos Aires realities the next day while the Mavrix bet on the weather and lost by staying an extra day in Iguazu. We would then get on a 23 hour bus that turned into a 30 hour bus trip due to a protest in Corrientes (no one knows where that is or what the protest was about but it sucked!) and then finally arrive in Salta in the hopes of big things and somehow running into a friend from BA, Hari da German. But for now my fingers are tired and our tummies are calling so cheers muchachos, until next time!
We immediately loved Puerto Iguazu, mostly because the sun had rolled out a golden carpet to meet us and the Mavrix were able to tan their pasty white skins next to the hostels giant pool (ex casinos rock!). After some tricky footwork and social fact finding we found the best (read cheapest) way to do the falls and see stuff the next day, and thus with a spring in our step and last nights big buffet dinner powering us on we (Mavrix with Froopers in tow, or was it the other way round?) caught a taxi to the waterfalls. On this day we would see one of Mother Natures master pieces, see local wildlife and learn that Cooper sings about everything, all the time, same tune ...different words...
Now you must understand, the falls are a full day experience, a ¨quick¨tour just isnt possible, they are too wide too high and too mighty to let you get away with that! While not as high as Vic Falls they are much much wider and just as mighty with the ability to inspire the kind of awe that would make even the most devout Mormon pick up a camera and take a few happy snaps for his 7 wives back home. So after splintering our jaws on the floor for a few hours looking at the falls from the many walk ways and look outs, we jumped on a boat and donned our mandatory life jackets. The boat takes you on a nice little tour of all the many sections of the falls allowing for pictures from many a vantage points until, quite unexpectantly, it goes right INTO the falls and drenches you from head to toe and down below. Thus after a couple times into the Devils Throat and other torrents of water, M was thoroughly wet and a little deaf from V´s screams of delight and de-fright but it was all good, we were having the time of our lives!!
Next we jumped onto another boat driven by an Argentinian who had eaten a few too many pies and therefore didnt need a floatation device to a little beach overlooked by part of the waterfall. We´d spend the next hour there sunning ourselves and pouring water out of our shoes thereby freeing the fishes and letting the tide back in. After what felt like far too short in this paradise beach we climbed back out and headed to the Devils Throat (the last part of these insanely wide falls and one of the most spectacular). What was also great about this view was the walk way there, you pass through an Amazon like landscape that made the Mavrix long for the river up north, it conjures up images of wild jungles, lost tribes, giant snakes and J-Lo.... go snake GO! Actually we cant wait to go there ourselves!
Still slightly damp but no less happy after an exhausting 10 hour day of site seeing (traveling is such hard work!) we got back to our hostel where M´s weary legs none the less ran him from end to end of the hostels football pitch giving him some much needed and much appreciated excerise and a couple scars to show the kids one day. That night the hostel served up a giant Asado (braai) that had the Mavrix so full of meat we couldn´t move much less dance. However the Asado comes with ¨Loads of meat and a ¨Show¨¨ the hostel notice board said so when first Vix and then M got dragged up in front of the whole hostel to take part in some real Brazillian Samba booty shaking we had to oblidge. Vix managed to fare pretty well in the spotlight wiggling her hips and twirling her finger tips while M lost a bum shaking competition to Football hooligan from Essex...Oh the shame... the night ended with a giant congo line winding its way through the hostel with almost ever able bodied traveler joining in the fray... what a day...what a night.
The Froopers would leave Iguazu and return to their Buenos Aires realities the next day while the Mavrix bet on the weather and lost by staying an extra day in Iguazu. We would then get on a 23 hour bus that turned into a 30 hour bus trip due to a protest in Corrientes (no one knows where that is or what the protest was about but it sucked!) and then finally arrive in Salta in the hopes of big things and somehow running into a friend from BA, Hari da German. But for now my fingers are tired and our tummies are calling so cheers muchachos, until next time!
Thursday 15 May 2008
Our short little trip to Uruguay - 1 May - 7 May
So the plan was to get out of the city and head to the beach for some fun in the sun, cause the Mavrix were turning a little see through pale. This meant catching the ferry into Uruguay and hitting their famous, world class, not to be missed, white sand, bikini bearing, sun glass wearing beaches.
We began our trip in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cologne de Sacremento just a short jump across the river from BA. This little town has beautiful cobbled streets, picture perfect houses, old cars and not a hell of a lot more to do! Especially when you are on a South African style budget! But we made the best of it, i.e did everything that was free :) this means walking everywhere, using the hostels free internet and eating crackers and R4 pate on the pier instead of Crayfish at the restuarant just next to our picnic spot. Same view only a whole lot cheaper - Mavrix style!! By the way we really did like this little town, but it should be treated as a one day pit stop rather than a destination in itself, there are after all only so many crackers one can eat...
Next we went to the World famous Punta del Este (what you havent heard of it??) All the brouchures show white sand beaches and tanned barely clothed bodies soaking up the sun (some are wearing speedos not bikinis but you get the idea). Unfortunately nobody told us that Autumn in Uruguay is what Autumn should be, cold, windy and a little rainy. Still Punta is a pretty beach town that probably erupts when the summer is in full swing and we enjoyed sitting on the beach watching the sun dip its head under the water. Actually watching the sun go down in Punta seems to be the locals favourite pass time as every sunset had at least a 100 spectators. Their other favorite pass times are riding their scooters in large circles around the Punta never seemingly actually going anywhere, drinking Mate´ and teen pregnancy (this last item however seems to be a South American pass time and is not resticted to Punta).
*Mavrix note* There is actually something in South America called ¨children of the carnival¨, it refers to the fact that almost 9 months to the day after carnival the hospitals see an influx of teen Moms sprouting new borns. They even intesify their sex ed over this time to try bring the numbers down but we arent sure if this really helps, the kids just like the diagrams and free condoms (probably to blow up rather than to use judging by the hospital records 9 months later)!
La Paloma is a really pretty surfer town - Que Lindo! the locals would say! However due to the fact that Autumn IS actually Autumn in U-r-gay the Mavrix were the only unfortunate uninformed tourists in the whole town! This of course meant that we had a hostel all to ourselves, Hostel Iribita or OUR Hostel as we would come to call it, is a cute little Hassienda style house with the cutest little old couple running it! The fact that they spoke no English made them even more endearing as did their hobbit like stature. They even left us the keys to the hostel one night and told us how to lock up since they were going out of town for the night...this really DID make it OUR hostel, so we made a fire, drank a large bottle of the cheapest red wine the Supermercado had to offer and watched the only thing in English on TV. Vix passed out later infront of the fire leaving M to clean the kind of mess that only the Mavrix can make without actually driving a truck into the place.
The next day we did something we hadnt done before, something that seemed strange and otherworldy to do, at first we werent comfortable doing it but we knew that it was the right thing to do and that ultimately it would help us.... We checked the weather report in the next towns.... yup Autumn is Autumn in Uruguay, so we decided to stop chasing the sun cause it had too much of a head start and back track to BA where we would meet up with our old Amigos Americanos - Frances and Cooper. We tried to give them a good super hero name like Mavrix but the best we could do was Frooper, somehow it suits them.
So... after a long bus drive and a misadventure involving M almost losing his warm jacket, the Mavrix returned to BA, strangley there was no welcoming parade or camera crew at the bus station, once again we had evaded the paparazzi......ok so no one cared but we were back and used the day to shower and have a decent blow dry for Vix´s hair.
That night we would board the FULL Cama bus (thats the one with fully reclining seats and as much wine as you can drink) to Iguazu with the Froopers.
Next Iguazu...
We began our trip in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cologne de Sacremento just a short jump across the river from BA. This little town has beautiful cobbled streets, picture perfect houses, old cars and not a hell of a lot more to do! Especially when you are on a South African style budget! But we made the best of it, i.e did everything that was free :) this means walking everywhere, using the hostels free internet and eating crackers and R4 pate on the pier instead of Crayfish at the restuarant just next to our picnic spot. Same view only a whole lot cheaper - Mavrix style!! By the way we really did like this little town, but it should be treated as a one day pit stop rather than a destination in itself, there are after all only so many crackers one can eat...
Next we went to the World famous Punta del Este (what you havent heard of it??) All the brouchures show white sand beaches and tanned barely clothed bodies soaking up the sun (some are wearing speedos not bikinis but you get the idea). Unfortunately nobody told us that Autumn in Uruguay is what Autumn should be, cold, windy and a little rainy. Still Punta is a pretty beach town that probably erupts when the summer is in full swing and we enjoyed sitting on the beach watching the sun dip its head under the water. Actually watching the sun go down in Punta seems to be the locals favourite pass time as every sunset had at least a 100 spectators. Their other favorite pass times are riding their scooters in large circles around the Punta never seemingly actually going anywhere, drinking Mate´ and teen pregnancy (this last item however seems to be a South American pass time and is not resticted to Punta).
*Mavrix note* There is actually something in South America called ¨children of the carnival¨, it refers to the fact that almost 9 months to the day after carnival the hospitals see an influx of teen Moms sprouting new borns. They even intesify their sex ed over this time to try bring the numbers down but we arent sure if this really helps, the kids just like the diagrams and free condoms (probably to blow up rather than to use judging by the hospital records 9 months later)!
La Paloma is a really pretty surfer town - Que Lindo! the locals would say! However due to the fact that Autumn IS actually Autumn in U-r-gay the Mavrix were the only unfortunate uninformed tourists in the whole town! This of course meant that we had a hostel all to ourselves, Hostel Iribita or OUR Hostel as we would come to call it, is a cute little Hassienda style house with the cutest little old couple running it! The fact that they spoke no English made them even more endearing as did their hobbit like stature. They even left us the keys to the hostel one night and told us how to lock up since they were going out of town for the night...this really DID make it OUR hostel, so we made a fire, drank a large bottle of the cheapest red wine the Supermercado had to offer and watched the only thing in English on TV. Vix passed out later infront of the fire leaving M to clean the kind of mess that only the Mavrix can make without actually driving a truck into the place.
The next day we did something we hadnt done before, something that seemed strange and otherworldy to do, at first we werent comfortable doing it but we knew that it was the right thing to do and that ultimately it would help us.... We checked the weather report in the next towns.... yup Autumn is Autumn in Uruguay, so we decided to stop chasing the sun cause it had too much of a head start and back track to BA where we would meet up with our old Amigos Americanos - Frances and Cooper. We tried to give them a good super hero name like Mavrix but the best we could do was Frooper, somehow it suits them.
So... after a long bus drive and a misadventure involving M almost losing his warm jacket, the Mavrix returned to BA, strangley there was no welcoming parade or camera crew at the bus station, once again we had evaded the paparazzi......ok so no one cared but we were back and used the day to shower and have a decent blow dry for Vix´s hair.
That night we would board the FULL Cama bus (thats the one with fully reclining seats and as much wine as you can drink) to Iguazu with the Froopers.
Next Iguazu...
Thursday 1 May 2008
Buenos Aires - 14 April onwards
So we had finally reached the big BA,
the city that all travelers SAY,
is full of CARNEee...
Where you party till the light of DAY,
and you never really have to PAY,
for a LAY,
we would be there from April till MAY!
Hip Hip HOORAY!
OK seriously, we arrived in BA at the Tango Inn Hostel, I guess its nice if you like cooking dinner in a bar with people smoking and playing pool around your pasta, we didnt! Still we met some interesting people that we clung to for much of our stay. Our first night involved going to what would become our favorite restuarant - Desnivel!! - this is the kind of place that gives Argentina the reputation for amazing delicious COW! We would visit here many times even though the MAVRIX were on Greek Easter fasting and therefore non COW eaters for a full 2 weeks! This would be torture for most of our stay in BA but we enjoyed watching our friends eat steak you can cut with a spoon (we tried it, it works!). They also had great house wine (Vino Tinto de la Casa) that was poured out of a penguin! Making penguin puking noises is really lots of fun!!
We started Spanish school on the Monday with an early morning move to another hostel, this was to become our home for the next 3 weeks - the Garden House Art Factory - this quiet hostel was perfect for us as it was arty, we had a private room, breakfast and internet etc. Basically a home in a hostel where we could hang out and study spanish without interuption...or that was the plan, but somehow BA just pulls you in.
Spanish school was great, we learnt alot there and now feel as if we can ask for stuff and even have a basic conversation rather than just pointing and grunting to get what we want like some 3 year old cave person ( La gente de las pedras) .
The M´s big 31st birthday was coming up and Vix was running around like the loca chica she is rustling up friends for the bash at our favorite Desnivel! M was given Che shoes, a harmonica (V doesnt let M actually play it but swears that he is the best harmonica player she knows) and lots of Dulce de leche cake with little candles in them for the big day. M also got to learn the happy birthday song in Spanish at class when V suprised him with more cake and a well sung ¨Cumpleanos Feliz¨. Turned out that 11 people really wanted to wish M happy birthday that night at Desnevil, not that we knew all of them but it was a rent a crowd and we made the best of it! Till about 3 in the morning when the V had to be stumbled home. A great time was had by all! The fact that the Mavrix were back on the meat for a day made it even better as we washed down the worlds best steak with the worlds cheapest wine spewed out of a willing penguin!
San Telmo - This is the best market EVER! The long cobbled road of Av Defensa in San Telmo comes alive on a Sunday with artesans selling everything from Mate´gourds to Tango pics to fine art to Antiques to high fashion, there is something for everyone here and we had to restrain ourselves from buying the whole damn market...we did give in sometimes though and walked away with a Penguino jug ala Desnevil which V is now carrying in her backpack ( you wont find THAT on any of the recommended packing lists on any website:-). The market is also FULL of street performers, every 10 steps is a new sound or experience, people dancing tango (careful they might pick you as a partner), folk singing, bubble blowing hippies, free hugs and entire Carnival inspired parades! What a vibe! We liked it so much we went twice.
Recolletta Cemetary - This is the burial place of some of Argentinas most prestigious, wealthy and well known personalities. In this maze of mausoleums you will find Evita lying near San Martin (the great liberator of Argentina) and just down the drag from some boxer in his still dressed in his bathrobe (he looks like a Hugh Hefner wanna be). We went on a day when BA was covered in smoke (literally, the farmers had burnt kilometers of fields and everything poured over the city) so the whole place was super spooky, right out of an episode of Scooby Doo. We walked through the many many ailes of the cemetary marveling at the beauty of the place and jumping out of our socks when a cat would jump out of the shadows...ooooowwwwooooo ...thats my scary sound. V was very fond of peaking into every Tomb, she was fascinated that there were sometimes up to 40 coffins stacked ontop of each other like cans of peas at the Pick n Pay, M had one look, shivered, squealed like a girl and didnt look again...oooowwwoowooo....we were also suprised when we were walking out to see a ¨new arrival¨ this is still a working cemetary and very much a tourist attraction...strange.... We would definitely recommend this to anyone coming out this way, it is beautiful and the energy is unmissable...ooooowwwooowwoooo.
Bocca Jnrs Futbol Game - Every guide book says the passion of the Bocca Jnrs fans is unsurpassed. Our hostel said ¨Dont go on your own you idiots!¨ its dangerous for locals but crazy for Gringos. Sigh... the mavrix said but finally gave in and went with the tour in the Gaggle of Gringos. The game was everything it promised to be. The fans are fanatical, they start singing about 20 minutes before the game starts and carry on past the final whistle, fireworks and flares erupt with the start of the game, every goal and when they are getting bored and want the players to do something more fun. Wow what a crazy crazy cool place! In this instance Bocca needed to win 3-0 and with 10 minutes and some pushing from the crowd they got the final goal, you have no idea what 50 000 jumping screaming argentinians (and a handful of gringos) feels like till you are there, it knocks over any rugby or cricket game we have ever been to!
Feria de Matadares - The Gaucho (argentine cowboy) Market - After a 1 hour bus ride into a scummy part of town the Mavrix were ready to turn right back and go home, the weather was overcast, the neighbourhood was dirty and the first stall sold the same crap you find a 100 people selling at Bruma, but the further we walked in the better it got. This was a side of Argentina we had not yet seen, the legendary Gaucho and their tradional dances, food and games. A Gaucho is part Cowboy, part Gypsey and all Argentina. They all have a definite Spànish swagger about them which we loved from the first sight. Thier dancing is powerful and shows their masculinity and power, it is the main reason you come to the fair as the crowds surrounding the stage will testify! But hunger a mistress like no other and we pulled ourselves away in search of sustanance, we found it in the form of Humitas (corn paste with meat wrapped in Mielie husks) thisi is real Gaucho food and tasted like home on the range....yum. After the bellies were full we heard the thunder of horse hooves and giddy upped to an exhibition of accuracy and riding skill, the Gauchos rode at full speed and put a small metal pin though a hanging steal pinkie ring (bigger than Alley Macbiel´s smaller than Oprah´s), wicked cool!
Overall BA is everything that it says it is and more. It has culture around every corner and every subway wall, it is common to see people walking with guitars on their backs or even bringing them to the restuarant to play with their friends. It has beautiful old buildings to rival Europe, the French and the Italians definitely had something to do with this. Good cheap food that even now with a full stomache the thought of is making me hungry. Markets in every area of town where real artists rather than matric drop outs show case their work. Beautiful parks where grups upon groups play soccer together and kids enjoy the merry go round. But there is a darker side to BA....Dog poo! They just dont seem to know how to pick the stuff up... apparently the locals have evolved some sort of dog poo radar and do the Tango side step without looking (maybe thats how Carlos Gardhel got the idea).
the city that all travelers SAY,
is full of CARNEee...
Where you party till the light of DAY,
and you never really have to PAY,
for a LAY,
we would be there from April till MAY!
Hip Hip HOORAY!
OK seriously, we arrived in BA at the Tango Inn Hostel, I guess its nice if you like cooking dinner in a bar with people smoking and playing pool around your pasta, we didnt! Still we met some interesting people that we clung to for much of our stay. Our first night involved going to what would become our favorite restuarant - Desnivel!! - this is the kind of place that gives Argentina the reputation for amazing delicious COW! We would visit here many times even though the MAVRIX were on Greek Easter fasting and therefore non COW eaters for a full 2 weeks! This would be torture for most of our stay in BA but we enjoyed watching our friends eat steak you can cut with a spoon (we tried it, it works!). They also had great house wine (Vino Tinto de la Casa) that was poured out of a penguin! Making penguin puking noises is really lots of fun!!
We started Spanish school on the Monday with an early morning move to another hostel, this was to become our home for the next 3 weeks - the Garden House Art Factory - this quiet hostel was perfect for us as it was arty, we had a private room, breakfast and internet etc. Basically a home in a hostel where we could hang out and study spanish without interuption...or that was the plan, but somehow BA just pulls you in.
Spanish school was great, we learnt alot there and now feel as if we can ask for stuff and even have a basic conversation rather than just pointing and grunting to get what we want like some 3 year old cave person ( La gente de las pedras) .
The M´s big 31st birthday was coming up and Vix was running around like the loca chica she is rustling up friends for the bash at our favorite Desnivel! M was given Che shoes, a harmonica (V doesnt let M actually play it but swears that he is the best harmonica player she knows) and lots of Dulce de leche cake with little candles in them for the big day. M also got to learn the happy birthday song in Spanish at class when V suprised him with more cake and a well sung ¨Cumpleanos Feliz¨. Turned out that 11 people really wanted to wish M happy birthday that night at Desnevil, not that we knew all of them but it was a rent a crowd and we made the best of it! Till about 3 in the morning when the V had to be stumbled home. A great time was had by all! The fact that the Mavrix were back on the meat for a day made it even better as we washed down the worlds best steak with the worlds cheapest wine spewed out of a willing penguin!
San Telmo - This is the best market EVER! The long cobbled road of Av Defensa in San Telmo comes alive on a Sunday with artesans selling everything from Mate´gourds to Tango pics to fine art to Antiques to high fashion, there is something for everyone here and we had to restrain ourselves from buying the whole damn market...we did give in sometimes though and walked away with a Penguino jug ala Desnevil which V is now carrying in her backpack ( you wont find THAT on any of the recommended packing lists on any website:-). The market is also FULL of street performers, every 10 steps is a new sound or experience, people dancing tango (careful they might pick you as a partner), folk singing, bubble blowing hippies, free hugs and entire Carnival inspired parades! What a vibe! We liked it so much we went twice.
Recolletta Cemetary - This is the burial place of some of Argentinas most prestigious, wealthy and well known personalities. In this maze of mausoleums you will find Evita lying near San Martin (the great liberator of Argentina) and just down the drag from some boxer in his still dressed in his bathrobe (he looks like a Hugh Hefner wanna be). We went on a day when BA was covered in smoke (literally, the farmers had burnt kilometers of fields and everything poured over the city) so the whole place was super spooky, right out of an episode of Scooby Doo. We walked through the many many ailes of the cemetary marveling at the beauty of the place and jumping out of our socks when a cat would jump out of the shadows...ooooowwwwooooo ...thats my scary sound. V was very fond of peaking into every Tomb, she was fascinated that there were sometimes up to 40 coffins stacked ontop of each other like cans of peas at the Pick n Pay, M had one look, shivered, squealed like a girl and didnt look again...oooowwwoowooo....we were also suprised when we were walking out to see a ¨new arrival¨ this is still a working cemetary and very much a tourist attraction...strange.... We would definitely recommend this to anyone coming out this way, it is beautiful and the energy is unmissable...ooooowwwooowwoooo.
Bocca Jnrs Futbol Game - Every guide book says the passion of the Bocca Jnrs fans is unsurpassed. Our hostel said ¨Dont go on your own you idiots!¨ its dangerous for locals but crazy for Gringos. Sigh... the mavrix said but finally gave in and went with the tour in the Gaggle of Gringos. The game was everything it promised to be. The fans are fanatical, they start singing about 20 minutes before the game starts and carry on past the final whistle, fireworks and flares erupt with the start of the game, every goal and when they are getting bored and want the players to do something more fun. Wow what a crazy crazy cool place! In this instance Bocca needed to win 3-0 and with 10 minutes and some pushing from the crowd they got the final goal, you have no idea what 50 000 jumping screaming argentinians (and a handful of gringos) feels like till you are there, it knocks over any rugby or cricket game we have ever been to!
Feria de Matadares - The Gaucho (argentine cowboy) Market - After a 1 hour bus ride into a scummy part of town the Mavrix were ready to turn right back and go home, the weather was overcast, the neighbourhood was dirty and the first stall sold the same crap you find a 100 people selling at Bruma, but the further we walked in the better it got. This was a side of Argentina we had not yet seen, the legendary Gaucho and their tradional dances, food and games. A Gaucho is part Cowboy, part Gypsey and all Argentina. They all have a definite Spànish swagger about them which we loved from the first sight. Thier dancing is powerful and shows their masculinity and power, it is the main reason you come to the fair as the crowds surrounding the stage will testify! But hunger a mistress like no other and we pulled ourselves away in search of sustanance, we found it in the form of Humitas (corn paste with meat wrapped in Mielie husks) thisi is real Gaucho food and tasted like home on the range....yum. After the bellies were full we heard the thunder of horse hooves and giddy upped to an exhibition of accuracy and riding skill, the Gauchos rode at full speed and put a small metal pin though a hanging steal pinkie ring (bigger than Alley Macbiel´s smaller than Oprah´s), wicked cool!
Overall BA is everything that it says it is and more. It has culture around every corner and every subway wall, it is common to see people walking with guitars on their backs or even bringing them to the restuarant to play with their friends. It has beautiful old buildings to rival Europe, the French and the Italians definitely had something to do with this. Good cheap food that even now with a full stomache the thought of is making me hungry. Markets in every area of town where real artists rather than matric drop outs show case their work. Beautiful parks where grups upon groups play soccer together and kids enjoy the merry go round. But there is a darker side to BA....Dog poo! They just dont seem to know how to pick the stuff up... apparently the locals have evolved some sort of dog poo radar and do the Tango side step without looking (maybe thats how Carlos Gardhel got the idea).
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