Argentina

After a four hour flight from Lima we arrived in Buenos Aires airport excited about the next step on our journey. Argentina is a country that we’d both been particularly excited about visiting from the very start. Unfortunately Argentina didn’t start well. Firstly we struggled to convince the cash machines in the airport to give us any Pesos. The first three cash machines that we tried wouldn’t give us any money at all, and Tara was only able to get any money out of the third one when she reduced the amount that she asked for. We later discovered that Argentinian cash machines won’t ever dispense more that 300 Pesos at a time. All the other travellers that we met had the same problem, and we’re still not sure if its a ploy by Argentine banks to reap some additional transaction fees or just a measure implemented to prevent their currency from crashing....again. Anyway, armed with some cash we bought ourselves bus tickets and set off for the city centre. Unfortunately our bus only made it as far as the car park entrance, and we then sat there for an hour. We’ve no idea why we sat there because despite all the passengers on the bus growing more and more irate, the bus driver didn’t think to inform us of the cause of the delay. We probably wouldn’t have understood his Spanish anyway, but it would’ve been nice if he’d told everyone else. We eventually managed to escape the car park and proceeded without incident into central Buenos Aires. We checked into our hostel (the plush Milhouse hostel, which we highly recommend), and then set off in search of some food. It was here that Argentina started to show its class. We settled on a Charcuterie (BBQ meat restaurant) near the main pedestrian shopping street, and gorged ourselves on the best steak that either of us have ever eaten. Not only were they the best steaks that we’ve ever eaten, but they were also the biggest steaks that either of us have ever eaten. It gets better though. The steaks were also complimented by some excellent red wine, and the final bill was equivalent to what we’d spend in McDonalds in London. From that moment we knew that we were going to enjoy ourselves in Argentina.



We spent our first four nights in Buenos Aires and explored most of the key sites the city has to offer. We visited Eva Peron’s grave (one of the more morbid sites on the standard Buenos Aires tourist trail) in Recoleta cemetery on our first morning and then made our way over to the colourful houses in La Boca where we watched a tango show and ate lunch. Gaz then convinced Tara to visit the Boca Juniors football stadium, where we had our own personal English-speaking guide who made us feel like minor celebrities. From the La Boca we headed back into the Microcentre (the business district), and took advantage of the weak Peso and did some shopping. One of the main department stores had a sale on, and we stocked up on Havaiana flip-flops at the bargain price of ₤2 per pair. In an attempt to save some money we decided to eat dinner in the food court of the Galerias Pacifico shopping centre. This was somewhat different from the standard McDonalds & Burger King offerings available in Lakeside or Bluewater though. In Argentina, you have the option of eating large good quality slabs of steak for very little money, so naturally Gaz indulged himself...again.



On our second day in Buenos Aires we hopped on a bus and made our way to San Antonio de Areco in search of some gaucho culture. The gauchos are the Argentine version of cowboys and San Antonio de Areco is generally considered to be their heartland. From what we could see though, the gaucho culture is just another excuse to eat lots and lots of meat. We went on a horse ride when we first arrived, and once again we demonstrated our equestrian ineptitude. Whilst the Argentinians galloped around us, we couldn’t convince our horses do anything more than walk very slowly. In fact Gaz’s horse didn’t even walk very far. After a few meters his horse located a nice patch of grass and spent the next ten minutes munching on that. Following the horse riding we were treated to some traditional gaucho singing and dancing, before eventually settling down to the main event....dinner! We’d never seen so many different cuts of beef in all our lives. Once again we gorged ourselves on steak (and red wine), and after a severe case of the meat sweats we joined in with some of the gaucho dancing. After dinner, the gauchos showed us how to ride a horse properly (Gaz was taking notes) and we were then taken to a gaucho contemporary art gallery, in which all the works where inspired by the humble cow. Then it was time to get back on the bus and make our way back to Buenos Aires.



On our final day in Buenos Aires we went on a walking tour of the city, and went to the Evita museum (which was closed but their cafe was open so we drank beer and ate cake instead). We then visited Tierra Santa, which is the world’s only religious theme park. This was one of the more obscure attractions that we’ve visited so far on our travels, and definitely the most kitsch. Every half an hour a 20foot Jesus resurrects out of the top of a plastic mountain. The park includes many mocked up religious scenes and has memorials for Pope John Paul and Ghandi. The theme park also put on a dance show for us which we’d expected to have a religious theme, but the thrusting and grooving dance moves of the belly dancers we’re definitely not suitable for children. After a visit to the park’s wailing wall and one final resurrection, we felt that we’d seen enough so we set off back to our hostel to prepare ourselves for our bus journey to Rosario.





Rosario was a pretty city, but the main attractions in this town are the river islands and the beaches. Unfortunately we were visiting in low season so the island ferries weren’t running, and the beaches were deserted. The highlight of the city for us was the monument to their national flag, which was very impressive but was tainted somewhat by the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) memorial that adjoins it. Gaz felt that an Argentine Malvinas memorial was akin to a German World War II memorial (they started it!), but managed to maintain his dignity (for a change) and not offend any of the locals.



From Rosario we travelled to Mendoza, the heart of Argentina’s wine country and we checked into Hostel Lao. This was one of the best hostels that we’ve stayed in during our trip. The excellent communal areas and free flowing red wine meant that we quickly made lots of new friends. Two Argentinians in the hostel took it upon themselves to cook an Asado (traditional Argentine BBQ) for the whole hostel on our first night. They’d bought an entire cow to cook so once again we feasted on steak (as well as glands, intestines and other offal). We hired bicycles whilst in Mendoza and toured the local wineries, where for a few pesos they would provide us with some generous wine tasting sessions. We also visited the impressive Parque General San Martin, modern art museum, the Serpentaria (snake zoo) and Aquarium (which had a huge turtle in a very small tank), but the cheap wine was definitely the highlight.




Having drunk our fill of red wine in Mendoza, we caught an overnight bus to Cordoba. This was a journey that Gaz had been dreading, but turned out to be one of the most comfortable trips that we’ve made in the last 6 months. Argentinean buses are the antithesis of English National Express buses. A trip on a long distance bus in Argentina is at least as comfortable (if not more so) than a trans-Atlantic business class flight. Cordoba was another beautiful city, the hightlight of which was the stunning Manzana Jesuitica (Jesuit Block). We also visited the Che Guevara museum in the town of Alta Garcia (where Che grew up), and ate some excellent pasta (Gaz’s first meal in Argentina which didn’t involve steak) in La Mamma restaurant with some Aussie friends (Anton & Tess) that we’d met in our hostel.



Our final stop in Argentina was Puerto Iguazu, home to the magnificent Iguazu waterfalls. We arrived from Mendoza at about midday, and had intended to go to the falls that day. Unfortunately, Gaz was distracted by the offer of yet more succulent steak and red wine, and by the time we’d finished our lunch the falls had closed for the day. So we got up early the next morning and caught a bus to the falls to try and see as much as possible. This proved to be a good move because for the first two hours we had the falls pretty much to ourselves. The falls themselves are truly magnificent, but after walking along the catwalks at the top and bottom of the falls we felt that we weren’t getting close enough so we signed up for a boat ride by the falls. We got an inkling that this may not be a nice sedate ride when the boat captain handed us two dry bags for our personal possessions and told us to remove our shoes. So we wrapped ourselves up as best we could in our rain ponchos and set off for a close-up of the falls. We got soaked! If hadn’t been for the ponchos then I reckon we’d probably still be drying off now. It was great fun though, and well worth the extra expense. After the boat ride we set off to see Garganta del Diabolo (Devil’s Throat), which we were told is the most impressive of the many individual falls that make up Iguazu falls. It was better than either of us could have ever imagined. It makes Niagara falls look like a dripping tap. After taking literally hundreds of photos we made our way back to the town of Puerto Iguazu, and met up with our Tess & Anton (our Aussie friends that we’d met in Cordoba) for our final Argentinean steaks. We were heading to Brazil the next morning, but that didn’t stop us from drinking into the wee small hours.







Argentina is a strong contender for the title of “favourite country we’ve visited”. The infrastructure in Argentina is far superior to any of the other countries that we’ve visited in South America which makes it much easier to travel around. Furthermore, your time on the road is much more enjoyable because the buses in Argentina are really comfortable. The food in Argentina is excellent as well, unless you’re a vegetarian that is. In Argentina any meal that doesn’t include beef is considered vegetarian, so don’t be surprised if your veggie pizza turns up with lumps of chicken on it. We were told that Lima was the gastronomic capital of South America, but we found that food was far superior in Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba than anything we’d had in Peru. Thanks to the devaluation of the peso in 2001/2002, Argentina is an exceptionally cheap place to visit as well. Its not as cheap as Bolivia or Peru, but its still great value and far better quality. We’d both really like to return to Argentina and explore it some more. Parts of the south were inaccessible when we visited due to the snow & ice, and I don’t think we saw Rosario in its best light, so we’ll try and make sure our next trip occurs during the southern hemisphere's summer.

Peru

From Copacabana we booked ourselves onto a bus destined for Puno in Peru. As with everything in Bolivia, the bus didn’t quite run smoothly and we were forced to change to a second bus before we’d even left the town of Copacabana (that’s my last moan about Bolivia before I move onto Peru). When it did eventually leave, the bus took us the short distance to the Peruvian border and dropped us off so that we could complete the immigration formalities. We then boarded the bus again and set off for Puno. Our bus had managed to acquire an additional passenger during the border crossing, and he wasn’t difficult to spot because he was carrying a large ceremonial sword. Initially we were concerned that a sword-wielding lunatic had joined us for the journey, but it later transpired that he was in fact the local chief of police. He proved to be a useful addition to our contingent because at each police check-point he would wander to the front of the bus and wave his sword at the local constabulary. Our bus would then be ushered through without hesitation each time.

Puno is the Peruvian gateway to Lake Titicaca, but as we’d already explored the lake from the Bolivian side we decided to head onto Juliaca instead. Upon arrival in Juliaca we were warned by our taxi driver that it was a dangerous city. He even recommended that we stay locked in our hotel after sundown so as to avoid any trouble. So after eating both lunch and dinner in the best hotel in town (a 3* hotel), we made our way back to our accommodation and settled in for the night. At about 2am in the morning we were awoken by a really loud bang. This was then followed by shouting and repeated door-slamming for the next three hours. From our bedroom it sounded like someone was going from room to room robbing each guest. I (Gaz) had been pretending to sleep through it, but Tara eventually woke me at about 3am and asked me if I could hear all the commotion. Ever the hero, my response was, “Yes, and if they come to our room I’m not opening the door”. Eventually the noises subsided, and when we emerged from our room the next morning everything seemed to be normal. It was probably just a case of overactive imaginations on our behalf, but it was nerve-wracking at the time.

From Juliaca we flew up to Cusco in the hope that a nicer side of South America awaited us. Thankfully we were not disappointed. Cusco is a great city, with a very European feel to it. We spent our first few days exploring the many cathedrals, churches and museums that Cusco has to offer. We also made full use of the excellent bars and restaurants in Cusco. After two weeks of essentially emergency rations in Bolivia, we felt that we deserved some good quality food and wine. If you’re ever passing through, then make sure you head for Jacks. The food is outstanding, and great value.



Whilst in Cusco we also booked ourselves on a 4-day trek through the Lares valley ending in Machu Picchu with SAS Travel Peru. SAS have a poor reputation for their office’s organisation skills, so we were slightly concerned when we turned up on the morning of the tour at the meeting point to find that our guide was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully he did turn up within about 10 minutes, but it was another hour before our bus turned up. This was the last of the hiccups though, and we were soon heading out on our bus to the Lares valley. Our first stop was in the market town of Calca where we stocked up on pencils and sweets. These were gifts that our tour guide, Justino, advised purchasing to give to the many indigenous children that we would meet along the way. After a quick breakfast we got back on the bus and drove onwards to Quiswarani, with a quick stop en-route at a Condor “sanctuary” (a “sanctuary” in South America is actually a small cage with barely enough room for the animal to move). As soon as we got off the bus at Quiswarani it became apparent why we needed so many sweets and pencils. We were immediately mobbed by a small horde of adorable Peruvian children that were hungry for free goodies. We placated them with some sweets, and then set off on our trek. We covered 12km on our first day of hiking, and reached an altitude of 4200m. Despite the fact that we’d been acclimatizing to altitude since first crossing into Bolivia, we still found it very hard going. The air was very thin, especially near the top, but we’re both proud to say that we never had to resort to using the emergency donkey that SAS Travel provided just in case. Our efforts were very much overshadowed by our porters though. They not only covered the same ground as us, but managed to do so twice as quickly and without breaking a sweat. Furthermore, they still had the energy to put up our tents each evening and cook us breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. We bonded with our fellow trekkers over dinner on the first evening. Our group consisted of two Irish girls (Clodagh and Elaine), an American mother and son duo (Christine and Chris), Diba (a superhuman hiking machine from South Africa), and a group of four girls that had met volunteering in Wanaka (Laura, Rachelle, Annamarth, & Robyn). After a long days hiking we bedded down early in our tents, and had a reasonably good nights sleep considering the altitude (4000m) and temperature (below freezing).




We started our trek the following morning by visiting a traditional Andean home. We were sceptical of this, but it was far more authentic than we ever imagined. An old couple in their 70s lived in the small hut which was no more than 3m by 3m, the floor of which was infested with Guinea Pigs (a local delicacy). They cooked, cleaned, lived and slept in this tiny hut. Justino, our guide, told us all about their way of life and translated our questions into Quechua (the local indigenous language). From the house we continued trekking and by the end of the day we’d covered 15km and reached an altitude of 4400m. Our campsite for the evening was at 4200m, and was considerably colder than the previous night. Despite the harsh conditions our chef cooked up a storm again. We’re still amazed at how he managed to produce such culinary delights with the aid of only a gas hob.




Thankfully our final day of hiking was nearly all downhill. We walked from our campsite down to Ollantaytambo (18km),and from their we caught a train to Aguas Calientes. Diba, Tara and I all indulged in a well deserved beer on the train whilst we took in the stunning scenery that surrounded us. Following one final screw-up by the SAS Travel office (they’d forgotten to book our accommodation in Aguas Calientes), we settled into our hotel and then made our way up to the thermal baths from which the town gets its name (Aguas Calientes literally means hot water in Spanish....I think). We were then supposed to meet our guide at 7:30pm so that we could go for dinner, but he’d got lucky with one of the girls at the thermal pools so was running a little late.




The following morning we dragged ourselves kicking and screaming out of bed at 4am. For some unfathomable reason we’d decided the night before that it would be “fun” to walk up to Machu Picchu. The walk consists of a 400m ascent up uneven Inca steps in the pitch dark. Its definitely not fun. It was worth it, however, as it means you reach the site before all the hoards start arriving in buses. Justino had spent the entire evening with the girl from the springs and was lacking the energy that he’d had on previous days, but still managed to give us an informative tour of the site before letting us loose to explore on our own. Despite having hiked over 40km in the past 3 days, Gaz managed to muster the energy to climb Huayna Picchu, and Tara walked up to the bridge on the original Inca trail. We then set off back towards Cusco by train and bus, arriving back just in time to check into our hostel before heading out on the town with our fellow trekkers to drink away our aches and celebrate our achievement. David & Victoria, a couple we’d met in Mission Beach (Australia) and again in Copacabana (Bolivia), were also in town so they joined us as well for a skinful of booze. I’m still not sure how, but we even managed to drag ourselves in Mama Africa (one of Cusco’s nightclubs) for a dance. I believe a considerable number of gin & tonics may have been responsible for this.





We spent a couple more days in Cusco after our trek and visited a few more Inca ruins. Its alarming how blasé you become about ancient ruins after a few days. The most interesting of the ruins was Sacsayhuaman (or Sexy Woman as its often referred to by visitors), which is in the hills just above Cusco. From there we decided to go horse riding around a few more of the local Inca sites, but we were conned into paying for a three hour ride which turned out to actually be a 1 hour pony trek to just a single site. Fortunately the trek only cost us £7, so we weren’t too badly out of pocket.




From Cusco we flew to Lima where we spent five nights. In hindsight this was probably too long to spend in Lima as there’s really not that much to see, but we took the opportunity to do some normal none-travelling things such as watch the new Batman film (probably the highlight of Lima to be honest). Lima has an abundance of good restaurants (especially in the Miraflores area where we were staying), so we took advantage of these and made some serious progress in regaining the weight (fat) that we’d lost whilst on emergency rations in Bolivia.

On our penultimate day in Lima we took a day trip out to Pachacamac. This pre-Inca archeological site was pretty uninspiring (mainly because most of it looked like piles of sand), but the trip deserves a mention because of the other people on our tour. They were without doubt the biggest freaks that we’ve come across so far. The group consisted of three parties as follows:

1.A skittish lady who was dressed entirely in white (white cap, white leatherette backpack, white shorts, white t-shirt, white rain jacket and white shoes), and refused to tell anybody where she came from (although it later transpired that she was Russian).

2.An American family of four with an obsessive compulsion to keep as clean as possible. After stroking one of the dogs at the site, the children immediately ran to their parents so that they could disinfect themselves. The mother is pictured below wearing florescent pink and yellow children’s sunglasses.

3.An American family of three, the father of which wrote down everything that anybody said in a notebook. When not writing things down he spent most of his time ordering his wife to take photos of inanimate objects. The son scared me most though. He had the air of one of those crazed trenchcoat wearing American children that might embark on a killing spree at any given moment.

Before the tour we’d had high hopes of meeting some new and interesting people (as we had done on every other tour that we’d been on), but instead we finished the tour feeling that someone had sucked the life out of us.

Fortunately Peru had on the whole been a great experience (with the exception of that first night in Juliaca). We both really enjoyed Cusco and our Lares Trek to Machu Picchu. We’d also met some great new people (both Peruvians and fellow travellers), and we’d managed to replenish the fat supplies that we’d lost in Bolivia. Given our time again we probably would not have spent so much time in Lima, but as our days in Lima coincided with Peruvian Independence day (a bank holiday) we would’ve struggled to get to anywhere else anyway.