Argentine Friends and Argentine Tango

Tucuman, Argentina
12-21 November 2010

   I love Tucuman! Not that it is a great place place touristically speaking... but the people are warm and friendly.
   I went to Tucuman primarily to visit some guys I had met in Bolivia, and they (particularly Pablo) showed me around town and begged me to stay and stay.
   After a weekend there and a Monday-Tuesday trip to Tafi del Valle and Amaicha del Valle, I thought it was time to move on to Cordoba to take some Tango classes, but they talked me into staying and doing the Tango there. This was a good choice, as the classes were cheaper, good and more accessible than in the big and touristy cities. Then when Pablo had to leave town (for a wedding) and could no longer devote his almost undivided attention on me, another local invited me to a birthday party he was attending!
   In Tucuman itself I didn´t do a lot of touristy things. Pablo, Carlos and another friend took me hiking at the funicular (disused ruins) of San Javier. And I went to peoples houses and to a disco.
   The Monday-Tuesday excursion with Karo and Wayne went to Tafi del Valle and Amaicha del Valle by bus with an overnight in a hostel in Amaicha and a tour to the El Remate ruins with local tour guide Sebastian. The whole excursion was very good, and is described a bit more with the photos below.
   I finished my time in Tucuman with 4 days of Tango classes. I pushed it a bit hard and my back has only just recovered, as I found 2 Tango teachers and decided to have private tango classes with them both. In 4 days I did about 10 hours of Tango classes! My teachers were Martin and Julio. Both were good, Martin is clearly the better dancer, but it is good to learn to dance with different guys and in private classes you don´t get to switch partners. Tango lessons in Tucuman were half the price of what I had paid and had been invited to pay elsewhere.
   I loved Tucuman and didn´t want to leave... but the hostel was booked out for a conference and so I decided it was time to go. I attended the birthday party on the Saturday night and went straight from it to a 4.20am, 15 hour, bus to Mendoza. At least the bus ride kept me off my feet for a day!

 

Me, Augusto, Carlos and Pablo on our hike.

Bromeliad on one of the bridges.

The guys sitting in the middle of the long bridge, 2 voting to turn back, 1 insisting that the bridges are easy and that we should keep going. I squibbed at the point I took the photo from, I was ok going forward, but I didn´t want to continue if we were turning around, as going back was downhill and a whole lot scarier.

Don´t cross the bridges! That´s roughly what the sign says. 

 Tafi del Valle is a small country town famous for good climate and cheese. We wandered the town and walked out of town to an estancia to buy cheese.

Mother and child in Tafi del Valle.

 When we found a hostel in Amaicha del Valle, the caretaker told us about 6 times they had hot water. He was clearly proud of it and we weren´t enthusiastic enough. But we did think the hot water system had character.

Having bought cheese in Tafi, dinner for Karo, Wayne and I was Cheese, fruits, bread, beer and wine.It was good! 

 If you are ever looking for the tour guy, Sebastian, in Amaicha del Valle, this is what his place looks like, the signage isn´t good, and is obscured from view.

It was a tough decision, but Wayne decided to leave his banana for Pachamama. He wanted the banana for himself and preferred to leave his orange, but he thought that leaving something he wanted more would give him better returns.

Some of the indigenous people believed that when a person dies a new cactus starts to grow and is that ancester looking out over the land. Funny thing is the day before I was told this I was looking out the bus window at the cacti and thinking they had some almost human element to them.

 

View between Tafi and Amaicha.

Notes:
Hostel Tucuman. I like this hostel, though it isn´t kept the cleanest (yep a guy cleans everyday, but he just seems to slop water around). They have a deal I would do if I was going North to Salta from Tucuman and it takes you by open bus tickets through Tafi and Amaicha and Cafayate. I paid $AR38 per night.
Tour in Amaicha: Sebastian Pastrana (Spanish only). This hottie does a great tour, and is clearly passionate about his home turf. The company is called Sumajpacha. web: www.sumajpacha.com . ph 54 (03892) 421433 / 0381 154436805.
Tango Classes: Both Martin and Julio charge $AR50 per class. I enjoyed my classes more with Martin, his school is run by his partner Paola and himself and is called La Vitrina. Ph 154476675 / 154064835 (I think you need 038 first), email la-vitrina@aol.com. Studio is at Cordoba 732 (1st floor); Julio doesn´t have a studio but teaches, by appointment, at Sociedad Francesa. Ph. 03815112437

Communicating with the locals

   Latinos are very different to Australians when it comes to communication. Latinos are affectionate. Every meeting starts and finishes with a kiss on the right cheek.... Man to woman, woman to man, woman to woman, and, yep, man to man. And even phone conversations, email messages, and text messages are finished with kisses.
   I am never sure what the protocol is, so I just try and play along as best I can. When I worked as a volunteer in Iquitos (peruvian amazon) I found it tiring to have to kiss everybody in welcome and goodbye, and especially having to kiss the one guy I didn't really like. Even friends of friends require a kiss on the cheek.
   In Tucuman I learnt something interesting. Here my local friend would finish a text message with bss or mil bss, these being short for kisses and 1000 kisses respectively. Of course, in English speaking culture, we put x to signify kiss, multiple x's for multiple kisses and o for hugs.
   So one day I send a message to him ending in xxx, which my iPhone converted to XXX. He told me later that this means porn. I had never in my life heard this before.
   I posed the question on facebook of what xxx and XXX mean, and I got varying responses about kisses, porn, poison in cartoons, not quite a Qld beer, and 80's rock band. A Bolivian male friend who had arranged to meet with me in Buenos Aires (we happened to be there the same time) also popped on line, and gave some explaination as to why he ended up ignoring my messages in Buenos Aires and not meeting me.... had I accidentally made him and offer I hadn't meant?

Salta and day trips in its surrounds

6 - 12 November 2010
Salta, Argentina

   I really enjoyed my time in Salta. Karo and I arrived on a Saturday and booked ourselves tours for Sunday (Cafayate), Tuesday (Humahuaca) and Thursday (Tren de los Nubes). The city is pleasant enough, and the surrounding countryside is dramatically beautiful.
   The tours to the wine producing region of Cafayate and to the coloured hills going towards Humahauca were good value and  I recommend them. The Tren de los Nubes (Train to the cloubs) was good, but a long expensive day. We knew it was expensive and would be long, but made the decision to do it because we might never be back this way again.
   In town I foolishly walked to the top of the hill instead of taking the cable car and, more foolishly walked back down the road, which took me to outside of town. The next day I could barely walk!
I will let the pictures do the talking:

Cafayate Tour:

Salta:

 Shrine to Gaucho Bill. Some kind of Robin Hood Gaucho 

who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. It´s still thieving peoples!

Check the size of that steak... at the hostel Parrilla /Asado.

Humahauca Tour:

 Shrine to the (name on sign I can´t read) but she died of thirst 

and was found with her baby alive on her breast. 

People leave water and other useful things, like fan belts.

Tren de los nubes:



Man on bicycle in the middle of nowhere!

Town at the top!

Notes:

All tours (Cafayate, Humahauca, and Tren) were booked with Salta Connection. Total Paid approx $210. Guides spoke English well on the tours but the English on the Train was difficult to understand, the Spanish was easier for me.

Hostel: Exxes Hostel 30 pesos per night, incl basic breakfast. OK, but the staff and everybody else smoke everywhere. Easy meeting place.

Paraguay shortcut

   Paraguay isn't on most peoples list of countries to visit. I would
say that it doesn't have much of an international reputation for
anything at all and Lonely Planet South America makes it sound pretty
dull. But I decided to go anyway.
   For one, I wanted to get from Puerto Iguazu to the other northern
part of Argentina and it looked like a handy shortcut. And secondly,
when I told the Uruguayan estancia owner (Panagea) that I one day want
to own a small farm he told me I should take a look at Paraguay as he
thought it had a lot of unacknowledged potential. (In reality, I would
be quite happy to have the farm in Australia as I still firmly believe
I come from a very fortunate part of our planet.)
   So I headed to the Paraguayan Consulate in Puertu Iguazu to get a
visa (Australians need a visa for Paraguay but aren't difficult about
it like Brazil). Unfortunately I was to discover that the consulate in
Puerto Iguazu doesn't issue visas and I would have to return to
Posadas to apply for the visa.
   This very much ruined my shortcut, but I decided to still get my
visa and go across Paraguay. So I headed to Posadas.
Posadas isn't a bad place to have to go to get a visa. It is a
pleasant city with a nice riverwalk.
   Crossing the bridge from Argentina to Paraguay the girl on the
Argentina side of immigration processes our passports but forgot to
stamp them. So on arrival at the Paraguay immigration, across the
bridge, we were told to go back. We eventually got it sorted and were
allowed into Paraguay.
   We spent one night in Encarnation and one night in Asuncion
(capital of Paraguay) and then left. We visited the Jesuit ruins and
walked the capital, but Paraguay didn't seem to have much reason to
stay longer. Although, had I crossed from Puerto Iguazu I would have
liked to seen the big dam (2nd in the world).
   Then, to further ruin my shortcut, we couldn't find any buses
across the top of Argentina to Salta and we had to go south to
Resistencia where we arrived to find the buses to Salta sold out for
the next day.
   I am actually not disappointed that I went through Paraguay, but I
am disappointed that I missed seeing any of the Pampas scenery of
Northern Argentina. The bus we ended up being able to get was a night
bus, I really hate night buses.
   All in all, Puerto Iguazu to Salta was a disappointment. But at
least I did get to admire the Paraguayan farming land... I thought
Uruguay was better.

 

If I understand correctly, the river is flooded due to the building of a dam.

I guess they left some buildings in the way. This is in Posadas (Argentina).

Argentinians and Uruguayan wander around with a thermos under the arm 

and a mate cup in the hand. Paraguayans have their own cold version

with a highly decorated cooler flask with the cup holder on its side.

The Jesuit ruins near Encarnation are pretty, but come with no information.

Farming country in Paraguay.

Beware of the streets in Asuncion. 

Locals laughed at me taking photos of their streets.

 Squatters live in a central Asuncion Plaza, whereas in most cities they remove them.

 Looking towards the river in Asuncion, 

you can see it suffers quite a bit from poverty.

Notes

Accomodation: Encarnation, Hotel Germano... opposite the bus terminal, really clean, freindly owner and convenient. If you want to see the Jesuit Ruins, stay here and head out... you only need the afternoon.

Asuncion: Hotel Maria. Good location, clean, I would stay there again.

Paraguay to Argentina border crossing- horrible!

   I wouldn't recommend crossing the border from Asuncion (Paraguay) to Colinda (Argentina) if you are considering another option. It is the 9th land border crossing I have made in South America this year, and it, by far, is the worse one.
   The Paraguay exit people are right beside the Argentine entry people, so this seems convenient, but while you are waiting for your stamps other people grab your luggage from the bus. They then direct you to come with them so your luggage can be put through an x-Ray machine, from which they grab your luggage and have you follow them past everyone else where they give you your lugguge and demand a tip. I looked confused, so advise was offered "One hundred dollars". I laughed. And handed over 2 pesos (about 50c), which I figure is plenty in this economy. The guy said it wasn't enough and gave it back, I told him that as it wasn't a service I had wanted he wasn't getting anything more. My travel companion opened her wallet and had 50 and 2 pesos and the guy said she should give him the 50, we both laughed. She gave him the 2, and he turned to me again and I pulled the 2 back out of my pocket and relunctantly gave it back to him.
   I hate tipping no matter where I am and I particularly hate it in these situations where the only guidance is from a person trying to take advantage of the situation. I also believe that tipping leads to corruption as there gets to be a fine line between tips and bribes. So I hate it.
   Given a choice I would have preferred to have gotten my own lugguge off the bus and carried it through every point myself. I have managed to get it this far, and I like to be in control of it.
   The other horrible part of that border is that you lose posession of your passport. The Argentine immigration doesn't give it back to you and you get to return to your bus without your passport and wait for the bus host(?) to give it back to you. Scary!

Iguazu Falls without Brazil Visa... Argentina side is awesome!

31 October 2010
Iguazy Falls, Argentina

   Iguazu Falls is just amazing! Travel mate Karolyn (from Germany) and I got there on one of the first buses of the day, and spent an entire day there. We were very impressed by it. We also loved the Jungle Boat ride into it.
   I only explored the Argentine side and I think that with the boat ride view it was enough. I also took the attitude that Brazil can get stuffed.
   The problem for me with going to the Brazilian side was that as an Australian I need a visa, and Brazil are being (in my opinion) completely silly about it. This isn´t about the money, it is about needless regulation. As I understand it, Brazil requires us to have a visa because we (Australia) require Brazilians to have a visa. But unlike Argentina and Chile who simply require us to pay a reciprical fee to fly in, Brazil, in most cases requires paperwork and time.
   When I wanted to get the visa in Colombia I was told in Bogota I would have to wait 5 days to get the visa. I didn´t have 5 days to spare, so I flew to the border town of Leticia (I was going there regardless), but there I was told I would have to wait 3 days more (I had already waited the long weekend for the consulate to reopen).  This blew my plans to continue travelling with a Dutch friend as she couldn´t wait and so I decided to go back to Peru, instead of passing the next 3 months traveling in Brazil.
   In Montevideo I decided to try again, because I had heard how in Puerto Iguazu they would issue the visa in 30 minutes, no questions asked (just pay the money, but, like I said, the money part doesn´t bother me), and so I thought that perhaps the rules would be more relaxed in Montevideo too. They weren´t. I still needed to wait 3 days and provide proof of ticket into and out of Brazil. At this point Brazil would have been a good way to get to Iguazu Falls.
   The fact they can do it in Puerto Iguazu (30 days visa, extensions issued inside the country) so easily, but make such a job of it elsewhere says to me that it is just stupid and senseless regulation, and I think that for that they deserve to loose some tourist dollars.
   Brazil, of course, is completely entitled to make their senseless rules, just a I am entitled to say they are silly and decide not to go there. And, if Brazil really thinks that it is wrong of us to ask their citizens for visas (I believe Australia asks for visas for legitimate reaons) then perhaps they need to learn what I was taught as a child... that 2 wrongs do not make a right. Tit for Tat is, afterall, considered childish.
   Iguazu Falls was fantastic! And I am not sad that I didn´t see it from the Brazil side.

Feel the excitement! Karo and I getting ready to ride a boat up some rapids and under some mighty powerful falls. I had a poncho on.... but it had a hole in it (of course, where my neck goes) and I got soaked under it anyway.

Last chance to snap a photo before getting drenched.

There is a boat like the one I was on. It seems like they are powerful boats that head full power into the falls, but get forced back by it´s power! I was shreaking with the fun the whole time!

As soon as I unwrapped my sandwich this coati climbed the umbrella pole 

and onto my table, but I refused to share. 

Then it headed to another table where a tourist was too busy filming him 

and didn´t realise that he was about to swiftly steal his lunch!

Niagara doesn´t have anything on Iguazu Falls! They are wow!

Me, somewhere under the rainbow where dreams come true.

Wow!

Notes

Accomodation, Hostel Iguazu Falls. Comfy and just a block and a half from the bus terminal. I recommend it!

Bus and Entry to the Falls is about $US25

Boat trip through the rapids and into the falls about $US55. Recommended for the fun, though if your budget is tight you could do the half price option which doesn´t include the rapids.

Childhood memories come alive in Uruguay´s Panagea

22-27 October 2010
Panagea Cattle Station (Estancia Panagea)
Tacuarembo, Uruguay

   Of all the things I have done this year, Estancia Panagea is one of things I rate the highest, and it is something that if I were to fly back to Argentina or Brazil, I would make an effort to go back again. It was simply fantastic!
   It is a working cattle station (with about 1000 head of cattle and 2000 of sheep) that invites backpackers to come and get involved. For me it was magical. I passed my years from age 5 to 12 on a farm that was primarily a goat farm but also had sheep and cattle. Working the stock on Panagea brought back many memories for me that I had long forgotten, and showed me a really special part of the world.
   Even those tourists (there usually seemed to be 5-6 during my stay of 5 days) who had no rural background loved it. The first person I met there was a travel journalist (seems a fantastic life!) and it seems he´ll be giving it a fantastically good review.
   On your first morning on the station they lend you some gaucho (=cowboy) clothes, then they teach you to saddle a horse, and then you get on it and go for a ride. It isn´t compulsory to be involved in these activities, but I do recommend it. In the morning you might bring in some stock and work with the stock in the yards before putting them back to the paddock. Then it´s lunch and siesta time (it is South America) and then back to resaddle the horses and go out again, if you like.
   The hosts are a Uruguayan man and his Swiss wife, and bab. In the paddock a real gaucho shows you want needs to be done. The other guests didn´t have as much Spanish as I do, so I was put in charge a translating from the Gaucho (who spoke a rough Spanish Portuguese mix) to English and another guest translated my English to French for another guest who spoke only French (It´s amazing that we got the stock anywhere!). The hospitality is lovely. Nothing is rushed, and although the website has you expecting a lumpy bed and camp kitchen slops, my bed was really comfortable and the meals were always delicious and very appreciated.

 In Uruguay there was is much pick (that´s grass), that the cattle never get extra feed brought in, so when I walked into the paddock they ran to the other side of the waterhole and looked at me. At home they might have come to see what I might have for them.

 Leaf cutter ants on their path.

 Nandu´s ... they look like small emu´s.

´My´ horse was named Perth. I was told that if I kicked Perth and got galloping, we would stop when we got to Perth (Australia). She had a hard trot, so I preferred anything slower of faster then it´s trot. 

Cattle swimming through the dip, for ticks.

Other tourists working in the yards.

Gauchos (=cowboys)

 

Drenching the sheep. 

Gaucho bread. 

Accept the fact that it is nothing like the bread you like at home, 

and then you can like it too. I really did like it!

Notes:

Panagea Station is aimed at Backpackers who don´t want a touristy experience. If you go you should get involved in the farm work, otherwise why go? It costs $40 a day, and includes everything and they even pick you up in town and drop you back to town. It´s a good price for this once in a lifetime experience.