We spent 74 days in Argentina, Chile & Uruguay and 54 in Argentina alone: since major points of interests are in nearby places in Chile or Uruguay, travelling in Argentina most certainly means crossing the borders into these countries.

In Argentina, we visited most of the classical tourist destinations: Buenos Aires, Misiones, Iguazu, the Andean Northwest, Mendoza, Peninsula Valdez, the Lake District, Southern Patagonia with El Calafate & El Chalten, and Tierra del Fuego. Add to this Chiloe, the cruise between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine & Punta Arenas in Chile and Colonia & Montevideo in Uruguay, and we can say we almost visited it all!

Arriving in Argentina from Bolivia, were we spent two months, we were almost shocked as how “European” Argentina is! We truly wondered if we still were in Latin America…

The highlights of this trip were definitely:

(x) The breathtaking glaciers in Patagonia: Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and trekking Perito Moreno (x) Whale watching in Peninsula Valdez and the nearby penguin colony in Punta Tombo (x) Iguazu Falls (x) Trekking in Torres del Paine (of course, this is Chile, but it can also be accessed from nearby Argentina) (x) Driving through the wild and colourful Quebradas in the Andean Northwest around Cafayate & Cachi (x) Sampling outstanding wines in the region of Mendoza. Of course, sampling wines can be done anywhere in Argentina at a very attractive price! (x) Partying at the Carnival in Gualeguaychu: tourists are only discovering this small town three hours north of Buenos Aires! Where else could you still jump the barrier and run out to hug the dancers? (x) Watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in Colonia, Uruguay, one hour away from Buenos Aires by boat and then walking through the most romantic historic centre of this small colonial city before enjoying a great dinner.

When thinking back of Argentina, the following aspect will always stay in our mind:

(x) People in all of Argentina are some of the nicest we have ever met, always ready to help, very communicative, very warm and very friendly. This attitude finds its way in the various ways of greeting, especially saying good bye, it always includes “pase bien” or “suerte”. (x) Argentina is a huge country and differences are immense between the different regions: the hot, tropical region around Misiones, the traditional Andean Northwest, flat & windswept Patagonia and the sophisticated capital city Buenos Aires. (x) The specific Spanish spoken in Argentina … However, we grew very fond of it and tried our best. (x) No business ever seems to have change to even the smallest bill. (x) You can only withdraw a very limited amount of money from ATM with a Visa or a MasterCard but a “normal” amount with a Maestro / Cirrus Card. Check this before going to Argentina and eventually take cash!

Of course, few things we should have done differently:

(x) Carefully chose the season when visiting a region … The Andean Northwest should be avoided in the rainy season, since road conditions can deteriorate within minutes; Misiones is definitely too in the summer… (x) Take care of distances: Argentina is huge! Flying is often a good alternative but is really expensive, whereas buses, some have seats that turn into real beds, are very comfortable but trips are very long!

Conclusion?

Argentina is an amazing country with so much to do! It really helps to speak Spanish because then the contact to the lovely people of this country is even more rewarding. We spent a lot of time in this country and it was surely not too much.

We also were extremely lucky because prices are still not back to the level they had before the crisis in 2001 and the devaluation. But they climb very fast. Argentina is definitely no longer a budget destination, and it will not become cheaper in the future. Especially the south is a lot more expensive then the north of the country.

We stayed 58 days in Argentina and spent no less than 2.840 Euros per person, which means an average of approx. 53 Euros per person and day. No need to say that this is a lot, even much more than Brazil, where we spent an average of 40 Euros per person and day, not to talk about Bolivia …

What made our stay in Argentina so expensive?

Costs for hotels were high but not absurd: 27 Euros per night, which is actually less than Brazil (30 Euros) but much more than Bolivia or Peru. Only in the Andean Northwest did we find really cheap places, otherwise it is almost impossible to find a decent double room with private bath for less than 100 Pesos or 23 Euros.

We spent a lot of money, 515 Euros per person, on various tours like trekking Perito Moreno, whale watching, boat tour in Iguazu and many others. But there are so many things to see and do in Argentina that you do not really have a choice. These tours were definitely part of the overwhelming experiences that we had. So we can only recommend them.

A big chunk of the budget was travelling, with 794 Euros. The main reason is that we had to cross the country first to meet Gilles’ family in Ushuaia on December 23rd, and then come back to some places where we had already passed through like Salta. This could be done more efficiently.

Then, distances in Argentina are huge, so at times planes become a necessity and they are expensive! We also rented a car twice, once in Peninsula Valdez and once in the Andean Northwest, which added 320 Euros to the travel costs. Last but not least, we chose to travel in the more expensive buses, and luxury buses in Argentina are amazing but pricey! A “Cama Suite” costs about half the price of a plane ticket.

As a conclusion? It was expensive but partly because we decided to travel that way. We surely could have strongly reduced the costs. But one thing is clear: prices were no longer those that were quoted in the Lonely Planet from 2005, they had almost doubled. Argentina remains an affordable country, but it is no longer a budget destination!

At Hostal Estacion Mendoza, we found everything we wanted: a quiet place with a swimming pool, which we actually never used, Internet and kitchen use, plus a little garden, a friendly staff and lots of common areas to relax or mingle with other travellers! We had also a large and quiet room on the top floor.

But what made our stay in this place so special were the other guests, all from Argentina and Brazil. Almost every night, we met someone different and had the opportunity to chat and share experiences.

Of course, every evening people would seat in the garden and share a Mate, before going out for dinner or cooking at a reasonable time, which is in Argentina never earlier than 10:00 pm, often a lot later!

Once we started talking to three soccer fans from La Pampa who came to Mendoza for a major league game between La Boca and another major team from Buenos Aires. Of course, they had prepared a Parilla and cooked tons of meat and were happy to share the huge quantity of leftovers with others. The best part was watching them handling the barbecue: you could tell from the distance that they were real experts. Unfortunately, they talked very fast and with a strong accent at that, so we had major problems understanding them.

But the climax was reached the last evening of our stay in Argentina. A couple from Buenos Aires, Xavier and Paola, invited us plus a senor from Spain, Francesco, to sample some of the products they had bought during a tour of Bodegas. So we sat down and started eating, drinking rosé, talking, one bottle of wine chasing the other. At around midnight, when wine reserves were getting dangerously low, another group joined us and allowed us to discover a different version of Mate: a melon, filled with cheap chilled red wine that we drank with a Mate straw, handing the melon around to the next person.

What amazed us the most? We were able to integrate in the group and take part in the conversation, all in Spanish, which sometimes turned really philosophical.

All in all, this stay at the Hostal Mendoza was one of the highlights of our trip. This was one of the most sociable hostels we have seen so far in South America!

On Sunday, we went towards the mountains again and spent the whole day white water rafting, horseback riding and “canopying”. We both loved it so much!

In the morning, we separated since Heidi had been too impressed by a video presentation that showed rafting through category III rapids. So instead, Heidi went horseback riding in beautiful landscape with the Andean backdrop, while Gilles tried rafting for the first time. This was an incredible experience!

Very reassuring were the safety standards: each raft held five tourists that were accompanied by two guides. Besides that, there were also 3 kayaks to help people who might fall off the boat. After a security briefing and a few minutes of practicing various manoeuvres, we started out on the Rio Mendoza, a rough glacier river, with rapids from category II to III on a scale going from I, very easy to VI, impassable.

This is just ideal for beginners who are looking for strong adrenaline output. It was truly exhilarating to zigzag between the rocks at high speed in the muddy glacier waters. The temperature of the water was 11 degrees and when the first waves hit us, at times more than one meter high, we even got a good taste of it.

Also the group was great fun, a British and an Irish couple plus Gilles who all had a great time paddling and getting soaking wet together, plus of course the two really cool guides, who seemed to enjoy the adventure as much as we did.

It was also amazing to observe the three kayaks accompanying us: they entertained us the whole way down performing complex manoeuvres, like surfing on waves, making flips, yes, flips or 360 degrees rotations! Only once did they have to rescue a lady that fell off one of the boats. She was quickly retrieved from the river and the trip went on.

Then we went canopying, which means you glide high above the ground, your harness attached to a steel cable. The tour consisted of six “trips” organised like a circuit starting with a short glide to overcome the worst fears. After the first two trips we were not worrying anymore at all but simply were taking in the excitement. Then came the finale! Twice we crossed high above Rio Mendoza, one glide was 380 meter and the other even 420 meter long at up to 60 meters above the water.

Our group was fabulous, very supportive and fun, all Argentineans and Brazilians. Actually, since we have started travelling in northern Argentina, we have hardly met European or American tourists and have been doing all tours in Spanish, except rafting. We had no difficulties whatsoever following every detail of the instructions.

Together we watched the outstanding photos taken by an employee of the company and naturally, we bought this precious little souvenir!

“Alta Montana” is a very popular one day tour starting in Mendoza which covers about 400 kilometres. Its declared highlights are a view of Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas, a visit to Puente del Inca and the monument of Cristo Rendedor.

Well, we believe that the scenery going to all these places is equally, if not more intriguing. Considering that we had driven through hundreds of miles of countryside featuring polychromic mountain slopes in the northwest of Argentina, we still found this drive exciting.

The windy trip up the steep road to Cristo Redentor was a bit of an excitement and offered a great view of the surroundings, but the view at the top of the mountain is rather disappointing. At 4.200 meters above sea level, the huge statue was erected after a land dispute between Chile and Argentina was settled in 1902 and thus stands equally on Chilean and Argentinean soil.

We had great weather and thus a perfect view of Mount Aconcagua, which is often hidden by clouds. This mountain, at 6,967 meters above sea level, is a very popular destination for climbers, but requires good mountaineering skills and no less than two weeks of your time.

Another natural wonder is Puente del Inca, a stone bridge over Rio de las Cuevas. It shines in a bright orange colour, which stems from the sediments of the sulphuric waters. Right next to the bridge are the remains of a former spa that was part of a nearby hotel. The hotel was destroyed in a mudslide and never rebuilt. Also the bridge was closed because the heavy traffic of visiting tourists took its toll.

We found the tour rather disappointing in the way it was organised. Like stopping at a deserted ski resort giving those who wanted to go up the chair lift a chance to do so, while the rest was waiting exposed to the chilly winds. But on the other hand they did not bother stopping to get a good view of the fascinating rock formations of “Los Penitentes” very close by. Our lady tour guide never gave an accurate time of when to meet again and when to leave so we spent a good time just waiting around and when we finally voiced our frustration she would make rude comments in Spanish knowing perfectly well we would understand.

The very same evening we celebrated Heidi´s birthday at Restaurant 1884 Maximilian Mallmann: great atmosphere, excellent wine from Familia Gascon, but the food did not live up to the restaurant’s reputation.

The Spanish conquistadores planted wine to South America, although what was produced then hardly resembled the Cabernet-Sauvignons or Malbecs that are nowadays so famous in international wine circles. During the immigration boom in the 19th century, Italian, French and Spanish settlers brought their knowledge and best grapes to Argentina and started growing wine in the west of the country.

Even then, the wine produced in Argentina and Chile was sold only on the domestic market. Only the last decades saw Argentinean wines compete successfully globally. Now in the area around Mendoza 70% of Argentina’s wine is produced.

The famous “Bodegas” are on the outskirts of Mendoza, for example in Maipu or Lujan, with Maipu being closer and easier to reach by public transport. The thing to do is to take a public bus to Maipu, rent a bike and then tour the various bodegas. There are a few bike rentals near the bus station nearest to the bodega area.

Our first stop was at Bodega La Rural, which is even in walking distance from the bus station. They offer a free tour through their excellent little museum and also a free tasting. This is an industrial business with 255 hectares and so we left soon to fine something cosier.

At très chic Tempus Alba, only a little more modest in size, we had an informative introduction to their red wines. Tempted by the impressive presentation, we decided to sample their whole range of 6 red wines and a rosé which enabled us to compare all the famous red wines of Argentinean in one go: a Malbec Rosé, a Merlot, a Tempranillo, a Syrah, a Malbec, a Cabernet Sauvignon and last but not least, a cuvee, their best wine. This sampling was surely not cheap but we enjoyed the best ones we tested that day.

Our last stop was Vina de Cerno, a quaint family-run winery, but unfortunately, we found the wines mediocre. We then decided to quit, since were we feeling the effects.

All bodegas close around 05:00 pm, which is a real pity, because we personally do not really enjoy tasting wine during the heat of day. Considering that in Austria red wine is mainly consumed during the cooler season, it felt even stranger! All in all, it was a nice experience but we prefer sampling wine at small winery in Austria or France, where nobody would dream of charging you for it and you can choose the time of your visit. On the other hand we perfectly understand that the bodegas started charging lately, because bodega tours have become an integral part of the rapidly growing tourist industry here.

Unfortunately, the wine offered at the bodegas where we went was simply overpriced! So we decided against purchasing from the bodgas, what we would rather do in Europe. Instead we shopped at the various supermarkets in the city centre, where you almost always find a wide range of wine at extremely attractive prices. And what we can say after about two months in Argentina: wines here are good or even very good and much cheaper than in Europe, not to talk about the USA!

Arriving at Mendoza’s bus station after a 13 hour trip from Tucuman, we dropped by the tourist information telling them what we expected of a hostel in Mendoza. This time we were very particular because we would stay here for six nights AND it was the very last place to visit in South America. We were sent to Hostel Estacion Mendoza and found everything we wanted, a quiet place with a swimming pool, Internet and kitchen use. Plus a little garden, a friendly staff and lots of common areas to relax or mingle with other travellers. There are here lot of tourists from Argentinean and Brazil, a great place for a reasonable price that we can truly recommend.

First thing we did was working off the backload of photos and reports that needed to be posted, now that we finally had found a new charger for the laptop. It helped to get it all done straight away, since the weather was miserable. Actually, it had been raining in Mendoza for the last nine days. Something nobody can remember given that it is located in a semi-desert!

When we finally found time to check out the centre, our first impression was that this is the city of trees, trees, trees and wide avenues! All streets, which are unusually wide, are lined with tall trees providing the most needed shade for this city. The most pleasant area is the pedestrian mall with outside cafes and restaurants.

There are not many sights downtown Mendoza and the complete absence of colonial buildings is due to disastrous earthquake in 1862 that more or less wiped out the city. This earthquake explains the current organization of the city: the wide avenues and low buildings are to limit the potential damage of a future earthquake. The many trees keep the town cool so that you can walk around without being roasted by the scorching sun.

On the second day in town, we organized the activities for the following days: a tour to various bodegas, a day of outdoor adventure with rafting, canopying, horseback riding and finally a tour to Puente del Inca and Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America with 6.962 meters!

In Mendoza even streets cafes serve the 400 gram steak that Gilles has come to like so much. Well fed to tackle further activities, we walked north to find Museo San Martin, dedicated to the “Libertador”, the very general who fought for and won independence for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay from Spain. This turned out to be the craziest and most fascinating museum we have seen so far, at least in Heidi’s opinion. Gilles simply found it chaotic and uninformative! There, you can find an incredible amount of interesting items on display, but they are badly presented in the most disorganized way. So what you get is four rooms cluttered with old photos, ancient oil paintings, dummies clad in colonial style dresses, flags, old furniture, antique weapons, uniforms, gaucho gear, religious objects plus a Christi statue sitting high up on a cupboard, embroidered shoes worn by bishops and old coffee grinders!

Our planned evening activity, a free concert in the Parque General San Martin, featuring alternative folkloric music never happened because of more rain, “Tierra de sol”? But instead we met two very nice Germans in our hostel, Andre und Markus. They choose not to serve in the German army but instead work with very unprivileged children in Chile and had more than a few stories to tell. We ordered pizza, which turned out to be toasted bread covered with ham and cheese, but the excellent Sauvignon Blanc helped us forget this little deficit. A very pleasant evening!

After checking in again at the very basic but super friendly “El Portal del Viajero” or Gaucho Hostal, we immediately went to the car rental, ready to hear some bad news. The staff at Movíl Renta turned out to be absolutely professional, so everything ran just smoothly. Basically, they told us to come by the next morning, by then they would have a quotation of how much the repairs of the car would be.

Then finding a power adapter for our laptop was the only item on our agenda. Well, every shop kept sending us to another place, never with any success. Yes, frustrated we were and worried, so we retreated to our hostel brainstorming a “Plan B” for getting the freaking adaptor.

But Tuesday morning turned out to be our lucky day! We first headed for the car rental company. Hurrah, our part of covering for the damage was “only” 975 Pesos or 220 Euros, less than half of the deposit. Let’s see if we can get this money from Visa, which should cover such risks. Then we went to the only computer store we had not been to in town AND there we got what we had already thought did not exist in Argentina: a universal power adapter, which also works on our laptop.

At last, we could think of moving on. Despite our previous experience, this time tickets for Suite Premium were easily available on FlechaBus for the same night. So Mendoza here we come!

Naturally we tested our new charger until it was burning hot, sorting through 830 pictures the afternoon before our departure.

You don’t know what we are talking about? Also we had no clue when we spotted a poster at Maimara’s village square saying “Festival de folklore y doma”. There was a photo of a bucking horse on it so we decided to go for it, hoping to see a rodeo with real gauchos, something we never had a chance to see.

Actually we had not planned to stop in Maimara, but then took a quick look at the cemetery, which is picturesquely squashed on a small hill just on the edge of the pueblo. Heidi, naturally curious, had discovered the poster announcing the event, starting half an hour later.

Although we entered past the official opening time, nothing happened for another two hours. Gilles slowly grew impatient and hid behind a French book, while Heidi was stomping around taking photos of the spectators and listening into conversation to find out about was going on.

We had no exact idea we were going to watch, the activities listed on the poster made no sense to us. Now we know what “Crina Limpia” means. It is a gaucho trying to stay on a horse without a saddle, only holding on to a rope tied around the horse’s neck pushing his long spurs into the horse’s belly. The gaucho has to stay on the bucking horse for 13 seconds, otherwise he is disqualified. Some of the riders were immediately thrown off the horse, while others stayed on the kicking horse for the required time.

Referees are judging those who were able to stay the allotted time, evaluating how wild the horse behaved and how well the gaucho managed it. The prize money paid at such tournaments is rather small, bigger tournaments pay up to 12.000 pesos.

For us, the audience was equally interesting as the show. It was only locals, many Indigenous who reminded us very much of the people of Bolivia and Peru. Some of spectators dressed in a European / American style clothes, but a significant part were dressed in a Gaucho style, men, women or even children.

After the first part of the show, a band started playing with people dancing, waiting for the second “Categoria” of the event, the “Grupo”. Unfortunately we could not stay any longer to watch the many other competitions: because it was getting really late, we had no place to stay yet and on top of that, the next village to find an accommodation was Humahuaca, about 70 kilometres away.

As it turned out, leaving Salta was not that easy, only after asking four times for the way could we head north, to San Salvador de Jujuy and our next destination: Purmamarca and Humahuaca. We could not help but thinking of our friend Jody who described exactly the same experience in her travel notes.

Purmamarca is famous for its “Cerro de los Siete Colores”, an incredible sight. A wide cliff facing the village offers a spectacular sight: thin layers of different shades of red, brown, purple and white seemed to be painted onto the cliff. To get an even better view we climbed a small hill and shot photo after photo. There a large group of young Argentineans had settled, drinking Mate, playing the guitar and also enjoying the view. While there, we dropped by the village church from 17th century which stands peacefully in the shade of a gigantic tree.

In that small village, everything reminded us of Bolivia: the people, the way they dress, the kind of souvenirs they sell, the adobe houses, simply everything!

Before we left, we had lunch in a Parilla frequented by a mix of local workers and young Argentinean tourists enjoying barbecued lamb served with maize and potatoes, some people had wine with their meal. Why do we mention this? It was served in a tetrapack!

Going north on route 9, we stopped at La Posta de Hornillos, a beautifully restored way station, part of a chain that ran from Lima to Buenos Aires.

The tiny village of Maimara is a bit further north and found its way into the tour books because the village cemetery is not only picturesque but squashed on a small hill just on the edge of the pueblo. Going through the village, Heidi spotted a poster advertising a festival that included a rodeo with local gauchos. We decided to go for it. This local fiesta was such an experience that we will give it more attention in a separate paragraph, called “Rodeo de gauchos”.

Right after Maimara, the scenery changed and the valley’s barren hillside turned into a magic display of colours, dark red or pinkish hills and whitish cliffs with brown tops are often twisted into bizarre formations. The Quebrada of Humahuaca has gained so much fame that is was included into the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

In Humahuaca village, we stayed in a very unusual hostal, the Kuntur Wasi. It is built like a typical Andean vivienda, made of small blocks of stone. These are painted white inside the rooms, which by the way are very tastefully decorated. Some have a small enclosed balcony with an incredible view of the Quebrada.

The village offers a few places worthwhile a visit, although we thought that the huge Monumento a la Independencia on a hill seems somewhat oversized. When we headed for the 17th church we found ourselves in the midst of a major event. Not only was the village observing the day of a local saint but two young priests were about to be ordained this day with two bishops present. Villagers told us one of them had come all the way from Misiones! The things that was most striking was the mixture of Christian symbols and those typical for the ancient civilisations of the Andes, like feather headdresses or costumes representing local animals.

Next morning we eagerly set north to see more of the Quebrada Humahuaca, but soon realized that the most beautiful part must be between Humahauca village and Tilcara in the south, so we turned around. We took photos till we were exhausted from stopping, climbing up hills and driving on. Besides it was time to move on to arrive in Tucuman before the car rental closed. We did not want to pay for a garage, since the car’s stereo would be easily accessible through the plastic sheet replacing the window. Besides, we wanted to know how much of the credit card deposit the company would keep.

After this exciting trip we bid farewell to our three lovely Argentinean passengers, Guadalupe, Martina and Pia. We started looking for a hostel and luckily, very soon we stumbled across the superb Hostal El Cerrito, where first thing we showered off all the mud from this travel.

After a short phone call to the car rental company, we knew was to do! First, report the damage to the police, then buy plastic sheets and tape to cover the big opening in the rear where once used to be a window. All this was done very easily and quickly. Especially the police was efficient and helpful, very different from these legendary rumours about police in South America. True, the methods are completely outdated: the officer taking our account wrote it down by hand in a kind of register. The next day, it was typed up at amazing speed using an antique typewriter, xeroxed and given to us.

Only when the car was taken care off, did we relax a little and realize how hungry we were. At El Beduin we fed on Arabic food of average quality and then holed up in our room: rain was pouring down again.

Excitedly we set out the next morning to explore Salta, but soon found that Plaza 9 de Julio and a few restored colonial buildings were the only visual highlights in this town. To be fair, it is the surroundings that make Salta such a popular tourist destination.

In our hostel, we met Dieter and Willemena from Germany, true Argentina “aficionados”. During a long lunch at another and this time better Arabic restaurant, the Dubai, they provided us with lots of advice regarding our further trip north to Purmamarca and Quebrada Humahuaca. The lunch ended in a rather bizarre political debate with our Syrean host informing us of an invasion of Jewish capital in Dubai and his admiration for Hitler and Nietzsche who, in his opinion, believed in superior and inferior races. We opted for leaving the place rather soon.

Museo de Bellas Artes, our next stop, was rather disappointing, but an excellent folkloristic performance by young local dancers near the main plaza made up for the rather boring museum. Besides, the main event of the day was yet to come, a special carneval parade, with lots of feathery headdresses and colourful costumes. Guess what, it rained again, heavily! With the parade cancelled and this miserable weather, we bought a bag of empanadas and watched “Mutiny on the Bounty” on TV. Repeatedly, we complimented each other for being able to follow a film in Spanish! Or was it the fact that we knew the plot of the film?

But another disaster was looming around: the power adapter of our laptop went dead. At that point, we realized how dependent we had become of this tool: downloading, selecting and organizing the hundreds of pictures we take day by day; writing down or impressions and experiences for the website; following and controlling our budget, something Gilles takes very seriously; …

So Gilles started looking for a solution, walking from store to store, at times in heavy rain. After asking at about 15 places and being soaking wet, one thing was clear: we would not find a solution to our problem in Salta! And it was definitely not sure if we would find a solution in the bigger city of Tucuman. Slowly, we started worrying about this situation.

We knew that the road from Cachí to Salta was not only extremely scenic, but also bumpy and a muddy mess during the rainy season, with precipices equalling “Death Road” in Bolivia. But we never anticipated the things to come!

When leaving the small village of Cachí Friday morning, we were a happy bunch in our tiny VW Gol, since we had picked up three young Argentinean hitchhikers. Although cramped with five people, five backpacks and a guitar, we cheerfully started our journey passing through the incredible Parque Nacional Los Cardones. There, you simply marvel at the sight of thousands of tall cactuses looking like sentries.

Soon the trip turned a little more exciting, with heavy rain and fog setting in while driving on this narrow windy mountain road. What we found puzzling was that there were no cars coming the other way.

Next thing we saw was a car stuck in a huge mudslide and a few people trying to help. We did not realize how bad it was until we tried to reach the car to see if we could help. The road was blocked by a huge mash of rocks and mud moving like lava. We found ourselves up to our knees in this mess. At the same time more mud was coming down the mountain and we quickly retreated to what we thought was safe terrain.

A local on our side of the blockage immediately knew what to do. He turned around to request a big caterpillar in the next village to clear the road. We were a bit pessimistic as to when this could possible happen but our three passengers were sure it would be soon. And they were right! The big yellow “machina” arrived pronto, organizing for the trapped car to be freed with the help of a powerful pickup truck and a long rope.

Then the caterpillar started to clear the road. This looked like very experienced maneuvers. In the meantime, it had stopped raining and we felt it was now appropriate to take photos of this whole spectacle. By now, quite a few cars had lined up on the opposite side of the blockade, with passengers equally watching the clearing of the road.

All of a sudden, they started screaming hysterically. Well, they had the better view of what was happening on our side: huge rocks were tumbling down the steep slope! We both were outside the car watching the “machina” when it happened and a few meters from where the stones hit.

When we raced to our little Gol, the first thing we saw was that the rear window was smashed and the rear bumper hanging down. Only when our three passengers scrambled out of the car did we breathe again. We all hugged each other and could not help laughing being so relieved that we were all unharmed.

Nervously, we waited for the road to be cleared because we feared more rocks were coming down the mountain. We soon were able to drive through, but during the next hour we had to pass two more blockages, not talking about numerous flooded parts that had to be crossed.

The weirdest thing was that we were passing through the most scenic landscape imaginable without being able to stop because of the danger of falling rocks. Again and again, we had to avoid big chunks of rocks that blocked part or even half of the road. Even when we reached the paved road the situation did not improve a lot.

Cafayate is a popular resort town thanks to its scenic surroundings and the pleasant climate during the summer months. The main attraction is Quebrada de Cafayate, a canyon cut in the arid zone by rivers descending down from the Andes. What make the canyon so spectacular are the many colours of the different sedimentary layers and the bizarre rock formations.

Not less visited are the many wineries in the area around Cafayate. Of course we tried the local wine, but did not do the obligatory tour to a Bodega. This will have to wait till we get to Mendoza. What we found rather striking is that all vineyards are fenced off with barbwire, without exception!

There are quite a few tourists in this region, mainly Argentinians and among them young backpackers are the vast majoirty. They can be seen everywhere, always in groups, equipped with a guitar and often waiting on the roadside trying to hitch a ride. The way they dress and behave reminded us a lot of films portraying young people in the 1960s. Generally hitching seems to be the preferred way of getting around here, for locals and tourists alike. Since most locals drive pickup trucks, they easily can accommodate the groups of young travellers and their gear.

Here the feeling that the trip itself is the experience quickly returned, just like it was when travelling through Peru and Bolivia. Every minute something new and exciting shows on the horizon. Very different to travelling in the south of the country where you cross hundreds of miles through Patagonia’s steppe!

As soon as we arrived in the Northwest, we realized that it was also very different in other ways to the rest of Argentina. There are very few European tourists, prices often are a third of what you pay in southern Patagonia and a large part of the population is of Indigenous origin. This impression grew stronger the further north we travelled. The northwest is rural, very traditional and scenic. Travelling during the height of the rainy season, we soon got used to crossing flooded passages of country roads.

Also it is pleasantly quiet when strolling through a polychromic Quebrada or a winegrowing area. There is actually only one source of noise. This comes from the thousands of parrots that cut through the air in small groups like tiny jets or otherwise rest on trees or telephone cables causing quite a racket!

Angastaco is one of the few settlements in the Valle Calchaquies within the 190 kilometers between Cafayate and Cachi. We stopped there for lunch. There were only a few rather soulless roadside eateries so we followed a small sign saying “Comedor Rincon Florido”.

This was an amazing little place! The family of Senor Guiterrez has put a few tables in their patio where they offer tasty food to tourists dropping in. Looking into their guestbook, this probably happens every other day. The senor also showed us his collection of postcards and money, amongst them a 1.000.000 Pesos bill. The walls of the patio are decorated with old farming tools and gaucho gear. The family owns a vineyard, which is harvested is April and naturally we bought a few small bottle of our host’s produce. This was probably the most intriguing lunch we had in Latin America!

In the small church of Angastaco we saw for the first time features that we saw again and again in other churches in this region: roofs and confession boxes made of cactus wood and weavings of thick lama wool that line the white walls of the church.

The only other stop before we reached Cachi was in Molino to visit “Criadero Coquera”, where vicunas are raised. These cutest little animals were almost extinct and the population is now recovering due to such programme in Peru, Bolivia, Chile & Argentina. The shawls made of vicuna wool sell for 1.000 USD at the nearby artisan’s markets, including a certificate being able to take it out of the country: vicunas are taken very serious here.

After a comfortable night in one of the nicest hotels we stayed in South America, the Hotel Boutique El Corjito in Cachi, we were looking forward to driving one of the most scenic roads in the world. It winds its way through the steep, green-sloped and treeless mountains range between Cachí for Salta.

Quilmes was an urban complex where about 8.000 people lived, starting from 1200 AD. They fiercely resisted the Incas and after that fought the Spanish for over 130 year but were defeated in 1667, after the Spanish succeeded in cutting off their water supply.

Many of them, mostly women and children, committed suicide rather than surrendering to the Spanish. The 4.000 survivors were forced to a 1.500 kilometre walk to Buenos Aires. Only 1.000 arrived. Most of the families that now live in Quilmes are the descendants of those who survived this exodus.

A small part of that ancient urban settlement, only 10% actually, was excavated in 1978. It has been beautifully restored. However, from a “mirador” you can see the whole area with some remaining walls between the omnipresent cactuses.

More than a city, this place was also a fortress overlooking the village and the whole valley, enabling the inhabitants to locate potential invaders far in advance and get ready for battle. Thanks to this, and even though the Quilmes only had bows and arrows whereas the Spanish had fire arms and horses, they could resist any invasion for a long time.

We visited the site with a guide, Ruben, who spent about 1.5 hours sharing with us the culture and the history of this town and his people. He particularly stressed the importance of the site for the local population, who consider the place as sacred, since for them it represents the resistance towards the invaders and remembers those who died fighting.

Our guide explained at length the legal issue behind the two hotels and a museum nearby: a company had a licence to build and run these, but the new governor no longer recognizes the contract. This matter is now in the hand of the courts, but the two hotels, the restaurant and the museum are now closed until the case is settled.

After leaving Quilmes, we started travelling on the famous Ruta 40, the longest road in Argentina with over 4.700 kilometres. It basically runs through all of Argentina. It starts in San Salvador de Jujuy near the border to Bolivia and passes through amazing scenery before it ends in Tierra del Fuego. A good website gives information about this road: http://www.magicaruta40.com.ar.

This small town is a popular refuge for Tucumanos to escape the summer heat at 2.700 meters altitude. Besides that, the surrounding scenery is truly stunning.

Coming from Tucuman, the road first runs through the gorge of Rio de los Sosas. Its steep slopes are covered with the most amazing, most dense, greenest subtropical forest ever. As the road winds its way up the river disappears way down. It reminded us a lot of mountain roads in Bolivia. The slight drizzle and fog created an incredible atmosphere. Even people who find the word “mystic” cheesy would have agreed that this was the only proper word to describe this scenery!

Unfortunately, the fog got thicker and thicker and soon we only saw our very immediate surroundings. After we passed the hamlet of La Angostura, with its dike that creates the biggest artificial lake in Argentina, the scenery changed abruptly and completely. The dense forest had magically disappeared and was replaced by grassy hills with crazing cows, not a single tree.

We had planned to stay over night in Tafi del Valle and do a few short hikes, but all the nice and affordable hostels were booked. This and the fact that it had not stopped raining made us decide to move on to Amachia de Valle near the ruins at Quilmes. During this 50 kilometre drive on a windy mountain road, we were completely engulfed by fog. We could not see a thing and only guessed how scenic it might be.

Once the fog lifted, we arrived in another completely different setting. Now the area was dry with huge tall “Cardones” cactuses all over the place. People on horses are a common sight in this area, we even saw a real cowboy swinging a lasso while riding through this forest of cactuses.

We decided to stay over night at the next possible place, because Heidi was seriously suffering from not getting enough sleep during the last three nights: one night at the carnival, one night on the bus and one night talking to Spanish tourist till the wee hours took its toll!

In Amachio del Valle, a tiny village with only a few accommodations, we found a cabana behind the local gas station. Now if this sounds a bit unromantic, we truly enjoyed it! It was quiet, comfortable and a true bargain.

We bought cheese at the market, bread and a local red wine and celebrated or better mourned that we passed a magic mark that day: we have been travelling 178 days, half of our Year Off!

This busy, bustling town in the northwest of Argentina is where the declaration of Argentina’s independence from Spain was signed back on July 9th, 1816. Naturally the “Casa de la independencia”, a beautifully restored colonial building, is the must see in town. Portraits of the signatories line the wall of the very room where the document was signed.

We walked a lot around town without finding anything really interesting to see or do. Exhausted, we dropped in a small restaurant, El Portal, to sample some food typical for the region, when we suddenly heard some familiar tune, Falco’s: “Vienna calling” was being played on the radio! We are afraid, only Austrians may appreciate this. Anyway, their “Empanadas” and “Locro del Campo” were perfect!

In Tucuman, we rented a car to explore the northwest of Argentina, actually the only sensible way to see this region, because what you want to discover is the amazing scenery: our little car allowed us to stop wherever we wanted to take photos.

The day we left Tucuman for Tafi del Valle, our first destination further north, it had started to rain, something we had not seen for a long time. Right outside of Tucuman the road passes by endless fields of sugar cane and orchids of lemon trees. We were very determined to take only back roads to be close to “nature and life”, but soon we were too close.

After driving a little while through rural, rural Argentina, we were stopped by the police. The road was closed because the heavy rain had washed away part of a bridge. The officer apologized to us for the inconvenience of having to go all the way back and allowed us to go close and take photos. Once at the bridge, we learned that some people cannot be stopped easily: locals used the mound of soil that also went down into river to get across. Some people who hung out there asked us if we were press, we had to disillusion them.

After a whole week in Buenos Aires, it was time to move on … So we took a bus to Tucuman, in Argentina’s most traditional region in the Andean northwest. There we plan to stay one week before heading to the region of Mendoza, our last stop in South America.

We already have mentioned it: there are many classes of long distance bus travel in Argentina: Semi Cama, what we know in Europe or the USA; Cama, offering large and very comfortable sits and meal services and then the top, “Primera Classe”, “Suite Premium” or “Tutto Letto” service, depending on which company you are with …

Finally, we had a chance to cruise in one of the luxurious Suite Premium busses from FlechaBus. Well, that reminded us very much of a First Class trip by plane: you have a huge seat that fully reclines and turns into a comfortable bed. There is even a curtain that separates you from your neighbour to give you some privacy. And of course, there is an attendant serving you a three course meal with wine and “Champagne”. In this most comfortable environment, we were able to sleep almost the entire night, a really pleasant experience!

Of course, this luxury has a price: the bus ticket costs approx. half the price of a plane ticket.

The last group of dancers finished around at around 03:00 am. By then fatigue had set in a little bit and our hands were sore from banging the metal of the barriers that separated us from the dancers. This is the way to express your enthusiasm for a particular group or dancer. We left right after by bus back to Buenos Aires, where we arrived at 07:00 am Sunday morning.

Twelve hours later, we left Buenos Aires by bus again for Tucuman, in the northeast of Argentina. Since we were only in town for 12 hours during the day we had checked out from our room before going to the carnival. Now Sunday morning we were exhausted and simply crashed at the lobby of our hostel before doing some last minute sightseeing in Buenos Aires.

This last bit we would do differently going there again, we would stay overnight in Gualeguaychu. Besides, the guy who organised the trip was nice and well-meaning but a bit chaotic which resulted in a lot of waiting around. On the other hand, we must admit that he got us outstanding places, that we maybe would not have been able to buy ourselves…

The parade of the bands started around 22:30 and by then the Corsódromo was packed with cheering people, altogether about 40.000 people that night. Each of the three groups had a motto, water was one, and the various subgroups represent this. The dancers were a swaying sea of colours of elaborately designed costumes, headdresses made of feathers and beads, more beadwork for ankles, necks, belly and wrists. The costumes can be made of lots of material or of very, very little. Sometimes it is as little as a few rows of beads. The dancers wear distinctive make up, the word glamour is taken serious here.

The floats or “Carosas” following the dancers have various levels reaching up ten meters and yes, there are little stages all the way up there with dancers moving passionately! These little platforms are less than a square meter and a small semicircular tiny reeling for the artists to hold on. We felt dizzy just by looking up.

Each group consists of 80 to 100 people, with each subgroup of about 8 to 10 participants. The last subgroup is a band of drummers and a samba dancer. That part is extremely intensive, especially at the spot where the group performs for the jury. There, you can enjoy an extra show!

“The greatest parade in Argentina and one of the three most famous carnivals of Latino-America” that is how this carnival promotes itself. Although we lack the expertise to verify this, we definitely can say that it was very, very impressive and a lot of fun. We definitely would recommend everybody to do the trip while it is still kind of an informal event. Tours from Buenos Aires, only 3 hours south, especially for foreign tourists, just started last year!

What was so unique about this carnival was that we were as close to the dancers as you can be, in the very first row of the “Corsódromo”, a kind of stadium through which the groups parade. Close means, the dancers stopped to kiss us and we could take close up photos or even pose with them. We had come up with a whole group of about 30 people from Buenos Aires and some of us could not get enough. Especially, some Israeli girls must have asked every male dancer to stop. Not to forget two charming gentlemen from London, Brian and Obi, who had the time of their life, posing with all these lightly clad beauties!

The more daring ones occasionally jumped across the low metal barrier and ran up to the performers to have their picture taken. The police would patiently guide them back to their seat. The instructors of the group had less patience with those dancers that stopped too often to be kissed and photographed. Quite a few times they furiously pulled them back to get them in line with the other dancers.

Before we went to the Corsódromo, we had the opportunity to go to the school where the “Comparsa” is kept and we were able to take a close look at all the dresses and decor only to discover how heavy it all is! We could much more appreciate the performance of these petit ladies dancing away with god knows how many kilo tied to them. Talking about kilos: what puzzled us most was where all these hundreds of perfectly sculptured bodies, men and women alike, came from? The streets of Argentina walk the average persons, with a bit of a belly, bulging hips, cellulites, well, the usual flaws, but not in this carnival parade. We started fantasizing what the dancers in Rio may look like...

Heidi could not wait to learn all about Argentina’s specific pronunciation, especially the one of Buenos Aires. So she spent her afternoons at Buespanish, a language institute, which she can highly recommend: www.buespanish.com.ar. They have excellent teaching materials, especially developed for providing foreigners with an insight in Argentine’s culture, geography, a bit of history or simply daily affairs. The staff is really competent and they do the utmost to make your stay in Buenos Aires memorable. On two evenings they took us to places that we would have never found ourselves.

During that time, Gilles just went discovering the city, walking miles and miles in the different parts or “Barrios” to get a better feeling of this place. In the hottest hours of the afternoon, he also enjoyed several times the air-conditioning in movie theatres and watched for the first time in months a few films.

Together with Heidi’s Spanish teacher and a few other students, we spent an evening in “La Viruta” in Palermo, where we watched tango and salsa classes for everybody to join in. This place is amazing, very informal and laid back. Young and old, beginners and very advanced dancers are frequenting the dance classes all day, with evenings and weekends being the busiest time. What surprised us most was how casual the place was: nobody was dressed up, the instructors setting the example. We managed the basic step, enough to realize that tango is not easy to master! There are tables on the side of the big dance floor where you can watch people tango or those trying to do so. A simple rule is: the latter in the evening, the better the dancers. This place was absolutely authentic, far from the usual tango shows in restaurants.

La Pena del Colorado was another place we went with the Spanish school. There, singer Noelia Moncada introduced us to “Música de folclórica Argentina, Latinoamericana y ciudadana”. This show was absolutely fantastic! We both truly enjoyed this music. The public gave a standing ovation to the singer and the musician accompanying her on the piano. Again a very casual environment, without tourists! The food was tasty and presented the cuisine of the northwest. All this we enjoyed for very little money.

The restaurant in Buenos Aires we remember best is La Cabarera, in Palermo. We arrived 30 minutes after it had opened for the evening and the place was packed. So we almost left because we have an aversion against restaurants that are too busy. But being stunned that a restaurant is full at 09:00 pm in Buenos Aires, where this is a ridiculously early time to have dinner, we luckily turned around. Otherwise, Gilles would have missed out on the biggest steak ever served to him. And he did finish it, the 800 to 1.000 gr. T-bone steak, but had to give up on the 14 different sauces that came along!

Lots of time we spent at Cementerio de la Recoleta, where the rich and famous of Argentina have their final resting place: presidents, governors, war heroes, writers and of course “Evita” Peron, although not her husband. They are all buried here, often together with family members. These little palaces come in all shapes and sizes with elaborate decorum or plain crypts and they all have two floors for the extended family. Only families who already have tombs there can bury their beloved ones in Recoleta. No new tombs are available: the place indeed looks cramped.

The “Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires” was another highlight, one of Buenos Aires’ most modern museums with an exquisite selection of Latino Americas’ greatest contemporary painters.

On our last day in Buenos Aires, we went down to La Boca and San Telmo. After we spent all night at the carnival in Gualeguaychu, we weakly fought our way through the crowds in San Telmo. Most of the artefacts displayed were extremely kitschy and all of the antique shops that San Telmo is so famous for, were deserted. The next tourist trap we fell in was the “Caminito”, the street in La Boca that is famous for its painted houses. Within this block of houses tourists fill, literally, the streets. This was tourism at its ugliest, although we must confess that it was there that we saw the best Tango and Milongo dancers ever. Outside of this block, La Boca is a pretty rough neighbourhood to put it mildly. The other attraction in this barrio is La Bombonera stadium, the club of once superstar Diego Maradona. There are plenty of shops selling Maradona DVDs, T-shirts, keyrings, not to mention the more than life sized Maradona replicas all around that you can hug, kiss or simply pose next to in order to have your photo taken.

Another aspect of Buenos Aires that Heidi was told about are the “Piqueteros” that stage protests in the city centre every given day, making life for the residents rather difficult, because public transport is constantly interrupted. Needless to say that most of these manifestations are more than justified, like the “Madres de la Plaza del Mayo” who still protest against the disappearing of their sons during the military dictatorship. Apart from those truly motivated people, there are others who are paid by whatever party who wants to be heard. Honestly, we never saw them …

When we were in Buenos Aires, we mostly stayed in the barrio of Palermo, which is northeast of the centre, very green and full of great restaurants and parks.

The last time we stayed there we made the Borges Design Hostel our home. It has fast WiFi, kitchen use, is greatly located, has friendly staff and most important a little garden to chill out in the afternoon or at night. The only nuisance was the ever blasting stereo in the lobby which is next to the common area. Our room was okay, but the bathrooms are tiny. Another major deficit is that there is no air-conditioning, which is usually not a must, but when we arrived the city was cooking at 41 degrees. There is a good mix of people, with many guests from other Latin-American countries.

For the various stays of Gilles’ family in Buenos Aires, we had initially booked the Hostel Portal del Sur, but they messed up our reservation, which we luckily discovered during a short stopover in town. A bit chaotic, that hostel! It is a nice colonial building, but in a very noisy street in the very centre. We ended up staying there one night during a heat wave and the building was cooking. Without the roof terrace, we would have been confined to our rooms, which were air-conditioned.

Our first stay in town in November took us to Hostal Southern House in Palermo, a run-down and very noisy place, with buses thundering by on its front side, whereas the yard side is busy at nights with guests who never sleep and the sounds of a nearby swinger club.

All in all, none of those hostels was a perfect choice, even though the Borges was the best and not too expensive for Buenos Aires: 140 Pesos or 45 USD.

This is one of the largest cities in Latino America with 13 million inhabitants, but fortunately it does not show the usual symptoms of such a “megapolis”. Actually it is quite a pleasant place to visit and to live: the ever increasing numbers of tourists and expatriates are the living proof. The city offers an incredible amount of cultural activities, there is an abundance of parks and tree lined streets, the food is great and plentiful. Plus, the nightlife rules!

Above all, it is the very people who make it such a wonderful place. Well-mannered, elegant, pleasant, polite and helpful are just a few adjectives that come to our mind when trying to describe the general attitude of the “Portenos”, as they like to be called. Even in a crowded and steaming hot Subte, Buenos Aires’ metro, people smile and talk to each other in a relaxed manner. What a difference to Vienna, Heidi’s hometown, where the passengers in the metro often make you feel like you are on the way to a funeral.

We were in Buenos Aires on three occasions, altogether about 10 days and certainly not enough to scratch beneath the surface.

A few things we found rather peculiar in Buenos Aires were the “Paseadores”. These people walk the dogs of those people too busy to do so. Some walk four, some ten or more. Some Paseadores take their job seriously, others do not. They hang out in parks with other Paseadores and tie the barking dogs to some tree annoying everybody else.

Cartoneros are another common sight, especially in Buenos Aires but also in other parts of Argentina and in Uruguay. These Cartoneros go through the garbage bags that residents and businesses put into the street in the evening. They are looking for paper, plastic bottles and glass, with paper being the most precious resource. As a result, with all these bags being torn open, garbage is strewn all over the place making the whole city appear rather dirty.

This is one of the many consequences of the crisis back in 2002, when parts of the middle class sunk into dire poverty. Unfortunately, more than a few people still could not recover their standard of living after that crisis. But the most serious part is that the government has no clue how to approach this hot issue, although most residents are furious about the litter all over the place. Recently containers were put up to recycle glass and paper, but this needs time to sink in to people’s minds.

Rosario, Argentina’s third largest city with about one million inhabitants is situated right on Rio Paraná. It is a university town and Che Guevara’s birthplace.

Arriving in Rosario, we first went to Hostel Rosario, whose website listed Air-conditioning among its services, no luxury with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. Well, not only was the address given on their website wrong, but the hostel was run-down and had no air-conditioning. So we set out again searching and quickly decided to stay in a “real” hotel, the Hotel Imperio, which for only a few Pesos more had air-conditioning, comfortable rooms, a nice breakfast buffet, a good WiFi in the room and a cool swimming pool!

Upon Heidi’s suggestions, we lunched at a vegetarian restaurant. Gilles stuffed himself with greenery like he usually does with meat and fell sick the same day. This convinced him that it was wiser to return to his “parrilla diet” of tons of grilled meat, which he had so much enjoyed in the last weeks …

With temperatures between 37 and 42 degrees Celsius, we had little chance of enjoying the city, although its motto “La major ciudad para vivir” may very well be true.

The city of full of parks and most streets are lined with trees, but its most attractive asset is the accessible waterfront along Rio Paraná. Along Costera Sur, you find many places to do a barbecue, Argentineans’ favorite past time. There were several of them being fired up when we passed by in the evening. We simply could not comprehend that people would create even more heat in these temperatures. But according to Clarin, a national newspaper, every person eats an average of 67.2 kg of meat per year, so we guessed every opportunity must be used. Nevertheless, it looked really harmonious to watch big families or groups of young people enjoying their “Asado”.

On Costera Norte there are “Balnearios”, beaches with services including umbrella rental, showers, volleyball nets and outdoor bars, THE place to be during the summer.

A few minutes from the city center, there are many nice bars and restaurants on the waterfront and the promenade is also used by people who feel like jogging with 40 degrees: at t around 11:00 pm, it still felt too hot for us to sit outside and we decided for an air-conditioned restaurant, which we usually avoid like the pest.

While Gilles spent the day in a darkened, cool hotel room to recover from eating too much salad, Heidi diligently set out to visit a few museums. After walking her feet sore for hours, she returned home without setting foot in a single one: either they were on summer schedule, or were closed for the summer or closed altogether.

The only sight we visited was “Monumento Nacional de la Bandera”, a monstrous stone complex. In the crypt under the tower rests Manuel Belgrano, who designed the Argentinean flag. In the museum the original flag can be seen plus all the flags of the Latin-American nations, their hymns and sometimes jars! with “tierra” from these countries.

Boulevard Orono definitely needs to be mentioned with its many old elegant buildings from the 19th century in between high apartment buildings. This street has four lines of tall trees, two on the “paseo” in the middle of the street and two on the sides.

During our second night in Rosario we were woken by the loudest thunder we ever heard, it sounded more like an explosion. In the following downpour the place cooled down in no time. Nevertheless, it was time to leave and we hoped on the bus and after passing through flat Pampa with lots of cows four hours, we arrived in Buenos Aires.

Back in Posada we spent most of the afternoon in an Internet café to escape the heat, before we started our 1.000 kilometer bus journey to Rosario. There we managed to find reasonably priced online tickets to the Easter Islands, Tahiti and Rarotonga, after a travel agency in Posada gave us an absurdly expensive quote.

Only one bus company, Rio Paraguay, had seats available that evening. It was very expensive and the service turned out to be chaotic and very disappointing. Right at the beginning of the trip, Heidi had asked to turn up the volume of the video, so she could watch what, for once, was not the usual violent movie and with Richard Gere in it. Like usually on busses, the video was in English with the volume turned off since the passengers obviously prefer only to read the Spanish subtitles. We hat gotten used to this form of watching films, but this time we were too far from the monitor to be able to read.

Later Gilles asked for a blanket, but the stewardess answered she will hand them out after dinner, which meant in two to three hours because the movie had just started. Since Gilles insisted he was cold, she suggested turning down the air-conditioning. As a result we soon had 30 degrees in the bus with everybody sweating and being uncomfortable.

Well, after a while Heidi could not stand it any longer and went down again and asked to turn up the air-conditioning because we were roasting. She did not quite understand but it sounded pretty unconcerned. So at the next stop we placed ourselves next to the door of the bus and the staff telling everybody who wanted to hear it or not what a horrible bus ride this had been. Whether this had any influence or not, the rest of the trip was comfortable like always and we even got some good sleep.

San Ignacio was our first stop, since it is the best restored mission in Argentina. When we arrived early afternoon, the city was baking. There were no people in the street and no sound to be heard, not even a dog barking. We checked into Hotel San Ignacio, one of four accommodations in town and the first hotel we passed, actually the most comfortable one. It was quite a funny place, a hotel & bar and pool hall in the evening. You could also buy mobile phones at the reception. There we hid until 7 o’clock, when it had finally cooled down enough to visit the very sight.

There is a small museum that very tastefully displays various objects and explains the history of the missions. At 21:15 o’clock, there was an equally well done sound and light show with a brief lecture on the architecture of the church, called Guarani baroque.

The ruins are slowly being restored with the most impressive remnant being the enormous red sandstone church, or what is left of it. The portal of the church is especially intriguing with its exquisite carving. The side walls of the church are supported by wooden beams. Most amazing is that large parts of the original floor tiles were recovered, naturally this part is fenced off. Also many living quarters and workshops have been restored. None of the remnants has a roof though. We were the last ones to leave after the light show. This was truly magic to be alone in this large wooded area lit with a few golden lights hidden in the trees.

The next day we took the bus to Santa Ana, got off at the wrong place and walked 6 kilometers altogether to finally see the ruins. There is very left to be seen, parts of the walls of the church have been freed from the vegetation and small trees that have literally grown into the stone walls. Here also lived over 4.000 Guarani, but only two Jesuits.

What is most fascinating about Santa Ana is the location in the middle of the rainforest. This makes it an almost mystical place. There is no sound to be heard, except that of birds and noisy crickets.

Next to the church there is the old cemetery from Jesuits times, but it was used by the local population until 1985. Now it is abandoned and nature has taken back this place like it did with most of the buildings. The cemetery is truly groovy, the doors of some of the old crypts are open and you can see the coffins on the shelves.

Being fascinated by graveyards, Heidi checked the tombstones closely and discovered an “Ing.” behind the weed. Being Austrian where adding a title to your name is an obsession, she became more curious. She removed the weed and here go: Ing. Juan Brunner from Tyrol is buried here, the tombstone giving all information in German. For non-Austrian: after graduating from a technical high school and three year of experience in a job, you are allowed to carry this title.

What we also enjoyed about traveling in the northeast of Argentina was the fact that there are very few tourists, and those you meet are from Argentina or Brazil.

Early morning the next day, we caught the bus to San Ignacio to visit the ruins of the old Jesuit mission, which dates back to the early 17th century. During that time the Jesuits started establishing these so-called “Reducciónes”. By 1732, around 140.000 Guarani lived in 30 missions, most of them in what is today the province of Misiones in the northeast of Argentina, but also in neighboring areas of today Brazil and Paraguay.

The overall purpose of these missions was of course the evangelization of the indigenous population. The way the Jesuits did this was different and thus very successful. They learned the native language, did not question the authorities of the elders and used music and art to teach the gospel. But most important, they protected the indigenous from slave hunters.

In these Reducciónes the Guarani, who were nomads, were settled and congregated. Everybody worked in the fields or in trades that the priests taught them. The make-up and economy of this society was very communal based. This almost utopian project fell in decline after the Jesuits were forced to leave in 1767 and most missions were destroyed when Portuguese forces invaded the region in the early 19th century.

The layout of these missions is always the same, with a plaza headed by the church and a school, the workshops and the residence of the priest on one side and the cemetery one the other side. The living quarters of the Guarani were on the opposite side.

On Saturday, January 5th, we separated from the Barbier family after traveling together for two weeks: the whole family took a plane to Buenos Aires before returning to Paris or San Francisco. The same day we traveled by bus to Posadas, the gateway to the Jesuit Missions in the northeast of Argentina.

The town sits right on River Paraná that separates Argentina from Paraguay. We contemplated crossing the border and visit the Mission in Trinidad, but due to the relentless heat our enthusiasm and energy was not up to the usual level.

Arriving from Iguazu, THE tourist attraction, we found ourselves in a place without any tourists. By the time we finally had a place to sleep, it was rather late. Nevertheless, we set out to check out the town in temperatures that were still quite uncomfortable. What we remember best of Posadas is the great cocktail we had in a bar and the tree-lined streets, some with a “Paseo” in the middle and even more trees.

On the negative side, in this town we were reminded of the immense poverty that exists in this part of the world. In Argentina so far, we had not seen small children walking the streets at midnight selling flowers or begging for the peanuts that come with drinks in cafes and bars, unfortunately something quite common Bolivia and Peru as well.

Crossing the border to get a view from the Brazilian side is normally no big deal: you line up at the immigration, get a stamp and move on. But since all the children, Anna, Helene and Raphael as well as Rebecca were traveling with their US passport, this excursion turned into an expensive challenge.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the US government requested visas for Brazilians entering the US, so President Lula retaliated by making it a requirement for US citizens entering Brazil.

Now paying USA 150 for spending one afternoon in Brazil seems a bit dear, so most nationals requiring a visa enter Brazil illegally. Somehow the taxi drivers have worked out a system with immigration officers at the border and obviously the system works well. But Joel & Rebecca decided against it and bought a regular visa, which made this a very expensive day and had them line up exactly eight times that day! We kept teasing them about not loosing their golden passports.

The Brazilian side of the waterfalls is completely different: you do not have the close view from the waterfalls, but on the other hand you get a much better panorama and hence a much better idea of the overall dimension and layout of the falls. It is consequently a good complement to the Argentinean side. Gilles family invited him to see the falls from high above, from a helicopter. It was his first time in a helicopter and an even more amazing view of the waterfalls, a great experience.

Something both sides have in common is lots of cheeky and begging coatis. Those look like foxes with a very long snout, that you find either on the ground or in trees, looking for any kind of fruits.

The afternoon, we spent in the “Parque das Aves”, a park with lots of exotic birds, mainly from the region and the Amazonian rain forest.

All in all, the 3.5 days we stayed in Iguazu were not too much for this absolutely spectacular place. Apart from the heat, which was at times suffocating, it was a great experience for all of us.

Most tourists spend only one or two days at the Iguazu Falls. Well, we felt that even three days were not enough. Besides the falls, there is bird and butterfly sanctuary and a national park that can be visited off the beaten tracks for those who have time and stamina.

The heat turned out to be a major challenge for all of us. At 11:00 am it was already very hot, and at 01:00 pm it was simply unbearable.

The afternoon of the day we arrived, we visited “Garganta del Diablo” or “Devil’s Throat” on the Argentinean side of the falls: A little train takes you to the entry of a 1 kilometer long trail that leads to the Mirador. The view from there is simply breathtaking! Incredible amounts of water are rushing by, their spray providing a pleasant cool off for the sweating tourists, but also leaving layers of water on the lenses of the cameras. The noise from the huge masses of water plunging down is so loud that it is difficult to talk. Also the walk to the Mirador was very pleasant, we crossed the wide river on the “catwalks” and even saw a caiman and lots of exotic birds.

On the second day, we started early with “Gran Adventura”. This one hour tour starts off with an eight kilometer ride through the rainforest in a 4-wheel drive truck. The ranger explained the fauna and flora of the rainforest and stopped to point out various rare trees.

But the fun part is the boat ride on the river that takes you close to the falls so that everybody gets completely wet. It is not just a little sprinkle but a thorough “Ducha”. That makes you duck and takes your breath away. We all enjoyed it very much and even little Raphael, aged 18 months, braved the adventure with the help of a sailor who covered him with a poncho. Apart from the shower, the boat ride passed by some other waterfalls and we had the most amazing view by being so close.

After the “Gran Adventura”, we took a little ferry to Isla Grande San Martin. This island has a trail of its own that offers the best view of Salto San Martin. The rocks and walls of this cascade are covered with what looks like grass. Despite the force of the water rushing over these plants, they miraculously manage to cling to the rock. Another thing that baffled us was what effect the water has on the rocks at the bottom, the constant pounding and hammering …

From the ferry dock, we made our way up walking the “Paseo Inferior” stopping at more viewpoints. By then, it was around 01:00 pm and the heat was so unbearable that we decided to skip the Paseo Superior, which takes you along the top of the cascades.

Arriving in Puerto Iguazu from El Calafate in Patagonia was a real shock for the eleven of us: the cold was immediately replaced by humid tropical heat, reaching at times more than 40 degrees Celcius with almost 100% humidity.

Puerto Iguazu itself is a small town that lives off its proximity to one of the “Top 3” tourist destinations in Argentina. We stayed at Hotel La Sorgente, which provides comfortable rooms with AC and has a nice garden with a fairly sized swimming pool. We all enjoyed this oasis to relax after our long trips to the falls in the tropical heat.

The bad surprise came when we paid the bill: the price for the room was 42% higher than what was quoted at the time of the reservation. Gilles had overlooked a small sentence at the end of the eMail confirming the reservation, saying: “prices subject to changes”. Well, 42% is a significant increase and cannot be explained by the 9.8 percent of inflation in 2007 in Argentina. Besides, we had reservations for three other hotels for the time over Xmas and none asked for a higher price than the one originally quoted. The owner of the hotel acted completely stubborn and inflexible when we tried to work out a solution. We have never felt more obviously cheated during all of our five months of travel in South America!

No matter how many waterfalls you have seen in your life, these leave the most experienced travelers mumbling all kinds of words of excitement when you finally stand in front of “Garganta del Diablo” or Salto San Martin. This place was definitely one of the highlights of our trip through South America. These are some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world, far more impressive than Niagara Falls, for example.

Shared between Argentina and Brazil, the falls are set inside a 2.100 square kilometer national park, resembling very much the Amazonian rain forest to the north. Most of the national park is in Brazil but most of the walks and viewpoints are in Argentina.

A few numbers may help to understand what makes them so impressive: The falls are “only” 80 meters high, but together are about 2 kilometers wide! The quantity of water falling down varies a lot depending on the season. When we were there, the flow was 1.750 cubic meters per second. But it can be much more!

Above all it is the setting, in the middle of the rain forest, that makes this place so magic. The River Iguazu separates in many arms that consequently create a whole set of waterfalls, bigger or smaller ones. The most dramatic, “Garganta del Diablo” or “Devil’s Throat” is at the end of a gorge.

The Brazilians side is much busier with a lot more tourists staying in Foz de Iguazu, because all the big hotels and a lot more accommodation is found on this side than in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. Since there is basically only one walk on the Brazilians side, it appears almost congested during the high season. From Brazil the view is more comprehensive, providing a good overview of all the falls, whereas in Argentina you get closer to each individual waterfall.

Brazil also offers helicopter rides above the falls, 80 USD for 10 minutes. The four choppers are constantly flying, and waiting time can be up to two hours, so many tourists are willing to pay this kind of money. Gilles was one of them. He said it was indeed a great experience. The noise of the helicopters is omnipresent all over the park and Argentina has protested several times, warning of the environmental impact this has. Much to the dismay of Argentina, Brazil also plans to illuminate their part of the falls during the night, whereas on the Argentinean side only full moon walks are offered.

On January 1st, “Der Standard”, an Austrian newspaper, reported that about 650.000 people partied in the streets of Vienna, Austria, a city of 1.7 million inhabitants. Well, what we experienced in Patagonia was completely different. We were very far from the typical New Year’s Eve frenzy that we have never enjoyed when being in Europe at that time. Here in southern Patagonia, we would not have noticed the arriving of the New Year, if our hostal, the America Del Sur, had not organized a small party to celebrate the event.

This buffet dinner for 80 pesos or 19 Euros was even more sumptuous than the “Parillas” we had the previous nights. So the Barbiers once more indulged in what they love best: excellent grilled T-Bone steaks with everything you need to go with it, especially an excellent red wine and at this occasion a few glasses of local sparkling wines at midnight.

After a big dinner, we spent the rest of the evening talking and having fun not only with the family but also with the many other travelers staying at the Hostal. As usual for this kind of places, we met lots of widely traveled people with great stories to tell.

The most memorable experience was that the New Year started when there was still a little of daylight! Since Argentina changed to daylight saving time on December 30th, there was even light until about 00:30 am. Simply amazing!

Our tour of Perito Moreno first took us to a Mirador on the shore of Lago Argentino from where we could view a large part of the glacier’s front, basically the area between Peninsula Magallanes and the northern shore of the lake. The view is not only an overwhelming visual experience, but it is also an auditory one, with big chunks of ice noisily calving and collapsing into the lake. Often we heard noises that reminded of an avalanche breaking off but we could not see anything, the grumbling seemed to be coming from inside the glacier.

A plaque reminded of the incredible ill-fate of 32 tourists who died here between 1968 and1988. Pieces of these falling ice chunks were catapulted far away and led to the death of these people. Nowadays the walks and boats keep at a safe distance, avoiding such tragic accidents.

Then we took a boat and sailed along the part of the glacier that lies between the southern shore and Peninsula Magallanes. This view is so amazing, you do not want this to end. On top of that, everybody is eagerly waiting for chunks of ice breaking off and sinking down into the lake causing big waves, accompanied by roaring sounds.

After the boat ride, the most exciting part of the tour lay ahead: walking on top of the glacier with crampons. We were given a short briefing by a guide that explained how to walk uphill / downhill in this new environment, including some safety instructions. Then the crampons were fixed onto our shoes and our group of about 20 people started off. Two guides led the way through the magic world of ice and soon we could see nothing but ice and the sky. Every few minutes the view changed and seemed even more spectacular. We all seemed to be completely absorbed by this unique experience.

Walking uphill was easy, this is done “penguin style”, but going downhill, especially steeper bits, proved to be more difficult. We also had to get used to stepping on thin melting layers of ice, realizing that we would not disappear in bottomless holes of water and ice. This was just the surface water melting and not dangerous. There were deep crevasses and holes as well, but our guides led the way and safely guided us around those.

Near the shore the ice was traced with dark soil that the wind blew on to the glacier, but the further away from the shores we got, the more white the ice was.

After 1.5 hours of walking up and down on the glacier with irons clamped to our shoes, we were ready to quit. There was no wind that day and the sun was burning down on us, making us sweat during our hike on the glacier.

Our guide also gave a brief demonstration of ice climbing which was very impressive. He used an ice pick, making his way up a vertical wall of ice and his crampons coming down a very steep slope.

At the end of the walk, we were served a nice Scotch Whisky, chilled with ice cubes made of glacier ice. This seemed to us a bit cheesy in the beginning, but actually it turned out to be quite a funny “finale”.