Ryan Youens

Day  Fifteen – Colonia to Rosario

Today was a big travelling day. Caught the ferry from Colonia to Buenos Aires around mid-morning. Once we got to BA, we headed straight to the bus station. Huge bus station – room for 75 buses and probably around 50 bus company offices. Got our tickets to Rosario and stocked up on snacks for the trip.

It was a five-hour trip. Went pretty quickly. Once we arrived we booked our tickets to Posadas for two days’ time.

Our hostel is OK. Really friendly staff, but room isn’t that great. Ate an apalling pizza for dinner at a restaurant nearby. Long day!

Observations…

• So many toll stations on the roads.
• Customs sometimes just doesn´t exist!
• Air conditioning is just wonderful.
• Today´s taxi driver was absolutely insane-o. Had his hand on the horn almost the whole way from the bus station to the hostel. We thought we were going to die several times, and he nearly caused multiple accidents.
• A thin sheet of paper is NOT a napkin.
• Was that chicken on our pizza or catfood?
• Why do insects keep landing in Ryan´s drink?
• Lots of people sell flowers here, and they´re pretty darn fresh.

Day Sixteen -  Rosario

Sightseeing day today. It was pouring with rain, which was a nice change from blazing sunshine.

First we went to visit the Monumento Nacional a la Bandera, which is a huge monument to the Argentine flag, which was designed in Rosario. It’s a very impressive monument! Couldn’t go up the tower because of the rain.

Walked along the river and got attacked by giant mosquitos. Saw the modern art musuem.

We were dying for vegetables after eating so much meat, so we asked a guy that worked at our hostel where we should go for dinner and he suggested a Chinese restaurant nearby. It was sooo good – just what we needed. And it was so cheap – about NZ$12 for two big meals plus drinks.

Observations…

• Don´t go near the river. The mosquitos will get you.
• McDonald´s staff here are dressed in full denim – hat, shirt, pants. Nice.
• No one will let us into their shops with our small backpack. Do we look like shoplifters?

Day Seventeen -  Rosario to Posadas

Checked out of our hostel, then headed off to see the Circulo Theatre. We missed the only tour of the day by half an hour! It’s a huge majestic looking theatre. Pretty disappointed we didn’t get to go in. Went down to the Comedia theatre, but that wasn’t open either.

Had a nice lunch at a pub/restaurant. Went back to the monument for the flag, and since it was a fine day, we were able to go up the tower. Great view of the city from the top.

Headed to the bus station to catch our bus to Posadas. It was an overnight bus and took 15 hours. We were served a snack and dinner and watched a couple of movies. We had seats up the top (double-decker bus) at the very front. Before it got dark we had a great view. Really interesting to see all the villages. On the outskirts of the cities, there are hundreds of makeshift shacks. Lots of kids and dogs running around.

During the night on the bus, people were getting on and off at stops, and some really noisy guys got on and woke everyone up. After a while, Ryan said, “Chicos, shhh!” That told them!

Observations…

• Why does there need to be three men in the toilets to sell toilet paper?
• Novus would have a heart attack at the state of some windscreens here.
• Ryan was quite offended when someone told him he didn´t have a NZ accent.

Day Eighteen -  Posadas

The bus arrived at Posadas at 8am. We bought our tickets for the next day, then headed into town. Checked into our hotel. Yes, hotel. Couldn’t find a decent hostel there, so decided to splash out. Quite nice.

We walked through the town, which was cometely dead. Decided it must be because it’s Sunday. Walked along the waterfront, where a huge stage and tents were being set up for some kind of tourism event.

We went back there in the evening,and it was buzzing – people everywhere! We hung out down there for a few hours and checked out the tents and the bands playing. Watched a pretty impressive fireworks display.

Observations…

• Our clothes are smaller than when we took them to the laundromat.
• Sundays are really “everything is shut and no one goes out of their home” days.
• The supermarkets smell awful.

Day Nineteen  – Posadas to Puerto Iguazu

Caught our bus to Puerto Iguazu first thing. We sat in the very front up the top again, so had great views again.

Our hostel was very conveniently just across the road from the bus station. It’s a really nice hostel – very bamboo safari. We did some trip rearranging here and decided to stay longer in Puerto Iguazu and go to Sāo Paulo from here, so we booked our tickets to Sāo Paulo. It will be another long trip, but it will be coche cama, which is basically a bus full of la-z-boy armchairs!

We also sorted out what we were going to do at the falls the next day.

After a light dinner near our hostel, we had an early night. Really really hot in Puerto Iguazu – very tropical.

Observations…

• The dirt here is very red.
• Siestas are for a reason. Everything shuts between 1pm and 5pm here.
• Food here is either very salty or very sweet.

Day Twenty  – Iguazu Falls

Headed off to the falls, known as Cataratas here, bright and early. It was already very very hot and the day had only just begun!

After paying our entry fee, we visited the largest falls first, called Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat. It was so impressive. Amazing! Got a bit wet from the spray, but considering the temperature, we didn’t mind at all!

Next we walked around the upper circuit, which takes you past lots of very impressive falls.

Next we walked the lower circuit. At one of the viewing platforms, you get completely soaked. Next was the boat trip. We went on a jetboat that takes you right under the falls. It goes very fast and you get absolutely saturated. It was awesome!

If you ever visit South America, you have got to visit Iguazu. Definitely a trip highlight.

Observations…

• We drank 3.5L of water today.
• 32 degrees here.
• Took 300 photos. Later culled to 200.

Day Twenty One – Iguazu Falls

We headed back to the falls again today. Another very hot day! Went back to Diablo, and we almost had the platform to ourselves – it had been packed the day before.

We wandered through the walks and saw some great wildlife – lizards, colourful birds, monster ants.

Bought a few souvenirs, then headed back to the hostel in the late afternoon. Nice to spend some time in an air-conditioned room!

We went to a restaurant down the road for dinner. There’s a guy that stands outside and shouts the specials at potential customers. To be honest, I think he scares away more people than he attracts! We had very interesting rockmelon juice with our dinner.

Observations…

• It was 32 degrees and people still carry around their thermos.
• Guys, that was hand sanitiser, not insect repellant. Your body is now very clean.
• We have never had cold showers so regularly.

Day Twenty Two – Puerto Iguazu

We were a bit exhausted after all the sun and walking in the last couple of days, so it was a rest day for our last day in Iguazu. We wandered through the town, did some shopping, caught up on the travel blog, did some reading and sitting by the pool. Very relaxing!

Big bus trip tomorrow to Sāo Paulo.

Day Eight – Buenos Aires

Today was our first sightseeing day in Buenos Aires. We headed out in the morning and walked down Av de Florida, which is the main shopping street. So many shops and so many people! We visited Galeria Pacifica, which is a big fancy shopping mall with a really ornate roof with classic paintings. So beautiful, but kind of weird that it´s a mall!

Walked down to Av 9 de Julio, which is a 16-lane road. Pretty crazy! We walked down to the Obelisco,which is a really big tall monument to commemmorate the founding of the city.

We went to Plaza Dorrego for a fancy dinner. The restaurant had a tango show. It was very dramatic. After the dancers had finished, they collected tips from the diners. We´re getting very good at handing out tips! We also learnt that if you give nearly the right amount of money when you pay the dinner bill, you don´t get change. Apparently it´s a tip…

Observations…

• Saw the first Mac for the trip today. There´s hope for the future.
• Why is the toilet water level so high?

Day Nine – Buenos Aires

Today was another big sightseeing day in BA. Caught the subway to Plaza de Mayo first thing and visited the historical buildings there – Museo de Cabildo, an 18th C building; Catedral Metropolitana, which has the tomb of liberator Jose de San Martin; Casa Rosada, the pink presidential palace (pink? yes!). It was weird to see the tomb at the cathedral and think that there was a 150-year-old body inside there!

We walked down to Puerto Madero, which is an up and coming area on the wharf. Saw an old navy ship there.

Back on the subway. This time to Palermo, which is an upmarket leafy suburb just out of the central BA area. We went to the zoo – Jardin Zoologico. Saw lots of animals we hadn´t seen before – bears, a condor, antelopes. They all seemed pretty well cared for, but felt a bit sorry for the condor, which was in a smallish cage. We had lunch at the zoo, and Ryan waited for the food at the counter and said yes to all the lady´s questions because he didn´t know what she was saying – we ended up with heaps of different condiments!

Next we headed off to visit the apartment our friends Amanda and David are moving to in February. Really nice area, apartment looks good. Snapped some photos there. Then stopped off at Persicco, an ice-cream boutique, for a snack. This was a recommended stop from Amanda. Definitely worth it!

Since we were nearby, we headed to the Evita Peron musuem, which, unlike many musuems we´ve been in, has an English translation of all the text on the walls! Really interesting visit there.

Caught the subway back to San Telmo, where we were staying. It was peak hour, so the subway was packed. It´s pretty up close and personal in there! Stopped off and picked up the laundry we dropped off that morning at the laundromat – it was all clean, neatly pressed and folded, and it only cost $12 pesos, which is around NZ$4.50.

Observations…

• White lab coats are school uniforms here. What?
• How come hardly anyone speaks English, but all the music, movies and TV programmes are in English? Odd.
• Subways are great, but not so good at peak time.

Day Ten – Buenos Aires

Had a sleep in this morning after our busy day the day before! Took the subway to Recoleta, which is near Palermo. This was the first rainy day of our trip. Quite nice for a change!

Wandered through Recoleta Cemetary, then decided we were getting too wet, so headed out to find an umbrella and some lunch. Went to supermarket and bought some food for lunch. Recoleta is a very posh neighbourhood – lots of botoxed women and flashy men. All the shoppers were carrying Christian Dior and Mont Blanc bags. We looked a little scruffy eating our supermarket lunch on a park bench!

Back to Recoleta Cemetary for a proper look. Bought an umbrella from some guy on the street. There is always a guy on the street selling what you need!

The cemetary was  really interesting. It is full of big tombs with whole families inside. In some of them, there are 25+ bodies inside! And what´s really weird is that you can see the coffins through the windows of the tombs. They´re all just stacked up on shelves inside. The tombs go down below the ground and most are about 4-6m above the ground. We visited Evita´s tomb. Heaps of tourists there.

We went to our first Lonely Planet recommended restaurant – La Rotisseria. We had schnitzel. It was very cheap and tasted all right.

Observations…

• All the money machine gives us is $100 peso notes, but no one wants to accept them.
• They´re big on supermarket deliveries here.
• We´re learning to eat the stale bread which is given to you before every meal.
• Still lots of people doing jobs that don´t really need to be done.
• Shop owners here enjoy standing at the front door and scaring away potential customers.
• People know of the All Blacks here. Ryan tells them we always beat the Pumas.

Day Eleven – Buenos Aires

Wendy´s sinus infection returned today, so we took it pretty easy. Went back to Av de Florida and wandered through the shops. Things really quieten down on Sundays here. There were so many men on the street yelling out “Cambio, cambio”, which means “change, change”. Not sure why there are so many money change places around. Wouldn´t most travellers just use ATMs?

Headed back to hostel and then down to Plaza Dorrego to check out the famous antiques fair that happens down there on Sundays. We thought it would just be a little fair in the plaza area, but turns it out the plaza area has the little antiques fair and then a handcraft market spills out from there that is literally a couple of kilometres long. Bought a bunch of souvenirs. There were heaps of street performers, which were great to watch – experimental orchestras, dancers, solo musicians, theatre perf0rmers, mimes.

Had our first exprimida de naranja – freshy squeezed orange juice. There are people on every street corner with a manual juicer and a big bucket of oranges. For $5 pesos (NZ$2), you get a cup of juice. Tastes so good! After walking through the fair for miles, we were starving, so bought these huge empanadas – bread turnovers filled with tomato and cheese. We bought them from a bakery man riding a bike with a huge basket of empanadas on the front.

Observations…

• Sugar cereal for breakfast and caramel to spread on your toast? No thanks.
• Cash, cash, cash. No Eftpos.
• The ants here are huge.
• We got waited on in McDonalds. What?!

Day Twelve – Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay

We caught the ferry from BA to Colonia today. After we checked in, we headed through immigration, which was a man and a lady in a little booth. The man stamped us out of Argentina and the lady stamped us into Uruguay. Very efficient!

When we arrived in Colonia, customs again was almost non-existent. Walked from the ferry terminal to our hostel. Really nice room there – quite cosy. Much nicer than the rooms we have had. Had a walk through the town centre – very quaint, and everyone rides motorbikes or scooters. Went out for pizza for dinner – weirdest pizza ever! Ryan loved it; Wendy hated it. It was covered in thousand-island sauce and had palm hearts, green olives and mozzarella on it.

After dinner we went down to the beach and had ice cream while we watched the sun set. When we got back to the hostel, we saw a little sign that said “Uruguay is an hour ahead of Argentina”. Glad we found that out sooner rather than later!

Observations…

• Motorbikes, minivans, mini trucks and 4wd bikes galore.
• Inflatable toilet seat. But, hey, it works.
• Pedestrian crossings work in Colonia (unlike in Argentina!)
• First caravan sighting.

Day Thirteen – Colonia, Uruguay

We started the day with a walking tour of the barrio historico in Colonia, which is the main attraction. The Portuguese built there in the late 18th C. Lots of little brick houses and cobbled streets.

Walked down to the shopping mall. It´s nothing compared to Albany Westfield, but I guess it´s pretty fancy for a small seaside town in Uruguay!

Headed out for an early dinner and came across a big police parade. Not exactly sure what they were all doing, but it looked impressive! We went to La Drugstore for dinner and ate in a vintage car on the road. Very quirky! Lots of people laughed when they walked past us! We paid for dinner with our US dollars, which are very widely accepted in Colonia. You can pay with US dollars, Argentine pesos or Uruguayan pesos.

Observations…

• People queue up at the banks. Like, 80 people were queued there.
• People don´t like giving you change here.
• Most things you buy are made in the country you´re in.
• We had a cutlery charge for dinner. What?!

Day Fourteen – Colonia, Uruguay

A very hot day in Colonia today. We headed down to Thrifty rentals and hired two bicycles for the day. The bikes were a bit rickety, but not too bad. No helmets – no one wears helmets in Colonia!

We biked out along the coast to Plaze de Torres, which is an old bullring. It´s pretty huge!

Biked back along the coast and stopped at a restaurant for lunch – we were the only people there.

On our bike ride back through town, we passed the lighthouse we had seen the day before, and this time it was open, so we went up and saw the great view from the top.

We had a barbecue at our hostel for dinner. Huge slabs of meat, chorizos and salads. Met a few other travellers from the hostel – notably an Austrian guy who seemed to be travelling aimlessly for eight months and all we´d seen him do was watch sports on TV at the hostel!

Observations…

• They watch soccer 24-7.
• There are so many bugs in Colonia.
• There doesn´t seem to be any road rules. Hey, suits us… on our bikes!
• Police here look very friendly, but can´t say we´ve made conversation…

Welcome to our travel blog. This is post one, and we´ve just finished the first leg of our trip. Enjoy!

Day One – flight from Auckland to Santiago, Chile.

Flight was long, and we watched movies and slept the whole way. Were pretty glad to arrive in Santiago! Going through customs was a bit of a joke – they hardly even looked at us. We could have had anything with us! As soon as we got out into the terminal, the taxi hecklers were after us and our money! One guy followed us right down the terminal. We bargained him down to a reasonable price (from 26,000 pesos to 16,000) and set off for our hostel.

We stayed at Bellavista Hostel in Barrio Bellavista. Hostel was really nice – clean, big room. After we had a bit of a rest, we headed out to expl0re. We had three aims for our walk – get our bearings, buy tissues and buy a plug adaptor – our SA adaptor apparently doesn´t work in Chile. We got a bit lost and ended up walking for around 2.5 hours, but we got everything we needed. We walked through a huge political parade for a presidential candidate – Frei. Everyone was singing and dancing and waving flags (not us, though!).

Went out for a late dinner at a place near our hostel. Had this huge platter of assorted meats. Quite good, but way too much to eat!

Observations…

• PDAs galore
• Lots of men in uniform doing nothing
• Tons of farmacais (pharmacies)
• A gazillion stray dogs
• It´s dirty
• Nobody seems all that happy
• Traffic lights and traffic police directing the traffic – overkill?
• Parking wardens are insane and seem to work 24-7

Day Two – Santiago

Had a great breakfast at our hostel – buns and fruit and cereal. (We later learnt this was the best breakfast we´ll probably get in SA). We headed to Parque Metropolitanas de Chile, which is a huge park complex just down from our hostel. It´s got a zoo, gardens, a big hill and some statues. We took a cable car (or teleferiko) up to the top of the hill, San Cristobal, where there´s a big religious statue and an ampitheatre. It was really hot up there. Took lots of photos of the city – great view.

After a break back at the hostel, we headed out for a sightseeing afternoon. Walked to Plaza de Armas to see all the historical buildings there – presidential buildings, huge church with paintings inside. Went to Palacia de la Moneda, which is a huge govt building, where I think the President lives (at least, that´s what Lonely Planet says). As with everywhere in Chile, there were heaps of police outside looking very serious!

We were pretty tired from walking, so decided to try out the subway. Was actually remarkably easy to navigate and buy a ticket. Got off just near our hostel, then stopped off for some frozen yoghurt (which was a nightmare to order in our mix of Espanol and English!) After a quick break, we headed to Teatro de Universidad to see the Symphony Orchestra of Chile play.

Stopped off for crepes at Patio Bellavista on our way home – not very Chilean, but nevermind!

Observations…

• Everyone wears pants and heavy shoes. We look odd in jandals and shorts, but maybe it´s just Ryan´s skinny ankles!
• We were happy to find a NZ $5 note in a gift shop.
• Apart from the two cellphone companies, there is no advertising in Chile.
• Everything – grass, trees, streets – gets watered constantly.
• Everyone wants your money.
• Don´t take a photo of a police armoured vehicle/tank – they will point the big gun on top at you and will say something in Spanish that you don´t understand.

Day Three – Santiago to Valparaiso

Checked out of hostel, then took the subway to the bus station. It took some gesturing, nodding and pointing, but we managed to purchase our bus tickets to Valparaiso. We didn´t know which bus bay to go to, so we wandered around and asked some bus drivers, but they kept sending us completely wrong! Eventually we found the right bay, but the bus had left! Argh! A nice security man sorted out our tickets so we could catch the next bus. Phew!

When we got to Valparaiso, things got even more confusing – we had to buy our tickets to Mendoza, Argentina and back, but no one spoke English, and there weren´t any buses going to Mendoza on Sunday. Eventually we worked out we could go back to Santiago and then to Mendoza on the day we wanted. Confusing, but finally worked it out!

Got to our hostel – Hostel Girasoles – which was more like a bed and breakfast. The guy who runs it used to live in Auckland. He gave us some good ideas of places we should see in Valpo. We walked around the neighbourhood where we were staying – lots of crazy dirt roads and brightly painted old buildings. Valparaiso is a port town, and there´s definitely a real harbour trade feel to it. Then we caught a bus to Vina del Mar, the next town over. The bus got to Vina del Mar, then seemed to head in completely the wrong direction, so after an indecisive few minutes, we got off – about 5km from where we wanted to be! Long walk back to the beach. Wandered along the beach boulevard – lots of stalls, confectionary sellers and heaps of people sunbathing on the beach. No restaurants along the beach, which is unusual.

Back to Valpo. Walked through the town, then back to the hostel. Went out for dinner and had chorillana, which is basically french fries with egg and onion on top and steak pieces, bacon and sausage on top of that. It´s a real specialty in Valparaiso, apparently! Surprisingly tasty.

Observations…

• You can get sunburnt in Chile.
• Chilean people don´t really like you.
• There are many many many soccer fields in Chile.
• Subways are better than buses.
• Crazy men walk onto the buses while stopped at lights or bus stops and try to sell food and ice cream and then jump off while moving. They also walk up and down in traffic on busy roads.
• You can buy big, yum meals for very cheap prices.

Day Four – Valparaiso to Santiago to Mendoza

A bus day today. Left the hostel and walked to the bus terminal, where we caught our bus back to Santiago. Stopped at a supermarket on the way to buy some food for the bus trip – peanuts and dry bread rolls. Apparently spreads aren´t big in Chile.

Got to Santiago and found our bus bay for our trip to Mendoza. Realised that if announcements were made about our bus, we would have no idea, cos they´re all in Spanish! Checked we were in the right place by asking a bus man. We were quite early, so we bought some lunch – empanadas chicos, which are basically little deepfried cheese turnovers.

Our bus arrived and we lined up to get on. Our first international bus trip! Handed the driver our passports and got really confused when he asked for our visas. Turns out that flimsy piece of paper you get at the airport is actually a visa! Lucky we had them handy.

The bus trip through the Andes to Mendoza was spectacular – snow capped peaks, terrifyingly windy roads. It even snowed as we were driving through!

The border crossing was this huge formiddable building that the bus drives into. Had to stand in a line at a little booth, where a lady took our Chilean visas. Then we went to another booth, where we were issued our Argentina visas. Next a scary looking man looked in our backpacks. Pretty scary place. Not exactly a warm welcome into the country!

Arrived in Mendoza just before 9pm and set off to walk to our hostel. Realised after a few blocks that we really didn´t know where we were going, so caught a taxi from the bus station. Turns out he didn´t really know where he was going either, but we eventually got to our hostel!

Our hostel was really nice. As soon as we arrived, we were shown around. So nice to be there! We booked some activities for the next day. Since we were so close to the Andes, it was only appropriate we should do some adventure activities there! We booked a half day of horse riding and a half day of rafting.

Observations…

• Think Chilean police are scary? Wait for Argentina!
• You have to give “tips” to the border officials.
• So that´s what a visa is! Thanks, bus driver, for freaking us out!
• Finding other English speakers is nice, very nice.
• What´s with all the guns? World peace?
• Trust a good Kiwi boy to be in shorts, t-shirt and jandals at the top of the Andes while it´s snowing.

Day Five – Mendoza, Argentina

Our tour company picked us up and drove us for about an hour into the foothills of the Andes. We were dropped at a cafe to wait for the horses. Our guide and the horses turned up, and we set off for our trek. Great views, lovely ride, great guide.

Back to the cafe for lunch – hambourgesa and coke. Much cheaper than Chilean food.

Our next transfer to the rafting turned up, but there weren´t enough people to fill the boat, so we couldn´t go. Bit of a shame, but it was a Monday, so not exactly peak sightseeing day! Headed back to the hostel.

A guy from our hostel gave us a map and some really good directions. We headed off to walk through the town of Mendoza. Really nice town – wide, open boulevards and pedestrians. Stopped off for some helados (ice cream).

Back to the hostel for an authentic Argentinian asado (BBQ) and wine from Mendoza. Had huge steaks, chorizo, chicken, salads. Met heaps of other travellers there.

Observations…

• Drivers are not quite as horn-happy as Chile.
• No one seems to care about emergency vehicles. They drive at normal speed and stop at traffic lights with lights and sirens on.
• No road markings.
• Play dodgem with the cars. Go on…
• Too many people smoke, including children. Don´t they know it´s bad for you?
• Argentinian people are much nicer than Chilean.
• NZ plugs work here. Cool.
• People are obssessed with what sort of cars they have and with cleaning them.
• A cone or bottle on top of a car means it´s for sale. Weird.

Day Six – Mendoza to Santiago

Walked to the bus station. Didn’t know where to go (again!) so headed for the first Tur Bus (company our ticket was with) that we saw. Right one on the first try – there’s a first time for everything! This time we had our visas all ready, unlike a guy in front of us – betcha he didn’t realise just how important that flimsy piece of paper was either!

First half of bus trip was uneventful. Wendy got pretty sick. Looked up symptoms in Lonely Planet and decided it was altitude sickness. Pretty gross. Got to Los Libertadores, where the border crossing is. Had a three hour wait to get through. That did not help the altitude sickness.

Finally got to Santiago around 7pm. Caught subway to centro. Was absolutely jam packed. Ew. Checked in at Bellavista Hostel. Got an even nicer room this time. Went for a walk and bought some souvenirs. Then had dinner at a very bright green Mexican restaurant. Back to hostel after an early night!

Observations…

• Bus drivers pass like drunks on a police chase, but it works.
• The Andes gets better each time.
• The Andes has cellphone reception all the way. That´s impressive.
• Things dry so quickly here.
• 1st December and wow, it´s Christmas time – decorations and music everywhere!
• Feliz Navidad – every time we say it, we want to break into song.

Day Seven – Santiago to Buenos Aires

Headed straight to Santiago International Airport after breakfast. After a bit of wandering around, we found the LAN check-in counter. Went through security and into the international departures area. Very nice. We´ve got a nine-hour wait here on our way home, so glad to see we won´t starve and there are plenty of shops to look at.

A nice old lady from Buenos Aires told us a few places we should visit and gave us a few travel tips – maybe we looked like we needed them!

Boarded our flight. Had crap seats in the middle, so no views of the Andes as we flew over. Flight was around an hour. Had to wait for an hour in a line to get through immigration. On the flipside, we walked straight through customs and they didn´t even scan our bags – um, hello, we could bring anything through!

Got a taxi to our hostel in San Telmo. You prepay for your taxi at the airport, and then you wait for the next free taxi. Pretty good service.

Nice hostel, pretty good location. Went for a walk to explore after we settled in at the hostel. Walked through a massive protest on the main avenue of the central city. People had tents set up, and they were all waving huge banners, banging drums and shouting. There were riot police surrounding it all. We asked at our hostel when we got back, and apparently that happens all the time!

We walked along Av de Mayo, which is one of the main streets, but there wasn´t much happening, aside from the protest, of course. We saw Plaza de Mayo, where there are some historical buildings. We´ll be going back there in the daytime to see them properly later on.

Observations…

• Cool luggage-wrapping machines at airport.
• The car horns are back.
• The pedestrian crossings mean find a gap and run!
• I though we learnt the lesson of walking aimlessly around town – sore feet and no real idea of where we are!

So, that´s the end of leg one of our trip. We´ve travelled from Chile to Argentina (twice!), and now we´re slowing down a little in Buenos Aires before travelling north to Brazil. Stay tuned for our next blog!

Ryano and Wendo (these aren´t authentic, but we though we´d change our names so we blend in a little more!)