Backpacking

After three great days in Salta and with our new friends, Neils and Amber (dutch couple) in tow we headed for Bolivia. We caught a bus to the border town of `La Quiaca´, and entered Bolivia on foot with no hassle. The Bolivian border town of ´Villazon´ was, hmmmmmm, not a great introduction. Within a couple of hours we were heading for Tupiza, on a journey which should have lasted 3hrs!!! But we forgot that were in bolivia! The bus was better than we had expected (would not have looked out of place in the film ´Mad Max´) but what we were not prepared for was the so called roads, or lack of, and the fact the driver seemed to forget he was driving a bus and not a rally car! But hey we could have arrived early! Doh! After picking up what seemed half of Bolivia and cargo our bus continued on its journey... for about 2meteres! Surprisingly we had blown a tyre, so they changed if for a one of the five bald and cracked spares on the roof! Our ride now became a free trip to Alton Towers. Wicked!

We all arrived in Tupiza in one piece. Collected our rucksacks and the kilo of dust collected on route and checked into Hotel Mitru, that had warm showers and a pool. It was going to cost us the grand total of 7pounds a night for the both of us. Tupiza was a beautifull town surrounded by mountains (3600m above sea level) and friendly locals selling all sorts on the streets. Would have loved to stay here for days but a 4 day jeep adventure to the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) were calling.

After a couple of days in iguazu we headed for Salta, north west Argentina. Due to a faulty air con system on the bus we spent 2 hours of the jouney to salta in a bus garage. During this time we met a Dutch couple and two English lads.

Salta was a nice change from Iguazu, friendly people, beautifull churches and parks, and most of all we all found a clean comfy hostel, Hostal La Linda (meaning pretty). That night the owners took us to an amazing local steak house (and there was us thinking the steak we had in BA was big!!). The meal and wine cost us less than a ´super size bigmac meal´ in the UK. Rob loves Argentina!

We decided to get off our fat lazy bottoms and work off some of that beer and steak. All 6 of us rented bikes and headed for ´the best mountin bike ride in South America´.

We were told not to forget our suncream and a hat, not one word was said about taking a jumper! Following an early rise at 6am and a rather long bumpy ride in a dodgy bus we arrived at the top of the mountain range in the clouds (over 3400m above sea level). We now realised that our suncream and hat was not needed and our shorts and tshirts were extremely inadequate! With visibility of 3 meters and temperatures at zero we headed as fast a possible down the mountain range.

This was our first experience of the effects of altitude and lack of oxygen! The ride was mostly downhill but even the slightest of uphills would see us out of breath (ok so it could be down to all the steaks and being unfit, but we prefer to blame the altitude!) A couple of hours later and after a number of moans and frozen toilet stops we reached below the cloud level.

The temperature rose and at last we could appreciate the amazing scenery and begin to understand why this ride was rated so highly. Around every bend there was picture, with amazing mountain ranges and colours! The ride should have taken 6-7hrs, but after a half hour stop for a puncture on one of the english lad bikes, disaster struck my bike(rob). After some riding in a stream the inner tube and tyre went pop!!! We tried a bodge repair but the tyre was knackered, so the rest of the ride was done very slowly. We got back to Salta late that night after an incident filled amazing bike ride! Beer all around.

Only a few days spent in BA and we wanted to get out of the big city and see some senerey so we headed for iguazu fasll. Well following an 18hr luxurious coach ride with complimentary blankets, pillows, food and even champagne we arrived in Iguazu falls.....and so did the rain!

We booked into a hostal and checked out the town which took all of 3 minutes! The town itself was not that pleasant but we were here to see the falls. The next day we were up early and took a bus to falls. We paid over twice the price as the argentinians but still it was definalty worth the total of 6 pounds! The park was huge with many walking and trekking routes to see all the the falls. We headed straight for the most spectacular fall, ´Devils Throat´! We can not explain the feeling we had when walking to the falls and hearing the thundering crashing of the water and not being able to see it - goose pimples doesn´t even get close.

Eventually we arrived at the edge of the falls, AWESOME! The sheer size and power was overwhelming. For the rest of the day we walked over the many bridges, through dense forest and explored all the fals the argentinian side offered.

Ok its been a while, so we are writing this in Bolivia!

On our second day in Beunos Aires, we strolled around the city and checked out the japanese garden!! At last we had some sunshine! We looked around their Palemo Soho district which was just like Soho in the London, amazing shops and local markets. I (Emily) bought some sunglasses (well i resisted for so long to not buy anything and eventually I caved in), everything is so cheap here!

That night we checked out one of the famous steak restaurants and oh my god what a steak! This was proably the most expensie dinner we had but i was worth every penny.

BA is a very european city. Many friendly faces,loads of travellers and SO CHEAP! We will be definately coming back if only to take advantage of the shopping.

The following day, under strict instructions from my brother, we managed to get tickets to go see La Boca juniors play! What an experience! After a pizza and beer with the rest of the group we headed for the match with the masses of supports in their blues and yellow shirts. It was a huge event. The stadium a massive concrete block, not sure safety crossed their minds when building the stadium!

The match was fantastic, a little intimidating at times but i think they have the best football chants ever, there were no supporters for the other team (hmmmm not surprised), and best of all they won 2-1!! Liverpool and Man U would stand no chance!!

We arrived in Beunos Aires at 10.00am yesterday after a 17hr trip! The hostel we had booked had arranged a taxi to pick us up from the airport, and true to their word a chap was waiting - not best happy! After his quick rant in Spanish about our late arrival (we think!) it dawned on us that we really should have learnt some of the language!! Perfect start.
So we arrived at the hostel ready for a nice hot shower. I(Rob) thought I would book somewhere nice for the first few nights of our journey!! Ah well I did try (thankgod we can giggle through most situations)! Its very basic, and has walls as thin as paper but on the plus the people here are very friendly and helpfull. We thought we would repay their kindness by flooding our room and their entire hostel while we enjoyed the long awaited hot shower. Little tip! - don´t put the slip mat over the drain and then complain that the drain is blocked. Once again, a perfect start!
That afternoon we spent wandering the streets of BA, dodging the dog poop, and soaking up the ....... rain!
:-)