ARGENTINA: Córdoba>A.Gracia>Mendoza>Puerto Iguazú

  Puerto Iguazú, Argentina
Thursday, August 31, 2006

 Hey, ;-(

*sighs* It pains me and relieves me simultaenously to be sitting here writing this last entry...and thus doing so in a somewhat half-hearted fashion....

Show must go on - Picking up from my prolonged bus ride to Cordoba, Argentina's second largest city, the gallavanting so continues:

16th: The city - situated on bank of river Suquia and at the foot of the Sierra Chica, it is simply labelled the "Scholar" due to its dense student population & renowned faculties/campus....Also very Catholic, there are like 20 churches in downtown area alone with very animated and spectacular Holy Week celebs...Its' array of green Plazas, pedestrian streets and strips of impressive colonial architecture gives it a highly cultural feel in addition to the religious and scholarly aspects.

Very different feeling when compared with Buenos Aires it goes unsaid. Ok....surfacing just in time for another of those lovely checkout deadlines, I demanded to be taken to any international hostel in the city centre....
From there I began my crammed expedition around the inner Cordoba area, just like I had done in Rosario a day ago ish....Instead of boring yous with long lists agaaaaain, the most impressive places I visited that day included the Calle Obispo Trejos... This semi pedestrain narrow street running for several blocks had the fineset and most dense cof colonial buildings on offer that I have ever seen in a city.. From the church of Compania de Jesus to colleges and highly esteemed national university to banks, jurisdicial/admin buildings and what not... all closeby and radiant...each deserved a photo individually for their detail, colours and dominance. Shame there was a rather HIGH level of beggars and tramps lingering around amongst the more wealthy, smart and kinda snobby cosmo dwellers roaming.

Then obviously the omnipresent churches.. though shut for cleaning (noteworthy process in itself), 3 particularly stood out from the outside alone - the cathedral, the Santa Catalina Convent and the aforementioned Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus.. The third I managed to get into during a mass which I found rather therapeutic for a while... after all, why not be present in one in the epicentre of the country's Catholicism.

In the aftee, after assuring my imminent departure the following day, I headed for some more recommended cultural delights.... in the great outdoors.... the weather was sunny with strong sun, so the perfect conditions to explore the phenomenal Parque Sarmiento on the downtown outskirts.... I thought I would venture away from the Lonely Planet's "beaten gringo track" and confide in local sources and advice re: what to fit in to my unjust time parametres like....my was I by no means disappointed in spending some 5hours walking and walking.... the Park, though bisected with avenues linking the centre and suburbs in the outer limits, was very tranquil with huge flat open spaces containing a theme park, a normal park, a lake with boats and swans in it, a stage for conerts in open air, picnic spots and so forth....... casually passing by were a handful of fit student joggers, cyclists (on own path circuit) and pedestrians all away from the bustle of the microcentro. So, took great delight in just weaving in an out of all the above and finding own way through the neverending stretches.....

eventually I landed up right where I wanted to be : City of the Arts.... a huge enclosed mini campus complex in itself, this area is dedicated to promoting and exposing the Fine Arts and more to the students, general public and the tourist alike.. The site consists of several spaced out high tech pastel-coloured buildings, each of which dedicated to an art eg foto, modern art, music, temporary gallery, auditorium for shows, ceramics & pottery.... then in the midst of all this are artists and musicians casually doing their own thing in the open air.... Normally there are constant shows or exhibits running in the average day all year round but I couldnt hang around too long there so satisfied self by nosing around.. all is free by the way..... For a somewhat non artistic person I could certainly appreciate the surroundings and commend the special nature of the place as a whole.....

Next up was a spring clean of the main university campus after getting temporarily disorientated in the end..... could see myself studying in that uni for sure. passed the modern lingo building on way - far nicer and grander than Exeter's for eg lol... behind the park in the south, the Uni is flat, green and spreadout with a diversity of faculties attrating all types of student. went on for ages but come dusk, thought best to turn back.... saw the campus facilities also. Last on the agenda was the La Canada area.....here one can find the restaurants, shops, bars etc in a long strip either side of the avenue.... at the upper end in the North (a good hour walk from campus), the river suqui begins to split the avenue in the middle... nothing pretty or well maintained but nonetheless still nice..... ermmm and finished up in the Plaza de la Independencia and saw the courts which were well illuminated and complemented by fountains....

Some 9 hours after initially commencing, I could finally chill...staff in the hostel were very sociable and NON business orientated...no, instead the camp owner would quiz me relating to random themes and often mentioned Arentines and sex etc... offered to take us out to a resto and then tango show that eve but ended up being full of course.. went out solo to a nice Italian in the Canada area and enjoyed pasta for reasonable price. Had to choose what I wanted to dedicate my 2nd and final day in Cordoba to so settled for an independent venture out to a town in the province.... was knackered and sore understandably so after sipping some of the local tea by pipe and nattering, I turned in buzzing.

17th: slow start to the day with a mini lie in..... eventually got away from the friednyl but chatter box owner and boared a mini bus to Alta Gracia, 35k south west of Cordoba...... idea was that could see a bit of the scenery beyond the metropolis and get to know another cultural and historical town in the province...... Alta Gracia, a medium sized town was the home to several figureheads: firstly I visited the Manuel De Falla house-museum. This gent was Spanish-born and resided in Cadiz then in the Arabic quarter of Granada (where I lived/studied for year 2003-4)....hadnt touched on him in uni studies but nevertheless recognised hs significance.. was a famous composer and writer known internationally and friends with Garcia Lorca (poet) etc. very talented indeed. His former house at Villa Los Espinillos has been converted into a museum in his honour. very good.

Second came a second hugely popular man - Ernesto "Che" Guevara, whose birthplace I passed by and name I mentioned in Rosario. After his birth the family moved here next before his stidues in Buenos Aires and travels abroad /political campaigns... the museum was even better here.... very authentic and comprehensive in chronological events..... outlined this revolutionary's background, childhood, uni days, travels through the Americas,

....doctor days, then affiliation with Fidel Castro of Cuba in the Revoltion for Independence. Indeed, he verbally cites Castro as his most dear companion as they closely worked side by side in the struggle! many different things on display....... all round brilliant and touching. Come lunchtime I was starven so settled for next door's pertinent Cuban speciality cuisine. Tastay.

Spent the rest of the daytime wondering the streets and central plaza. The place seemed to be home to the social elite with nice white mini villa type housing further out.. 3rd cool thing I saw was the Estancia Jesuitica..From 1643 - 1762 jesuit father built the Merced church and generations resided in the adjacent quarters before Viceroys and the like inherited it.... Far from the social centre it origially was, it's more of a summer retreat. Throughly enjoyed the outing but again a littel short-cut.. Wanted to check out Villa General Belgrano for it's swiss-german feel in terms of housig, unique chocoloate and beer fabrication.. oh well..

Was soon time to board another joyful bus Mendoza-bound........ So half an hour delayed, Andy boards his 10hr night bus ready to conk out........ come midnight, the bus comes to griding halt on road and though the driver and assistant never once verbally informed both decks of the bus what the situation was as if we were in differnt worlds, we realised we weren't going aaaaanywhere for a log while..... atfer some rioting and complaining, another bus from Cordoba arrives to transfer us over.... the an hour later, THAT bus packs up as well though NOT completely. just chugging etc...really unprofessional of a good company in Argentina to have done that but oh well. 2 defficient buses in a row.. embrassaring... again no passenger info relayed so several passengers call the line up on phone and complain and ask what hell going on........ they were not sure either haha.... but in end an hour later a mechanic seemed to fix the bus enough for aus to carry on....... sooooo for us dozen or so continuing right on to the final destination of Mendoza, central far western Arg, we had to settle fr a 5 or 6 hour delay grrrrrrrr........ the driver eventually offered for us to stop to have a complementary coffee and sarnie ebfore continuig on for the final 2 hours.... no food on board anyhow so were starving as well shattered and grumpy.. babies, old ladies the lot...

18th: arrived 7 hours later in Mendoza, 1 million populated city famous for 70% of nations' wine, nice women, and sun..... thus wasting half a day of my allocated 2 days! was not best pleased........again it was a case of deciding what should be priority to see...... ended up paying a taxi driver to whisk me round privately..........for couple of hours to the places not reachable on foot eg Parque San Martin. Some 500hectare big and set up on the Cerro Gloria, this huge park houses a rowing club and articifical lake, the purpose built footie stadium in which Argentina beat Holland in 1978 world cup final, a zoo, the empty stage set which hosts the famus annual Fiesta de la Vindemia festival (wine but also music), spectacular panoramic views of the city AND region from high up, and the epic monument venerating the hero San Martin and the Argentinian/Chielan and Peruvian-Bolivian Army whilst fighting tirelessly for independence. all shields and flags are etched in the stonework. nice...

That done by mid pm, I jumped out and discoverd the small ish city centre and its delights.... starting in the huge main square of Plaza de Independencia, I ventured out to the purpose built 4 squared at each cardinal compass point : Chile, Italia, San Martin & Espana... each different and pretty..... the public were out in force, reading, playing footie, walking dogs etc.... very nice weather too which didnt expect............. what remained was just the church and the Founding Square... opted against the museum but caught glimpse....

Night time had a nice mix grill bbq meal with virtually all the hostel's guests and staff...alll sat around big dining table as if the last supper haha... really good and cheap... called it a night at midnight despite temptation to go out with the locals and gringos... (mendoza has thriving nightlife all focused around 1 area)..... knew had to be up at 6 to go do a tour of the nearby Andes moutains.... had to eliminate wine tasting sesh and other nice pursuits in favour of that.

19th: headed for the mountains shortly after dawn in minibus with foreigners......this tour led us up through the road towards the Chilean border.....in between the snow-capped mountains and intermediate ghost-like small settlement towns......

Before heading off to the mountains and stop-offs, we arrived at the town of Uspallata, a cross roads village which served as a major location for Bradd Pitt's 7 Years in Tibet film.... got kitted out etc...Running along the road side beyond th town are the ski centres: one for beginners, 1 for the military and another major resort....... all accessible solely via the carriageway leading to Chile... cool.

Noteable stops made were at Puente del Inca - one of the country's most striking wonders: situated at 2270m above sea level, this is a natural stone bridge spanning the river Mendoza. Underneath it are stallic features and rock walls with iron, sulphor and copper minerals in different bright yellow and brown colours. ...warm sulphorous springs are found at the bottom.... 2 explanations re: its origin are geology - glacial movement and erosion and a legend realting to offerings made to Incas etc resulting in this feature... hmmm all funky.


A little further along we approached Parque Provincial Aconcagua...Practically hugging the Chilean border, it protects 71,000 hectares of wild high country surrounding the western hemisphere's highest summit, 6960m high Cerro Aconcagua....reaching the summit takes 13-15 days including time for acclimatization with permits mandatory... we only got a distant view of the mountain of course but still impressive. We lunched in a raised restaurant looking back on the highway we had travelled along with scenic views of both sides of the road....

On the route back, we made a couple of noteable stops, the best of which was the lake.... an artifically created multi-functional purpose reservoir which has well exceeded its funtional use time frameof 30years due to sediment deposit phenomena. When we got back to Mendoza city, I was zonked... again attempted to meet up with Nat Espana briefly before departure that night but plan foiled.... chilled back in hostel before embarking on my longest non-stop journey yet, a 35 hour trip virtualyl west>east Argentina to get to the Iguazu falls.....was kinda gutted I couldnt make it to Salta, northwest Arg as this is one of the main gringo stop-off points for its scenery and the train to the clouds ride...I had come close to this region in Chile's San Pedro de Atacama and I heard the train wasnt working so wasnt too disappointed....

anyhow, the bus ride: quality and comfort exceded my other 1st class ride from barioloche to Buenos Aires.... booked self a "bed service" and was waited on like a king.... NO breakdowns but one change of coach due to a window panel smash upstairs???? random.... no delays either really so all hunky dory. had all meals provided aboard and many cool subtitled films .....leather seats...great snacks.... puts Uk'a National Express to shame! it so didnt feel like a 35 hour journey with 2 nights.....also got to see loads of varying scenery along the 2,500,000 metre journey passing via major towns in northern argentina...went well fast and didnt feel too zombified on arrival in Puerto Iguazu.

20th: on bus whole day 21st: upon arrival in final Argentine destination, it was another case of race against the clock. No messing, checked into recommended lonely planet hostel internationl and set on my way... loved the feel of the small town.. clay earth, small non sign-posted streets in simple circulal network and greenery eevrywhere with locals going about their business casually...felt lazy but knew had to do the parque nacional de puerto iguazu justice. had been informed that the water level of the 200m or so high iguazu falls was near a record low due to the worst drought present in 20years..... had been told by fellow travellers but since was crossing the border and had to see this wonder, had no option really.... not as if the levels would rise over the next day or week or so even... this is winter or rainy season time anyhow and the weather is unbearable in their summer so counted my blessings for that.... When I got there, the heat was just right and there wasnt a cloud in sight... the park was easily naviageable with a train circuit connecting the main falls and walking paths... Only 1 main tour agency company ofering various activities so I mean I had an easy time there.

Thought i should do at least 1 activity other than walking round independently with the masses.... so i did a mini safari, flora/fauna tour with a speedboat ride along the Parana river.... obviuosly couldnt get close to the falls due to water levels (was informed was indeed possible a few days ago but even so)....... the safari was basic and aboard this huge truck.... tour guide hilarious and had us in fits of laughter at least.. boat ride was wicked due to power of boat and the angles he had us up in the air.. great opp for fotos along the shores of river with mini falls and beaches..also got longitudinal view of falls from distance.

Afterwards, followed these 2 Argentine people along the path to the main falls, Garganta del Diablo (Devil1s Throat)..... took the train to the path trail which took less than one hour both ways... at the end, we were literally several metres from the top of the falls and so had a close up view of the crushing water... took many 360o videos and fotos obviously. small rainbow kept on appearing and disappearing in the midst of the foam which was a cool bonus... could see the lack of water due to amount of rocks visible yet the volume of water as far as I was concerend was immense... actually appreciated the contrast of earth, rocks and water ratio rather than just water water water cascading like..... beautiful honestly... topped experience of niagara falls in Canada even though went with family on boat ride right close up...

After 6 hours spent in the park, made way abck to the town.. bumped into natasha, girl met from Uk in Pucon, Chilean lake district. she was ecstatic like and had just come up for a long weekend trip from B.Aires.. joined forces with her and went out to dinner in a local all you can eat grill buffet. .lovely jubly... the adrenaline had finally ceased and so I felt incredibly shattered so had to go to bed ....

22nd: with a 50% discount of park entrance, the pair of us had to return to finish the circuits and see the falls from many different angles and heights..... perfect day for it so brought picnic lunch.. got in around 9 and was not so busy so loved that... headed straight for the sendero superior of upper circuit...easy trail..... again 1 hr max long. went crazy with the snap taking mainly of pure scenery as humans spoil! the trail led us to many different secondary falls and thus diferent observatory points. neevr got bored once... kept on seeing these coati like animals..cross between racoon, squirel and ant eater.. they were NOT shy and came right up to us. tame.. got engrossed in them for whiel adn also butetrflies and lizards.. added bonus to see such quantitties of wildlife.....

After the upepr trail, we continued on to the lower or inferior trail.. longer adn more varied, this offered views from below - above instead of birds eyee or parallel.... steps led us up and down, and around.... saw the same falls eg adam, eve, bossetti adn 2 sisters from differetn angles and also, lagoons and pools..... at the end of the trail, we got the free boat crosing to the San Martin island from where we had a view of the river downstream and up plus the falss from a more panaoramic view.... at the summit fothe sile, we felt the spray of the falls and also this clearly defined rainbow bisecting teh flass halfway down. inc redible!!!! so tempting to swim or clif jump i tell ya.... chilled briefly on teh beach there and chomped at cold lunch....