El Calafate
15 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
Our day in El Calafate started with a quick breakfast at the hostel before we went to pick up the rental car at Hertz. After we got our little Fiat Cronos, we charged our phones for about an hour and then got on the road to the Glaciers National Park about an hour away.
The drive was smooth and simple, just the main road out of El Calafate and straight on to the park. I don't think we turned once! There were some mountains and glacier lakes along the way (which makes sense being in Glaciers National Park). We also stopped at a viewpoint once we had entered the park to get our first glimpse of the Perito Moreno Glacier.
We got parked and then got a short shuttle bus up to the start of the walkways. Once there we were pretty surprised by the layout. All of the paths were well marked, which was great! But they were also all metal grates and stairs above the actual ground. We were very confused, but also glad not to be doing proper hiking after the W trek in the wind and rain. We walked the red 'challenging' path to get a glimpse of the far side of the glacier and the glacier dam. The dam was interesting how the ice accumulates there and doesn't move because of water currents. The two different bodies of water where the glacier is were also very clear because one was very blue and the other was more of a brown color. They met in the middle of the glacier, and there was a natural line where they met.
We continued the walk slowly and joined up with the yellow path that had some nice viewing balconies of the glacier head on. We sat and had our lunch here and saw some small calving from the front of the glacier. After our sandwiches, we continued along the yellow path remarking on deep blue cracks in the ice and some warning messages about keeping your distance because ice can fly far when the glacier calves. We stopped at the final platform on the yellow path and saw the glacier calve a little bit. Allan then got his phone out just as a couple of huge chunks fell right off into the water. The ice did go very far! And the big pieces that fell off, broke into smaller ones after hitting the water. There was a ring of ice where the wave from the ice hitting the water.
The yellow path connected to the blue path that led down the coast and away from the glacier. Periodically, we turned back around for a glimpse of the glacier, but also enjoyed the view of the coastline, especially as the clouds began clearing up.
Back at the car, we ate some salad and then drove back to El Calafate. We made a quick pitstop at the Hertz because our tire pressure warning light came on, but they checked it out quickly and told us we were good to go. We stopped at Wolly Burger for a quick dinner on our way to pick up Angela at the bus station and get on our way to El Chaltén.
It was a nice drive, straight with no traffic most of the way. We saw some animals along the way too and arrived at El Chaltén just as the sun was going down. We dropped Angela off at her hostel and then drove back to the campsite to park up and spend our first night in the car. I not only had my first experience of sleeping in the car ahead of me, but also of using a squat toilet (a literal hole in the ground with an outhouse type structure around it...). Hopefully the next four days pass painlessly.Läs mer
El Chaltén Day 1
16 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We woke up after our first night in the car, and I actually managed to get some sleep! Hopefully that continues the next few nights. We unfortunately also woke up fo a surprise flat tire (despite speaking to the Hertz when the earning came on when we first started driving and then dismissing us). The morning was spent trying to get it sorted. The local gas station didn't have air, but pointed us in the direction of a mechanic because he said the tire needed replaced. We drove close to the mechanic and had a go at changing the tire ourselves. Allan did great! I read instructions and assisted, but he did all of the hardwork.
The weather wasn't the best today, so the mountains weren't very visible. We decided to not hike, and just get our bearings for the next few days. We stopped off at the Visitor's Center across the road from the campsite to check the weather, get a map, and scope out the trails we plan to do. Friday and Saturday look good weather wise. Tomorrow we will hike to Cerro Torre, which is pretty long so I'll probably only do half, and on Saturday when visibility is meant to improve even more, we will do the big Laguna de Los Tres (Cerro Fitzroy) hike. I'm hoping the wind dies down because holy 🐄 it is crazy windy here!
We then had a walk around town, and were continuously shocked by the prices here. It's more expensive than being back home! For dinner we found reasonably priced burgers, so we shared a burger and a couple empanadas. And then walked back to the car. Sadly the clouds were still covering the mountains so we didn't really get a decent view at all today.Läs mer
El Chaltén Day 2
17 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
Today we hiked Sendero Torre. This hike has a few different viewpoints and started from the middle of town which meant we didn't have to pay the extortionate $45,000 peso fee.
We left the campsite and walked through town. This was a pretty flat walk until the very end where we had a small steep hill to get to the start of the trail. We began the trail walking through a forest. The path was nice and flat with dirt and some random stones and roots. There was about 300m from the lowest point to the highest point on this first 4km section to Mirador Torre.
Once at the mirador, we took some pictures. Cerro Solo was clearly visible, but unfortunately not many of the other mountains were, including Cerro Torre. It almost looked like a valley of clouds with the very top of the mountain peaks popping through the clouds. Allan and I had a peanut butter and banana wrap. I then stayed at the mirador hoping the clouds would clear, and Allan continued along the trail to the lagoon closer to the peak.
After waiting a while, and the clouds still lingering, I decided to head back down. It was a nice walk back down over the rocks and through the forest. Not many people were around, and most were on their way up, so it was pretty peaceful. I did slip and fall once, but luckily it wasn't a bad fall.
Back at the car I did some trip admin and read a bit until Allan got back from his 20km+ walk. He said he didn't get a clear view of Cero Torre either, but did have some nice views of the lagoon and glacier nearby.
He took some time to chill out and then we went back into town for some dinner. We chose the same place as last night, decent food and portions and already knew the price. It saved us a lot of hassle and time. After dinner we walked back to the car and took some time to prep breakfast for the morning and get some clothes out and ready to save time. Tomorrow is an early start for the Laguna de Los Tres hike to get in before the park rangers man the entrance and charge $45 per person, and to get a good start because it's a very long hike.Läs mer
El Chaltén Day 3
18 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Our last big hike for a while was today. We woke up early, around 5am, and drove from the campsite to the parking lot for the Laguna de Los Tres hike. This hike is the most popular in El Chaltén and leads to the iconic Cerro Fitzroy.
We had some quick breakfast while we got dressed and packed a bag for hiking. We began hiking around 6am, skipping past the extortionate $45 per person ticket booth that wasn't manned yet ($90 for both of us to hike 20+ km, I think not).
The first few kilometers were a steady incline through a forest. There were a couple of clearing early on that looked out onto a river down below as well as El Chaltén to the right of the river. The path was relatively flat with some rockier parts, but nothing difficult. After about the third kilometer, the path split, one side going to a viewpoint of the mountain and another towards a lake. We opted for the viewpoint and decided to do the other route on our way back down. It was about another kilometer on the steady uphill to the viewpoint. There were a couple wispy clouds, but it looked like it was shaping up to be a clear and beautiful day (just like the forecast said).
Not long after the viewpoint, the trail flattened out for a good 6-7 kilometers. It was a nice break from previous hikes with constant ups and downs and clambering over rocks. We got to chill out a bit here and build up some energy for the difficult finale of the trail. We walked across a few streams, luckily with bridges (no repeats of the W trek...). We also walked through a campsite a few kilometres from the top of Cerro Fitzroy.
The last couple kilometers were very tough. Not only were they rocky, but also incredibly steep. Progress was slow, and at times, looking straight up at the zigzagging rocky ladder it felt like I was climbing, I became disheartened. I kept climbing and climbing, trying not to worry about the fact I'd have to try and get down too, and eventually, reached the top. Legs shaking, we walked the last small uphill to the area overlooking the mountains and the lake.
We stayed at the top for almost two hours. We had some snacks, took pictures, and Allan also went back down the hill to get closer to the lake. We stayed there long enough that all of the clouds cleared at one point and we had a pristine view of bright blue skies, Cerro Fitzroy, and the icy blue Laguna de Los Tres. While we sat relaxing and looking at the gray peaks in front of us, we saw some climbers making their way around the lake to the climbers camp tucked away on the other side at the base of Fitzroy. We also saw some people midway up climbing the glacier on their way to climb Fitzroy. Totally crazy!
Eventually, the time came to make our way back down. I was getting rather antsy about making our climb back down. As expected, it was not easy, but I was glad that we made the painstaking climb early in the morning when the sun wasn't super hot yet. Watching, and frequently stopping, to let people up was making our trip down very slow. But they looked hot and exhausted on the way up (I was too, but at least I wasn't dripping in sweat from the heat on the way up).
Finally, we were down and done with the toughest part of the hike. I was really looking forward to the flat chunk in the middle! We spoke the other route on the way back that brought us to Laguna Capri. There was a campsite nearby, but it also looked like people would hike the 4 kilometers here to go to the beach. The water was a nice crisp blue, different from the icy blue of the glacier lakes. It looked very refreshing, and we could still just see Fitzroy peaking out. We continued the trail through the forest enjoying the slight downhill propelling us forward. I was also fueled by the knowledge we wouldn't be hiking again for awhile. Allan was fueled by the promise of cookies we'd left in the car.
Once we made it back down, I was relieved and felt accomplished. The hike was the longest I'd done distance wise. We drove back to the campsite, chilled out for a couple hours, and then walked into town for some dinner. We stopped at Patagonicus and had some pasta and half a pizza. It did the job (and was a lot of carbs after the big hike). We also bought a Patagonia beer from the shop and enjoyed that back at the campsite while we watched our last sunset in Patagonia. Because the sky was still clear, we had a pretty good view of Fitzroy as the sun went down.
Not long after the sun has set, we got ready for bed. This is our fourth and final night of sleeping in the car at El Chaltén. It actually hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, but I certainly hope we don't make a habit of it!Läs mer
El Chaltén to El Calafate to Buenos Aire
19 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Today was a big travel day.
Allan got up for sunrise and hiked up to a nearby viewpoint. I watched from the car comfy in my sleeping bag 😁. Once Allan was back down from the viewpoint, we started getting ready to leave El Chaltén. As we were pulling away, Patagonia awarded us with perfectly blue skies and a brilliant view of the mountains (the clearest view we've had the entire time in El Chaltén).
With Patagonia in our rear view, we made our way back to El Calafate. We finished packing our bags and dropped the car off at Hertz. Twenty minutes of arguing over the dodgy tire we had to change later, we cut our losses and picked up some lunch at the grocery store across the street. We sat in. Nearby park and looked forward to how we were getting to the airport (Uber, our planned transportation wasn't working). Allan managed to book a transport bus, so we made our way to the tourist center across the street from the pickup point for a place to sit and wait.
Once we got picked up, we drove the same road we travelled this morning into El Calafate back out to the airport. It's surprisingly far out of town for such a small place! Our flight was delayed, so we made an insurance claim for the car while we waited for check in to open. It's a small airport with only seven gates, so it wasn't too busy. We also managed to get into the domestic lounge, so enjoyed some food and drinks while we waited. Unfortunately our flight got delayed again from 1800, then 2050, then 2230, and I was getting more and more annoyed. Allan poured a glass of wine to try and soften the blow. Things were made worse when our hostel messaged and said they wouldn't be open when we arrived. Then it was a scramble to find somewhere else to stay 😕.
Finally, the plane arrives at 2200 and we were all onboard around 2245. We slept most of the flight to Buenos Aires and woke up 3 hours later. We managed to get an Uber (lucky, that place was so busy!). Then it was time to get to the hostel, shower and head to bed 😴.Läs mer
Buenos Aires Day 1
20 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Our first day in Buenos Aires was spent exploring the historic center. Our first stop was the Palacio Barolo. This was a short walk from our hostel. When we arrived, we were greeted by people in white shirts, black trousers, and Italian hats. Once the four started in the main foyer, we were told that we'd entered Dante's 'Hell'. The Barolo Palace was designed by an Italian, Mario Pareti, and commissioned by an Italian, Luigi Barolo. The buildings decoration was inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. The first floor was Hell. It had some gargoyles, and colored tiles to suggest it was Hell. It was very grandiose with lots of decorations.
We then took the elevator up a few floors to Purgatory. Here there's fewer colors and the walls are a bit plainer. We also could see down a circular opening into the main foyer. This is to cast your sins into Hell before you continue moving up through the building. We got into the elevator again and went up to floor 14 where we got our and climbed the rest of the stairs up to floor 20. The staircase got much narrower the closer we got to the top. Once at the top, we'd reached Dante's Heaven. It was the plainest here with no color or decoration. We had great 360° views from a few different openings in the tower. We also got to continue going up an even narrower staircase to the lighthouse at the top of the tower. The lighthouse had the large light in the middle that gets lit at 10pm every day for 10 minutes. Our guide turned it on, and as if rotated we saw our reflections upside down. It was pretty cool!
On our way back down, we made a brief stop in the museum. We saw some old pictures of the Barolo Palace and some pictures of the architect and designer. We also saw some old copies of Dante's book. Sadly, Barolo died a short while before the building was complete, so he never saw the finished product. It was a nice building with lots of nods to Dante's Divine Comedy and the freemasons. The tower and outside of the building are impressive and the play on numbers throughout, such as the 20 floors for the 20 chapters and the address adding up to important freemason numbers, are also nice touches. It's clear that the architect was very detail oriented.
After the palace we made the short walk down the street to Plaza Moreno and the Congreso de la Nacion Argentina. It's a large building with columns and an old fountain in front of it. I also liked the contrast of the white building with the green copper dome at the top. While we walked around the plaza, we were surprised by all the people exercising, running, and dancing. There were also a lot of dogs and some kids playing soccer. It seems like a very active place.
We got some cheap dinner at Big Pizza before continuing our exploration around the historic center. We walked up to the Teatro Colon and Obelisco. The theater looks short compared to some bigger theatres we've come across, and the architecture is similar to the Congress building from earlier. The columns and marble are very greco. A unique feature was in the area around the theatre, there are chunks of cement missing replaced with thick glass. You can see directly down to the stage area. Because it's January, all the actors are on a break, so unfortunately no shows and nothing to see on the stage.
The obelisk didn't look that big from far away, but as we got closer, the big bricks were much bigger than I thought. The white stone had red lights shining on it and some words engraved on each side of the obelisk. We walked around the other side and took a picture with the obelisk and the letters B and A cut in hedges.
We walked back to the hostel via Avenida Corrientes. This street reminded me a bit of Times Square with all the flashing lights, big screens with ads for food and shows, and theatre names flashing. There were some beautiful buildings as well on this street. The street was bustling with people going out to eat and looking at shows. There were also some shops still open. Sometimes it still surprises me how late South Americans stay out and do things!Läs mer
Buenos Aires Day 2
21 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Our second day in Buenos Aires was also spent exploring more of the historic center. We started our day with coffee and dulce de leche churros at Buenos Aires' oldest cafe, Cafe Tortoni. It definitely has an old timey feel and was much bigger on the inside than I expected. The main dining area had wooden tables and some different chairs at each table. There was also a lot of dark wood panelling on the walls and at the large bar area. After we ordered, the waitress brought our coffee and churros accompanied with Cafe Tortoni napkins and little coffee cookies. The back of the cafe had some separate rooms. One of them was more tables with different antique tango show posters. A second one had velvet curtains that revealed a small room. Inside was a stage and some chairs. They must have intimate tango shows there.
After we left Cafe Tortoni we continued walking down the tree-lined street towards Casa Rosada and Plaza de Mayo. The Congress is at one end and Casa Rosada at the other. The plaza was bright and very white with all the stone. There were some palm trees and a variety of interesting buildings around the edges. Most notably, was Casa Rosada, the President's house. It was an old fortress now turned residency. It was very pink and had statues at the very top in the middle. The one on the back side of the house was pretty big too!
Next door to Casa Rosada is Banco Nacional de Argentina. This was an absolutely huge building that extended all the way down the block. We popped our heads in and saw the huge domed center and marble flooring. Much like other buildings in Buenos Aires, there was a heavy European influence on the design. Across the street behind the bank and Casa Rosada we saw the Centro Cultural Kichner. This was a former post office turned cultural center. It is also a large, impressive building with huge columns. It also has a balcony that looks towards Casa Rosada because apparently the person in charge of the post office was just as important as the president (interesting theory). Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't go inside. But we did go close enough to see a massive black stone sculpture to a woman out front.
We walked back across the plaza, past the bank and Casa Rosada towards the Catedral Metropolitana. The church is white and tan with marble columns. Marble also features heavily in altar decorations. The ceiling was lit up with warm yellow and pink lights, which I felt didn't show the ceiling nicely. The altars around the sides of the cathedral were very impressive as well as the dome in the center of the church.
After the cathedral, we walked out of the historic center towards Retiro. We stopped at Plaza San Martin. It is a long, rectangular plaza. It seems more like a park than plaza though, especially compared to the other two plazas we've seen thus far in Buenos Aires. Along the outsides of the plaza are many old mansions predominantly inspired by French architecture. We had a quick look at Palacio San Martin, but I think there was an event on so we couldn't go inside. We caught a glimpse of the tall inner courtyard and lovely stone details like crown molding.
We made our way back to the historic center to get some dinner before our night bus. Milanesas seem to be a popular Argentinian food, so we decided to share one. It was much bigger than we thought when it arrived, and it came with fries. It was pretty good, and like their version of schnitzel with a variety of topping choices. We then had to make our way to the bus station to catch the bus to Montevideo. We got an Uber and when we arrived at the bus station, we were a bit surprised by the size of it. There were hundreds of ticket offices. It took us a little while to find our bus company's office, but luckily we'd given ourselves enough time. Once on the bus, we were given blue trays and some hot ravioli for dinner. I was so confused! The bus waiter guy also came around with coke and water. It was like being on a plane! We'd eaten dinner right before we got the bus, so we weren't hungry though which was unfortunate. We did our best to eat it and then once it was cleared away we tried to get some sleep. It's not a long bus to Montevideo and border control is smack in the middle of the journey.Läs mer
Montevideo Day 1
22 januari 2025, Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
This morning we arrived in Montevideo after crossing the border around 1am. We got here a little bit early around 6 and had some time to kill in the terminal before we could go to a hostel. Luckily, that meant we had time to book said hostel after having no responses from Couchsurfers in Uruguay.
When we got to the hostel, we checked in and made some plans for Montevideo while we waited for our room to be ready. It definitely took longer than normal because I was so tired after a not great sleep on the bus (just far too short...we got the dinner when we got on, border control around 1, and then some coffee about an hour before we were due to arrive which he woke us up for around 5). However, plans for the next few days were successfully made. We quickly hit the grocery store for some breakfast and then our room was ready when we got back.
We had a much needed shower and nap. Then, around 6 we went out for a walk and to see sunset. Our first stop was Parque Rodo. This was a nice little park with lots of grassy areas, a pond in the middle, and some fountains. There were people laying in the grass, many dogs playing, and some people were even in paddle boats on the pond. We walked through the park and shortly came to the Rambla after coming across a random market full of little stalls. The Rambla is a strip of road/sidewalk along the coast. It's about 10km long and it was very busy with people walking, jogging, roller blading, and biking. It was also right next to the beach which was packed. And we couldn't help noticing all the people drinking maté, a tea-like drink with a special cup and straw. Ever since sharing maté with Gab and Gonza in Ushuaia, we've been seeing it everywhere!
The sun was pretty bearable due to the time of day and the lovely breeze being on the coast was refreshing in the heat. It was a great walk. We stopped after about half an hour at a quiet part of the beach and sat to watch the sunset with a beer. It was a cool one. The sun dipped behind a cloud, popped back out from under it, and then dipped below the horizon. It was also a bright red sun, pictures did not do it justice.
After the Rambla we walked past Punta Brava on our way to Montevideo Beer Company. We had half a pint each here; Allan had the stout and I had a pomelo IPA. They were both very good. The sun was down, but it was still really nice to sit outside to drink. We then moved further inland to La Temeraria, a vegan place that does vegan Uruguayan food. The menu was smaller than google suggested, so we were a bit disappointed. We shared a vegan milanesa with spiced potatoes. It was a good amount of food. After that, we walked back to the hostel and did some bits and bobs before bed.Läs mer
Montevideo Day 2
23 januari 2025, Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Our day started with a 40 minute walk through town past Plaza Independencia to Teatro Solis. We had a guided tour at the theatre and enjoyed it. Our guide first took us outside to explain that the theatre is located right at the edge of old Montevideo and that the old door to the city was just around the corner. As Montevideo was expanding, the men who made the theatre wanted a place to enjoy music, shows, and opera. They felt that a theatre would elevate the growing Montevideo. The original building is in the middle with columns and a sun in a Greco style. The two circular parts of the building were added on later. The theatre has 3 chandeliers: one in the entryway, one in the former hall for intermissions, and the biggest in the main theatre. The main theatre has had a major facelift in the last few years with flame retardant velvet seats, new paint, and the first few rows of seats can disappear into the ground to allow for an orchestra pit or to extend the stage. It has a beautiful ceiling with different playwrights and composers represented and greek gods. It's also in a horseshoe shape inspired by a theatre in Milan (the first architect was Italian).
When the theatre changed from private ownership to public, the Montevideo government wanted to make the theatre accessible to everyone. The tickets for public shows are therefore cheap, and they have exhibitions in the different areas of the theatre that people can visit for free. There are still private companies that come and use the theatre, and the prices for these are much more expensive than the public shows that the theatre's own employed musicians, opera singers, and actors perform. Unfortunately, they are on a break for January so we couldn't see a performance, but it was still a great experience to go around the theatre and learn about it.
We left Teatro Solis and went to see the old door to the city that our guide mentioned. It's a brick doorway where the walls have been taken down at each side. It was interesting to just see the doorway in the middle of a road. The rest of Plaza Independencia was pretty standard for large plazas. There was a big statue in the middle and at the opposite end from the doorway was the Salva Palace on the corner. This building is an icon of pictures of the plaza. There were also some government buildings around the edge of the plaza. One of them was where the president works and there were a couple small protests.
We walked through the old city door and headed into the heart of the old city. We stopped off at Catedral de Montevideo. It was a nice cathedral inside, but it didn't look like a cathedral from the outside. It has some beautiful wood and marble as well as colourful naves and altars. I really loved the one to the left of the main altar that represented the rosary.
We then went across the square that the cathedral was on to an old palace that had an exhibition on. There were some reconstructed rooms, some paintings, and the exhibition was from a local artisan competition. There were some nice pieces in the exhibition. It was also free to visit which was surprising and refreshing after being in super touristy areas where everything costs an arm and a leg.
By the time we had visited those sites, it was time for our guided visit at Salvo Palace. Salvo Palace is the twin of Barolo Palace in Buenos Aires. The same architect designed and built both, but they had different purposes and the interiors were inspired by different things. Salvo is a residential building now and was originally commissioned to be a hotel. The architect planned to use Charles Darwin and evolution to decorate the interior, but the Italian-Catholic owners got wind of it and the architect wasn't allowed to continue his design after the second floor. (He wasn't happy and never designed or built another building in Montevideo because of it.)
Our tour brought us to the top of the building, a few floors higher than the Barolo, but because the top used to be used by a phone company, there was some old construction there that prevented us from getting a 360° view like the Barolo. We went back down to the lower floors to a grand staircase with a beautiful stained glass window. The stairs led to the former dining area for the hotel and some offices with a nice wooden floor where events like balls used to be held. Further down a floor was the Tango Museum. Our guide told us that the room in the building, prior to it being turned into a hotel, was an old cafe that mentioned used to practice tango. In a story I'm still not 100% clear on, apparently tango started as men dueling together and stabbing one another. The death toll was getting too high, so the rules were changed to an opposite hands on hips of the opponent and they could only slash each other. Prostitutes apparently got involved because they thought the scars were manly and began to join in on the slashing. Men would practice this action in the tango café to better prepare. The French got wind of the 'dance' and in an effort to make it more beautiful and cultural, modern tango was born. One of the most famous tango songs was first played in the room where that museum is, La Camparsita.
After the Salvo, we noticed what was some chairs being set up and a stage being put together, was getting busier with volunteers. Upon further investigation, we discovered that Uruguay's carnaval starts today! It is the longest carnival celebration in the world and we got lucky enough to be here the day it started.
We had a quick half our walk to the mirador panoramico. We took the elevator up and had a 360° view of the city. It was pretty cool and the weather was great. The windows tried to point out some landmarks in the distance for people to spot. We stayed here for at least 20 minutes before heading back down to get back to the center to see carnaval.
When we got back into town, we bought a couple of quick panchos 🌭 and tried to get a seat. There were a ton of barriers up now though blocking streets and the seats! We confusedly and hurriedly tried to find somewhere to access the seats. We managed to get back up to the main street and ask someone how to sit down and apparently you need tickets! We quickly went into an Abitab shop, luckily nearby, and got two seats in the fourth row. Thinking the hard part was now over, we brought our tickets back to the woman, who told us it was the wrong street! But the barriers prevented us from getting to the other side! We crossed over the main street, which was still open because the parade hasn't started, and went to get a quick beer. We then tried to cross back over to try and get to our seats, but the barriers were closed! We ended up just sitting in the fourth row on the other side in different random seats that didn't match our numbers. Didn't seem like anyone wanted to sit in the fourth row so it was safe.
The parade went on for hours! It started off with an inclusive samba school and it was great to see so many different people getting involved and being cheered on. There were loads of colorful flags, sparkly outfits, drums, and loud music. It was a lot for the senses to take in, but a great introduction to Carnaval before Rio in March.
Feeling a bit hungry, we left the parade just before 10pm and headed towards Bar Tinkal. It was still insanely busy for 10:30 at night, and even had young kids in there sitting down to eat! We ordered a chivito to share. It's like a roast beef sandwich Uruguayan style with different toppings like bacon. While we had our sandwich, we were watching the parade that the local news channel was covering on TV in the restaurant. When we finished our food the parade was still going strong.
We finished the walk back to our hostel, and absolutely exhausted after the long day, got ready for bed.Läs mer
Montevideo Day 3
24 januari 2025, Uruguay
Today is our last day in Montevideo. It's been a whirlwind visit, but it's a great city and I've been surprised by how much I enjoyed the friendly people and sites.
We had some long walks today to see a couple of the last places on our list. After about 45 minutes walk after breakfast was arrived at Universo Pittamiglio. The price for entry was a bit expensive compared to other places we've visited, but we were already here and decided to go in. The first thing that was striking was the red brick building in between two more modern buildings. It looked out of place. We went in and up some stairs. The first room was circular and was used for astrology and some alchemy. It was full of symbols that Humberto Pittamiglio was fond of like mandalas. If you went into the middle of the room and spoke it sounded like surround sound and then from the edge of the room, it sounded normal. It was a pretty cool effect from the architecture.
Our walk through the house continued to a room with the zodiac signs that looked like it was once a formal sitting area. The rooms that joined on to this one is where things for weird. One of the room was a poor man's camera obscura with different mirror tricks to highlight Pittamiglio's obsession with alchemy and magic. Another room has intricate blocked wooden ceilings and some fireplaces that were only there for the symbolism, not for heating the room. There was a bedroom for his mother where she apparently died and another room that the door always has to be kept open. Humberto's bedroom looked out to the sea and had very dark features as well as his initials.
When we left the building we visited the sun tower where Pittamiglio did alchemical experiment and astrological observations. Sadly much of the exterior has been neglected and ia falling apart. I'm sure that the towers were once very grand and beautiful, but it required a fair bit of imagination to see it as Pittamiglio built it. We left the house feeling confused by it, but also thinking it was a very nice house with thoughtful designs, if not strange ones.
We walked about 5-6 km to the Palacio Legislativo for an afternoon tour. When we got there, we were immediately impressed by the size and grandeur of the building. That feeling continued when our tour began and we were brought to the main hall. Despite being under reconstruction, it was still an incredible room. Everything inside was made of Uruguayan marble. There were dozens of colors of marble used to make the room. The marble was shipped from Uruguay to Italy where all the workshops were for the building. It was then shipped back to Uruguay to be constructed. The same was true for all rooms, including paintings. Nothing was made in Uruguay, it was just out together here.
After the main room, we went to a room with colorful walls and red carpets used for formal events. Here we saw the constitution and the declaration of independence. It was cool to see the original documents.
From this central area, the left is where the House of Representatives works and the right is the Senate. Our guide took us to each side. They both had viewing areas for the public to come and listen and observe the meetings. There were beautiful paintings and domes on both sides. The Senate side was slightly smaller than the Representative side. The ceilings were high, chairs looked pretty comfy. Each side has symbols to remind the elected officials why they were there: to serve the people. It was a great tour and a really cool building. My descriptions really don't do it justice.
After the Palacio Legislativo we walked back to the hostel. We had a quick pitstop at a little Indian restaurant and shared a curry. It was ok, and we were still hungry, but didn't want to eat too much if we get dinner on the bus. We had a little bit of time before we had to get some dinner and a bus, so we took the time to look at forward planning for the trip and some admin.
When we left the hostel for the bus, we were pretty hungry and looking forward to our raviolis. Sadly, the food wasn't as good as the first time, and we got a box of cold empanadas and a cheese and ham tart slice. It was better than nothing, but we were looking forward to that ravioli so it was a bit disappointing. After we ate, we tried to get some sleep knowing that the border crossing was in a few hours.Läs mer
Buenos Aires Day 3
25 januari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Whew, today was a looong day with a lot of walking exploring some of the other neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. We definitely weren't far off distances when hiking in Patagonia, but luckily no bags. It was also pretty hot and sunny, but better than the alternative.
Our first stop in Retiro was the Ateneo Grand Splendid. This former theatre has been transformed into a huge bookstore. It's such a unique place to fo see a bookstore. The former seating areas on each floor were covered in bookshelves. The stage was now a small cafe. Buenos Aires, Argentina has more bookstores per capita than any other city in the world, with about 25 bookstores for every 100,000 people. In 2011, UNESCO named Buenos Aires the "World Book Capital". We went up and down the elevator and the escalators to each floor. I was totally geeking out over all the books and the setting. Lucky for me, all the books were in Spanish so it removed the temptation to buy anything.
We headed up through Retiro to Recoleta. On our way to the next stop we walked down Avenida Alvear. This street is in the bougie part of town with fancy stores and some huge, beautiful buildings. The buildings were mansions and now house hotels and embassies, except one. The mansion dubbed "Dracula House" by locals is am old mansion with white and red brick and tall trees blocking part of the front of the house. It's not entirely clear who lives there adding to the mystery of the building.
Our next stop was Cementerio Recoleta where Eva Peron is buried. This was one of the top sites in Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor so we had high expectations. Unfortunately these expectations were immediately soured on arrival by the extortionare cost to enter the cemetery. We had come all the way to see it, and everything we saw said it was worth a visit, so begrudgingly we paid and went in. We made our way to Eva Peron's vault first. It was much simpler than I expected with just black stone and a cube shaped tomb holding her body and her family. We tried following our map for some other recommended tombs and mausoleums, but ended up googling the best ones to see.
A couple tombs had some nice statues and tragic stories. One tomb with a statue was of a pretty girl and her dog. She died while on her honeymoon. The inside of the tomb was set up to look like her bedroom which I thought was an interesting element. Another tomb with a statue had a scary and tragic story. The tomb was originally quite simple, but after a teenage girl was buried alive. After sounds were heard coming from the vault, they pulled the casket out and found nail marks on the inside. They suspect she was just in a coma when she was buried. Her parents then added a large statue to the tomb to honor their daughter.
There were also plenty of tombs dedicated to rich families and previous presidents and government officials. Apparently, the space for a tomb/mausoleum is reserved for 99 years and then the family must renew the lease. If no remaining family renews it, the plot is given to someone else and the bodies removed and put somewhere else. Some of the graves were in the process of being taken apart and it was a bit bizarre to see them either halfway dismantled, or ones that had fallen into disrepair and the caskets falling apart above ground.
After the cemetery, we kept walking through Plaza Francia where a local market was on. The plaza reminded me more of a large park rather than a plaza. I wonder what qualifies a plaza versus a parque...
Speaking of parques, we continued walking about an hour to Parque Tres de Febrero in Palermo. It was a huge park with a big pond and people using peddle boats. There were several small bridges and lots of paths. We found the path that led to the center of the park where the large rose garden is located. There were lots of different colored roses. It looks like a lot has been picked though as some bushes were pretty bare. It was still a beautiful garden with the roses and orange paths. The bridge at the end of the garden and the water also added to the aesthetics.
Time was getting away from us, so we picked up the pace from Palermo to get back to the historic center before our tango show. We walked about 45 minutes, stopped at Ugi's for a quick and cheap pizza, and then ubered to save ourselves the last half hour of walking. We managed to each have a quick shower and then head back out to Tango Porteño. We met some people from our Antarctica Cruise there too which was pretty cool. After sorting out a bit of a ticketing mix up we managed to get in on time for the show. (Allan accidentally booked the tickets for the 26th not 25th and got the email address wrong so we had no electronic ticket to show either.)
The tango show was interesting. There were different numbers where the 6 tango couples performed, only one couple performed, and then another number with a woman and 2 men who had long string looking things that sounds around and clacked on the ground. They also beat drums. The small band also has some solo numbers. Allan was impressed by the sharp movements and all the leg flicking. A lot of the time I was thinking about the origin of tango we were told about at Salvo Palace and trying to work out its evolution.
After the show was over, we said goodbye to our shipmates and went back to the hostel. Tomorrow is our last day in Buenos Aires, and another busy one, so we did some packing and went to bed.Läs mer
Buenos Aires Day 4
26 januari 2025, Argentina
Our last day in Buenos Aires was as busy as yesterday. We were on even more of a time crunch because our bus to Paraguay was at 1700.
We kicked the day off by heading to Puerto Madero. The port was scorching in the sun and reminded us a lot of London and the Thames. There was a boardwalk, intermittent bridges to get across, and restaurants on either side as well as some hotels. We stopped and walked back and forth across Puente de la Mujer, an icon of the port area. The bridge swings out, not up, to allow boats to pass. It is very modern looking and made from recycled products which I thought was a nice touch.
We continued our walk down the port and then veered off into a park away from the city center. We visited an interesting statue that was originally meant to be in the Plaza de Mayo in front of Casa Rosada. The Fuente de Las Nereidas was inspired by greek gods and animals. It's nudity is what prevented the beautiful fountain and sculpture from pride of place in the central plaza. The animals were intricately sculpted and you could see the story taking shape as you walked around and viewed the statues from different angles.
As we were a fair bit out of the center now, to save time in our packed day, we got an Uber to Caminito in the La Boca neighborhood. We couldn't get right up to the Caminito street because the local stadium had a football game today. Before walking up Caminito, we popped along to the CABJ Stadium where the Boca Juniors play. This is the same team that our couchsurfee host, Gonza, supports. The stadium was hard to miss with it's bright yellow and blue. After we took some pictures, we made our way back down to Caminito. The street is well known for all the colorful buildings and it did not disappoint. Not only was each house and building a different color, some had designs or multiple colors. There were also local artists selling prints of the colorful neighborhood.
After Caminito, we started walking back towards the city center. We left La Boca and traveled through Parque Lezama into San Telmo. Parque Lezama was designed by a french architect. It was very hilly with brick paths, gazebos, and stone tables with chess boards painted on them. As we walked through San Telmo, we passed many markets and had a look at some of the stalls for the pink amethyst from Patagonia. Sadly, it was expensive to buy and made me further regret forgetting to get some while we were in Patagonia. Sam Telmo was crazy busy packed full of tourists and local shoppers. It probably didn't help it was a Sunday afternoon. We fought the crowds and visited a couple La Casa del Dulce de Leche stores. We tried a whole bunch of different dulce de leche flavors. Allan liked the original and buffalo milk one. I quite liked the mint chocolate and banana flavors. They also had chocolate orange dulce de leche liqueur, coffee dulce de leche liqueur, and rum dulce de leche liqueur. They were also really nice. At the second store we popped into on our way back to the hostel we bought a dulce de leche ice cream popsicle. It was so rich, but very tasty.
We were getting tight on time, so I went back to the hostel to start organizing some things while Allan ran to Ugi's for (another) pizza. Quick and cheap is all we have time for these days! We managed to eat our pizza, get organized, and get our Uber to the bus station with just over half an hour to spare before our bus. Being an international bus, we have to get our documents checked and bags had to be weighed this time. Everything went smoothly for us, but things were taking a bit longer for others so we unfortunately left a bit late and we were also making a lot of stops for the first couple hours. On such a long journey, we expected delays though. We've also learned our lesson to try and book buses earlier to get good seats...Läs mer
Asunción Day 1
27 januari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Well today was certainly not the first day in Paraguay that we expected. After leaving Buenos Aires around 1715 last night, we knew we were on a long bus to Asunción due to arrive around 1245. We didn't know what to expect at border control, but it seemed pretty chill at the Uruguay border so I was hoping for something similar. Boy was I wrong.
The bus was absolutely freezing with blasted air conditioning. There were fat snoring men, kids running past me in the aisle, and an occasional baby crying near the front. Some guy two rows up also decided from the minute we boarded the bus, that he was going to provide entertainment and had music on full blast for several hours. I was not impressed. My little earplugs were not doing the job.
After managing a tiny bit of sleep, we were woken up on the Argentina side of the border. I thought this was strange because crossing into Uruguay, we didn't stop at the Argentina side either time. This trip, however, we sat on the Argentina border for an hour and a half at least, got off the bus, waited in line for a migration officer to check us off the bus manifest, and got back on the bus to drive 5 minutes to the Paraguay side. Luckily this was a bit quicker. A woman came onto the bus from migration, spoke some quick Spanish to me and Allan, and then stared at us. The only word I understood was 'application'. I was worried thinking we missed something when we checked the requirements. I told her in Spanish I didn't understand. She asked us where we lived, how long we'd been in Argentina, which I could understand and respond with. Then she translated 'vaccine application' to which I interpreted she wanted to see the yellow fever certificates. This was the first time a country asked to see them despite all of the countries requiring it that we've visited thus far! After she took some pictures of it, it was all good, or so I thought. Soon after she left, the bus conductor motioned for me and Allan to get off the bus. Queue panic again! We were brought to a desk and had our passports stamped. Phew! We were the only foreign tourists on the bus that needed this done.
After all the border control stuff was finished, we had just over 6 more hours to go until Asunción. Unfortunately, the bus took the longest route every single time the road split. 6 hours became 8, became 10. By the time we reached the bus station, we'd been on the bus for almost 25 hours. I was pretty fed up by that point and so glad to be off.
We managed to get an Uber fairly quickly and got to the hostel painlessly. The woman greeted us, and knowing we'd had a long trip, left us to get settled in and told us there was no rush to pay her (so kind). Our room is nice with a cute little sink and portable burner. We also have our own bathroom which is a nice treat.
After a much needed shower, we went out for some breakfast groceries and were pleasantly surprised to see cheap groceries. We then went out to dinner at Bolsi, a recommendation from the hostel. It was an interesting place, half informal cafeteria style and half nicer restaurant. We sat in the cafeteria. We ordered some traditional Paraguayan bread and fajitas. The bread was very good, and Allan and I agree those might have been the best fajitas we've ever had. The size of the meat and vegetables was perfect, nicely seasoned, cooked brilliantly. They were amazing! We also each got a beer because it was less than £2 for a pint. After the expensive prices in Patagonia and Buenos Aires, these prices are a welcome change. On our walk back, we noted some nice buildings that we will have to take a look at while we are here. Allan wrote a few emails while I looked at Asunción, and then it was time for some much deserved rest, horizontal, in a bed.Läs mer
Asunción Day 2
28 januari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ☁️ 37 °C
Today was a slow day. Allan and I clearly needed some sleep after 3 night buses in a week (including our 25 hour bus), because we didn't set an alarm and woke up at 1100! Our room was great at keeping the light out, so we had no idea we'd slept so late.
We got up and had some breakfast and organized our laundry to take the laundromat. After a bit of research into the prices of nearby laundromats, we set out to run our errands. Our first stop was the bank to hit the ATM for some cash to pay our hostel. After some confusion when the bank was closed, our kind hostel lady told us to check across the street in the plaza for the ATMs. We found them and got the cash. We were millionaires for a short period 🤑!
Our second stop was the laundromat. We walked through Plaza Uruguay to get there which was a nicely shaded plaza with a play park in it. We dropped our clothes off, and stopped at the grocery store on our way back to the hostel. We picked up a few things for lunch and then got a couple of dulce de leche filled churros from the guy on the corner as we walked the block and a half to the hostel.
I toasted some rolls to make sandwiches in our little kitchen in the room while Allan washed some smaller clothes items we didn't put into the laundromat. After some quick lunch, we started a couple of admin jobs, but they were taking longer than expected, so we had to push pause on them to get ready to head out for sunset.
We managed to get an Uber pretty quickly to head out of the historic center to a trendier area. Here, we went to Zulu Rooftop, a bar overlooking the city. We ordered a bottle of white wine and waited for the sun to go down. It was pretty cloudy, so we didn't expect to see much. However, a little while after the sun passed the horizon, the sky started lighting up with reds and pinks. It ended up being a beautiful sky, even with the clouds. There was also a thunderstorm in the distance and we could see the bolts of lightning far off. We sat, drank wine, talked, and watched the sky for a couple of hours. It was so nice to slow down and do something nice (also, cheap bottle of wine for a rooftop was also a plus).
After we finished the wine and paid, we went across the street to the mall and got some cheap food from the food court. Then, a quick Uber back to the hostel where we enjoyed the rest of our night relaxing, something we hadn't had a lot of time to do the last few weeks.Läs mer
Asunción Day 3
29 januari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Asunción is not a large place. I thought it would be similar to Montevideo, but even Montevideo was bigger and had more going on.
We had a slow morning (but not as slow as yesterday), and then got up to go and see some of the city. Our first stop was Catedral Asuncion. It had a simple white facade our front. When we went in, there was a lot of green and white decoration, especially the ceiling and altar area. It certainly wasn't as grand as some cathedrals we've seen for the capital city, but upon reading some information, the site for the cathedral used to be susceptible to flooding and has had to be rebuilt several times.
On our way to Palacio de Lopez, we stopped at Plaza Constitution. This was a park with some neglected green areas and a neglected white obelisk type structure. Along the bottom were different dates of important events in the countries history. For example, the date it declared its independence and the date it signed the constitution.
We continued our walk to Palacio de Lopez. It was an obvious building once we came to it. The building is pink and has a nicely manicured courtyard our front. It has a balcony that extends across the entire second floor, so it's pretty long. There were a fair amount of guards and police around, which made it uncomfortable to linger and take pictures. We also couldn't go into the courtyard.
Next we went to Manzana la Rivera. When I read about this, it sounded like a lovely street with colorful old houses. However, when we got there, we found an old, restored brown building with a small museum inside. Going in further, we saw a few more buildings in slight disrepair with some walls pink, a small wall of blue and one of orange. It certainly wasn't "9 colorful old houses". It was pretty underwhelming unfortunately.
We continued our walk back towards Palacio de Lopez. We read that you get a nice view from the river, so we went around the back, but the city as a backdrop wasn't the best. We also for told off by some guards for walking on the grass fo try and get a picture, so again, we didn't linger. We kept walking down the riverfront for about 20 minutes before turning around and popping our heads into the small tourist office near the river. The woman seemed excited to have visitors. She gave us a map, explained nearby sites (including Manzana de la Rivera), and took our age and country down in her visitor's log.
Avoiding the nearby favela, we skirted around towards the Cabildo. The old light pink building used to be the home of the legislative branch, until the branch outgrew the building. Now, it is a cultural center. We saw some small exhibitions about the history of immigration to Asunción and some of the presidents.
We walked back through Plaza Constitution towards Casa de la Independencia and Panteón de Los Héroes. The Casa de la Independencia was a reconstruction in the house where two brothers formed the coup for independence from Spain in 1811. It was a small place with some information and examples of what the rooms would have looked like in the early 1800s. I was surprised by the hammocks hanging in the house. It wasn't decorative and had lots of plain, dark wood. Our next stop a short couple blocks away was Panteón de Los Héroes. It was a grand building with a beautiful dome. There were two guards standing at the large doorway leading into what is a memorial area. There are different groups who gave their lives represented in the crypt below the dome. It reminded me of the unknown warrior grave in Westminster. There were also some statues of famous figures like the first dictator from 1811 (scary guy...cut off Paraguay to foreigners and wouldn't let anyone leave. Lots of other issues there too. Google José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia.)
Before our last stop we popped across the street from the Panteón to Quiero Fruta and shared an açai cup. It was an excellent pick me up on such a warm day after we'd been walking for a while. Our final location was Estación Ferrocarril. This was the only place we went into today that charged a fee and it was tiny (like £2 for both of us). It was a cool museum in the old train station of Asunción. This was the first train that ran in South America. It has some of the old train cars that you can go in and explore. They're very dark, with dark wood and brown seats. One of the nicer train cars had red chairs rather than padded brown benches. The different rooms of the station had memorabilia from the days when the train ran. There were some train car schematics, old typewriters, and old spare parts. We also saw some things like oil cans and tools too. It was a bit chaotic with all the things related to the trains and the station just kind of thrown about, but it was still pretty cool to see it all and walk through the first train station in South America.
After visiting the station, we picked up our laundry, made a quick stop at the grocery store for some dinner, and then went back to the hostel. We spent the rest of the evening looking at our itinerary for the next month or so and making some plans and reservations. Things are really beginning to take shape for our time in Brazil!Läs mer
Asunción Day 4
30 januari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
Our last day in Asunción was spent planning the next week or so and tying up the loose ends. We made some bookings for buses, accommodation, and tried to make some for the national parks at Iguazu Falls. Unfortunately the payment system wasn't cooperative.
Allan also took some time to go and visit the parliament. He found it interesting and enjoyed walking around the building on his short tour. He also popped up to the Asunción Palace Hotel on the way. The historic building was nice on the outside, but didn't have many guests, and the front door was even locked! He had to knock to see inside. While he was gone, I did some scrapbooking. With all the country changing and border crossing, not only has there been limited time for scrapbooking, but I wasn't able to mapbout the pages because we weren't finished in the countries. It was nice to get caught up and to have a look through all the memories already.
After Allan's small adventure, we met up at Quiero Fruta for another açai bowl. They are just so delicious and refreshing! It was especially hot and muggy today after the rain last night, so it was a nice snack.
We went back out around sunset to try and see it from the top of a sad looking multi story parking lot. We really didn't think there'd be anyone there, nevermind someone telling us we couldn't go to the top to take a picture. But unfortunately there was. We quickly walked down the street back towards the Cabildo. We caught a glimpse of the sky starting to change with the sun passing the horizon to a soft pink. We decided that with all the clouds here, you probably can't get a good sunset to see the sun, but you so get some great colors changing in the sky.
The rest of the evening was spent with some more planning and Allan had some life admin to catch up on too. We leave Asunción tomorrow, so packing also had to happen!Läs mer
Asunción to Ciudad del Este
31 januari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
We got up earlier than we had our entire time in Asunción, around 7:45 and got ready to go. Allan has packing to do (always so last minute) and I had to run to the grocery store for some breakfast. We were on our way to the bus station around 9. Our bus was prompt and we left Asunción on time. We had a few stops early on for passengers to get on, and some traffic leaving the city, but after that the journey was pretty smooth sailing. We had internet the whole time too so Allan could get caught up on the itinerary and I got caught up on the blog from the last few days.
We arrived in Ciudad del Este, the border town with Brazil, just before 4pm. Ciudad del Este is so close to Brazil, you could skip a rock and hit it! It was a short walk from the bus station to the hotel, which we were thankful for because it was so hot! We got checked in and situated and then made our plan for the rest of the day.
Around 5, we went to Monday Falls. Monday in traditional Paraguayan means "robbed river". After a bit of a shock at the price to enter ($32!) we walked down the path towards the falls. We were greeted with misty rainbows and roaring water. The falls were cascading all around. After getting some pictures and admiring the view from the top, we took a short elevator down to the ground level to see the falls from below. The wind and mist were much stronger and visible down at the bottom. You could see if moving the little plants on the rocks! We enjoyed the beautiful view, and it was a good precursor to Iguazu Falls that we will see for the first time tomorrow.
After the Falls we went to Hito Tres Fronteras. From the Paraguay side, we could clearly see the Brazil and Argentina viewing decks for the three borders. On the left facing the river was the Friendship Bridge and Brazil border. On the right we saw the Argentina border. It was pretty cool to be standing so close to the border of all three countries. It wasn't long before sunset when we were at the Hito Tres Fronteras, so the sky was just starting to change colors when we left. It was a nice way to end our last day in Paraguay, almost reflecting on where we've been and looking towards where we are headed, our last country in South America before we leave in about a month.Läs mer
Ciudad del Este
1 februari 2025, Paraguay ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We got up before 7 today in order to get ready to go and get to Itaipu Dam for it opening at 8. The hotel provided breakfast which was nice after having to find our own breakfast for a good wee while now. We were checked out and fed by 7:30 and on our way to the dam.
We got to Itaipu Dam at 7:56, great timing. Just as we arrived, the doors to reception opened and we were able to squeeze into the first tour of the morning at 8:30. Before the tour started, we watched a short video about the Itaipu Treaty between Paraguay and Brazil and the construction of the dam. It is the second largest dam in the world, but produces a remarkable amount of electricity being the world’s largest hydroelectric power facility. It provides 87% of Paraguay's electricity and 17% of Brazil's electricity.
We boarded a bus that took us to a viewing platform of the dam. Because there isn't a surplus of water, there was no need to release any, so we didn't see the gushing water, but it was still pretty cool and looked like a giant water slide. After we took some pictures at the viewing platform we got back on the bus. We drove around the dam and over the top of it. It was interesting to see the dam from below and from above. It really is quite big and impressive. We even had a little look at it from the Brazil side so we could drive over the top. When we were at the top, we could see the high water from the artificial lake on the right, and the river from the dam, much lower, on the left. Dams really are incredible engineering.
After our tour was finished we got an Uber back to town, picked up some groceries for lunch, and then got our bus over to Brazil.Läs mer
Foz do Iguaçu Day 1 🇧🇷
1 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We had a TERRIBLE time crossing the border. After our bus leaving Ciudad del Este hit crazy traffic not far into the journey, the bus driver randomly told us to get off and "rapido" to a bus further up in the parked traffic. We looked at how far we were from the border control, about 15 minutes walking, and decided to just walk to Paraguay border control because it would be quicker than sitting on the bus to get dumped there anyway. Paraguay border control was quick, and traffic for that main street was going absolutely nowhere. So, we began our walk across Friendship Bridge.
After we crossed the bridge, we waited in a longer line at Brazil's immigration. We were hot, sweaty, and ready for this crossing to be done. After we got our passports stamped, then came the trickier part of getting from the border to our hotel. Previously, Allan has had data roaming, but he doesn't have it for Brazil so we couldn't get an Uber and there were no taxis in sight. It was also pretty chaotic with people walking to and from Paraguay with shopping, motorcycles, buses, and cars driving everywhere. We couldn't see our bus, so we waited a bit, and then decided to take our chances on a taxi. Allan also intermittently had Paraguay service that we tried to use to get an Uber. While trying for an Uber, our second bus drove past us! We flagged it, but it drove right past us 🙃. Luckily, after many attempts, we managed to get an Uber to the hotel. We checked in, but didn't linger long because we had to get to the Falls for a sunset tour.
With not a lot of time to play with, we Ubered to Iguazu Falls. Once at the park, we could take a breath. We made it! Our tour started at 5 and we got there around 4, so we had some time to kill at the ticketing area. We wandered around until it was time to board our bus to the waterfalls.
The park bus dropped us off across the street from the fancy, and very pink, Belmont Hotel. We were immediately greeted by a cliffside with various waterfalls all pouring off the side. We walked through the jungle for about a kilometer, periodically stopping at different points to get the view of different waterfalls off the cliffs across the river in Argentina. We also had some visits from the wildlife! Some coites came climbing out of the trees and onto the path in search of food. We also saw a few very big lizards, as well as some smaller ones.
When we got to the end of the trail, we saw the biggest waterfall so far that connects to Devil's Throat. It was a powerful flow of water with no breaks along the cliff it was falling from. We walked along a misty path over the water to get a better view of this waterfall and of Devil's Throat around the corner. The water was so powerful it was splashing a fair amount of mist and spray onto everyone that walked the path. We had to be quick with our pictures and videos so that they did not get blurry. The sun was shining brightly, so there were plenty of rainbows from a variety of different angles.
After marvelling at the waterfall and getting our pictures and videos, we walked back to the path on solid ground. We went to a viewing platform to the side of the waterfall where you got a great view of the volume of water spilling off the side.
Finally, we took an elevator to the top of the viewing platform. We were greeted by men serving drinks who offered us Brazilian sparkling wine, Brazilian white wine, fresh orange juice, coconut water (from the coconut), and sparkling water. It was all very nice. There was also someone playing music on the platform for ambiance. We got our drinks, and made our way to the edge of the viewing platform for higher look at the large waterfall as well as a great panorama of the smaller falls on the Argentinian cliffs. The camera has a harder time picking those up with the lowering sun and mist, but the view was memorable.
For the rest of the evening we enjoyed the multitude of drinks and top ups, gazed at the waterfall, and watched the sun go down in this spectacular place. The hassle from the border earlier in the afternoon was a distant memory while we enjoyed our evening.
Once the sun had set, everyone got back on the park bus back to the park entrance. The free WiFi at the park allowed us to get an Uber back to our hotel. We found a grocery store nearby and got some of the hot food on offer which meant we didn't have to cook. Back at the hotel, we sat and watched a cheesy movie on Netflix while we ate dinner, it was a nice ending to the night.Läs mer
Foz do Iguaçu Day 2
2 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C
Today was a chill day in Brazil. Because we rushed to get to the Falls for sunset, which was amazing, it meant our original plan to go today wasn't necessary.
We got some admin and laundry done and for the first time in over 6 months, we binged a TV show. Throughout the day we watched the Six Nations docuseries and just took actual time to relax and not use our brains. It was so lovely. When you're traveling for this long, you don't realize how much little things like watching Netflix, can be nice.
We popped out to the grocery store around lunchtime for a walk, and in the evening we decided to go to Marco das Três Fronteiras for sunset. We've seen the three borders from the Paraguay side, and there isn't too much to do in Foz besides the Falls, so we thought we'd go and see if the borders look different from somewhere else.
The Brazil side is a full blown theatre production. We had to pay to enter and when we did there were fountains, fake old timey buildings, music, and a variety of different performers surrounded by a ton of tourists in lawn chairs as spectators. We bypassed all this to make our way to the edge to see the three borders, this time from Brazil. We managed to see the sunset from the other side of the river which was a nice touch because from the Paraguay side it was behind us. We also saw all the different currents of the two rivers and the friendship bridge that we walked across yesterday in our effort to get to Brazil in time for our sunset tour at the Falls.
After our visit at Marco Das Três Fronteiras, we ubered back to the grocery store to get some dinner and things for our adventure into Argentina (again) to see the other side of Iguazu Falls.Läs mer
Iguazu National Park 🇦🇷
3 februari 2025, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
Today was a long, but very rewarding day.
We got up early to be out the door and on our way to the border before 7. Uber didn't take as long to find as expected so we got to the Brazilian border in good time. There was no line to get our exit stamp, so we were through quickly. Unfortunately the border control is a fair distance from the actual border, on both sides, so we had about 3km to walk to get to Argentina border control. Feeling determined to get there to have a dull day, we power walked across the path and across the bridge. Luckily there was no wait at the Argentina side either and we got through quickly. Now the tricky part was getting from the border to the national park. There weren't many Ubers available that early, and boy was it showing as expensive. I was already getting used to the cheaper prices in Paraguay and Brazil! We ended up talking a taxi driver down from $25 to $20 and we were on our way!
We got to Iguazu National Park not long after it opened. Our first order of business was getting our tickets checked and making our way to our boat trip. We got scanned in and found the desk to go to the boat. They told us we had about 20 minutes to wait before the truck would drive us further into the park to the river, so we sought respite from the growing heat and sat in a small museum area and had some coffee from our thermos.
Once it was time, we boarded an open top truck and bounced along for about 20 minutes while a guide told us what to expect on the boat. Unfortunately the animals were all hiding in the forest so we didn't see any while on the truck. After the truck stopped, we had a short downhill/down stairs walk to the river to get on the boat. We were given dry bags for our belongings as well as large life jackets. Allan and I put our rain jackets on too to prevent any spray from the waterfalls making us too wet (boy did they turn out to be pretty useless). While we were waiting to board, we saw a little family of capybaras crossing a small section of the river. They were so cute!
Our boat trip started by zooming up the river towards a long line of waterfalls streaming off the cliffs. We continued past these bouncing along the bigger waves towards Devil's Throat. Even though we weren't super close, it was interesting to see it from this angle after being closer to and above it yesterday. After having a look at Devil's Throat we turned around back towards the wall of waterfalls. The guides and captain were getting some serious waterproof gear on, considering we were expecting just a "shower" from the falls. We got our videos ready to record as the captain revved the engine and headed straight towards the most powerful waterfall. We were slapped in the face by the water bouncing off of the river and absolutely soaking us. It went everywhere! Including down the slight openings in our jackets. The captain pulled away from the waterfall and then went right back in again soaking us again. It was a pretty crazy, and wet, experience. We were all laughing by the end of our "shower". Then it was time to head back. The waves were still pretty choppy, so while on the way back, we got another good blast of water from over the sides of the boat. I don't think a single part of me was dry. I shimmied off the rain coat as best I could with my lifejacket on so that the wind could help start to dry me.
Once back on land, we took some time to shake off some of the water before getting back on a truck and bouncing along through the forest to the main office for the company, rather than the start like we thought. Feeling a bit plopped in the middle of nowhere, Allan and I oriented ourselves and decided to head to the little train station to get the inter-park train up to the Argentinian side of Devil's Throat. Something must have happened with the train shortly after we got our tickets, because it stopped running for almost an hour. After it finally arrived, we made the trip up. Unlike the Brazil side, we had to walk across the top of the water that flows into Devil's Throat for just over a kilometer. The boardwalk was packed with people so it was slow going. Occasionally we would stop and look over to see a giant catfish, but other than that it was a slow shuffle in the throng of people to the end. Once we got there, we were greeted by the rushing of water. On the Argentina side, you could see all the way into the 'throat' and down the river. Despite trying to muscle our way through all the people, it was truly a magnificent site. The water was just thundering in a constant deluge. It was beautiful, but also terrifying when you imagined getting caught in something like that. We made our way around the viewing platform to see the waterfall from up close. It wasn't as misty as the Brazil side because we were more on top of the water, but we still got a few gusts of wind that misted us and allowed for some rainbows.
After we finished getting all of our pictures and videos, we were ready to fight our way back through the crowd to walk back to the main path. Thankfully, the steady stream of people was still heading towards the falls and not away from them, so this was a slightly more pleasant walk back. When we got back to the train station, we had just missed the train. Remembering how long the last one took, we decided to walk a few kilometers back to the train station where we first boarded. It was a hot, sweaty walk, but we didn't want to waste anymore precious time. We ran into a pack of coites looking for snacks. There were quite a few babies too!
We finished the walk back to the station and continued walking towards the superior trail that brings you over the top of the waterfalls we'd seen from the river earlier in the day. Every single time we came to a viewpoint and thought it couldn't get any better, it did. The volume of waterfalls was crazy. It was also still super sunny so we got some great panorama pictures with waterfalls and rainbows. Allan kept commenting that it seemed like CGI. It was also really special to see the same waterfalls from above as we had from the river level in the morning. It puts the size of them into perspective.
Once we completed this trail, we stopped just outside the last trail, the lower trail, for some quick lunch and to cool down a bit. We started the last trail just before the park rangers closed the trails about an hour or so before the park closed. The lower trail was shorter than the upper trail and brought us face to face with some of the smaller waterfalls around the park. We finished up this final trail, and then made our way back to the park entrance. We again chose to walk rather than take the train to try and beat the people waiting to the parking lot to get an Uber or taxi back to the border.
It was much harder to get a taxi leaving the park back to the border than it was this morning. Because there were more people willing to pay the $25 to get back into town, the taxi drivers weren't willing to negotiate and we couldn't get an Uber. We sat on a bench and waited for the crowds to disperse and people to get into their tourist buses and private transport. I was getting pretty nervous we wouldn't manage to get a taxi to get back, but Allan was cool as a cucumber. Finally, with fewer tourists needing taxis, we negotiated a taxi back to the border for $22.
Back at the border, we got through immigration quickly and painlessly just like this morning. Then it was our 3 km walk back over the border and across the bridge. This one was a bit slower after being out in the sun all day. We were keeping an eye on Allan's Argentina service too so we could get an Uber back to the hotel from the Brazilian border control. We got to the Brazilian immigration right before a big tourist bus, so we got through quickly, but unfortunately Allan lost his service and therefore our ability to get an Uber. Trying to alleviate my stress about getting back to our hotel, he ran back towards Argentina, managed to get service, secured an Uber, texted me the details because they were due to arrive very soon, and ran back to the parking lot to get in the Uber I managed to flag down because I got his text. Because of that we got an Uber to the grocery store to pick up some dinner in decent time, and we're back at the hotel eating by 20:00.
We watched some TV, ate our dinner, and headed to bed after our two-country day. Tomorrow we leave the three borders behind and delve deeper into Brazil where we will spend the next month.Läs mer
Foz do Iguaçu Day 3
4 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Today was our final day at the three borders. We leave the border behind and head firmly into Brazil tonight on a night bus to Curitiba.
With not much to do here besides the Falls we did some forward planning our our southern Brazil road trip. It's so nice to be more caught up on the planning that we don't feel stressed.
Our hotel was a bit rude when we tried to check out, and when we went to leave our bags in their luggage storage, so we didn't walk around very much after we checked out. The combination of having the big bags and no internet left options minimal.
We got to the bus station early and with ease. It's also nice when it's not a stressful travel process. Hopefully the bus is as painless as getting to the station and we can get some sleep.Läs mer
Curitiba Day 1
5 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
After about an hour's delay, we arrived in Curitiba. It was about 8am and drizzly, so not too bad a walk. We stopped about halfway for some breakfast, and then decided to also pop into a shopping center to check on getting a Brazilian SIM card. Unsuccessful, we finished the ten minute walk to the hotel and thankfully were able to get checked in early.
After a shower and time to make a plan for the day, we went out and got an Uber to our farthest location, the Museu Oscar Niemeyer. Shaped like a black eye on a yellow rectangular pedestal, the museum is dedicated to Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian architect who designed much of Brasilia. There was also a pond around the building with metal structures that looked like lotus flowers. A bit short on time, we didn't stay long and made our way back to a different shopping center to try for the SIM card again.
After about an hour, we still, frustratingly did not get a SIM, so we cut our losses and got a late lunch while organizing an e-SIM. Once we left the shopping mall, it was raining so we got another quick Uber to save a 40 minute walk in the rain to Torre Panoramico. The building looks similar to an air control tower. We bought our tickets and took the elevator up. We were greeted with a surprisingly good view over Curitiba. It hadn't felt like we'd gone very high, but we had 360° views over the entire city. In the viewing area there were some landmarks pointed out that we were able to find such as large parks, churches, and other important buildings. It was cloudy and we could see storm clouds in the distance.
We decided to walk after our panoramic views back to the historic center to see some of the sites we looked up earlier in the day. There were two streets in the center of the historic area: Rua das Flores and Rua XV de Novembro. The streets and paths are cobbled with white and black flower patterns and the buildings are pastel colors with white accents. Quite a few of the more standard looking buildings had some beautiful graffiti reminding me of Bogota. We diverted up a couple of side streets following the pretty buildings and happened upon the Catedral Basílica Menor. It looks like a standard community church on the outside, but inside there were beautiful greens and golds all over the vaulted ceiling and walls. It looked like mass had recently finished so we didn't walk around much.
We continued walking down Rua XV de Novembro and it brought us to a small square with some lovely buildings around it. The one in the center was Sesc Paço da Liberdade. It was a tan building with clocks and small domes. We went inside up to the third floor and walked around a rather interesting art gallery. The female artist had displays of broken porcelain, painted slices of cake, old metal sinks with various styles of dirty glassware arranged, and what looks like was a performance piece of eating a chicken. There were pictures of her eating the chicken, and the carcass was on display in a glass case. It was definitely funky and not the kind of art that I fully understand or can appreciate.
The sun was going down, and we were feeling a bit tired, so we stopped for some açai before finishing our walk back to the hotel. We fully intended on going back out to find some dinner, but we got caught up in looking at things, responding to emails and messages, and I also did some reading, so before we knew it, it was late and time to get some sleep before our Serra Verde train adventure tomorrow.Läs mer
Curitiba Day 2
6 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
Day 2 began with a decent breakfast provided by the hotel. It's nice getting back to places that offer free breakfast! We then walked back to the bus station that we arrived in yesterday. Here we found the offices for the Serra Verde Express. Today we are getting a shuttle to Morretes, about 65km away to spend the day. Then we will get the famous train with it's gorgeous views back during sunset.
The shuttle journey was very quiet and chill with only one other couple and a guide on the bus with us. This was very unexpected because the Serra Verde is listed as a top attraction for Curitiba. Along the way to Morretes we stopped at a viewpoint of the bay. It wasn't overly sunny, but we still had a decent view with the clouds.
Our next stop was right before the Morretes village at the Hesgeopar Center. When we first walked in, we were a bit skeptical looking at all of the badly constructed dolls that tell the rudimentary story of Paraña. However, there was a lovely guide there who spoke English and walked us through the display. We learned about the distinct phases of the history of the area from colonization, to maté growing, to logging, to using hydropower, and growing coffee. She also told us about the impact of the Itaipu Dam reservoir flooding the Seven Falls which were even bigger than Iguazu. There was also a reconstruction of Iguazu Falls that helped us visualize where we had been just a few days prior.
After our history lesson, we finished the short drive into the village. Morretes is much smaller than we expected. We walked around the village along the river, went to see the new and old bridge as well as the local church. Allan also found out about a local brewery called Tres Morretes. Our new mission was to find this beer. The brewery building no longer existed, so then we went to some restaurants hoping they served it. The first few only served Heineken and Corona. Feeling defeated we stopped in at a little bakery for a break from the sun and a snack for lunch. We had a little tostada and cookie. It was pretty nice, the food and being out of the sun.
While we were in the bakery, we saw that they sold Tres Morretes beer. This spurred Allan on to find somewhere that served it cold. He found a WhatsApp number for the company, and they responded straight away. We had some restaurants to try! The first one, we struck out. The second one, more of a shack with draft taps, had it. Not only did they stock the beer, but it was on draft. After trying a couple, we changed our minds to just sharing a pint, and got one each. The beer was refreshing in taste and temperature. It was a light beer that had a bit of tartness to it. My guess is passion fruit.
After our beers we walked to the train station to get the Serra Verde Express. There was just under an hour until the train would leave, but we didn't have much else to do and we were roasting. Boarding the train didn't really help unfortunately because there was no AC and no wind, but at least we could sit down on our brown padded bench and fan ourselves. The seats reminded me of being on a school bus as a kid.
Once it was time to leave, the train gave a few good toots of its whistle and we were off! The train moved quite slowly for a good portion of the journey. The landscape for the first half or so of the trip was stunning. There were mountains, rolling hills, and lots of trees. We also saw the winding river and a few waterfalls along the way. Allan and I took turns sitting next to the window to see further down the train and take pictures. We occasionally passed old, delapidated buildings and some smaller train stations.
Once we were through the mountains and headed back to Curitiba, the train journey was less interesting because we were traveling along the road like a tram. We were also going much fast than I thought we would. The journey was meant to take about 4.5 hours and be on the train for sunset, but we pulled into Curitiba station just after 1815, almost an hour before sunset and less than 3.5 hours after we left. It was a good train journey for the first half, but we did feel a bit cheated after purchasing the sunset package.
After we disembarked, we walked to a shopping center to get some dinner and then went back to the hotel briefly to plan our next steps.Läs mer
Curitiba to Blumenau Day 1
7 februari 2025, Brasilien ⋅ 🌧 28 °C
Having finished up in Curitiba, we checked out of our hotel and headed to the airport to pickup our rental car. Once we got to the airport, and wandered around for a good while, we managed to find Avis and get our car.
We loaded up into our compact VW Gol and began our 12 day road trip south. Allan wanted me to try driving first, which was challenging at first. Before today I had never driven any other manual car besides my own, and certainly not on the right. But, after a little while I did get the hang of it and we were away to Blumenau. The roads and highways weren't too dissimilar from America. This is probably because Brazil's size necessitates travel by land with big trucks for transporting goods like America. While I was driving we hit some pretty heavy rain, and just over halfway we stopped at a gas station for the bathroom and a snack. Unfortunately we didn't see any decent grocery stores before we left Curitiba so we had no lunch and no road snacks.
After our halfway-ish stop, Allan took over driving. So naturally it was clear blue skies the rest of the journey 🙃. He did hit some traffic as we were coming into Blumenau though, which was surprising considering his luck normally avoids all traffic! Once we got to Blumenau, it was early evening and we were starving (me more than Allan...I was definitely hangry). We went into the center after dropping our bags in our very retro room. Our hotel was right next to the river, so after a short walk over the bridge we were in the center of town. The German influence is very obvious here. The buildings look like you've stepped back in time to an old German village, but at the same time, they are in and amongst very modern buildings.
After not really eating much today, we decided not to eat at the food court in the mall, but at an actual restaurant (it also helps that it's not super expensive). We settled on Aikau, a Hawaiian restaurant. We got a kalua poke bowl and a katsu bowl. They were delicious, full of vegetables and delicious sauce, mango, rice and of course the meat. We really enjoyed them, and it was nice to have an entrée each instead of sharing one entrée between us like we normally do when we can't find cheap food. The restaurant was also pretty spot on with it's Hawaiian decor. There was a Hawaiian flag, tasteful Eddie Aikau quotes, and nice beach themed decorations. Never expected an American and Scotsman to sit in a Hawaiian restaurant in a German town in Brazil, but there we were!
After dinner we decided to take a small walk through the town. Allan then kept getting pulled into more sites and places to go and see so our small walk became a lot longer. It was nice to familiarize ourselves with the town and see some of the buildings lit up at night. The row of palms at the far end of our walk was particularly nice with the way it lit up at night and led down to a church on a hill. We also walked past things like the beer museum that sounds like a good visit and got some good pictures of some of the nicer German buildings. My favorite is the one that reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
After our late evening/night walk, we went back to the hotel and firmed up our game plan for tomorrow before heading to bed.Läs mer