Buenos And Balls

Argentina, argentina... It's not as wacked up as Brazil, but somehow we have experienced far more crooked events here than in Brazil. Brazil didn't take our camerabag, and it gave us fresh new bills straight out of moneyland, not fake ones to whipe your ass with.













Our first night started well with juicy and cheap steaks the size of our heads, but what we didn't know is that when you gain a kilo, you lose at least two, and apparently from your luggage. So off we went to Buenos Aires to search for a replacement camera, bag, lenses and a flash. Due to this and the battery of the iPhone running out, we only have three pictures from the Argentinian side of the falls.















Unfortunately we also lost our Brazilian portuguese hand book, so there's no going back into the arms of Brazil and Hostel Natura. At least there we could throw our stuff around and nobody would take it, not from next to our beds.




Like Brazil, Argentina is HUGE so our bussride from Porto de Iguazù to Buenos Aires took about 20h. It was an overnight buss, but I couldn't sleep since the sky was full of stars that I personally can never get enough of. While Niklas snored off in his fully reclined cama suite chair-bed-spaceshuttle, I took my time trying to figure out if there was anything familiar to spot in the glittery sky. The moon perhaps, but even that was upsidedown.
Sooner than we thought, the lights of Buenos Aires redded the sky, stars disappeared into the haze of co2 and other shit shat by the millions after millions of porteños and the time came to pick up our gear and go hunting.








Buenos Aires was a pleasant surprise, another surprise was that the ex-president/current presidents husband had just died, so Buenos Aires was in a state of confusion. What confused the confusion was the census being counted on the day of our arrival, so basicly when we entered the city it was very ghostly and empty, nothing was open and nobody was out, except señora Taxi Driver of course. But luckily our driver didn't distort the calculations too much since me and Niklas filled in like heroes. Now we are finally part of something: the population of Buenos Aires.




But the bueno in Buenos Aires doesn't end in being part of the population, it is the design of the city, the vibe it gives out and the weird way it feels so European but has details that scream Latin America. I loved how street music, even the worst, sounded awesome. The subway ride back from the delicious Vegan take-away went by fast as two random guys displayed their talent of singing and drumming weird objects.




Restaurants are also a bueno. In the land of sweet Pablo the cow it's hard to imagine such a wide range of good vegan and vegetarian restaurants, maybe some people here just understand what makes Pablo so perfecto and have decided they'd rather perfect themselves by eating Pablos food.





We are bound to go back to Buenos Aires in some point, to check out stuff we didn't have time to do on this visit. Halloween threw us out from the city for now, but we'll be back, even if it's just to get our non-fake money back from the deceiving taximan. Thanks for the fake ones though, made a nice origami. (I must say he was a very talented scam artist though, points for that.)




We are now on the way to El Bolson. This time we're traveling in cama, and they don't even offer us water. Our surroundings are a mixture of red dead redemption and mars. Very red, dead, dry and monotone. Roads are a standard straight, cars passing every 10 minutes or so. My question is, how long do we have to go?














... Been in el Bolsón a few days now

:)))

Location:El Bolsón, Rio Negro, Argentina

Good times

Wow. I think I just had one of the greatest weeks in a long time. I don't really know what to say about it, because there's so much to say and I can't really put my head around it. How can I explain something when there are no words for that magnitude of awesomenes?







I wish I still was in awesomeland, the awesomest place I know so far. We had everything there: Cheap and delicious home made food, a garden with endless opportunities for relaxing, the singing of birds or any artist on your iPod, frogs and fireflies to spice up the nightlife and so so so much more. We had pool, people, playstation and pineapple. We had everything and more. We came for the falls but instead we fell in love with this awesomeland of a hostel. I will miss chatting at the bar what ever time of a day it happened to be or running away from rolo de bolo, the insane leg biting dogbert. I will miss Shivas, the attention-loving cat, who kept my tummy warm and was a friend when all other friends decided to dump us and go to El Bolson. But mostly I will miss the people, because they made me feel like I was finally in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.










Oh, and the falls were great too!

















I guess we can't stay in paradise forever, it would no longer be paradise then would it? We are only at the beginning and there lie more paradises and people ahead, no point wondering in the past when there's so much going on in the now, not the future, but at this precise moment.

So much crazy stuff fit into less than a week. I really don't even wan't to start telling about it. If you wan't to know, come see it for your selves, but beware of the dragoman!



This bus-truck-thingy as Niklas put it, rummaged to our hostel on Friday. According to one of the passengers (a british guy who ordered a drink of everything since he had ''been through so much, you get me?'') they had toured Argentina in a week. Basicly the annoyingly pompous tour guide of the strange orange bus-truck-vehicle took care of everything so that the people on board didn't have to do much anything else than go along. They stayed in their group the whole time, did everything by the schedule, didn't talk to any locals and the guide even held motivational speeches during lunch that ended with forced clapping. I bet they had to sing group songs when on the move. But the rest of us, AKA. The cool kids, got a good laugh out of those people. The british guy, who ended up throwing up on somebodys backpack, said his girlfriend booked it. I bet he'll enjoy his next two weeks even more...
For those who thought this sounded totally awesome, check out: www.dragoman.com

P.S Argentina is also awesome. Life is good guys, 27€ for two half a kilo steaks from the land of deliciousness + a bottle of malbec from Mendoza, water, pepsi, two espressos of perfect taste, fruity cheesecake of 5 star quality, tips included. Did I mention the free shots? All for 27€ per person. I can not not say this: HAJOTKAA PAKKASEEN!! Ahhahhahhahaa!!!




P.p.s during the last three days Niklas has experimented with the local liquor to an extent of bewilderment. By the time he gets to Finland he will no doubt be an expert when it comes to enjoying cachaça.

Location:Hostel Natura, Foz do Iguaçu

(A) Better stay on budget

Lately me and my travelbud have been having an incy bincy bit of trouble with staying on budget. Brazil turned out to be a bit more expensive than we originally expected, still, most of the money has gone to a good cause called food, not alcohol, if that's what you're thinking. Luckily we are still on budget, at least if today is as cheap as yesterday, and let me say: Yesterday was cheap.


Yesterday
(well, last friday actually)

Breakfast in Pousada Alto Astral is by far the biggest we have enjoyed during this trip. In the morning we munched up the fruit, bread, pudding and other wonders preparing our selves for the bus ride to Olinda. The ticket to ride cost around a euro per person, take that HSL!







In Recife we enjoyed a meal with Tulios family before his parents would hit the road to João Pessoa. There was going to be a wedding in Pessoa and we were also invited by Tulios parents, if we chose to go. For our surprise, Tulios mother had already gone through the trouble of finding me and Niklas something to wear, since it was going to be a fancy occasion.







We drove to João Pessoa through trafic that make the mornings on Kehä 1 look like childs play. Seriously. But we made it in time, at least for the reception.


The reception

In my life I've only been to one wedding, a small and simple wedding with little fuss, so this thing took me by surprise.













There we were, standing in this huge room with flower decorations in each table, wall and corner. The room was lit by chandeliers and coloured spotlights. On the sides lay long glass tables filled with every kind of cheese, meat and chocolate.







We ate, drank and laughed all night. If your glass was empty, a waiter would fill it. If you wanted whisky, a guy would make it for you on the spot. The band played all the cheesiest classics while people went for their second, third or fourth plate. New food kept arriving all the time, teasing us to eat more and more and more.













But all meals have an ending: Dessert. I have no idea how many desserts they had to offer besides the cake. At that point we felt like rolling balls, a fact that had nothing to do with the chocolate covered strawberries and fondue we found at the, yet to be discovered by others, coffee table. I dare say the smartest people took the tables next to the bathroom, and may I mention that the womens bathroom was stacked with everything to make a girls life easier. I felt like looting the cutely wrapped pain relievers, perfume and other "necessities".



















Desserts came and went, literarely. Desserts were there and gone in a matter of minutes, stuffed into every bra, jacket, bag, shoe or napkin. According to Tulio, this looting business is totally normal, happens at every wedding, the looters, surprise surprise, being the woman (or the manslaves too afraid to fight back their munchillaz). In our party, I was the one who had to sneak out the loot, the box of treasures that had been pinned into my hands. Now I knew why they invited me: nobody dares to say no to the foreign girl.







So I'd say this wedding was ok. Not my style perhaps, but
a steady good. Most importantly, we didn't spend a dime. One euro, one day, there's budget for you.




Now feast on these:





















































The end.

Location:Somewhere near João Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil