Day 13 - Buenos Aires

 

Today is Sunday and we're off to San Telmo. San Telmo was falling into decline and once elegant mansions have been turned into tenement housing. Recently though, money has been pouring into the barrio and its charm is being uplifted much like its sagging balconies as they are restored. The San Telmo markets are officially classified as the Antique markets however they include contemporary artwork too. It really is an eclectic bunch of stalls displaying things like old comics, records, glassware, jewelry, watches, cutlery, and other knick-knacks. The markets stretch over a small plaza (park) as well as going along a 3km stretch of Avenida Defensa (all of it cobblestoned) from San Telmo to Plaza de Mayo. The markets are evidence that very large numbers of locals and foreigners are attracted to the area and as most of Buenos Aires shops are closed on Sunday it thankfully provided a reason to get out and about.

Day 12 - Buenos Aires

The Australian dollar stretches a long way in BA. Food becomes remarkably cheap, I estimate about 1/4 of what I'd be used to paying...clothes likewise. However, wages in Argentina are very low. For example, an admin assistant in Sydney may get about $50,000 but in Argentina that position would get around 40,000 pesos or about $10,000 per annum. A teacher would earn around $14,400 per annum. A 2 bedroom flat would cost around $7,200 per annum.

Taxis. I think the drivers here are really just frustrated pilots as they seem to enjoy driving right on the lane lines instead of between them. Most cars seem to arrange themselves in a brickwork pattern so they can see further in front of them. This makes sense in a weird way because drivers change lane and stop without much warning. Having said that it doesn't feel unsafe and considering the large distances travelling from suburb to suburb and the relatively cheap fares (where a trip from Sydney Airport to the city might cost around AUD$30, here it would cost around $5), you don't mind the occasional bit of organised chaos. This city has about 1 taxi for every 3 normal cars - taxis are everywhere! You never have to wait more than 2 minutes for a taxi. Bliss!

Anyway, enough economics for today. It was raining this morning so we spent the day in Palermo Viejo (which means old part) which abounds with shops, cafes and restaurants. Its a bit like Paddington except the shops don't open until midday (today is Saturday). We just wandered around the shops and after lunch walked along to Palermo (not the old part - presumably the new part), and Plaza Italia which is where the Zoo and Botanical gardens are.

Day 11 - Buenos Aires

We continued the bus tour today first stopping at Recoleta where the BA old money lives as the city's wealthiest citizens relocated here after San Telmo became unliveable after yellow fever hit there in 1871. This is BA's most Parisian quarter, featuring wide tree-lined avenues and landscaped parks.

Cemetario de la Recoleta is the final resting place of Eva Peron (among others), wife of the President and of course, the subject of the musical Evita. The cemetary is interesting when viewed in contrast to Australian cemetaries which have very few crypts.

Rich families in Recoleta believed God lived in this cemetary and hence paid large sums of money to secure land in this cemetary and erect small granite or marble houses to entomb their loved ones.

The families continue to pay cleaners (maids?) to keep the crypts in good order. That sounds a little spooky dusting around a coffin but it just goes to show everyone has a price.

When then moved on to La Boca, which is where working class Italian immigrants settled around the port area in the mid-19th century. They often borrowed ship paint to decorate their ramshackle houses and while some resident's houses still reflect this heritage, you don't need to travel far before you realise it's still a relatively poor neighbourhood.

Apart from the usual array of public buildings such as art galleries, universities, ministeries and the large number of parks with statues, one interesting sculpture was this, Floralis Generica which looks like a giant chrome flower. The unique thing about this sculpture is that each of the 6 petals close at night due to electic motors in each petal.

Day 10 - Buenos Aires

Today we bought a 2 day ticket for the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus trip for BA. Its a good way to understand the breadth of the city and get a feel for what parts of the city you may want to revisit.

We did one circuit then decided to indulge in a bit of retail therapy in the afternoon. BA is a shopping mecca! Many malls and shopping centres. BA is a large city and needs lots of shops to cater for its population. Leather, shoes and  bags seem to be plentiful. Having said that, knowing the wages paid in this country, some of these items would represent half a week's pay making Buenos Aires an expensive city. We'll do the second day of the tour tomorrow and visit La Boca and Recoleta in more depth.

One of the centrepieces of Buenos Aires is the 9th of July Avenue which has about 16 lanes of traffic. That may sound a lot but its split quite sensibly to allow traffic to traverse safely. The column in the centre know as the Obelisco commemorates the 4th centenary of the foundation of the city.


We're staying in Puerto Madero which is a redevelopment of the old port of Buenos Aires, and not unlike Southbank in Melbourne. It now boasts swish hotels, apartment blocks, and restaurants. Its still kept remnants of the past including the canals and cranes (although freshly painted) to add some colour.

The bottom photo is a monument to the Coast Guard.

Day 9 - Iguazu to Buenos Aires

Our flight wasn't until 4pm so we spent the day moseying around the few shops there are, then walked over to the commercial area. Today is hotter than yesterday and my estimate is about 35 degrees and very humid. The bugs are nowhere near as bad as we thought they might be...in fact we haven't been bothered by them at all.

At lunchtime we spent a couple of ours sitting in the Sheraton's air-conditioned foyer which considering the weather outside was the best place to be.

The flight to BA was uneventful and we arrived at the Hotel Madero at around 7:30pm. The hotel is fantastic and we're staying in the Puerto Madero area of BA which is newly developed and pretty swish.

Day 8 - Iguazu Falls

Where do I start? Iguazu Falls is on the border between Brazil and Argentina, are 275 falls along 2.7km of river, and the highest fall is 82m which is taller than Niagara. The falls were featured in The Mission and also in Moonraker. The largest of the falls, The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo) is the most impressive of all as the spray reaches 30m overhead. The falls are part of a virgin jungle ecosystem protected by Argentine and Brazilian national parks on either side of the cascades.

We spent from about 9am until 2pm in the park and while there also did the equivalent of the Maid of the Mist tour (Niagara), which is a jet boat ride that noses in under the falls. And yes, we got absolutely soaked! We could see other people getting off earlier boats so we knew we were in for a wet time so stripped down as much as possible. The organisers provide waterproof bags for backpacks etc so shirts were dry but shorts etc stayed wet for the rest of the day.

There's not much more I can add verbally. I'll let the pictures do the talking. However, one tip, the photo at the bottom with the birds. These are swifts and they cling to the rock wall under the spray of one of the watefalls. I'm not sure why or how long they do this for but its bizarre nonetheless.

Day 7 - Rio de Janeiro to Iguazu Falls

Today was pretty much devoted to travelling but it wasn't without its problems. Everything went well until we landed in Buenos Aires from Rio. We were supposed to go through customs in BA but we had  to pay the $100 USD 'Reciprocity Fee' at Immigration. Australians and Americans even had their own line whcih would have been very quick to clear immigration. But....as soon as WE got to the cashier, his receipt printer ran out of paper. Okay, he says 'one moment please' and goes off to get a new roll of paper (yes of course it would make more sense to have a spare roll at his desk). Then, he gets the new roll but can't for the life of him figure out how to load it. He tried stuffing that paper in every which way but it wouldn't load.

Not to look defeated he puts on a serious look and rings someone to help him who appears to be telling him over the phone what to do. Nope, still no good. 'Excuse me everyone, I will ring IT!'

"Excellent, we think. At last someone will know what to do.' 20 minutes have elapsed now. IT guy arrives (I swear IT guys around the world look the same...a little overweight, wearing black, and have that 'what have these stupid users done now look?' look on their face). Anyway, IT guy is even more useless than cashier guy. He just gestures to the little printer implying he works on more important things like servers and laptops...not insignificant things like replacing paper rolls. 35 minutes have elapsed now and our connecting flight leaves in exactly 1 hour.

Cashier guy rings someone else. IT guy looks on with an approving look on his face. 10 minutes later 3 more people arrive. These are actually immigration check in people who are wondering why they have processed everyone else that arrived off the flight but there's a group of Aussies standing at the end of the room. Once they understand the problem, they all have a crack at it with no luck. 10 minutes later someone had the bright idea to ask one of the girls that works in Duty Free who changes the paper in about 15 seconds. We've been standing there for nearly an hour asking cashier guy about backup plans and what would happen if there was a blackout.

I would have loved to have taken a picture of 6 people stuffed into the cashiers cubicle trying to change a paper roll and I'm still incredulous that it took an hour to change something so basic. However, taking photos in the immigration hall is prohibited and I didn't really want to be deported yet.

Anyway we eventually got our receipt, got through immigration then grabbed our bags and ran to the domestic check-in counter. We only had 15 minutes before the flight was due to take off but after a hasty explanation about the idiots in immigration which received a knowing smile, a nod and a roll of the eyes, she checked us in and took the bags. Then, we get to the gate and because the plane is parked out on the tarmac, they had to arrange for a bus for us to be taken out there. By this time we think we are really late but as we got there, there were still people walking up the stairs.

Needless to say, we were the last people on the plane but we needn't have rushed....the plane didn't take off for another 25 minutes. Oh the joys of travel!

Day 6 - Rio de Janeiro

Our first task today was to find an ATM that took our Travelex Cash Passport card which turned out to be harder than expected. Citibank and HSBC banks were the best bet but they were either hard to find or out-of-order. Brazil has lots of ATMs but not all of them have the Visa/Cirrus sticker. However, we eventually found one and got 'cashed up'. and headed to the famous Hippie markets in Ipanema. The markets are really no longer just for hippies but include an extensive array of jewellery, leather goods, clothing, art and paintings, and other homewares as well as the obligatory tourist stuff. The suburbs of Ipanema and Leblon are much more upmarket compared to Copacabana and on our next visit would consider staying here instead.

After the markets, we travelled along the road to Leblon to a mall called Shopping Leblon. As it was a public holiday here today, and many shops were closed, the humid weather made this a good excuse to shop in air conditioned comfort for a couple of hours. Malls are malls the world over and this one was really no different but it was clean, and extensive so we managed to browse and buy a few things before heading back to the hotel.

Day 5 - Rio de Janeiro

Today we used a guide to get us around Rio. Our thanks to Leticia Levy for being such a great tour guide and a very informative day. It was only after we'd finished the day did we realise we would not have been able to do it on our own.

Incidentally Rio de Janeiro was named because the explorers though they'd found a river not a harbour, and they came across it in January.

First stop was the Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redemptor), and art deco statue erected in 1931. It sits on Corcovado, 800m above sea level.

Needless to say the view from there is fantastic with views of downtown, Sugarloaf, and the Lake. Sugarloaf is the high point in the photo below. Why it was named Sugarloaf is not certain.

I'm glad we arranged for the guide as we saw parts of Rio we wouldn't normally have seen. Its such a diverse city and the mountains that the city has built around make for outstanding backdrops. The reputation for crime and theft is largely unwarranted and possibly is simply warnings taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

The Downtown area [pictured right] boasts a bridge that is 14 kilometres long.

After Christo we travelled through the area of Santa Theresa and eventually then to Downtown where we saw 3 very different churches, the very modern Cathedral [pictured], Candelaria - the original church in Rio, and then the Monastry of Sao Bento.

Next stop was the purpose built strip used for Carnivale which is essentially a dance competition for all the samba schools in Rio. Because the government thought it a waste to have this area used only once a year, the designers planned it so it could be used  as a school for the remainder of the time. You can see the school windows (the slats) on the left of the picture.

After there we visited the western side of the city, Ipanema beach, then onto Sugarloaf which is 400m above sea level and reached only by cable car. The cable car was used in the Bond film Moonraker. From Sugarloaf you can see Copacabana Beach (the upper beach in the picture) as well.

Day 4 (NYE) - Santiago to Rio de Janeiro

We left Santiago (on time! Well done LAN Chile - you DO know what timetables are for) and headed north east over the Andes.

The route to Rio from the airport travels through some poorer parts and industrial areas but then goes through tunnels where you burst through into a more Miami-like environment of high-rise buildings with imposing sheer mountains. The Christ the Redeemer statue looks over all of Rio keeping watch.

Its New Years Eve and the taxi driver thinks there will be at least 2 million people on the beach by midnight. The weather is overcast and its rained a few times but I don't think that will stop the revellers. We've been given special wristbands so we can get to the rooftop to watch the fireworks but also to even enter the hotel if we were to venture outside. The picture below shows a large stage where there's 6 bands scheduled. The barges in the water hold the fireworks in readyness.

The official language of Brazil is Portugese which is quite different to Spanish. Add to this the fact that outside the tourist areas no-one speaks English and buying food becomes very difficult...so tonight we're just having room service. We've got a guide picking us up tomorrow morning and considering the language barrier, this should turn out to be a good idea.

The fireworks on NYE were awesome! The barges were set up about 150m off the beach and the booms from the detonations rocked your chest and assaulted your ears. The display went for about 15 minutes and in my opinion rivalled Sydney's although they didn't have a bridge to light up at the end.

The beach was packed with people and the noise when they cheered was indescribable. Copacabana beach is about 5km long and there was a mass of people along most of it. We were on the rooftop (pooldeck) of our hotel so we had an excellent view right on the railing. During the buildup, no less than 9 cruiseships lined up on the other side of the fireworks barges to watch the show. There was also a beach concert featuring Brazil's version of Kylie Minogue, Daniela Mercury.

We'd been up since 5am to catch flights from chile so were very tired and as the beach party rocked on into the night, we thought sleep would not be an option however fatigue won out in the end.

In the morning, an army of orange-overall workers were clearing Copacabana beach and Atlantic Avenue ready for the new day.