Pining for the Good Life

It~s coming to the end of my time in Argentina, I~m very sorry to say. I~m writing this on the triple borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in a little woodsy town called Puerto Iguazu. I arrived here 2 days ago after a long 22hr bus journey from Buenos Aires. Immediately on arrival, despite the sunny skies and soaring temperatures, I began to feel acute loneliness for Buenos Aires and, particularly, for the friends I made there.

Those 3 weeks in B.A. have been among my favourite in all my time in South America. It~s funny how attached you can become to relative strangers. It~s one of the sadder aspects of being on the move. You constantly meet these amazingly interesting people with whom you just click, people you dont seem to meet in your bubble back at home, but because you happen to be going in different directions, have different plans, you go your seperate ways. Of course, emails are exhanged and promises made, but the very nature of travel is moving on, meeting new people, seeing new places...and you tend to forget about the promises. It happens everyone. The people I met in B.A, the people who became my band of friends for nearly a month, were some of the funniest, most interesting people Ive met in SOuth America, and if I manage to stay in touch with even just one of them, I will be happy.

My Welsh roommate, Ciaran, and I hit it off from Day 1. In fact, he has been my favourite roommate of my entire trip. Sometimes, you just meet people with whom you dont have to try at all, and Ciaran was one of those people. It helped that we both had the same ridiculous sense of humour and I will definitely be swinging by the south of Wales on my way home.

Nico and Anthony, the closest match to Bill & TEd that Ive ever seen!, were the life and soul of our group. Ive never laughed so much in all my life as I have around those two. Anthony was one of those people who, when he started to tell a story, managed to paint a total picture for everyone by describing every little detail. One of the Top 5 Moments in BA is his story about this nutter called Chris who was in his class at school who once picked up a barking jack russell and just threw him over a fence! Nico was my drum´n´bass buddy and I have some great memories of our nights out around the city - a very unique guy who reminds me a lot of an old friend.

Next up was Andy, a really sound guy from Westmeath, who moved into our dorm. Andy and I became really good friends and had lots of ¨lying in bed¨ chats. Andrew and Evelyn´s Day of Culture is my favourite memory of Andy! We set out one day, frazzled from a week of heavy dancing and partying, in search of some soul satisfaction. Inititally, we had great plans - museums, churches, various murals, etc. We thought we´d go for a ¨spot of tea¨ to get us kickstarted for our mission, and decided to check out Cafe Tortoni (BA´s oldest cafe), but ended up having a massive afternoon tea, after which we couldnt physically stand up, so it seemed appropriate to go the whole hog and order a bottle of champagne! A very giggly, silly afternoon was had! Needless to say, the Day of Culture never really got under way! Going to be meeting up with him in Auckland, NZ which Im hugely looking forward to.

Every day in Buenos Aires was exciting. You never knew when you got up in the ¨morning¨ (2pm onwards ) who you~d be having dinner with that night or where you might end up. Like New York, it is a city bursting at the seams, full of possibilities. There´s never an excuse to be bored in BA! Ive never partied so hard. Its funny because I thought I had grown out of clubbing...or at least I had at home...but I´d forgotten how much I enjoyed it, especially drum n bass. We had some ammmaaazing nights dancing!

And then, there were the restaurants!! Oh god, in Buenos Aires you can grow fat happily. If anyone ever needs a recommendation for eating in BA, you know where to find me!!

Favourite moments were going hat shopping with Nico and Andy, dinner and a tango show with a big group from the hostel, Anthony doing my make-up for a night out , going to th zoo with Ciaran, getting kicked out of an Indian restaurant! (not our fault!), our last night together, and of course Tuesday nights in Bahrain!

Life is somewhat quieter after B.A. We all happened to leave around the same time and go our seperate ways. Ive been spending the last few days relaxing in the tropical weather of Iguazu. Up here near the jungle its stickily hot, but it~s great to feel the sun~s rays on my body again.

Yesterday, I visited Iguazu Falls with my roommate Belinda and her boyfriend Ollie (an Ozzie couple). Iguazu Falls are spectacular, even though right now the water levels are the lowest in 9 years!

Legend has it that the falls were created when a young warrior named Caroba incurred the wrath of a forest god by escaping downriver in a canoe with a young girl named Naipur, with whom the god had become infatuated. Enraged, the god caused the riverbed to collapse in front of the lovers. Naipur was turned into a rock at the base of the falls, and Caroba into a tree which overlooks the river.

Im not wild about the hostel here - its more like a hotel. Its like a shopping center or something - big and white with lots of lights. The staff arent friendly and theres a weird vibe about the place. Having a good laugh hanging out with Belinda though....she´s a really interesting girl who has been a tour guide in Vietnam and Cambodia for the last 2 years, so she has a lot of good stories!

PLanning on moving on to Rio in the next day or two, which seems like the perfect place to finish this great adventure in South America!

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Buenos Aires is my new favourite city - it´s depressing to think that I have only a week left here. Since I arrived here last MOnday week it´s been a rollercoaster of partying, dancing, drinking, eating and meeting new people. My body clock is COMPLETELY out of whack! I am now a creature of the night, catching only a few hours sleep during the afternoon. The people of this city party hard! I dont know how they hold down normal jobs.

Nightlife in BA is pretty different to at home. You dont darken the door of a club before 2! and things stay going until 7 in the morning. The city is literally pumping at all hours of the day and night. ç

Im staying in a really hip old part of the city called Palermo. Up to a couple of years ago, this is where the bohemian population of the city hung out, but recently there has been an influx of rich wealthy families and most of the artists and musicians have moved to the San Telmo area instead. Palermo is a great place to base yourself i you are staying in BA for a while - the bars and restaurants are AMAZING and there are quirky little shops and boutiques dotted all over the place. BA has an exceedingly European flavour to it, and really stands out from other South American cities in this regard.

The porteños (people from BA) are so friendly that it´s difficult to leave. They make you feel at home straight away, introducing you to their friends and dragging you out to their favourite watering holes. There´s no such thing as sitting in a corner nursing your drink for the night - whether you want to or not, you are on your feet dancing constantly. For me, its great! I LOVE dancing and theres so much music here in BA that I actually have sore feet. One of my favourite places tht Ive been here is a tiny little drum´n´bass club called Bahrain. Myself and few people Ive gotten to know here have gone there for the last 2 Tuesdays and, if I was staying here, it would become a weekly ritual.

I have managed to fit in some culturual stuff while Ive been here. Last week I took a trip to Recoleta Cemetary to see where Evita is buried. The richest and most important families of Buenos Aires are buried in this place, and it makes for a very interesting few hours wandering around the ornate graves and headstones. Lots of feral cats live in this graveyard and they are like souls of the dead wandering around the place.

Myself and my Welsh roommate Kieran took a notion of going to the Zoo one day last week, which I really enjoyed. its been years since I was in a zoo and I felt like a big kid again. Also, visited the Evita museum here which was really interesting as I didnt know very much about here beforehand. Going to try and take in some tango lessons before I leave and also see the Teatro Colon, which apparently is one of the most impressive opera houses in the world. The problem with BA is that you dont where to start! ITS HUGE! and its very easy to stay within the confines of whatever barrio you happen to be staying in.

One thing I do know is that I will definitely try to get back to BA in the near future. This is somewhere everyone should have on their travel itinerary!

Roommates from Hell

Finally got my ass in gear and left Cordoba. I stayed a little longer than I had planned, so it was time to go anyway, but additionally I may have ended up murdering some Germans if I hadnt. For the second half of my stay in Cordoba I had the pleasure of sharing with two of the most crazy, inconsiderate girls on the planet!! Now, everyone expects a certain amount of disruption in a dorm-room situation. You cant be too anal about it if you are woken up in the middle of the night. People do have to make some noise coming in and getting ready for bed. and let´s face it, you dont really have anything pressing to do the next day! BUT THESE GIRLS WERE UNREAL!!!!

Every night, they would crash into the room at some ungodly hour, turn on the light, always hammered drunk, fall over everything (including stuff that wasnt even in their way!) and spend at least an hour talking and laughing before finally collapsing into their beds. One of our roommates, an American guy, totally lost it with them one night and stormed out of the room, banging the door behind him.

The last night there was the straw that broke the camel´s back, so to speak. This time, it was my turn to come back at 7 in the morning, having been out clubbing with some friends. When I got back to the hostel, the dorm-room door was locked, which was really strange as we hadnt even been given keys for it....so I knocked..and knocked..and knocked....NADA. I went downstairs to see if the guy at the reception had another key...of course, he didnt. So, he came up and THUMPED...and THUMPED....and then he just got mad and starting shouting at them. Eventually, we heard a various array of sounds from within, including a loud thud followed by a stream of curses in German. Obviously, one of them had fallen out of the top bunk trying to get down! An intense battle began from inside with the stiff lock and it took a couple of minutes before the door finally opened. I was greeted with an expression I wouldnt have thought possible for a human being. The key was thrust at the night receptionist and the beast returned to its bed all the while muttering and clicking. I made my way to my bed as best Ias I could in the gloom, eyes slowl adjusting to the dark. I slowly realised that they had not oe but two guys in the room with us, and one of these fine specimens had decided to crash out on my bed, and was snoring splendidly! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Oh, the joys of being a backpacker!

Cordoba Province

Hola! Writing this in Cordoba, Argentina´s second largest city, in the heart of the country. When I arrived on Friday morning after a long uncomfortable overnight bus journey, it was grey and wet which did nothing to help my low spirits. YET AGAIN, I was the victim of a robbery, this time on the bus. Unfortunately, I fell asleep my with MP3 player on. I remember thinking before I dropped off that I should put it away but I was enjoying listening to it. Anyway, I must have been sleeping pretty soundly because whoever took it managed to get the earphones out of my ears without me waking up! Grrrrr. I was pretty gutted as I had over 2000 songs on there and it is my constant companion on my travels. The people of this continent rob you blind!! Anyway, what can you do except accept it and continue to be as vigilant as possible. Everyone seems to fall victim to it as some stage. I got an email from Ringo the other day - his bag was robbed in Buenos Aires with his passport, MP3 player, money, plane tickets...all in it. It´s crap when it happens, but in the overall scheme of things, when you weigh up the good and bad experiences here, it doesnt really matter.

Cordoba is a lovely city, full of students and beautiful Jesuit architecture. The centre is compact and easy to navigate on foot and Ive really enjoyed wandering the little streets over the last few days. The people are extremely friendly and it feels much safer than any of the cities I have been in so far.

I met up with a few people I already knew from Santiago, including Karen, the Irish girl from Donegal and have been hanging out with her for the last few days. It was a long weekend here in Argentina. Not only was it Father´s Day on Sunday, but they were also celebrating the day of their national flag on Monday. Apparently, the Argentinian flag was the first of the South American countries and they are very proud of this fact. As the city was like a ghost town on monday, we hopped on a bus into the mountains to a little town called Alta Gracia...the childhood home of the revolutionary leader, Che Guevara. The house is turned into a museum now and we spent a veryenjoyable few hours there. Afterwards, we visited the home of the Argentinian composer, Marcus La Falla. I had never actually heard of him before. Finally, we spent some time on a Jesuit estancia (ranch) in the town. The Jesuit order owned many such ranches throughout Argentina in years gone by, and they kept many black slaves who worked the land. Pretty informative afternoon all around!

The food here in Argentina is absolutely AMAZING! and every backpacker you meet is dining like a king every night. For $6-10 here, you can get a steak which would set you back €30 at home! Wine is dirt cheap and excellent. Also, the people in this country are really stylish and dress really well. Even though the economy is in the doldrums (with 50% of the population below the poverty line), they seem to maintain a pretty good standard of living.

So, tomorrow I am heading to a little town in the Sierras called La Cumbra.

World Cup Fever

One thing is pretty evident as you travel around South America right now. The people of this continent LIVE for football!! The atmosphere here is absolutely electric, and I really wish Ireland were taking part. Every guy you meet is coordinating travel plans around the world cup games and the cities are jam-packed full of people on the hunt for big screen TVs.

The Argentina - Serbia Montenegro match is on right now. I am sitting in an internet cafe bursting with locals all glued to the tv! Argentina seem to be kicking ass, as expected. Most of the businesses have shut until the match is over, and there´s a real holiday atmosphere around the centre. Every time Argentina score, you can hear roars for miles around! The girls seem to be screaming the loudest, while the men run out of shop doors and perform strange ritualistic dances with each other in the middle of the street before hurrying back inside to catch the replays.

I´m waiting around like a fugitive for a bus at nine o´clock tonight. I´m off to Cordoba for a few days and am planning to escape into the Sierra mountains for a bit if I can. I really want to get away from the big cities for a while and just chill out somewhere quiet. Today, also, I have to organise my flight to New Zealand. I´m hoping to fly on July 31st and have found a pretty good fare, I think.

Went horse-riding for the second time yesterday. It was fantastic to be out in the fresh air all day surrounded by spectacular mountains, condors soaring above us. My horse´s name was Penqueño and he was a particualarly willful creature. We rode all afternoon and returned to a blazing log fire and a spread fit for a king in a little log cabin. We lazed for a few hours drinking Malbec wine and mate before climbing reluctantly back into our bus back to Mendoza.

(The Argentinians are really addicted to drinking mate. It´s a herb grown mainly in Argentina and Bolivia, and is full of good things apparently. They drink it from special gourds with a long spout, and it is prepared by filling the vessel almost to the brim with the herb, adding some sugar to the top and then topping it off with boiling water. You suck the liquid through the straw until it is gone, then top it up again and pass to someone else. It´s a very social pratice, and you rarely see an Argentinian without a gourd and thermos flask under his arm.)

When we arrived back Rachel, Ringo and Sarah left to travel to Buenos Aires, so myself and Karen had a "quiet night" in the hostel playing Jenga with some Argentinians and a couple from Longford. Good clean fun all around. Had a much needed early night but had some seriously crazy dreams....