Iguacu and Salta, Argentina

After a long stay in Buenos Aires Nate and I finally made it out of the city and into the countryside. Our first trip was 14 hr busride to Iguacu Falls -one of the most beautiful places in the world. We got there at 9 am in the morning and left at 7 pm on a 26 hr bus ride to Salta, located in northern argentina. At the falls we wondered around in jaguar infested woods and also got stuck behind huge tour groups of old Argerntinean women, who would never move out of the way. We wanted to cross over to the Brazilian side to see more of the falls but unfortunately American´s and Brazilian´s don´t like eachother and charge money to enter their respective countries (100 dollars US). After the falls we ate fresh made pasta and watched world cup futbol until our bus trip.

26 hours on a bus sounds bad but in Argentina its first class all the way -except for the food which makes airplanes look like flying five star restaurants. Along the busride we only stopped once in a small town called Tucuman, where nate and I ate empanadas and discussed the possibility of ever finding a decent toilet again. Back on the bus we met some Aussies who happened to get us a hostel in Salta for about 75 cents a night. Once in the hostel they made me red in the face with their proclamations of ¨We hear there is a great bar full of gringos, want to go?¨ No thanks. Instead we ended up going to the local dance club where terrible latin rap and cheap beer abounded. Surprislingly the people in the club danced worse than I but we had a good time hanging out there, only to be followed home by a pack of wild dogs, who had come with us to the club and waited outside for us for our exit close to 2 hrs.

With one last day in Argentina Nate and I decided to treat oursleves to some fine dining. At 11 o´clock in the morning I ordered a filet mignon which was one of the most tender, juicy and biggest peices of meat I have ever seen or ate. In america it would cost 25$ minimum at a resaurant, in Argentina it cost 3$ and putting up with beggars and shoeshine boys harrasing you throughout the otherwise enjoyable meal. Nate tells me high unemployment is rampant in S. America and this leads to everyone trying to sell you junk on the street, asking you for money and generally bothering you. My new technique is to ask them for money with a smile before they can say anything and this generally drives them away with a laugh.

Our second attempt at fine dining led us to a restaurant where the waiter told us that the Llama was the house speciality and could be found no where else. Foolishly we believed his lies and the next day I found nate ill and Llama on many other restaurant menus. Before heading out of salta we climbed steps for an hour to reach a great view and another huge Jesus statue. Apparently it is a law in S America that every city must be overlooked by either jesus or mary.