Friday, October 13, 2017

From hot to cold bariloche

Registered my flights online with air Argentina... Finished packing.... And finally checked into the place I was staying yeah I know....this was day 3! But after the first day getting the keys.. no one was at reception.... Had a chat to Claudia on reception, told her of my excitement of Brazil...etc... Anyway checked in an asked for a late check out... She arranged a bus to pick me up to go to the airport.... eMail popped up for air Argentina.... Your flight is delayed 10 mins...was wow, that's really good.. way better than how latam just cancelled my old flight and didn't say nothing....well other than asking if I wanted a seat upgrade...

Got to the airport.... 3  hours to kill... Another email.... My second flight is delayed 2 hours....ugh... One of my hates is arriving late to a location... (Had no option with this schedule) at Buenos... Noticed all the people getting on the flight had thick coats on... Was omg, I really don't have any cold weather gear....

Arrived bariloche around 11:30, got to the apartment...at midnight.... No one there...damn... Called the number...left a message.... Was all in Spanish.... Ugh....5-10 mins later...a lady comes down... No English... But checked me into the apartment.....

Anyway here are some pictures of bariloche.... Very much I guess like Taupo/Queenstown





















Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Cross to Brazil.... Iguazu from the other side..

Today's task...  See Iguazu falls from the Brazilian side....  Simple enough?  Yeah right...  Not when you don't speak the language... Get on the wrong bus....  Haha...

Yep...  I got on the bus...  Iguazu Brazil...  Thinking hey...this should be it?  crossed the boarder,  this time with my passport....  Got back on the same bus... And continued on.... Hmm... Yes we were in Brazil...  Quick look at Google maps we appeared to be going into the Brazilian city....  Hmm...  Finally everyone got off...  I was like hmm...  I found a moto taxi...  Yep they have a motorcycle taxi service here...  He took me to the falls..... 

Anyway...  Got in...  No where near as much walking as the argentine side,  which I must have walked 15+ km...  Cost...  Was 64 reel so 25-30nz this side...  You get wet....  Amazing panoramic views of the falls...  But... Was a big let down compared to the argentine side...  Not deterred.... I visited the bird sanctuary...  Walking distance from the falls...  That was really good...  Got to get up and close to soo many birds... 

After that...  I caught a taxi back to the argentine side... And found.... I needed the Brazilian stamp on my passport... Ugh...  Taxi driver was happy enough to help out... With no Portuguese...  He could understand Google translate Spanish.... 

Got back to the hotel... 37 degrees...  Pool was there...  Ready to be claimed as mine.... 

After a swim...  Settled down to catch up with some blogging....  Next...  Rain thunder... Ugh...  So happy to be back in the dry.... 























From bone dry to dripping wet

Arrived at the Argentina side of iguazu falls... Check-in was a little strange, I was getting messages when was arriving. (from hotels.com) met Claudia, on reception, showed me a map of how to get around... Buses restaurants etc... Then a panic family emergency cut it short.... She said just check in tomorrow.... No has been here...

Anyway first night.... About 2 am it started..... Rolling thunder... lightning... And alot of rain.... Never really heard thunder like this before.... It was constant... For 6-7 hours.. around 9am... I ventured out... Really couldn't see the end of the rain... Streets were mini rivers... I was a drowned rat before too long....got to the bus stop.... Got on a bus... Rio iguazu.... Thinking hey that's the bus to the falls.... Appeared a few tourist were on it...... Got to the boarder between Argentina and Brazil... You need a passport... Duh I left it behind as I didn't want it to get wet....

Tried my best to communicate..  Google translate is a gem.... Except I learnt... Falls doesn't translate...... Needed 'cataracus' anyway... Didn't get too far... Started walking in the rain... Heading back to the hotel.... Thinking damn today... Is a write off... Due too the weather....

Got closer to the hotel... 1km walk.... Decided... Frok it... I'll walk into town.... Started to clear .... Around lunchtime... I figured... Should I attempt Argentina side of the falls? They did say you need 6 hours... This time... I caught a bus..'cataracus' sure enough it got me to the entrance.... Cost 500 peso's... 40nzd... Got a map... And started... Walking...

See the pictures... Best was at the end... Amazing amounts of water.. going down the devil's throat.... Cameras were getting drenched at this stage....