Curitiba

Arrived to Curitiba on Friday night. I dumped my bags at the youth hostel and had a walk around the pedestrian malls in town which were nice enough, and dinner in the new shopping mall that was just created from the old train station.
On Saturady I jumped on the tourist bus and visited Jardim Bôtanico which had a waterfall inside a huge greenhouse, the Museo Oscar Niemeyer which was inside ´the big eye´. He is the most famous Brazillian architect and came up with some weird designs, this one included. Parque Tanguá was next where they converted an old quarrie into a big pond with waterfall, and then the Ópera de Arama which was built in another old quarry. They seem to be very imaginative with what to do with old quarries around here. Just on sunset I went to Torre Panorâmica where from the top I had a great view over the entire city.
Sunday I had to get up at the crack of dawn and took the Serra Verde Express to Morrentes. This is the most scenic train trip in Brazil. It had great views at it went through down the mountains with everyone hanging out the windows and hooting whenever we went through a tunnel (which was very often). Morrentes was in full swing celebrating the last day of their fortnight long festival where there were some streets set up with markets, some more streets set up with musicians and performances, and other streets set up with Oktoberfest style tents serving beer and steak. Interestingly the steak tents where run by the local hospital, so I thought it better not to enquire where they sourced their steaks.
Got the overnight bus to São Paulo which was a rough ride as the driver swerved down the mountains.

Ilha Santa Catarina

Wednesday it turned overcast again, so had a walk up the beach and we spent the afternoon with a big championship of beach volleyball. Fortunately we didnt adopt Brazillian rules where only the feet, chest and head can touch the ball!
Thursday it was still raining so I went into the town of Lagoa and had a look around, then walked down to the main surf beach where the Brazillian leg of the world surfing championships is held.
Today I got a bus out of Florianopolis around lunchtime to Curitiba.

Florianopolis

On Sunday I crossed back over to Brazil and checked out that side of the waterfalls with the american girls from the neighbouring hostel. This was just as amazing as the Argentine side, but you got a better view of the entire waterfalls. At one point you could walk out on a platform underneath the spay of the main falls. It was mandatory to get a photo underneath the falls, so we were all soaked in seconds, only to have to go back into the downpour because someone had stepped into the photo. I think it was all a plan to get us properly soaked for the day. Walked up to the top of the falls, and met up with Alex of Adelaide from the day before and a few english girls from the hostel and are currently living in Asuncion. Much to their dismay they had no luck in convincing me how great Asuncion is.
Got the overnight bus from Foz to Florianopolis (just 15 hours), checked out the city and then caught the local bus out to Barra da Lagoa where there is an aussie hostel, but the only thing Aussie about the place seems to be the (half) flag flying next to the Brazilian flag. Is a good atmosphere in the hostel with games played early into the morning.
Tuesday I walked up to the lighthouse, then over the hills which gave a great view over the entire island. Then walked down to the next beach which turned out to be a nudist beach and was particularly scary so it was straight past there to Praia Mole. Spent the day on the beach before walking along the lake back home.
Is overcast today so just hanging around town. Will be a soccer match on the beach starting soon so the Aussies will be represented there.
Another 2 nights here before probably staying a few nights in Curitibata, then on to Sao Paulo en route to Rio!

Iguazu Falls

I arrived to Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) at 4am and it was freezing. Quickly got the beanie out and walked through the nice parks to town, which was just setting up for a busy day of shopping. Caught the bus out to Itaupi Dam, which is the biggest hydro-electric facility in the world and one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. Watched the movie and did the free tour inside the dam wall and around the top. I then walked across the bridge to Brazil, and eventually found someone to stamp my passport. Spent a few hours in Foz which had a nice main street with plenty of cafés, then caught the bus over to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina to stay the night since it was a smaller town and much cheaper. Today I explored the Argentine side of the falls. The island and top walk were closed due to the high water, but the waterfalls were impressive which looked like the chocolate waterfall out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The upper walk was amazing... the walkways went right over the water, and you could look over the edge. The bottom walkway gave a fantastic view of the entire waterfalls. The must have photo was taken in the spray of the waterfalls, where everyone was soaked within seconds.
Tomorrow will see the Brasilian side and will look to take an overnight bus to Florianopolis.

Asuncion

Arrived to Paraguay after a lot of waiting in bus stations and sleepless overnight busses. I crashed near the bus station and enjoyed a good feed with live music and watched boca juniors smash boliviano. I caught the local city bus into town in the morning, left my bags at a fancy residential (like a hotel, but its actually someones house) and checked out town. Saw the senate, parliament, palace and other government buildings. Other than this Asuncion wasnt super impressive. Town was deserted by 6pm, and finding a feed became a real challenge. Eventually a hamburger cooked on the side of a road was had, which had the special Paraguay taste of diesel fumes from the ancient busses that would accelerate up the hill with the exhuaste pipes centimeters from my cooking hamburgers.
The next day I headed out to the resort town (Lonely Planets terrible description) of San Bernadino. This place was well past its glory days. The main beach was delapidated and flooded, and after 2 hours I was on my way back to the city. Caught the overnight bus to Ciudad del Este.

Montevideo y Salto

Spent a fantastic few days in Montevideo. Arrived on Thursday night after a day on the beaches in Punta del Esta. I caught up with Meybell, a mexican who is currently on exchange at the university in Uruguay. She was sharing a place with a few other exchange students so I found a spare spot on the floor under the dining table to roll out my sleeping bag for a few nights. We hit up the university´s asado (bbq) for the exchange students that night. Friday I explored the town with Meybell. There wasn´t a whole lot to see in town, but we tried out some new restaurants and found a great one in the centre of town that served up a huge chivito (steak sandwhich) for A$2. In the evening we headed to the Universidad Catòlica to hook ourselves up with tickets to the university´s commencement party later that night. This was held out at the national Polo club (a long way out of town!). Partied all night with live bands and cheap drinks. We also got free umbrellas which was great timing given its been raining almost constantly since.
The next day was wet wet wet, so I walked down to the beach and back, and waited till midnight and headed to the bus stations with the exchange students to catch the overnight bus up to Salto.
I arrived in Salto at 5am in the pitch dark and the heaviest rain I have seen. Sheltered in the bus station for a few hours until it was dry enough to venture out and find a hotel to crash at. By lunch I had made it out of town to the local thermal pools, caught up with other guys again (2 germans, 1 austrian and 3 spanish) for a day of bathing in stinking hot water.
We went into the city for dinner and tracked down the local bar for a cheap cocktail.
This morning I caught the bus over the border to Concordia, Argentina and now waiting the 12 hours for my bus to leave for Corrientes at midnight, on my way up to Asuncion, Paraguay. Hopefully will make it there sometime tomorrow arvo!

Montevideo y Salto

Spent a fantastic few days in Montevideo. Arrived on Thursday night after a day on the beaches in Punta del Esta. I caught up with Meybell, a mexican who is currently on exchange at the university in Uruguay. She was sharing a place with a few other exchange students so I crashed on their floor. We hit up the university´s asado (bbq) for the exchange students that night. Friday I explored the town with Meybell. There wasn´t a whole lot to see in town, but we tried out some new restaurants and found a great one in the centre of town that served up a huge chivito (steak sandwhich) for A$2. In the evening we headed to the Universidad Catòlica to hook ourselves up with tickets to the university´s commencement party later that night. This was held out at the national Polo club (a long way out of town!). Partied all night with live bands and cheap drinks. We also got free umbrellas which was great timing given its been raining almost constantly since.
The next day was wet wet wet, so I walked down to the beach and back, and waited till midnight and headed to the bus stations with the exchange students to catch the overnight bus up to Salto.
I arrived in Salto at 5am in the pitch dark and the heaviest rain I have seen. Sheltered in the bus station for a few hours until it was dry enough to venture out and find a hotel to crash at. By lunch I had made it out of town to the local thermal pools, caught up with other guys again (2 germans, 1 austrian and 3 spanish) for a day of bathing in stinking hot water.
We went into the city for dinner and tracked down the local bar for a cheap cocktail.
This morning I caught the bus over the border to Concordia, Argentina and now waiting the 12 hours for my bus to leave for Corrientes at midnight, on my way up to Asuncion, Paraguay. Hopefully will make it there sometime tomorrow arvo!

Punta del Esta

I watched a big electrical storm in Colonia over the river on Tuesday night. With the impending rain, it was a quick run back to the hostel only to find the roof wasnt very waterproof. Watched on TV how the same storm had caused flooding in Mar del Plata and flooded the BsAs subway.
The next morning i caught a bus through Montevideo to Punta del Esta. This is like the gold coast of Uruguay, with plenty of skyscrapers and nice beaches. It is the official point where Rio del la Plata reaches the Atlantic Ocean. These can be seen on either side of the peninsula, but it all looks like ocean to me.
With the high season already finished, the place is very empty, but the water still great for swimming. Now off to Montevideo for a few days.

Colonia del Sacremento

I left Buenos Aires on Monday morning after a very enjoyable week staying with Any. Many thanks to her and her family for having me stay all this time.
I jumped on the next boat over the river to Colonia del Sacremento, Uruguay. It only took an hour, then another hour to find an ATM that actually worked. I dumped my bags at the Hostel Español then headed into Barrio Histórico which is a UNESCO heritage site protecting the old village that was build by the Portugese to watch to the Spanish, but was then taken over by the Spaniards.
It´s a very nice town, with ancient stone buildings (with walls 1m thick), rough coblestone streets, and little cafés and restaurants on the footpaths. The atmosphere reminds me of Luang Prabang, Laos. It´s very peaceful after all the noise of BsAs.
This morning after breakfast at the panaderia, I climbed up to the top of the lighthouse where I could just make out the skyline of BsAs on the horizon over the river. Then grabbed a pushbike and headed out to the bullring, which appears not to have been used in a few years, then rode around the historic part of town. My bum is now thanking me for riding over all those cobblestone lanes.
Tomorrow I´ll take an early bus to Montevideo, where I will take another bus somewhere else for 2 days. Perhaps up the coast a little towards Punta del Esta or somewhere. I´ll know once I see where the next busses are going!

Tatii´s 15th Birthday Party

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Tatii´s (Tatiana) 15th birthday party. She is the neighbour here in Wilde. Rather than celebrate the 18th or 21st birthdays like we do in Australia, in Argentina they celebrate their 15th (and the guys miss out completely), and they do it in style!
We arrived there about 8.30. They had the reception upstairs all with fancy lights on the walls, funky music, waiters going around with flash sandwiches, pizza and empanadas, and drinks. Everyone was dressed up with their best dresses and suits. I wiped my sneakers so they weren´t full of mud, so i looked the part also! Then we went downstairs where Tatii had changed into a new dress looking like she was getting married, and walked out with her father and greeted everyone. We sat down and she did the waltz with her dad, then everyone else joined in. She had to dance with all the boys in the room, but didn´t get all the way through them! we then had an entré which was some nice tandoori chicken, and the waiters were serving drinks constantly to us all night.
Dinner consisted of an amazing number of courses. Next was served entré with some omelette things, stuffed eggs, etc, then the main course which was hot chicken, some fancy potato, etc then we had dessert which was icecream and fruit salad (this was about 3am). The next course was cake, they had a big wedding-like cake, and tables full of other cakes. I got stuck into the lemon merangue pie while being filmed by the film crew that were making a DVD of the night. The final course at 5.30am was beer and pizza. All the courses were spread out over the night, with different dancing, and ceremonies like the speaches, candle lighting ceremonies where the candle was presented to 15 special people in her life, 3 videos that were professionally made, and everyone getting dressed in colourful funny hats. The final event almost turned the whole place into a foam party.
So we didn´t get home from the 15th party till 6.30am, and the kids and grandparents were only just winding up!
Feliz cumpleaños tatii!