South America part IV: Iguazu Falls and Lima

Ok. Despite the lack of facebook likes, I know people are reading this because my blog has a "page view" counter and it jumps up every time I post.  So thank you.  I write this for myself mainly (because I really like to write and it's nice to have a topic other than the impairment of mining assets to write about), but it's nice that people seem to be reading and enjoying.

I want to start this post by saying that I never want to eat another ham and cheese sandwich on white bread ever again in my life. I seem to get served this at least once a day in some form or another. On the bus, on the plane, for breakfast, for lunch, and even as dinner on my LAN flight to Lima. It's served as a snack on day tours and as breakfast at hostels (toast with ham and cheese). Ham and cheese toasties (toastados) are on every cafe menu in Argentina and are the only breakfast food of any substance (the options are croissants or a tostado). I can't take it any more. No more! 

Anyway, after Buenos Aires I flew up North to visit Iguazu falls.  The falls are situated half in Brazil and half in Argentina. So you can visit both sides on different days for a slightly different experience. The town in Brazil is more built up, but the falls and national park is smaller and can be seen in a few hours. The Argentine side, by contrast, is basically a small tourist town, but the falls and park are much larger and have more to see. 

I was just planning on seeing the Argentine side, but I was able to get a good flight out of the Brazilian side, so that gave me the opportunity to do both. I spent two days one night in Argentina and one day and one night in Brazil. The border crossing is super easy - too easy in fact. More on that later. 

I didn't have the greatest weather on the Argentine side, but the sun did come out in the afternoons and provided the blue sky necessary for spectacular photos.  I was expecting good things from the falls, but was absolutely blown away. They were spectacular and pictures and words just really do not do it justice. Something about being there, right amongst the jungle and waterfalls (and 5,000 other tourists...) that just makes it impossible not to feel happy. I loved it.

The highlight of my trip thus far was a boat ride I took while at the falls. They take you out in a large speed boat and take you right up to the base of the falls where the views are otherworldly. Then, they give you dry bags for all your belongings (including your shoes) and they drive you under and around the falls. It's such a good time - nature's adrenaline rush. Far better than any splash mountain type ride I've ever been on. I almost did it a second time, but tickets were hard to come by because it was the Easter long weekend.  By the time you get off the boat, there is not a single part of you that isn't soaking wet. Literally - even my bra needed to be rung out.

The whole time you are there, you are pretty much soaking wet. There are a number of walking trails which take you right up to the falls as well and it's inevitable that you are going to get drenched. You need to accept that going in (and come prepared) because then you really enjoy the whole experience and don't mind getting soaked. I just wish the weather was a bit warmer.  Despite this, you still see the idiots in jeans and wedge heels, carrying an umbrella (which is just about as useful as carrying a fire poker around). 

After a second day at the Argentine falls, I picked up my luggage from my hostel and crossed into Brazil. I was just going to take a taxi across (the drivers can cross easily since you don't need a stamp if you are going and leaving in the same day) but I was told that can be quite expensive, especially if there is a wait at the border. So the guy at the hostel recommended the bus for just $2. It was very easy and quick since the bus gets to avoid the queue of cars looking to cross. They stamped me out of Argentina, and we got back on the bus, and crossed a river into Brazil. I was expecting to stop on the Brazilian side, but there wasn't really a clear immigration desk and the bus didn't stop. As no one on the bus spoke any English, I couldn't really ask. I tried to ask the driver by showing him my passport and pointing to the stamps, but he just said "Si...Si" and pointed forward. So I assumed there would be something coming up. Turns out we didn't stop anywhere - I don't know what he was pointing at. So when I got to my hostel I asked right away... "was I supposed to get a stamp or something?" The answer is yes. The bus is supposed to stop at immigration, but the Brazilians don't need a stamp to come back in. So he just didn't stop. I don't know why he didn't understand when I showed him my Irish passport and pointed at the stamps.  All I can conclude is that he was being a jerk and just didn't feel like stopping for one person. Anyway, i ended up having to get a taxi back to the border so that I could get stamped in and enter the country legally. I had the most lovely older man as a taxi driver who came in with me and made sure there was no problem.  I was a bit stressed at the time - I was worried it was going to be a big issue and thankfully it was no drama at all. But I thought it was pretty funny that they let people in so easily given how tight the borders are everywhere else at the moment. Good thing I'm not up to no good.

Anyway, once I was legally in Brazil, I was just there for one day before flying to Peru. The hostels on both sides the the falls were both really good and had dinners and drinks organised so I enjoyed both a lot. The one on the Argentine side was more fun (all you can eat pizza and wine for $12) but the Brazil one was nicer. I was made out of old shipping containers, and was really modern and trendy which is nice when you are backpacking. 

I didn't have high expectations for the Brazilian side of the falls, but they were better than I thought and I quite enjoyed it.  They provide a more panoramic view, while the Argentine ones you are more amongst the action. What I did like was that there were less crowds, so it was easy to get right up to the huge waterfalls at the end, without having to push people around.

I flew from the Brazilian side direct to Lima. It was literally me and 150 older Chinese people. I couldn't figure out why they were on the flight (it's a bit of a strange route) but then I realised there must be a connection in Lima straight back to China. The older woman next to me slept the entire time, but she kept farting quite loudly. That's just what you want on a four hour flight. I had to laugh.

I'm in Lima now, and the city has far exceeded my expectations so far.  I didn't have high hopes, as you don't really hear about Lima as being a "destination", but I've thought it has been great so far. It's a real foodie city and so far everything I've eaten has been excellent. The food is also more fresh than Argentina which is a nice change from my previous ham and cheese toastie-pizza-steak diet.  It's lots of exotic fruit and seafood here. Of course they also eat weird things like guinea pig, beef hearts, llama, etc. I've been told the guinea pig was an excellent source of meat for the poor in the past, as they breed like 5 times a year and have a few babies each time. So you get a few guinea pigs and you have a regenerating source of meat. These guinea pigs are not like what we have at home - they are guinea pigs on steroids.  They are just huge! I haven't tried it yet... maybe in Cusco....maybe 

The other thing that has impressed me about Lima is the green space and ocean views. I was not expecting green parks over looking the ocean, but the city has done an excellent job fixing up an 10km Oceanside walk along the cliffs. I even went for a 6km run a couple of days to try to burn off some of the food.  I am a bit confused as to how it is so green, given that it's the second driest capital city in the world (after Cairo) and only gets 10mm (1cm) or rain per year. That's like an average three days' rainfall in Vancouver (literally the yearly average there is 1200mm a year).

On my first day I went for a walk along the cliffs and then around the neighbour I'm staying (Miraflores) to get a feel for the place. Right before noon I came to a really trendy looking restaurant with a few people waiting outside. I started talking to one of the girls and she told me its one of the best restaurants in the city and is one of the worlds best cebicherias (a place that specialises in ceviche). That's exactly what I felt like for lunch so I went in and it was phenomenal. I had a sampler of three different kinds (classic, mixed seafood and tuna) and two Pisco sours made by a very attractive bartender (who spoke no English). They were strong! I left stumbling. 

I did a food walking tour one night and that was good fun as well - trying all the different local foods. The guide explained that they don't really have Chinese or Japanese food here - it's all fusion. So Chinese food is a Peruvian/Chinese blend. Same with all other types. We tried all sorts of yummy things, but the two strangest were beef hearts (which were not bad) and this "healthy" drink concoction which I consider more of a potion that a drink.  It had aloe vera, linseed, chia seeds, two unknown liquids, eucalyptus and a fruity tea base. It's flavour was ok, but the consistency was like drinking hot jelly. Interesting to try but not for me. 

I was on the tour with a group of 5 - parents and their 20 something year old daughter from Chicago who came down to meet their son and his friend who have been travelling South America for 8 months. They were very friendly and chatty but the son asked some pretty shocking geography questions ("is Vancouver in the US or Canada?".... "Is Australia an island or are there other countries on it") which was a bit surprising for someone who has been travelling for 8 months. 

Lima is a huge sprawling city and I haven't really ventured out of Miraflores much, but that's because I don't really need to. Everything is here. Including ancient ruins. Literally right in the middle of the city. The biggest ones are in Miraflores (an old pyramid used as a religious place) and there are guided tours a few times a day. I stumbled up (after my two stiff Pisco sours at La Mar) and found out the tour was starting in 5 minutes (complete luck). Some days, nothing goes right. Other days, everything just lines up and works (like Monday). The ruins were interesting - they were from the Lima people in 500AD. Pre-incas. They did human sacrifices, of young women because women were highly respected for their fertility. They would get them to eat a hallucinogenic cactus and then stone them. Lovely.  They found over 60 sacrifices at this pyramid. 

Speaking of hallucinogenics, it seems that half the plants here can be used as such. On the walking food tour, the guide pointed out like 5 different things that can be used ("you make this into a drink and if done correctly you will get a crazy trip"). I asked what happens if not done correctly and he said it would poison you... Like most drugs I guess!

I also did a cooking class one afternoon. We did 4 dishes and it was very good. My favourite was the ceviche - going to have to go to the fish markets when I'm home and give it a try. Who wants to be my guinea pig? 

I do have two complaints about Lima. The constant horn honking and the inability of anyone to make change. I have been to cities before where the cars are constantly honking their horns, but I can kind of understand that because I'm those places (Cairo, Mumbai,etc) there are no real road rules and the traffic is chaos. So the honk is a way of alerting other cars to their presence. But here, the roads are fine. There are lines, and traffic lights and no one seems to do anything too crazy. So they don't need to honk every ten seconds. But they do, and it's driving me crazy.  I also get honked at by every taxi going by hoping I need a ride. Even when I was on a run. Does it look like I need a taxi? And the inability to make change is also annoying. The cambios/banks give you hundred sol bills, which are the equivalent of A$40. And literally no where can change them. Even if you are spending $15, they can't give you $25 in change. You produce a s/100 note and the cashiers act like its the end of the world. 'Oh god, what am I going to do with that. Are you crazy?!?! Get out of here!'

I'm starting a 7 day tour today to do the Inca Trail and Macchi Picchu. I didn't have the time or energy to figure out all the inca trail stuff for myself, and I would prefer to do it with a group. So will be interesting to see who else is on the tour. I'm at the meeting hotel now, anxiously awaiting my roommate and tour mates. Cross your fingers for me they are good, or I might lose my mind on the 3 day hike.

Next post will be after Macchu Picchu. Will let you know if I'm ready to kill anyone.

SH