We had our best bus of the trip south of Iguazu Falls in Northern
Argentina. It is what is called a cama bus which means the seats are
almost exactly like a first class on an airplane and we had meal and soft
drink service.
We were very surprised with the landscape which was all conifer forest and
also a number of rivers had large dams on them. There were lots of saw
mills. It appears they are managing to forests well and that there are
all at least second generation that were planted but they are only clear
cutting small tracts and replanting them right away. It is very similar
to the management we have
seen in the Northwestern USA and Canada. It eventually got dark on us
but from what we could see the forest remained.
We got to Concordia, Argentina at 4 am. It is a border town with Uruguay
and got a taxi to a hotel for some needed sleep. We got about 4 hours and
got back to the bus station to catch the bus to Uruguay We met a young
fellow from England and we ended up traveling together for several days. The
immigration went well and we went to Salta, Uruguay not to be confused
with Salta Argentina and stayed in a historic hotel that was built in
1860.
We walked down to the river and looked the town over. It had a lot of
historic buildings. It was pretty hot. Like so many places about 30
years ago it had to have been beautiful but it has really faded and would
cost a lot to repair!!! I suspect eventually things will be torn down and
new build if the money can be found. It was interesting on the way into
town on the bus that 4 fellows had brought boxes and boxes of things from
Argentina and they were getting off at 4 different stops and were looking
all around to be sure they were not being watched unloading. You could
definitely tell they were evading customs and the associated taxes.
From Salta Uruguay we headed for Montevideo. Buses do not go inland and
every thing goes to and from Montevideo. Everything interior is by car
and appartently there is not enough bus traffic to pay. Uruguay is almost
all agriculture and is rolling country and would remind you of a midwest
state. There were lots of pasture and almost all Herford cattle with a
few cross breds but all English breeds. We seen a lot of soybeans and
some fruit and vegetables.
There were some rocky outcrops but the crops looked good. They had
recently had a large amount of rain as the streams and rivers were out of
there banks. We seen a number of large lakes and also a number of rivers
with dams on them. There were not many towns and the ranches did not have
a lot of buildings and the houses were small. We did see a few beautiful
ranch houses but they were far and few. We did see a number of big grain
handling facilities.
We seen a lot of proverty and poor housing. As we got close to Montevideo
we seen a lot of industry and manufacturing and could see the ocean. It
seems so often that the economy looks better around the cities but of
course there is much poverty and poor housing there as well.
The bus station is very nice with a huge shopping mall upstairs. We were
told this
would be a cheap place to live but you sure could not prove it by us as
the prices were as high or higher than the US and it is not nearly as nice
with lots of old run down buildings and poor housing. The people are
dressed nice and there are some nice buildings and about anything you
would want you could buy but we did not see any bargins. We are told
foreign people living here can buy land and get health insurance cheap and
the health care is good. We did see several hospitals and clinics. We
stayed in the old part of town and taxis are cheap here. We walked down
by the ocean in the old city and got supper which was some great steak but
again it was not cheap!!!
The old building here are being refurbished in a big way so if they don't
run out
of money there is going to be a lot of historic places that look very
nice. It is safe here other than in the one area you should not go at
night. Again we stayed
in a old historic hotel. The ceilings had to be 15 feet high. I have
never seen such high doors!!!
As is our custom we bought the bus ticket for the next day when we arrived
so we are sure of having one. On our bus were some back packers from
England. Much to our amazement we were like on a bullet express as the
bus never stopped!!! We have never experienced this before as the buses
at best stop several times and at worst for every wide spot along the road
or commonly pick anybody up along the road that flags the bus down. It
often gets standing room only. Anyway we watched to coast towns go by the
window and ended up at Punta Del Diablo in less than 4 hours. It is about
as far north as you can go on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay and is near
Brazil. It is a sprawling town with no planning and pretty junky but is
is popular with Argentina people who come across in there cars, Brazil
from the north and of course Uruguay and back packers. We have heard and
spoke more English here than any place we have been. There are a few here
from Canada but most are from Europe and of course no USA. Our count
still holds at 5 people we have met from the USA. I suspect it may hold
at that number for the 60 days we are in SA.
This is a great surfing spot and we find along the ocean it is cool,
surprisingly cool in comparison to inland. It would say it is in the 60's
and there seems to be a breeze all the time. The locals wear coats but
the back packers and us are a lot tougher and at most when the sun goes
behind the clouds put on a long sleeved shirt but generally not. This is
a tourist spot so things are high priced although this hostel is $52 a
night which is fairly spendy for a hostel. The way to cheapen things up
is to go to the grocery store and buy bread, meat, cheese, water etc.
Anyway we have been eating for about $3.50 total a meal where at the
restaurant you have a hard time getting by for $20-$40.
We have walked the beach which goes for miles and miles. There are lots
of beach towns back to the south and they are more expensive and crowded
so that is why we and a lot of back packers come here. Fairly close
to Montevideo is Punta Este which rich people from around SA come for
holidays as well as celeberties.
Uruguay people are easy going people and are polite and not pushy. They have
a rich cowboy (Gaucho) heritage. They had it very good until the crash in
2002 and are still recovering and had massive bail outs from the IMF and
USA. They are well educated but the educational standards have slipped
some and the private schoools are the best. They have become more liberal
in recent years and certainly you would have to describe the country
system as socialism. Life expectancy is 75 years of age one of SA
highest. The people are of Spanish decent with few Indians left and have
a light complexion by and large.
We have noticed people here are laid back and love to visit and drink Mate
a type of herbal tea. The back packers here seem more inclined to follow
that routine and just relax, do some surfing are walk or sit on the beach
and even more so to just relax around the hostels and do like we are doing
to buy things at the super marcado and cook in the kitchen. It really is
very quiet here. Internet is free and we have wi-fi free with very good
coverage.
We have our bus tickets and tomorrow we had for Parana and then San Martin
in Argentina and visit with Mario an amateur radio friend and his family
and take a break from the steady traveling and have some dental work done
and eat some good food as it is cheap and of high quality. We stayed here
for about 5 weeks in 2007 while my broken leg and ankle healed. We are
looking forward to that!
We have no idea how far we have traveled so far but I would guess at least
6000 miles via bus and probably farther.
Ed and Edith