Our final itinerary: 360 days and 47,000 miles

We made it back home...

After Teresa and Lucrecia dropped us off at the Buenos Aires airport, we had an uneventful and smooth flight to Charlotte, NC. It is sort of a cultural shock to be back in the USA but we got the warmest welcome we could have hoped for from Chad's family. They had a huge Welcome Banner and Chad's Mom even had put together a welcome basked for us with all sorts of beauty and cleaning products. Guess we needed them after a year on the road:) Now, we are just enjoying time with the family.

We had an amazing experience and are still so marvelled by all the generous people that we met on the road. We hope that we will be able to give back as much as we received on this trip. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to our family that have been so helpful while we were on the road, thank you to all the people we have met and that have shared their house, a meal or time with us, thank you to everyone that has read our blog.

The final days of our motorcycle Odyssey

Bright and early in the capital city, the four of us took a cab that dropped us off at our hostel. This was the third time we were staying there so we knew our way around. Cut from civilization for four days in the Sierra de Cordoba, we all spent quite some time catching up on internet and then after a quick breakfast, took a shower to both freshen up and wake up a little. It was now time to enjoy another sunny day in Argentina, wondering along the streets of Buenos Aires. We were looking forward to showing our friends this European like city.

In the sacred office of the President of Argentina

Walking north along the widest avenue in the world, we turned left towards the congress building that none of us had seen yet. Oddly enough, after the first block, we saw a few cars stopped in the middle of the street and noticed that they had fake French license plates. Only when we heard “Action” and that everything around us started moving did we understand that we were on a movie set, with the scene taking place in Paris. They had to do the take several times, with tourists pretending to enter a Parisian tour bus and we watched the set for a few minutes, amused by the coordinated ballet of people and vehicles. Not only is Buenos Aires called the "Paris of South America" but it seemed to be similar enough to France that a movie could be filmed here. We continued our walk, wondering if we should have asked to be extras on the set since we looked like tourists and were actually French.

After a quick bite at a cafe that as well could have been in Paris, we arrived at our first destination, the Congreso Nacional. It was an overwhelmingly big building with a big square an a fountain in front of it. It was neither ugly nor beautiful: just an impressive official building. We walked more in the city, admiring the architecture of the buildings, Aurore and Arnaud telling us that they really liked the city. Before going back to the hostel for a nap, we went to buy a few things for the party we were invited to. Andres, the guy who now has Chad's motorcycle had invited us to celebrate his wife's birthday. Before heading out to his place, we looked for a nice place to enjoy one of our last Argentinean steak and ended up going to Desnivel, a really good choice. We watched the grill master preparing the meat and explaining to us the different cuts. We each went for a big and juicy steak as tender and tasty as can be. Man, we will miss the meat! The party afterwards was pretty fun and in a very nice apartment right across the street from the Vatican Embassy. It was nice to meet Andres' wife and celebrate with everyone.

For our last day in Buenos Aires, more touristy activities. We wanted to go to the San Telmo Sunday market and as we reached the Plaza de Mayo, noticed that the gates of the Casa Rosada where the President works were open. You could now visit the house on weekends, guided by the official guards. Pleasantly surprised, we entered the big pink building, visiting the different official salons. We also went outside on the balcony facing the big Plaza de Mayo and from which famous political figures had addressed the country such as Evita. We were being silly, just pretending to make a speech from the balcony to an almost empty square. The highlight of the visit was to be able to enter the President's office, a large and formal room with a huge fireplace. It was cool to think that on week days, Cristina or Mrs. President was sitting all the way over there. Right before exiting the building, we were quite impressed by the shaded and relaxing palm tree inner garden: this building had places you would not suspect from the outside.

Teresa and Lucrecia sending us back to the USA

The rest of the day, we walked down the San Telmo market where tons of people, locals and tourists alike, were checking out the stands lined up on each side of the street. We bought a few things to take home and tired after all this walking and street shopping, the four of use sat down on the side walk, enjoying a Cafe con Leche. Across the street, an older gentleman, claiming to have been a famous Tango star, was dancing alone on the sidewalk to the sound of his music. All dressed up in his formal suit, he looked so elegant, turning and confident in his Tango steps. The only thing missing was a partner! It was now time to say goodbye to Aurore and Arnaud: it had been a real treat to spend almost a week with them, since we had met them all the way up in Misiones. They had made this last week so much more enjoyable, taking away from our minds that were were about to finish the trip. We wish them luck and hope that their around the world journey in the next year will be as good as ours.

Through the windows of the bus, we were taking in our last images of Buenos Aires, a city we had really enjoyed. We were on our way to La Plata for our last two days. Teresa and Lucrecia had kept for us the things we had not needed for the last ten days traveling by bus. We were really looking forward to seeing these guys who had been so good to us since we had met them. The only sad news is that Lucrecia had to go under the knife and would not be home for another day. The good news is that the operation went well and she would drive home the next day after resting at her parents' place for six days. We took Teresa out for dinner to thank her for all her kindness and wishing that Lucrecia would be there as well. The next day went by so fast as we slept in and had to run a few errands in the afternoon. When we came back to the apartment, Lucrecia was home. Finally we were all together, ready for a party the girls were having to send us off to the States. It was a great party and during the evening we had a fun game where people had to answer questions about our trip. This was the best thing we could have hoped for to close this adventurous chapter of our life.

We packed all our things, sorting out things that we no longer needed or that were too used to be worth taking back. Happy to see that everything fitted in the two pieces of luggage we had, we carried them downstairs. This was it: we would leave in a few hours. It felt sad, even if we knew that it meant seeing family and friends soon. How could a year have gone by so fast? How could this be it? We were lost in our thoughts and emotions when Teresa called us for lunch. They had outdone themselves one last time, with homemade ham and cheese pie and delicious pickled eggplants that Lucrecia's Mom had both made. Delicious and almost making it harder for us to go since we would miss shortly all these good things. This is when they pulled their last surprise from the freezer: a kilo (2 pounds) of ice cream, four flavors each one having Dulce de Leche in it. These ladies were just perfect, there is nothing else to add! When we finally stopped eating, they took us to the airport for our final destination in Argentina.

Far away from everything in the Sierra de Cordoba

After a short bus ride from Cordoba, we arrived before noon in La Falda where Virginia, the owner of the Estancia Puesto Viejo was going to pick us up. The four of us put our backpacks against the wall and waited in the warm and pleasant sun. Twenty minutes later we saw a middle-aged woman waiving at us. She just had stepped out of her 4x4, vehicle necessary for the hour and half drive on dirt we were about to take, with her simple and rather old fashioned clothes and most importantly her Gaucho hat. She seemed very friendly and we were quite surprised when after a few minutes she started talking French to us. Her family was originally from France and had emigrated to Argentina three generations ago. We stopped at the grocery store since the Estancia is so far from everything to stock up on food for the next few days.

The simple and quiet life in the countryside

Puesto Viejo is a small Estancia with cows, goats, a few rabbits and horses. In addition to the income she gets from raising these animals, Virginia has opened her farm to tourists, making a hostel where you can also get initiated to the life in the Argentinean countryside. The Estancia was small but so cute in the in the large yellow field, trees wearing their fall colors and the horses hanging around. Caroline and Aurore prepared a light lunch that we all enjoyed outside on the back porch. It was so calm, the only noises being the wind in the trees and the animals around us. We were going to have a few peaceful days ahead of us. We also met Jorge who was preparing the horses for us and Darkma, a German woman that was staying there too. Jorge had the typical Gaucho look, the name for the cowboys here, with his tall horse riding boots and wool hat. Virginia took the lead and we all went riding in the Sierra. We entered the dense vegetation area only after a short ride on the path. All the plants here had thorns and you had to constantly protect your legs and arms from scratches. This ride was going to toughen us up!

We went riding along the river where the water was so clear that you could see anywhere to the bottom. The tall blond grass on the river bank were contrasting vividly with the green vegetation all along the river. There were many big stones and as we stepped down from the horses for a break, we could jump from one another on the river. The level of the water was pretty low and so we could cross it all the way. Some parts of the river were calm, reflecting the nature, while others had small rapids. Each of us immediately fell in love with the Sierra and we agreed to go for a walk the next day to explore it further. Continuing the ride, Virginia took us to a sacred place as indigenous used to live here a long time ago. She asked us to enter the sacred place in silent and we all sat down under the big stone. She started telling us the story of the people that had lived here a long time ago. It was fascinating and her calm and soothing voice, revealing the secrets of the past in Spanish, made for a special and spiritual moment. Walking back to the horses, we all felt that we just had been initiated to the secret of the Sierra.

Back at the Estancia, we started preparing the evening meal: lots of vegetables as we had said and some meat, along with apples for desert. Aurore and Arnaud also sat down with us to enjoy a bottle of wine while watching the sun set over the prairie. Since we only had solar electricity, we had a candlelight dinner to save power for later. Quite a romantic evening for two couples in the middle of nowhere. As we walked to our room, we saw the brightest stars in the sky we had ever seen and the Milky way was just shining. Being so far away from any light pollution was just bringing out the full light of the star and Caroline spotted a shooting star after a few minutes... a wish was made. Our room was warm and cozy in the cold of the night with our small wood stove. We actually woke up pretty early given that our room became colder in the night and made sure that day to ask for more covers for the next night.

Participating in the daily activities of the farm

After breakfast, we relaxed a little bit: it was so quiet and beautiful here that your pace just slows down naturally and you want to enjoy your surroundings, sitting in the sun on a long chair and stroking the cat or the dog of the house. Finally we decided to go on a walk after Virginia indicated us a path we could take. It was another perfect fall day, with the small clouds chasing each other in the blue sky. We walked along the river that we had seen the day before, captivating again by its beauty. The dog of the house was following the four us and it was so entertaining to see him jump in the water and swim. This is when Aurore decided to be brave and with her swimsuit on, she slowly got into the shallow water. It was not freezing but not warm either and we were impressed by her courage. After that, we all deserved lunch before walking some more. We spend the rest of the day discovering the natural beauty of the area, the blond prairie and the nearby mountains. A unique and wild place right in the middle of Argentina.

The next day, we split our day between helping in the activities of the Estancia and walking some more. Chris, a young Swiss woman, was helping on the farm and showing the four of us the different tasks she had to complete. We started by feeding the rabbits in their small metal cages: one cup of food per rabbit. It was a quite easy task and we were smiling at how excited they were about the food. Next the goats: Chris took a big bucket full of corn and walked towards their fence. It was no easy task to pour the corn as they were all gathering so close against the fence over their feed tray. Finally she was able to run faster than them and fill both trays. These guys were fighting so hard over the food and you could see in a minute who was the dominant female. She was simply kicking everyone with her big horns, keeping one of the plates to herself. The little ones really had a hard time getting to the food as they had to climb over the adult goats, their feet and butt up in the air. After another good lunch, the girls and the guys separated. Chad along with Arnaud went to help Jorge to chop some wood: they both felt quite manly with the big ax in their hands. Caroline stayed in the kitchen and helped the women to make bread for the traditional meal of that night. Three young women were kneading hard under the supervision of Virginia who made sure that the bread would be made properly.

It was quite a productive day in a sense, and again we had adjusted well to the slow pace. The highlight was the dinner we all shared in the big living room: Virginia had prepared a traditional country meal for all of us called Pollo al Disco. She took the biggest pot we ever saw, called disco, and cooked a huge chicken stew directly on the wood stove with potatoes, carrots, onions and her secret spices. It was simple and delicious, a special meal from the area that we did not have a chance to try before and with the homemade fresh bread, you could not ask for anything better. This was a nice closure for our last night at the Estancia. All packed up early the next morning, we jumped into the 4x4 to go and visit a Jesuit Estancia nearby. It was such a well preserved place, as isolated as the place we were coming from, with only dirt raods providing access to it. Our guide explained us the history of the Jesuits in Argentina, and how they finally got kicked out by the King of Spain, confiscating all their belongings because they were getting too powerful. We also leaned that the manopwer behind all these Estancias were black slaves. We had no idea they were the labor behind all these powerful farms.

In the afternoon, as we were driving to a Gold mine, we saw big birds flying high in the sky above us. They were actually Condors that you can easily recognize since the top of their wings is white. They were big and majestic in the sky; each of us so excited to have a chance to observe them. We jumped back in the bed of the truck, enjoying the sun and the view, rather than being stuck in the cabin. It was a lot a fun just driving on the dirt road, even itf it was sometime quite bumpy and painful for our behinds. We arrived at the retired Gold mine and took a little path down to the entrance. We turned the headlamps on and followed Virginia. It was pitch black in there and she showed us how Gold was found in the quartz of the mountain. We were also hoping to find some but no such luck, even if Chad really wanted to take some stones out of the mine in the hope that they would contain gold. This was our last stop on this journey and time to leave the area had come. Virginia dropped us off at the bus station where we thanked her for the unforgettable time we had at her Estancia. It was quite sad to say goodbye but we had to head to Buenos Aires for our final days in the country. We even had managed to convince our new French friends to join us and enjoy the fun of the Capital city with us.

We are less than ten days from flying back to the USA

Here it is, we just bought our plane tickets. On Tuesday June 8th, we will be leaving from Buenos Aires to fly into Charlotte, North Carolina the next day where part of Chad's family lives. Again we have these mixed feelings about the whole thing: we can't believe that this amazing adventure is about to end and at the same time, we are so excited to see the family back home. Truly, it has been incredible for the both of us. We had a few tough times but overall, this trip will be the best experience of our life and we are so glad we made this decision to take a year off to travel on our motorcycles all across a continent. Truly life changing in many ways, even if we have not decided to give it all up and raise sheep in Bolivia. We are curious to see how we will adapt back to a more “normal” lifestyle. For now, we are still enjoying the last few days we have left in Argentina.

A glimpse into the past through the Jesuit missions

The province we were traveling in is called Misiones, due to the fact that it had 30 Jesuit missions spread all across the province and in neighboring Paraguay and Brazil. The bus from Iguazu took us to San Ignacio where we visited one of the best preserved mission. Learning about the history of the missions was just fascinating. The Spanish and Portuguese had come here to take the resources of the land and the native people as slaves, under the false pretenses that they were christening them. As a result, the local native communities, mostly the Guarani Indians, were victims of slave trading, their villages constantly attacked by slave traffickers. The company of the Jesuits, founded by an Italian, heard about the horrible things that were going on here and decided to help. A few men were sent and the first Jesuits missions were build in the beginning of the 17th century, with the purpose of protecting the Guaranis people in a working community while converting them to Christianity.

As we were walking through the ruins of San Ignacio Mini, the guide was explaining us how the whole mission was functioning, showing us the remain of certain buildings to illustrate what he was saying. Any Guarani tribe could go to a mission and seek protection: no individuals or families would be accepted as the Jesuits feared they could be spies of the Spanish or Portuguese to attack the mission. The hierarchy was clearly establish: the Jesuit fathers, usually only two or three per mission, would give orders or tasks to the chief of each tribe and they would then relay it to their people to get the work started. Each person had to contribute to the life of the mission: we saw the fields they would cultivate or some of the work that they did such as carpentry or building houses with the Jesuits teaching them how to do it. Each mission was self sufficient, producing what they needed to eat and live and trading with other missions if they wanted something out of the ordinary. A large wall was protecting the mission from outside attackers, a reminder that the outsie world was not safe. Overall, it was almost a military like organization, where the ranks and duties of each person was clearly established.

The next day, we visited our second mission: Santa Ana. We had to take a local bus and then walk for a kilometer: this was when we really missed our motorcycles when it was so easy to travel anywhere. This mission had the exact same layout as the previous one but was not as well preserved. There was a big central plaza around which each family had a house, with the house of the chief of the tribe the closest to the square. The church was the biggest building, close to where the Jesuits were staying and the food stored. All these buildings were in ruins and in the 19th century, a lot of European immigrants had taken the stones from the missions to build their own house. This is not the only thing that the immigrants had taken: they had used the old Guarani cemetery for their own purpose and only in the mid-90's, when the site became a world heritage site, was it no longer used. It was actually a pretty creepy place as the funerary houses were open and the gaskets as well. Fortunately, no skeletons inside!

The more, the merrier with our two French friends

At the bus station in San Ignanio, a French couple was waiting for the Cordoba bus like we did. It turned out that they were doing a year trip too, around the world by air. The funny thing is that they were nine days into the trip and had eleven months left, just the opposite from us. They were really friendly and we were getting along very well. When we arrived in Cordoba the next morning, we decided to explore the city together and stay in the same hostel. Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina and known for its colonial beauty. As we were wandering in the streets and talking and talking, our stomachs started to growl. We stopped in this little ice cream store that was also offering Picadas, a food typical from Spain, where you have a large plate of cold cuts, olives, cheese, salami, nuts, pickled vegetables and other goodies to eat with bread. It became obvious that each of us had the same love for food: leave it to the French (and an American) to spend the next hour of the conversation talking about the things we like eating and had tried lately. Chad was especially enjoying to practice his French with other people than Caroline. A really good start with our newly found friends.

We walked some more in the city after the tasty treat, encountering numerous amazing churches that we visited on the way back to the hostel. Each of them was so unique and different from the previous one; we were marveled by how beautifully they were decorated. In a little park close to the Cordoba University, a band was playing rock music, playing their own songs and some cover songs. The four of us just stood there for a while, discovering what Argentinean rock music sounds like. As the sun was about to set, we walked back while running some errands like getting the bus schedule for our next destination and buying groceries. In the hostel, there was a lot of noise coming from the outside patio where the grill was. We found out that a huge Asado (BBQ) was about to take place to celebrate the birthday of one of the guys there. They told that us that we were welcome to join if we could pitch in for the meat and so we did. The chef knew what is was doing: it is such a tradition here, the weekend Asado, that he had learned how to do it since he was a kid. Fresh off the grill, we enjoyed the delicious meat along with some tasty red wine while the guitars were out playing and the guests singing along. What a cool party, so laid back and easy, enjoying the simple things of life.

The second day visiting Cordoba was all about food. We had a pretty late start given the party and the first thing we went to was the market, in search of some local food. We encountered exactly what we were looking for: a small restaurant offering homemade Empenadas. The choice was really large and they all looked yummy: chicken with vegetables, meat with eggs and carrots (spicy or not spicy), Arab type with lime and vegetarian. We tried them all except the vegetarian one, making noises of content at each of them. No doubt that Aurore and Arnaud were like we were: enjoying the good eats that you encounter while traveling. We walked some more in the city, discovering more beautiful buildings and churches. It was very fun for us to have met these guys and be able to chat with them, laugh and get to know each other. It gave a new wind to our journey, making it more interesting. Almost without paying much attention to it (according to the guys, the girls went back there deliberately), we returned to the ice cream store we had discover the day before. This time, we went big: we took the biggest ice cream they have on a cone, so big it was taller than our faces, and all dipped in chocolate. We took one per couple. Making jokes about how big it was and faces while devouring it, both couples managed to finish it. Quite an accomplishment that we would certainly pay at dinner time...

Since we were getting along so well, Chad and Arnaud joking and being silly while Caroline and Aurore were talking about everything and nothing, we decided to stay together a little longer and share a few days at a typical Estancia (farm) lost in the middle of the Sierra two hours north of Cordoba. That night, around a big and delicious Parrilla, we made the plans for the upcoming days. Believe it or not, we were all still able to eat a pile of meat four hours after the gigantic ice cream. The girls were challenging the guys to always eat “Mas carne” (more meat) as both usually eat a lot despite being tall and thin. We actually all ate quite a lot and had the hardest time walking back to the hostel and sleep with our stomachs so full. We promised ourselves before falling asleep that we would eat only vegetables and small portions at the Estancia. We will see if we can keep this promise with the big appetites we have in the group.

Blown away by a natural wonder of the world

Our traveling lifestyle had now completely changed: the bikers we were have now turned into public transport people. Over the last few days, we have realized how different these two traveling styles are. On the plus side, the weather is no longer an issue: rain or shine, we are dry and comfortable in our bus and we only see the strong wind through the windows, no longer bothered by it. We are also able to cover distance much faster as buses run overnight for stretches of 15 to 20 hours. Here, traveling by bus is very comfortable and unlike with the bike, you can read, plan the trip or write, chat with other travelers. Pretty cool. On the minus side, we have lost a lot of freedom and spontaneity. We are no longer able to stop on the side of the road if we see something nice, we chose the places we go to based on whether public transportation is available or not and we have to plan much more where and when we go based on transport schedules. What we miss the most however is the daily contact with the locals thanks to the Rock star image our bikes gave us. We no longer go to gas stations where strangers would talk to us, or parked on a street where people would come and chat or take pictures. We feel a little more ordinary now:)

The luxury of long distance bus traveling

We took our first Argentinean bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, next to the famous falls. This is a 1.300 Kms (16 hours) bus drive, traveled mostly by night. While this sounds pretty unpleasant, we were in for a treat as we bought a “Cama Suite” ticket, the equivalent of first class on a plane. We have heard the service was just amazing but we were far from imagining it would be that great. The two-level bus was all new, with wide seats that reclined fully, just like a bed and we each had our private TV screen with big nice headphones, a soft fleece blanket and a nice pillow. We were so comfortable, in our big chair that converts into a comfy bed in seconds (although a little short for Chad). They served us a nice warm dinner with wine and after, we could watch a movie on one of their six channels with a glass of champagne or whiskey. What more could you ask for? Maybe a foot massage would have been nice... The next morning, we got breakfast after a wonderful night sleep in our bed. We arrived at destination rested and still amazing by how great this travel experience had been. We no longer looked at bus traveling the same way as before.

We had a hard time believing we were only a few miles from the Iguazu Falls, just after a night of travel. We were all the way up there in Argentina, right next to Brazil and Paraguay. As we checked into our hostel, we found out that the park was offering night tours of the falls since it was full moon. We had not really planned for it but decided that it would be a nice way to discover the park. We took the local bus after dark and entered the park with the full moon setting its soft light on the jungle. We started by having a nice Parrilla dinner and then took the mini train to the Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's throat), the magical place we would see under the moon light. We walked on the walkway over the Rio Iguazu, the moon revealing the trees and the water around us. We started hearing the loud roar of the falls in the quiet night, and shortly after saw the big white cloud of mist. It was time to put our rain jackets on. There they were, the impressive falls and the massive force of the water. The moon was making it so unique, tones of white and blue reflecting in the water, falling in the dark of the night. From time to time, a big cloud of mist was coming up to wet us, as if the devil himself was breathing hard from down there. This first sight of the falls had been quite mystical.

Soaking wet from a high thrill boat ride

The next morning we were back into the park: we started with the same spot was we had seen the night before and where impressed by how different it looked. With the sun shining, a rainbow was arching above the water. We stayed there for a long time, walking from viewpoint to viewpoint on the platform until we were so wet it was time to go. We rode the little train to the next station where we sat down to enjoy lunch. Colorful butterflies were all around us, of different colors and size, and we had another visitor, a coati. The big rodent seemed more interested by the bread we had on the table than by us and as Chad tried to scare him off with big crazy gestures that made him look like a madman, it jumped on the table and ran away with the food. Incredible how fast to steal the little guy was, totally not scared by Chad. We would be more careful or aggressive the next time.

We continued our visit to the superior and inferior set of platforms that offered breathtaking views from the top and the bottom of the falls. It had rained quite a lot over the last few days and the water level was high, hence creating a lot of mist. The waterfalls were so large and powerful, just a long wall of cascade after cascade, with a beautiful rainbow in the center. Some walkways were getting really close to the water and we ran all the way to the end of them and back, these few seconds enough to get us all wet. We were laughing so hard, drying quickly in the afternoon sun. We took the stairs down to the lowest level to take a boat ride. This is normally from where you can also take a boat to the Isla San Martin to enjoy more spectacular views of the falls, but due to high waters, the island was currently closed. The boat ride we were about to take was more of a close encounter with two areas of the falls. We removed our shoes and the clothes that we wanted to keep dry, put all our belongings in dry bags, wore the life jackets on and jumped on the speed boat. This was no joking as the boat started the trip on high speed immediately, taking a few sharp turns to the first set of falls. We stayed at a reasonable distance to take pictures and then headed to the other set of falls where we were warned that we should now be ready to get wet. The rest of the ride was pure craziness: we were as close as the boat could get to falls, splashed from head to toes and rocking on the rapids. We could not even keep our eyes open since the water was so harsh on our faces. It was a lot of fun though and we kept on asking the captain for more.

No piece of cloth was dry when we stepped out of the boat. We changed what we could and put our dry shoes back on. The rest would dry pretty quickly. That was the best way to finish our visit of the park. There had been so many unique views of the falls, peaking through the jungle and we had not even seen the whole park due to the closed island. Looking at the map of the site, we realized how big it was and how much more you could explore if you wanted to or were willing to visit the Brazilian side. Chad needing a visa to go to Brazil, even for a one-day trip, we had decided not to explore that side. But to be quite honest, the Argentinean side had offered us plenty of views of the falls and entertainment. We did not feel an absolute need to see more. Our exploration of one of this natural wonder had been more than rewarding and exceptional, both by night and day.

Discovering Uruguay on a long weekend trip

We had no longer our two wheels each and now had to learn all over again how to travel, like making arrangements through local public transports to go anywhere. We had decided that we would travel for another couple of weeks without the motorcycles before heading back home mid June. The complicating factor for this weekend is that Argentina was celebrating its bicentennial as it became an independent country on May 25th, 1810. The capital city had been getting ready for the huge 5-day celebrations for which millions of people would travel to Buenos Aires. This was a little tricky for us as it meant that a lot of people would take advantage of the big weekend to travel to other places, like the Iguazu Falls where we wanted to go. We improvised a little and decided to go to Uruguay and only come back for the end of the celebrations in the capital city.

Adding another country to our journey, but without the bikes

From Buenos Aires, you just have to cross the Rio de la Plata river and in an hour, you are in Uruguay. We had found space on one of the boats to do the crossing and decided to explore two places: Montevideo, the capital city and Colonial, a small historic town. After the boat and bus trip, we arrived in Montevideo in the late afternoon. The tourist office booked us a hostel and Chad with the big backpack (a beautiful new one that Lucrecia had lended us) and Caroline with the small day pack walked the 25 minutes to the hostel. Life was requiring much more physical effort without the bikes. We also had to be more organized about accommodation: driving all round town to find the best place that had room was no longer an option. When you have to walk to each place, you definitively focus on the closer ones. But it was good to walk: we were getting a sense for the town and country and so far no big difference with Argentina.

We settled in the hostel, trying to get used to our new routine of sharing a backpack and having to lock our valuables since we were mostly staying in dormitories to save some money. It was not as easy as it seemed and Chad had already forgotten his book somewhere. We made our plans for the next day and headed out for dinner to the Mercado de las Abundencias where little restaurants were all in a huge metal structure. It was loud and animate on a Friday night and as we were enjoying our meal, we noticed that right next to us a Milonga was taking place. This is a place where people go for Tango, a sort of a big dance, where guys invite girls to dance the Tango. The etiquette is that women can't really refuse the invitation to dance since their presence is by itself a sign that they are here for that very reason. Most people did not come in couple but rather with friends and would share with a stranger the passion for Tango during a few songs. We loved watching the couples through the windows, some evolving more gracefully than others, not wanting to enter as neither of us was ready for the dance floor.

The next day we walked through Montevideo. For a capital city, it was relatively small and we enjoyed La Rambla, a nice walk along the water. There are a few nice buildings to see but overall, there was not that much to see in the city center. The highlight of our day was the Mercado del Puerto where the locals go to on the weekend to enjoy a good Parrilla along with some Medio y Medio, a drink invented here, which is a mix of wine and champagne. We ate at the bar, the best spot to see what was available on the grill. The chef, hearing us asking questions to the waitress about the different items available, decided to show us the pieces he had and tell us their names so that it would be easier to order. We could not resist a rolled piece of beef, stuffed with herbs and vegetables, all cooked in aluminum on the grill. With the Medio y Medio and a green salad, it was simply heaven. We took also grilled sweetbreads and that was all we could eat given the portions. We complemented the chef, Andres, and told him he should go with us to France and open a restaurant. He laughed but a minute later, he gave us his business card. He also invited Caroline behind the bar to pose for a picture in front of the grill, like she was cooking it all. This meal had been a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday Argentina, already 200 years!

Before returning to Argentina, we visited Colonia, right across the river from it. We loved this little city so much more: it was charming with its old stone building and narrow streets. We borrowed two bikes at our hostels (the ones you have to pedal on:( and rode across the narrow paved streets. Our first stop was at the small harbor where we just enjoyed the sun for a while. We then rode to the old city gate, a big impressive stone entrance that had been rebuild in 1968 along the original wall of the city. The Barrio Historico was pretty small and each corner was revealing an old Portugese house, a museum, the ruins of a convent. Our favorite street was the Calle de los Suspiros: it was lined up with small houses dating from the Portuguese colonial period, each painted with a different fainting but vivid color. With the old and irregular pavement, we were back in time. A surprising thing was that there were lots of old cars lining up the streets, all amazingly well restored. They were from all over the world, old classic American or even French cars. We finished our discovery by climbing up the 112 steps to the summit of the lighthouse where we had a 360 view of the city. In the distance, we could see Buenos Aires and its lights. In a few hours we would be back there to celebrate the bicentennial.

Our trip to Uruguay had been only been a few days and we really enjoyed getting a taste of this country completely unknown to us before that. Back in the streets of Buenos Aires, walking at night, Caroline felt liquid on her sweater. She turned and saw a guy behind her looking up in the tree she was walking under. Oh no, a bird... or maybe not since it smelled more like vinegar to her. Then another guy approached her to tell her that she had stuff on her back and he had a tissue to help: that's when it jumped at her! She had read the scam in the guide book: someones stains your clothes and another person helps you, stealing your wallet in the process. She refused the help and walked faster, telling Chad to hurry up. At the hostel, we cleaning our clothes as they had sprayed us both with vinaigrette. Caroline explained what had just happened, the scam she had read about and we were both happy we had escaped the robbing part of it.

Now it was time to celebrate. Leaving all our valuables in the hotel, we walked to the Teatro Colon where they were celebrating the end of its renovation after more than three years of intense labor. Tons of people were in the street, watching the light and sound show directly on the facade of the theater as well as the dances performed by the ballet. After an hour of history of the theater and who had performed there, the crowd started moving south on the big central avenue. There was a big concert with local artists that we watched until late at night. The next day was the big event on the 25 de Mayo. The central avenue was the stage for all the celebrations that would take place. We walked down amongst the millions of people that had gathered that day here to celebrate their nation. Each region had a tent set up that you could visit and it reminded us of all the parts of Argentina we had riden through on our motorcycles. The other side of the avenue was a similar concept but focused on food: you could discover the gastronomy of each region and buy their specialty. This part was a lot of fun for us and we could not resist buying quite a few things.

We finished the afternoon by watching race cars driving up the avenue, roaring the engine as loud as they could. Everyone was cheering, excited to see the beasts from so close up. We continued walking up the avenue, one step at a time as it was so crowded, you just had to be very patient. We made it back to the central stage close to the obelisk where a band from Bolivia was performing. We had heard their songs many times before and it reminded us of that part of our journey. We stayed there for quite a while but then our feet got tired and we decided to go back to our hostel. We were about to take a 16-hour night bus to Puerto Iguazu, all the way up northeast close to Brazil, where we would visit the famous waterfalls. Unfortunately, this meant we would miss the big parade that was to be held at 7pm but to be quite honest, we had already been long enough in the crowded streets to celebrate. It was time to continue our journey.