from el calafate in the far south of Argentina, I had to make my way north to Buenos Aires to meet up with caryn. unfortunately, there’s no quick and easy way to do this, at least without flying. my only option was to take a 5 hour bus to Rio Gallegos, and after sitting around there for a few hours killing time, I would need to take a *36* hour bus up to Buenos Aires. ouch. the first short bus ride was uneventful. I arrived in Rio Gallegos, and then went to an internet cafe a few blocks from the bus station to kill some time. it was crazy windy outside. insanely windy actually and I was literally being blown off the sidewalk as I walked along. after a few hours online, I headed back to the bus station to grab a quick snack before my bus ride. I was *starving*, and at 8pm, I still hadn’t eaten anything all day. at the station, I decided to buy a sandwich and some crackers, but the crackers were a bit far behind the cashier so I reached to put on my glasses to see what kind they were and… holy shit. my glasses were gone.
I frantically tried to remember what could have happened to them. I *know* I had them when I got off the bus. did I leave them at the internet cafe? I was pretty sure I hadn’t. I *know* I have a tendency to forget things, so I make sure to NEVER put my glasses down. if I’m not wearing them, I hang them on my shirt collar so I wont forget them. but who knows. maybe just this once I did actually put them down next to the computer. I run up to the bus attendant, and tell him I need to go find my glasses. he tells me I have 1 minute before the bus leaves. I start running. I run up to the internet cafe totally out of breath… no glasses. CRAP! I run back to the bus, and scramble on. I have no idea what happened to my glasses. my only guess is that they might have been blown off by the wind earlier. what a crap day. there I was… no glasses… no food… and a 36 hour bus ride ahead of me.
the bus ride was long. hella long. I went to sleep, only to be woken up by the snoring of the bus attendant. the whole bus was practically empty, yet he had chosen to go to sleep across from me. I moved, and fell asleep stretched out across 2 seats with my legs stretched across the aisle onto the seat across from me. I woke up the next day and realized that after all that time on the bus, I still had another whole day and night ahead of me. ugh. unlike previous bus rides, they made no effort to show movies in English or even have English subtitles. instead everything was in Spanish. in the span of 36 hours, I watched “pappy, you’re acting so crazy!” *twice*.
finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got to Buenos Aires. it turned out that caryn’s bus would be 3 hours late, so I sat around at the station bored. finally though, her bus arrived. it had been a fun 3 weeks traveling solo. there’s something really nice about just being the master of your own destiny and just winging it on your own. but after 3 weeks of it, I was super excited to be meeting up with caryn again. it was great to reunite.
we spent the next few days just chilling in Buenos Aires. we found a hotel in the Palermo district, which is one of Buenos Aires’ nicer and more fun neighborhoods. we went to a bunch of good restaurants. we went out to a bunch of bars. we slept in. we lounged around. basically, we did everything except for sightseeing. during all of our time in Buenos Aires, we didn’t see a single sight. instead we just spent our time relaxing, and enjoying what big cities have to offer. it was really nice, and I can really see why people love Buenos Aires so much. it’s like a mixture of Spain and Italy, but at a third of the price.
there was one more thing we wanted to see in Argentina and that was Iguazu falls. they are in the very northeast tip of the country on the Brazilian border. 18 hours by bus. so once again, I was on the bus. this time, I almost didn’t even notice the time pass by. when we arrived, it actually seemed like it had been a short ride. I guess 18 hours is nothing compared to 36!!
*v