Day 87 – Trinidad y Jesus - Posadas – Iguazu (night in Argentina)

I woke up realizing that I was in Paraguay, The streets were in a bad shape and the buses were even worse. There was however a friendly attitude of the people, similar to the one I have experienced in Bolivia. I left my luggage in the hotel and started walking on the dusty road on the way to the bus station. I took the first bus with destination Ciudad del Este together with the local early workers. It was a funny experience listening to vendors who jumped suddenly into the bus selling improbable items and food with the ability of experienced salespersons. Living on the edge of poverty but keeping once again an incredible dignity trying to arrive to the end of the day with some money to survive. The bus stopped me after approximately 1 hour in the middle of the road where I could see the signs of both Trinidad on one side and of Jesus on the other. The two archaeological sites, now UNESCO World Heritage, were built at the time of colonization with the purpose to convert the indigenous people to the Catholic religion. They were proper religious concentration camp in where the Catholic religion would have prospered among everybody. They didn’t make their calculation well however because once the country went through one of its numerous revolutions, the Jesuits were expelled and the churches and convents remained unfinished. Now they are still standing there, in a wonderful peaceful green area as a witness that man’s utopia has always been very difficult to build.

First I went to Jesus with a little local truck. After that with the same truck and the same driver to whom I offered my tasty crackers, I went to visit Trinidad. They were both very similar, even if very different in size with the second much larger than the first. I was alone on this green silent hill, surrounded by trees. The ruins were standing there as a silent witness of the past. I was alone and walked around them, sitting every now and then enjoying the silence of a peaceful place which never started living. I was happy of my decision to visit the ruins here in Paraguay, and it was another little tick in the box in my huge list. I slowly walked back to the bus station where another woman was waiting for the bus to go back to Encarnacion. I arrived back to town just for lunch time. I stopped in a place that I noticed the night before, to eat a very delicious and basic grilled chicken with manioc. I took the bus to Posada immediately after lunch to finally arrive at the bus station around 2pm and then another bus to Iguazu waterfall in the Argentinean side. The journey was pleasant with great landscape crossing beautiful little towns. I arrived at night and I felt tired. I managed to book few tours for the day after at the local Tourist Office before crashing to a hostel right in front of the bus station after eating a decent, slightly overcooked steak together with 4 Japanese tourists who were sitting at my table. The hostel was clean and functional and I was fortunately alone in the room. I slept immediately with a little nightmare during the night probably due to tiredness. I thought before sleeping again on how long I have been travelling now and in how many places I have slept. I couldn't really count them all because I fell asleep again...and fortunately this time without nightmares.

Day 86 – Posada - Encarnacion

Posada is the Argentinean city on the border with Paraguay. Nothing really happens here if not for many commuters that pass everyday between the 2 countries. My next destination, before going to the Iguazu waterfalls, was to reach the southern part of Paraguay to visit two very famous archaeological sites not too far from the city of Encarnacion, on the other side of the river and in front of Posada. It was already 5pm when I arrived at the border with Paraguay. The border looked fairly unreliable and very underdeveloped compared to the big constructions I was used to in other parts of Argentina and Brazil. I finally left the border after some excruciating bureaucracies to finally hit the town of Encarnacion after 30 minutes. I decided to sleep in a recommended hotel right in front of the bus station and it was a good idea. The hotel, clean and cheap was very convenient and with very helpful and polite owners. I went to the local supermarket, bought some food for the bus, and then walked 10 blocks north to a local, and apparently very famous, sushi restaurant. The food was good and very cheap. Everything in Paraguay is ridiculously cheap compared to the other countries I have visited here in South America. I went back to my room which was extremely small, very basic but with a comfortable and clean bed. I had my alarm at 7am in order to go to Trinidad first and to the town of Jesus immediately after. These sites are now part of the UNESCO world heritage but are probably amongst the ones least visited in the world. This fact makes them extremely interesting because they are not spoiled by a high number of tourists. Tomorrow I will go and visit them myself and check if what they say it is true or not...
TWIMO!

Day 81 – 85 – Florianopolis

I arrived in beautiful Florianopolis late morning. The surrounding was totally different than what I expected. The city itself is actually set at the entrance of the massive island of Catarina. Originally I thought it was a city with beautiful beaches but instead it is an island with it main city being Florianopolis. This complicates things because the island is so big that it is virtually impossible to visit it all without a car or a motorbike. I spent the first night in the usual hostel recommended by my book guide and it was a good choice. The hostel was clean and very convenient in the central part of the city. However that is not where you would like to stay for too long because the best beaches and bars are north or east of the island or even better closer to the main lake or lagoon within the island itself.

The first night was pleasant. I went and had dinner with a Brazilian guy who was sharing the hostel room with me. It was a first god impact with the Brazilian culture and with the Portuguese language. I found it quite easy to understand being myself Italian and with a strong Spanish background. I returned to my room, spend few minutes chatting and then I felt asleep with the book I am reading right on top of my nose...

The following 4 days in Florianopolis have been spent in a new hostel which became a sort of second home. The place is located in Lagoa de Conceicao, inside the island and next to the Lagoon. The hostel was suggested me by a Brazilian girl I met for a drink and coffee in town. She was right. The place was full of international travellers and for 4 days I spent the most entertaining and funny days of the last weeks, including of course those spent in Buenos Aires. Clubbing, beach, walking, boat trip, lots of capirina and fun with lively and happy people sharing travelling stories, different tips and recommendations. I shared my room with other 5 people and we barely managed to sleep before 4am. The hostel became a sort of big family house where every day and night there was always something going on and with new people coming in and enjoying the group.

The only downsize was the weather which was constantly grey and raining. I started thinking that Florianopolis could be considered from a weather perspective the London of Brazil...

I managed to plan my next destinations and finally booked a bus to Posada in Argentina and from there crossing the border with Paraguay. Fortunately there was a direct bus which really helped to earn some time before going to the Iguazu Falls. I left Florianopolis with a bitter taste in my mouth and with the certain feeling I would have come back sooner or later. On the way to the station, I missed the bus because, despite telling the taxi driver I was in a hurry, he smartly decided to change, right in the middle of the ride, the oil to his car! Something like this can only happen in South America! Fortunately I managed to jump into another faster bus which allowed me to take the one I missed, in another city. The trip was ok, nothing really special except a very green landscape all around. I am here in the night bus now, writing these few lines trying to figure out how many miles I have crossed so far... Quick glimpses of places and people are crossing my mind; images of Asia, Australia and New Zealand are coming back to my mind very strongly. Images that I had temporally forgotten and that now reminds me even more, what a huge trip I am undertaking. It is a great feeling.

Day 80 – Porto Alegre – Florianopolis

I managed to sleep in the bus. The ride was decent and quite comfortable. I reached Porto Alegre around 915 and managed to jump immediately into another bus with destination Florianopolis. I can already see the change in the nature and in the climate. Green all around with a flourish and luxury vegetation mixed by many little lagoons and the ocean which can be seen far away. I already love it here. I love this kind of climate and this nature. I arrived around 7.30pm and went straight to the hostel that was suggested in my guide book. It was a good hostel, clean and with a very good service. I had a quick dinner and went to bed for a well deserved night sleep after a pretty boring day spent on the bus.

Day 79 – Montevideo – Porto Alegre

It was a lazy day, characterized again by rain... lots of rain.  I woke up around 9.30am and had a quick breakfast at the hostel. Dave and I returned the car and went to the bus station to get info about our next travels. He managed to find a connection back to Buenos Aires at 13.30 while I fortunately found a night bus to Porto Alegre. I was very sceptical about finding a connection to Florianopolis the same day but I was lucky. Basically there is only one direct connection a week to Florianopolis but there is every day to Porto Alegre. From there it is very easy to find a bus to Floripa. I said goodbye to Dave, another new good friend I have found during my journey and a very good companion during the last 10 days in Argentina and Uruguay. I hope I will see him again in Rio in December. I returned back to the hostel and from there I went for lunch. Immediately after, I started a little tour of the city. As every respectable Italian I tried to see the house of Garibaldi, one of our national hero, but unfortunately it was closed. Everything was closed actually. I must admit that from a cultural perspective Montevideo lacks the charm and the vibe of his cousin Buenos Aires. Lazily I walked around the old town and took some decent pictures until I went back to the hostel. A good long shower and packing again. I am running out of clean clothes and I desperately need to find a laundry service soon. Nothing more than this today. I went to the bus station and jumped on the bus for an 11 hours journey which will take me to Porto Alegre tomorrow morning at 9am where with a little bit of luck I will be able to catch the 9.30am bus to Florianopolis for another 7 hours journey along the shores of Southern Brazil. I am in the bus now, where food is crap and there is no movie. I better try to sleep.

Day 78 – Punta del Diablo, Punta del Este

We left early in the morning with the intention to rent a car to go to Punta del Diablo and Punta del Este. Eventually we found a good deal in the nearby hotel where we managed to hire a car for 24 hours. The destinations are considered very beautiful and important in the country mostly known as holiday resort the second and paradise for surfers the first. Let’s start immediately saying that both places were a complete disappointment. Probably it was due to the very bad weather, or because the season didn’t start, but both places didn’t really match with the expectations. Punta del Diablo, so well recommended by the majority of people I met in Argentina and Uruguay, was a small semi-town, with barely a shop open and no infrastructure whatsoever. The beach was dirty and there were no facilities or bars at least to make a quick stop over before driving back. So here we are, driving back to Punta del Este in the hope of something slightly better. We arrived there around 7pm and almost everything was closed due to the fact that the summer season hasn’t started yet. Punta del Este is exactly the opposite of the place we had just visited. Immense buildings and hotels with the most expensive bars and restaurants all scattered around and a concrete wall of residential houses and apartments along the coast. Basically it can be considered the Miami or the Cancun of the South America. I realized how there was only ‘black or white’ and no different shades of greys in the towns here. Either ‘Las Vegas’ or some under developed town with no running water.

However, despite the disappointment of the places we visited, we were both glad with the choice of travelling around Uruguay and its coast. Having the car, driving around with our own time, pulling over when we wanted to and sightseeing by car chatting and listening to music was a form of travelling that I have kind of forgotten and I was glad to have done it again. I really enjoyed the trip after all.

We returned back to Montevideo quite late. Just the time to find a good parking place, eating at the usual cheap restaurant next to the hostel and then straight to bed.

Day 77 – Colonia - Montevideo

Dave and I left Buenos Aires in pain. Getting up so early again after having slept only 3 hours it was something extremely painful and excruciating. We arrived at the harbour to then jump into the boat to Colonia in Uruguay. I do not remember much of the journey since I slept pretty much the whole time. We arrived in Colonia around 13.30. I left the bag at the station and we started walking around the little town. Surprisingly, Colonia is a very beautiful and well preserved little town with lots of precious corners to discover. We had lunch in an extravagant place listening to some nice local music and enjoying decent fresh food for a reasonable price. I took lots of pictures while walking around the little streets or along the coast to reach the harbour. Our bus was booked for 6pm and we gradually walked back to the station. It was approximately a 4 hour ride to Montevideo. Once there we managed thanks to the good advice of the taxi driver, to find what it was probably the best hostel in the city, right in the centre of the main square, Plaza Indipendencia. We went to bed fairly early not only because the city didn’t really have to offer as much as Buenos Aires, but mostly because we were really exhausted. I was so tired that paradoxically I couldn’t really fall asleep if not when it was already late; enough to be sleepy one more time the day after.