Though I vowed against such long journeys before...
It’s been a while since I’ve admired a good sunset, but today that thirst was met from the window of a twenty hour bus from Buenos Aires. It was the first time that the Argentine sky truly took my breath away and a moment might actually be up there with one of my favourite evenings so far. I have found myself in the middle of the Argentinian countryside on a relatively comfortable 20 hour bus to Puerto Iguazu. I have a window seat, a chair that reclines almost into a bed, a TV playing Bridget Jones and air-conditioning. Like any countryside journey - in almost any part of the world - the farm and forest land, trees and cows could easily be placed in any country I’ve been so far. To my left the entire open sky is illuminated by a huge burnt orange setting sun, perhaps the largest I’ve seen so far. I can almost feel the heat through the bus window as everything is illuminated in the golden hour. As the night begins to creep in, the last rays of this immense sun turned bright red as the whole landscape erupted in the warm glow of dusk. To my right I welcome the sight of forests of palm trees, full of noise and life, as I edge into the sub-tropical, humid Northern area which frames the top corners of Argentina. Seven hours into my journey and it’s in place to be the best bus journey I’ve ever taken in my entire life. Whilst also serving as a reminder of the immense size of this continent, the element of comfort that I have found myself in outshines all of my England Megabus experiences and reveals perhaps another western hint to Argentina. Because flights are so expensive here, it is incredibly common to use coach services and everyone is more than happy to endure the incredibly long journeys. For 1’500 pesos (probably predicted as my most expensive bus trip because of the touristic destination) you can purchase a ticket at countless counters in the city of Buenos Aires. I’ve become incredibly efficient at packing my backpack in the last fourteen months and it took almost no time for me to wave goodbye to Buenos Aires. As the sky begins to turn a pink and purple hue, my adventure now truly begins. I am alone and my plans only stretch as far as the next 24 hours. I look forward to the language barriers, hurdles and lessons that will come my way. But first, onto Iguazu and it’s waterfalls. Although the driver is yet to take a rest, we have made several stops along the way to pick up extra passengers. At each of these stops the street vendors leap on and attempt to offer you some cheap, sweet treats. At 9pm we were also served dinner on the bus of traditional Argentine snacks and at 11pm the lights were off and everyone began to snooze. It is the first time I have endured a long distance journey and actually managed to sleep the whole way through. It was certainly time to leave Buenos Aires. Though the last three weeks have been wonderful, I was burning a hole in my wallet by surviving in the city. What is more, is that after three weeks I finally knew my way around, could jump on busses and walk in and out of suburbs with the utmost confidence of direction - I was comfortable. It is at this point that I have trained myself to recognise that comfort demands a reassessment of your trip, a shake-up. .
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Tamara DavisonNepal, China, Malaysia, Australia, Argentina. Archives
November 2017
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