Global Family - Argentina

The other side of our planet from Kuala Lumpur is Ecuador (http://www.antipodr.com/). Although my current destination is not Ecuador, it is on the same continent as this Latin American nation. This is the first time my parents and I stepped foot on the South American continent. Why are we there? To visit my sister who's currently working there.

Getting here was a track to say the least - 28 hours of flight time from Kuala Lumpur to Buenos Aires via London and Madrid. Knowing that this was going to be a long journey, we decided to stop in London for a night, taking a breather in Cambridge where we managed to repack, relax for a bit, and take in some British sun in at the Plough, Coton, a gastropub just outside Cambridge. However, the best part of the journey was 13 hours on Business Class seats from Kuala Lumpur to London on Malaysian Airlines (a gift for my mum's 60th birthday). Although the service and extras that came with this Business Class ticket was sub par, the seat in itself was good enough to make this part of the trip memorable and comfortable enough. I never knew a seat could have so many buttons and settings. When we arrived in Heathrow, it definitely did not feel like we flew in a giant metal box for 13 hours.

The next 15 hours of flight time from London to Buenos Aires via Madrid was back on Economy class on Iberia which was very standard... nothing exciting but no complaints either. The destination was the main reward.

First impressions of Buenos Aires - very European. Looking out from the balcony of our Airbnb off Sante Fe reminds me of being in the apartments in the heart of Madrid. Even the signs are in the same language. However, listening carefully, their accents are slightly different with the double L's pronounced sh instead of y. Avenues, churches, theaters, and parks are all pretty European in architectural styles. Even the food is very European - ice cream, wine, and pasta. Entertainment: a night at the beautiful Teatro Colon for a musical ensemble led by Daniel Barenboim, a multi award winning musical prodigy. He normally only conducts these days but this performance was special as he was on the piano! But, an attraction which was pretty unique is the Recoleta Cemetery with classic and modern tombs and monuments of distinguished Argentineans including Evita Peron. Walking around the city on a sunny Sunday afternoon, visiting craft markets, park, and a shopping centre to get a pair of alpargatas was also very pleasant. On my final night in Buenos Aires, we decided to splurge a little on dinner and it was so worth it. Osaka Restaurant took us on a mouthwatering journey of tastes, fusing traditional Japanese flavours with Peruvian cuisine. The fifth taste does indeed exist! Overall, as cities go, pretty exciting city for my sister to be working in, with the exception of the bureaucracy, inefficiencies, and corruption, I guess.

On the stroll near the ferry terminal in Buenos Aires

The piéce de resistance of this trip was the journey to the North of Argentina which was breathtakingly beautiful. Iguazu Falls is definitely the most beautiful collection of waterfalls that I have ever seen in my life - 10 points all around - for height, intensity, diversity, flora, fauna, walks, accessibility, and amenities. Both the Brazilian and Argentinean side of the falls are worth spending a day each. To complement this all, our stay in La Aldea de La Selva was amazing with jungle vibes, private jacuzzis, and well-decorated and well-equipped facilities and rooms. Our carbon footprint was also pretty low apparently!

Iguazu Falls

When we thought that Argentina couldn't offer a sight more beautiful than the falls, we were proven wrong by the Altiplano. Our journey from Iguazu to the Altiplano required a plane and a four wheel drive through Salta to ascend more than 3000 metres above sea level. Aerolineas Argentina now has a flight directly from Iguazu to Salta without having go through Bueno Aires. At Salta, we were greeted by our guide for the next few days, Nick from Poncho Tours. His tailor made itinerary brought us to out of this world sights including the Seven Coloured Mountains, the Painters Palette, the Playground by Tuzgle Volcano, and high altitude towns and villages including Tilcara (an area popular with hippies from the cities), Huancar (a pueblo in the middle of nowhere where we greeted by the sounds of an local eccentric singing), Pumamarca (a super touristy town due to its location right by the seven coloured mountains), Susques (a town at an altitude of 3896m which is the location of the 2nd oldest church in Argentina), and Humahuaca (the principal town of this area with a Franco-built monument to recognise the contribution of the natives to the Argentine War of Independence).

I think UNESCO's description on the Quedabra de Humahuaca which is a World Heritage Site describes what we saw throughout this very well planned tour is very apt: that this area is an "extremely complex heritage system characterised by elements of various kinds inserted in a stunning, impressive and colourful landscape. The interaction between the geo-ecological system and the successive societies and cultures that have occupied it for the last 10,000 years shows space-time continuity that is hard to find in other areas." (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1116). It is not just the pre Incan and Incan influence on this landscape which was exciting to learn about but also how the Spanish invasion and the fight for independence influenced this area. Spanish built churches and military posts for example, still dot this area. We also enjoyed the sights and tastes of really cute Llamas, Guanacos, and Vicuñas. However, even without human influence, this area would have boasted sights that are in itself a thing of utmost beauty and bizarre at times. As our guide repeated a couple of times, in geographical terms, this area is pretty young and therefore lots of natural formations are still very obvious to the human eye.

The Seven Coloured Mountains