fin

Back in relatively familiar territory, always a nice feeling. We spent our last few reais on more pao do queijo and a trip to the toilet at the bus station (not the best, not the worst either) then joined the pile of backpackers at the bus stop marked "Argentina". Minibus arrived a bit later and we all piled on then all had to pile off at the Brazilian side of the border again. Border proceedings took no time at all but then we had a very long wait for another bus, several going past and just waving as they cruised on by. Got a bit ridiculous but eventually got a bus to the Argentinian side, feeling very thankful we'd chosen to leave Curitiba on the earlier bus as it was already getting a little close to our next departure time. Customs on this side was a bit more rigorous than it had been on the way out, xray'd our bags. Didn't seem concerned about my mini bananas though. Arrived back in Puerto Iguazu with time to spare so decided to wander down to see the friendly folk at Hostel Bambu, left our bags there while we went in hunt of icecream for breakfast and actually found a place that was open to our surprise - Delish! Then hopped on the next bus bound for Cordoba. We were sat in the second row so had a reasonable view. Were stopped several times by highway patrol type people who came on (once with a dog even) and had to show our passports and other people got what seemed to be full on interrogations. Later on it started to rain and got really really scarily windy at one point with eerie lighting which slowed us down even further. Had a good view of the beautiful sunset accompanied by fork lightning flashes. Also a good view of the bus drivers terrifying overtaking tactics. Yikes. The road was very narrow, no margin of error allowed for or you're in the grass. Dinner, which was the most monotonous i've seen, pretty much all white - various bready snacks, rice and stringy meat, was served really late as we were well behind schedule, so at that stage we probably would've eaten anything which was just as well. Slept pretty well and arrived in Cordoba mid-morning, an hour and a half later than scheduled.
Decided to check out a modern art gallery first (after a breakfast of the remaining pao do queijo in a little unpretty park). Walked through the big park on the way there, past the zoo, a bright green river and an amusement park. Saw a budgerigar in the WILD (like sitting on the path in front of us). Then got a little lost. Then found again. Then found the art gallery which was really interesting and deliciously air conditioned. Spent ages there before trying to get lunch at a place listed in lonely planet but it was just closed so went somewhere else and got a selection of empanadas (not quite the ones we ordered tho). As we were leaving the art gallery we were witness to a cellphone robbery, a guy on a motorbike just rode up onto the pavement at a corner and quick as a flash the guy standing there was suddenly empty handed. Happened so fast. After lunch we succeeded in finding the post office next and sent all our postcards finally since we finished writing them at lunch. Not cheap and most boring stamps ever. Then wandered around town - there's a large pedestrian only area which is way nicer to walk around but the shops are all fairly generic and boring. Except for the whiteware/appliance store that was pumping out Supre-esque music, both in style and volume. Bizarre. Got plenty of Grido icecream and ate it in a plaza where we then sat for quite a while before trying for some dinner. On the way to the restaurant we'd decided to go to there was a street display for people who had been killed or disappeared during a particularly black time in the history of the area with their photos strung up everywhere - lots had been young students. Stopped for a while to watch a pretty incredible street artist do his stuff, very impressive and wanted to buy a couple but didn't have enough pesos so were gonna try in american dollars but the ones we wanted got snapped up before we figured out the conversion. Got to the restaurant and it too was closed, next place we tried was closed as well and walked past a third closed vege place before seriously contemplating a dinner of supermarket wine but the last place to try was open so spent our last few pesos on tabouleh, eggplant and baklava at a nice middle eastern place that gave us complimentary pita bread and water.
Got to the bus station to discover our 10pm bus was going to be at least 3 hours late. Managed to speak the most spanish at one time that i think i had so far this trip to explain to the girl at the little internet cafe our predicament of needing to let the friend that was going to meet us in santiago know about the delay but having nada pesos to pay to do so and got myself 5 free minutes! Then wiled away the hours playing cards and finding open bathrooms. Bus finally arrived at 2am and managed to switch seats so that jon and i could sit next to each other rather than on separate levels of the double decker. This bus was a cama bus so dinner was pretty flash and even had a wide selection of beverages to accompany it. Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise, went through mendoza then entered the andes again. Chile border crossing again, much less harrowing when you'd done it before. Then slept pretty much until we were almost at the bus station in Santiago where there were friendly faces to meet us! Got ushered through the Santiago subway system and arrived at daniela's lovely, cosy, pet friendly (3 cats - one a tiny kitten called zeus - and 4 dogs, mostly daschunds). Showered then had a really yummy supper (heaps of fresh fruit) with all the fam as Daniela's sister was leaving to live in BsAs the very next day. Were going to go out to either a friends place or to a well known authentic-y bar for a drink that sounded really really delicious but wound up getting some pisco and beer and staying in.
On saturday we walked around a nearby massive street market where you can actually buy anything, including the kitchen sink!! I saw one! Didn't buy anything at all really, only some local drink that is made of a sweet juice made from dried peaches and some sort of grain a bit like barley maybe. It was super cold which was the best cos it was a scorcher. Oh also got ice blocks again because of the extreme heat. And an unusual fruit that i can't remember the name of that i thought was delicious but had loads of really hard little seeds. Then went home and blobbed cos it was too hot to do anything except drink freshly blended icy melon smoothies.
When it got to be a more manageable heat we went for a big bikeride nearly into town and stopped in a bohemian type neighbourhood for a traditional lunch/dinner that was pretty much beef, onions and fried eggs served on chips! Then went for a drink at a place that brews its own beer then serves it with liqueurs/spirits added to it so you can order beer with a shot of tequila or cherry liqueur or whatever added in! Quite nice actually.
That evening we were supposed to go to some show but it had already finished by the time we'd biked home so a few of Daniela's friends came over then we went over to another friends place to hang out. Later on we went to get a Completo which i had been looking forward to trying. Basically it's an american hotdog but it's huge and has every dressing imaginable on top, most of which ended up down the front of my dress!! We ended up staying the night at that friend's place then went to catch the bus home in the morning but Jon hadn't brought his bip! card with him so it was a slow walk home in the heat. Stopped to get some water on the way (they only had carbonated stuff which is worse than no water i reckon when you're thirsty) then closer to home we stopped at somebody's house-come-cafe and tried a chilean empanada (much bigger than in argentina) and some corn thing that was wrapped in the husks and steamed - yummy.
Back home we got all packed up and ready to go then headed into town with Daniela and Ruben. The idea was to drop our packs at the cafe of friends of Daniela's then explore for a couple of hours before heading to the airport but being a sunday the cafe was closed so we had no choice but to cart them with us on a quick trip up the cable car (rode with another kiwi!) to the hill with a virgin mary this time and a view of Santiago (pretty smoggy) and more cold peach-cereal drink. Next stop was for a filling lunch of churrasco in town next door to the place Daniela actually wanted to take us which was closed. Then we caught the bus to airport with muchas gracias to Ruben as we didn't have enough cash left and no time to find an atm before the bus would leave and we were cutting it fine for Jon's flight already. Got to the airport to discover that Jon's flight was delayed anyway! I couldn't check in for mine for a while yet so looked around the airport and found a place to sit for a wee while before we were off back to NZ.
The girl i had met briefly in Iguazu that was heading to NZ on the same day as me was in fact on my flight and ended up right behind me in the check-in line! Sat beside first one then another guy from Uruguay on the plane who were going to spend the year in NZ. They switched so the very tall one could have the emergency exit seats with more leg room. Got my bag fully searched by the friendly nz customs officers cos they wanted to rinse my boots which i'd packed right at the bottom. Then on to chch after a nap where nana was waiting to meet me :D
Did have a quick subconscious look for a bin for the toilet paper at Radbrook St like i'd wondered if i might. Went for a swim and back to the airport in the afternoon to meet Jon a swap flight stories. The End.