I got a fairly decent sleep once the itching of the mosquito bites stopped. I was the only lad in the room last night which was great. No snoring!! It was so quiet once the girls went to sleep. Some of the other nights when there could be three lads snoring at once it was like being at a bloody Grand Prix!!! Top decibel levels so far go to that French gobshite in the dorm in Colonia del Sacramento. He really took the biscuit..... oeuf, bagette ´n all. The big hazard in north America was dogs running after me. This seems to have been replaced in South America by backpackers snoring.... not to mention the mosquitoes biting me on the occasions when I avoid the snoring. The worst thing about the mosquito bites, though, though is that I have two tubes of strong mosquito repelant in my rucksack...... and never used them. Nope, I went for the ....... stay awake all night with a rolled up newspaper while being eaten alive option. The joys of froeign travel!!
Today I´m heading for Bariloche in the Argentinian lake district. The trip, I think, really starts to take off from today. Its a long bus ride down to Bariloche. 20hrs. The bus leaves Retiro, Buenos Aires cavernous bus terminal at 14.30 and will arrive at Bariloche tomorrow morning. Its an overnighter so its going to be interesting.
I stay around the hostel for most of the morning and get a bus to Retiro around 1pm. The bus leaves Retiro bang on 14.30. Its a double decker and I´m up top so I have great views. The seats are comfortable and fold out in to beds for the night. Also there´s a waiter on board who is serving meals, all part of the fare. This is an unexpected bonus as I brought along a small bag of food for the journey.
As soon as the bus pulls out of the station it passes through an extremely rough looking neighbourhood. It makes La Boca look like a pleasant stroll.. The bus climbs up onto the autopista which crosses over San Telmo (The district I´ve stayed in) and cuts across to the western outskirts of Buenos Aires. The city is vast. High up on this motorway is the first time I´ve could appreciate just how big the city is. A brown haze of smog hangs over the city like a mist, obscuring some of the distant tower blocks. The bus zips along the motorway towards the outskirts of the city. Its good to be getting away the big cities for a while. I´m looking forward to seeing the Andes tomorrow.
Soon enough we´re on the edge of B.A. and leaving the suburbs behind we see more and more greenery as the landscape opens up into a vast pastureland. The landscape is flat, very flat. Reminiscent of of the American mid-west. The grasslands which stretch away to the horizon are interspersed with isolated groves of trees which stand in silhoutte on the horizon. The sky is overcast but no hint of rain.
Here and there pretty tree-lined avenues lead to fine looking villas or small por-lookimg farmsteads. Herds of cattle and sheep graze in the vast fields. For hours we pass through a landscape that doesn´t change. No hill rises to break the horizon, only pasture and trees. Sometimes large fields of cereals break the pattern.
On board there are tv screens showing dvd´s of hollywood films but I end up looking out the window more than watching the films. By 9pm the sun goes down on a landscape that hasn´t changed since we left Buenos Aires.
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