Off to the Misson Ruins

Wednesday, Jan. 12 (Part II)

Note: I am on another strange computer. The symbols are not where the keys show they are. For instance, the colon was on the key that shows the period and the greater-than sign and the dash I just used was were the colon and the semi-colon signs are shown on the key. So you may need to figure out what is supposed to be where, since I am using touch typing and cannot search for every right key!

It is 7:30 p.m., and the sun is about to set. I have arrived just in time to the point known as Tres Frontieras (Three Borders). I am sitting in Argentina and looking just across the juncture of two rivers to both Brazil and Paraguay. There is a small crowd here. All seem to be locals. I see a few people on the banks of the river in Brazil, but no one in Paraguay; the cities are just too far from the points there, I guess. For me, it was only about a 30-minute walk to here, and several others were making the same hike. It is a nice evening with clear skies and cicadae humming in the background.

I was not very hungry at breakfast this morning although the hotel had a big, nice buffet. I skipped lunch due to not really being hungry and due to not having any small bills. The ATM gave me only 100s and 50s, and a lunch is no more than 8-12. I just went to the room and ate a few peanuts and took a nap. I also finished reading Boys of Life by Paul Russell.

Before going to the Tres Frontieras, I wandered the streets near downtown. it is a strangely planned downtown with triangular-shaped blocks. That makes it easy to get turned around. I looked for a place to get a haircut, but all I could find were unisex salons with women doing the cutting. I have always had trouble with a woman understanding how short I want my hair around the edges. Women don`t want their hair that way, and I have always had trouble finding a woman barber who could do it the way I asked her to do it. I will just wait for another town where I can maybe find a male barber.

While wandering, I discovered the market area. I immediately thought of my friend Bob Maroney who went down the Amazon with me, because there were many stalls with tables where they were serving the big beers he loved in Brazil. I also thought of Bob when i was in the supermarket and saw a wide selection of Bols liqueurs for only 8.60 pesos ($2.90 U.S.) and a local brand for only 6.80 pesos per 750 ml bottle. He and his wife Judy like to have local liqueurs wherever they travel, and here they have one of the widest selections of flavors at the lowest prices I have ever seen.
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I am at another outdoor cafe. I just had one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. It was huge (about 8 inches or 20 cm in diameter) and had steak, melted cheese, fried egg, tomatoes, and lettuce. The steak was so tender and wonderful. The stories about Argentine beef must be true. I will have to eat a big one soon. Ummm!

I bought a beer (1 liter= to go with my sandwich. As I sit here, a samba group is practicing across the street. I can hear the drums and the band. I heard another group practicing near the Tres Frontieras. They do not clebrate Carnival in Argentina in general, but maybe they do here since the border with Brazil is right here. Carnival is only 3 weeks away. Unfortunately, I will be far from the border by the time it comes around, so I will probably be in a part of Argentina where it is not observed. This group I am hearing tonight is good. it is much better than the Carnival groups I have heard in Copenhagen, including the ones they have brought from Brazil.
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I am in my room and just had a very refreshing cold shower. On my way here, I stopped to watch the samba band. They were so good! The drumbeats were electrifying. There were only two trumpeters for the music, but they were all that was needed and were very good. The leader, a guy about 35 years old, was a high-energy type person and really had command of his whistle! Listening to them and then watching them was the highlight of my day. So exciting!!!

Walking: 24,647 steps (14,839 aerobic steps), 1026 calories, 16.75 km (10 miles)

Spending Update: I was in Brazil for 7 days (through this morning). I spent a total of either $165.82 or $146.13 (according to whether the hotel last night was either $31 or 31 Rais). If the former, I averaged spending $23.69 per day and if the latter, I averaged spending $20.88 per day, including the $36.33 bus ticket which raised the average by $5.19 per day!

Thursday, Jan. 13

It is 11:15 and I am waiting for the bus back to the city. I took the first bus out to the falls this morning so I could be here in the coolest (though NOT cool at all) part of the day.

This park has changed, too, since I was here. The main change is the addition of a narrow-gauge railroad to take visitors into the park. It goes not just to the two main trails that existed before, but it also goes to the Devil`'s Throat. They built it down one side of the roadway we had to walk to get to that area when I was here before.

The other big change is that they have rebuilt the catwalks to the Devil`s Throat. A portion had washed out in a flood in 1992, and we had to take a boat to connect to the creaky remains going there on my first visit. Now, there are new, sturdy catwalks all the way without having to take a boat.

It was good to see the falls again. This side is definitely nicer to visit because of the combination of distant views and close encounters. My battery went dead for my camera, however, on my first photo of the day. And my replacement battery, although I thought it was, was not charged. So I did not get any photos today. That would have bothered me if I did not have great photos from my previous visit when I was here with Trixie from Denmark, her boyfriend Richard from England, and an American student who were all staying at the same pousada where I stayed then.

The movie The Mission was filmed here. It is about the Jesuit missions that were established in the area, and the opening scenes of the film show the missionaries having to climb the falls. They have the music from the movie piped onto the train, and all the guides mention that the movie was filmed here.

I hiked part of the day with an American young man in his late 20s or early 30s. He travels a lot and said that he decided not to go back to the U.S. after Bush was relected. He plans to just continue traveling for 4 years! He is headed to Brazil and spends most of his time visiting beach resorts. I am not sure how he gets the money for his expenses, but he gets his air tickets cheaply because a friend who works for United Airlines has listed him as a life partner.
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I ate lunch downtown and was disappointed. Many locals were eating there, so I figured it would be good. I ordered a piece of chicken with spaghetti sauce and served with rice. The sauce was rather plain, and the rice tasted as if it were instant. The bread, however, was good, and it was served with pats of both butter and bleu cheese.

I was so tired that I went to bed and napped for 3 hours. There is a reason for the tradition of siesta. It is so hot and muggy here that napping comes naturally.

I have started a new novel, The Murder Room by P.D. James. I know she is a prominant and popular novelest, but I have never read one of her books before. I do not normally read murder mysteries. But Robert had bought and read this one and gave it to me before I left Copenhagen.

Tonight, I have limited plans. I will go to a cyber cafe and I will find another good sandwich place. The skies are clear, so I also will try to find a place to look at them. The stars are so bright in remote areas like this, plus these are the skies of the southern hemisphere and are different from those I normally get to see. Last night I got a glimpse of the sky on my way home, but I was too tired to try to find a place with a good view.

Walking: 21,512 steps (15,728 aerobic steps), 880 calories, 14.62 km (8 3/4 miles)