Buses = the good, the bad, and the AMAZING

OK, so my computer will not let me type any of the proper punctuation marks, so this should be fun...

The last few days have involved quite a bit of moving and shaking. After an extra night in Mendoza, this time in a much nicer hostel, we bussed it 10 hours to Cordoba, followed by three hours North to the small and incredibly cute mountain town of La Cumbre. Nina and Jenny were truly troopers as I dragged them out of the way to get to this town after 10 hours on a super crappy bus that we were fully expecting to be one of those super awesome Argentinian bus experiences we have heard so much about complete with bed, movies, food, champagne, blankets, pillows, and toilet paper in the bathrooms. This one had none of the above and the extra fun added feature of being FREEZING. I had to wrap the head cover from the chair around my feet and curl up in the fetal position to stay alive. But the town turned out to be beyond worth it. Not only was it gorgeous, it had its very own 7 meter tall statue of Christ the Redemptor staring down on it, AND I got to do my laundry in the sink and shave my legs. Boy, oh boy, did I feel like a whole new person with clean clothes and clean legs. Its the simple things, really...

Next, Jenny and I had to say adios to Nina as her job in Tahoe has called her home. While she made her way to Buenos Aires, we hopped aboard another bus and began our 25 hour journey to Puerto Iguazu. Now, 25 hours seemed like a LONG time to me before this trip. But somehow, it no longer seems so bad. 36 hours, that seems bad, but 25 hours is TOTALLY manageable. Especially when you know what questiosn to ask BEFOREHAND and assure that you get the kick ass Argentinian bus experience. The US sure could learn a lesson or two from the Argentinians when it comes to buses. In our 21 hours on bus number two, we received warm blankets, fluffy pillows, a welcome mint, 5 episodes of House, an after dinner movie, lunch, a hot dinner, drinks, wine, champagne, breakfast, tea, AND bathrooms with toilet paper. Gosh, what else could we possibly have asked for. Not to mention, that my seat from the second story of this double decker bus offered me AMAZING views of the passing landscape. I was so entranced that I could have happily sat there the whole time sans other entertainment and watched as the landscape changed from mountains, to plains, to jungle. In fact, as the trip came to an end, I actually found myself sad to have to get off. I told Jenny that I wished it would just go on forever, and I could see the whole world from this viewpoint. Travel by bus is so much more fulfilling than flying and so much less stressful than driving. At least this is my sentiment for now...Ill report back after I log another couple hundred hours more aboard less than feliz buses.

So now I am in Puerto Iguazu at the most Northeastern tip of Argentina hanging out in a cute hostel called Peter Pan with a few friends from Holland that we met a couple of weeks back in Chile and some new friends from Idaho and Australia. This is a tiny town near the jungle and it is hot hot HOT. Not exactly my idea of a wonderful time, but these falls we are going to see tomorrow are supposed to be amazing, so Im willing to believe that melting is going to be worth it. Plus, the ride here was fantastico. VIVA Hasta la proxima....