Three Countries, Three Very Different Capitals

Slowing our travel pace has meant fewer overnight bus rides, chilly mountain hikes and hectic side trips to remote villages. Instead there have been long walks in parks, leisurely afternoons at neighbourhood cafes and more time in big cities. We spent quality time enjoying the cities of Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Asunción, capitals of their respective countries.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

We’d heard conflicting opinions of Buenos Aires. Some people told us it was dangerous and should be avoided. Others told us it was a must visit. Now that we’ve seen it for ourselves, we fall squarely into the second group. We love it and highly recommend it.

With its wide tree-lined boulevards, wealth of green space and parks, and sidewalk restaurants and coffee shops, Buenos Aires was a welcome change from our crazy travel schedule. It probably helped that we stayed in the Puerto Madero neighbourhood. It is a redeveloped port area. The historic red brick warehouses have been converted to upscale condos and high-end restaurants. The old pedestal cranes have been maintained and add to the charm of the area. We spent hours walking the canal-side walkways and people-watching from the sidewalk bars.

The city has a surprising amount of green space. Our favourite was the protected marshlands of the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, about a five minute walk from our apartment. Less inspiring was Plaza Canadá. It contains a totem pole donated by Canadian First Nations. Otherwise it is a dismal, garbage-strewn square.

The number one tourist attraction in Buenos Aires is La Recoleta Cemetery. It might sound a bit morbid but it is actually fascinating. We spent a few hours wandering the ornate mausoleums and pantheons of important figures in Argentine history. One of the simplest, but a sacred place for many, is the Duarte family mausoleum – the final resting place of Eva María Duarte de Perón, better known as Eva Perón – Evita.

Though not opera fans, we took a guided tour of Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires’ opera house. It is one of the world’s great opera houses. The crystal chandeliers, gilded paneling and marble from all over the world ooze opulence. Surprisingly, tickets to the opera can be had for as little as $3 USD. The government keeps prices low to encourage everyone to appreciate opera.

Our last day in Buenos Aires we met up with Anne and Brian, old friends from Canada who also happened to be visiting. A wonderful afternoon and evening were spent catching up and swapping travel stories. This was our second chance to meet Canadian friends in Argentina. In Mendoza we met another of Maria’s former work colleagues. Crazy that you need to travel 12,000 kms to see old friends.

No (Bird) S–t!

We walked miles through all kinds of neighbourhoods, including some that looked kind of sketchy. We never encountered any problems, until a quiet Sunday afternoon walking down one of the city’s main avenues. George felt something wet hit his head and back. At first glance it looked like bird poop. Suddenly a “friendly” local appeared insisting we let him help clean off the mess. That set off alarm bells. We told him to get lost and quickly walked away. We found both of our shirts and bags were covered in the “poop”. We’d been sprayed with a flour/water mixture. Our “friend” was hoping we’d trust him to clean us off – and clean out the valuables from our pockets and bags. Don’t think this is unique to Buenos Aires. The same scam happens all over the world.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Argentina and Uruguay are separated by the Rio de la Plata. Buenos Aires sits on one side of the mouth of the river. Uruguay’s capital Montevideo sits on the opposite side – 200 kms away. The riverfront is the focal point of Montevideo. At one end is the port and the old town. At the other is the newer built-up riverfront where the popular Pocitos Beach is located. The beach is packed early in the day. When the midday heat strikes people take their chairs home.

The popular Rambla, a coastal walkway, stretches 22 kms around the coast alongside Pocitos Beach. The Rambla comes to life in the evenings as residents escape the heat of their apartments. It is packed with cyclists, runners, skaters and walkers until late in the evening. We were staying only a few blocks from the Rambla so we made like the locals and enjoyed a lot of hours walking along the waterfront soaking up the atmosphere.

Maté

The number one activity on the Rambla, for that matter everywhere in Uruguay and Argentina, is sitting out with friends sharing yerba maté. Anytime day or night you see people in small groups sharing maté. Maté is a caffeinated, stimulating green drink that is brewed from a concoction of dried leaves, mainly from an evergreen shrub from the holly family. It is normal for people to always carry their kit matero, the kit with everything they need to enjoy maté. The kits are often elaborate, and expensive, colour-coordinated shoulder bags with a thermos of hot water, a traditional calabash cup and the bombilla, a metal straw for drinking the maté. Maté is such serious business that airport security lets passengers board planes with their maté. So much for the no liquids rule.

Colonia, Uruguay

A ferry runs directly from Buenos Aires to Montevideo. The better option is a shorter catamaran ride across the Rio de la Plata to the quaint historic town of Colonia, followed by a bus ride to Montevideo. We stayed a few days in Colonia to relax. Colonia’s highlight is the UNESCO-listed old town. It’s worth navigating its ankle-twisting cobbled streets to see the well preserved old buildings from Portuguese, Spanish and post-colonial times. The vibe is relaxed, slow and chilled out, especially when the cruiseship passengers that bus in for the day from Montevideo leave.We liked it so much that we cancelled plans to travel to other parts of Uruguay and booked a return visit to Colonia.

Our hotel was a kilometre outside the old town, looking out on the river and a five kilometre tree-lined walking and running track that follows the river. Every evening large groups of serious-looking runners trained on the path. As much as we had an itch to join them, we’d left our runners in Canada so could only watch from our balcony sipping our wine.

Driving the Countryside

Since there’s little else to do in Colonia, we rented a car to explore the countryside. We followed the river north to explore the towns of Carmelo and Nueva Palmira. Driving was easy, roads were well maintained with almost no traffic. We were in rolling farmland reminiscent of George’s home in Alberta. We were definitely the only tourists for miles. Carmelo was a busy town, with little to appeal to tourists. The locals seemed bemused that we were taking pictures of the town square. In Nueva Palmira not only were we the only tourists, we were pretty much the only people on the streets. Just us, some stray dogs laying in the shade and a couple of guys on a park bench smoking pot (it’s legal in Uruguay).

Asunción, Paraguay

Out next stop was Asunción. Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in South America. Few tourists visit. Our first hint that they don’t get many tourists was when our AirBnB host asked incredulously “Why did you come here?”. She told us there was nothing to see in the historical centre, and after dark it was a very dangerous place.

Naturally the first thing we did the next morning was hop into an Uber and head straight for the historical centre. We were armed with a list of sights to see. As we approached the old town, our driver closed all the windows and locked the doors. We have visited a lot of countries. We have never seen a downtown with so many police and military.

As we exited the car in front of the cathedral, we were checked out by a bunch guys with thousand-yard stares. The cathedral was securely locked. Not to be deterred we set off to the Plaza de Armas. Sadly it was securely locked behind a 15’ fence. It was decrepit looking, with many of the cobblestones missing. Still hoping to have success we took off to find the Panteon Nacional de Los Hero. It was also behind fences with armed soldiers guarding it; nobody was getting anywhere near it. We did have success viewing the Presidential Palace. From the sidewalk, with heavily armed police and military warily observing us. Asunción had many beautiful old buildings. Sadly they were in various stages of decay.

In contrast, the rest of the city was relatively modern, with plenty of green space. The suburbs had more wealth, with new buildings and glitzy shopping malls. Our apartment was a short walk to an upscale shopping and restaurant area. The old city is certainly not representative of what the city has to offer.

We had thoughts of renting a car to explore the countryside. We ditched that after seeing how the locals drive. Lanes mean nothing, driving down streets on the wrong side seemed normal. Crossing the street as a pedestrian was a death-defying act.

Aregua

We took our host’s advice and visited the nearby colonial town of Aregua. It has old cobbled streets lined with mansions from a bygone era. Yet again we were the only tourists. We were such a novelty that the parish priest came out to shake our hands and find out where we were from.

In addition to the colonial architecture, Aregua is famous for its ceramic pottery. The main streets are lined with stalls selling ceramic figures that people come from all around the country to buy. Think of the kitchiest garden gnomes you’ve ever seen, then double that.

The other big attraction is Ypacaraí Lake. We walked a kilometre to the playa. We had to pay 2,000 PYG (about a quarter) to access the beach. Worth every penny.

After an exhausting morning exploring the town we rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine and lunch in a restored colonial mansion. It was just us and the two sleepy resident dogs.