Due to my headwound I took it easy and made Posadas (just a few hours south from Iguazu) my next stop. With Paraguay across the river, I spend some days walking around the city in the morning and in the evening. The tropical climate forced me to enjoy the airco in the hostel in the afternoons. There I had to practise my Spanish because no other English speaking backpackers were around.

A big storm was a problem for the airplane to land properly on the airport in Puerto Iguazú, home of the famous Iguazú waterfalls. After several attempts we touched down with a delay of 45 minutes and I took a shuttle to the hostel. I went to the falls by bus and admired the impressive waterfalls in the National Park. On a small boat we went into the falls to feel the water plunge on our heads. It was amazing to see so much water falling down and to feel the power of the massive falls.

That evening, when I was still a bit dreaming about the great water-spectacle, I didn't notice the fan in the hostel kitchen and it banged my head. It caused a bloody mess and I had to go to the local hospital to get my head stitched. My head wound wouldn't stop me from travelling and next day I did a trip to the Brazilian side of the falls. Though I thought it would be wise to change my travel plans a bit and I decided to skip Paraguay and work my way through Argentina in the direction of the Uruguay beaches.

I crossed the Andes mountains from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) to Salta in Argentina. This lovely city has a relaxed vibe. I enjoyed some days hanging around the city watching the people on the central square (Plaza de 9 Julio) and having a view on the city from San Bernardo hill. As a real gaucho I did some horseback riding in the surrounding hills. It was great to enjoy the scenery that way, but the horseback riding caused some sitting problems the day after...

I was told about the blue-dollar-market in Argentina, so I stocked up on US dollars in Bolivia. In all Argentinian cities it was possible to change US Dollars for Argentinian pesos at a great exchange rate (I got 1.5 times more then I would have gotten at the bank). It felt a little awkward the first time to exchange money on the street, but with so many people screaming 'cambio' it seemed that the police was ok with it.