Our Great Adventure: Posadas Day 233 09/05/2015

At 0515 the bus interior lights flashed on. To be fair we were both awake as the couple in front of us had been rustling their plastic bags a good 10 minutes beforehand during their packing process. We got off the bus not feeling too bad as we both had an OK night and several hours (interrupted) sleep. Whilst the bus terminal was open and quite busy, the taxi rank only had one free car so we both had a hot drink in the cafe. By 0600 there were a few more taxis with drivers so we jumped in the first one, made sure he had the meter on, confirmed our destination then Simon 'tracked' the journey on google maps to ensure we were going the right way and not taking a 'scenic' route. The Hotel Urbano had a 24 hour lobby (the main reason we booked it knowing we'd be arriving very early). We freshened up in the washrooms, declining the kind offer from the night porter to make our room available early for an extra $600 pesos (about £45). The hour apparently had a tour desk which we thought might be able to help us to get to the Jesuit Missions in Paraguay. Apparently they just book a taxi for you at a cost of c$400 pesos. By now it was nearly 0830 and plan B was to find the local touur company recommended in Lonely Planet (they hadn't responded to our earlier email). We found the address but there's now a hotel where apparently the company use to be. The receptionist there very kindly called the company to be told that they had moved and were closed today. Plan C was enacted and we went to the nearby Tourist Information office. The lady there spoke English and told us how we could get to the Jesuit Missions in Argentina near the town of San Ignacio Mini ourselves by taking the local bus, involving a 90 minute journey via the bus terminal; the one we had come from that morning. We also asked if she would recommend any tour companies and, whilst she was reluctant to do so, she gave us a list of a dozen or so local operators. We went to one of them and after finding out they were more generalist providers, decided to go and have some breakfast and rethink how we would get there. During breakfast the heavens opened and we decided on plan C, to book a taxi with the hotel to take us there, wait whilst we went around the Mission and then bring us back. The hotel receptionist confirmed the cost which had now increased to $900 pesos (£68), a bit rich for us. And the rain had ceased so we decided we should be more adventurous and go with plan D, the local transport option. We finally found the right bus back to the terminal, managing to miss the stop and had to walk back c10 minutes from being dropped off. Inside the terminal there were no signs, no announcements and a closed tourist office so we hadn't a clue how to get to the Mission. We had been told there was a bus every half an hour so we watched the platforms for a bus without avail. It then dawned on us that the major companies going from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguaza might stop on the main road near the Mission but when we asked an operator how we would get there, what time and how we would get back it was all rather vague and even though Simon asked him to speak more slowly he just seemed to speak quicker. By now it was after 1pm and we decided on plan E, give up and go and get some lunch! We were tired and really dejected that even after all our research we didn't get to the Missions in either country. After all this was the only reason we'd decided to stop in Posadas. We opted to take a taxi back to town. Lunch raised our spirits a bit (especially the beer that Simon had) and afterwards we walked through the town to the waterfront and the border with Paraguay. Despite it's name, the Rio Parana, we didn't see any fish but we could see across to the Paraguayan city of Encancion on the far bank. Oh well we hadn't go to that country but at least we have seen it. We strolled along the dreary waterfront past a bizarre water fountain set in the river and also a 50m high steel statue of some guy (didn't get his name) then walked back to the hotel. It's a business hotel and although we had a big room it's very soulless and quite drab. Diane had an afternoon nap and later we went out to dinner at a local Argentinian restaurant, reflecting on the fact that sometimes no matter how much planning and research you do thing's just don't work out (unless you are prepared to 'pay through the nose'). Anyway onwards and upwards, tomorrow we are heading to Puerto Iguazu. We'd better see the waterfalls!