Daylight Robbery

Day 209 - Wednesday 16 April

I had to be up at 5 am and some noisy idiots had been drinking outside my room until 2 o´clock so i´d only managed 2 hours sleep. Oh well I´ve got lots of time to sleep on the bus I suppose.

Not much else to say really, watched a few films, some in English with Spanish subtitles so I could understand them, some in Spanish so I didn´t have a clue but watched them anyway. Looked out the window at the desert and scrubland, read a bit of my book and thats it.

Day 210 - Thursday 17 April

Being on a bus all day means the day reads a bit like yesterday.

Day 211 - Friday 18 April

It all happened today I don´t know where to start. My bus arrived into Buenos Aires just after 7 and the smog is unbelievable. Visibility is no more than 30m even though its a clear day, and you can taste the fumes in the air. You can also safely look directly at the sun and its a weird orange colour.

I picked up a really good map of the city from the tourist information office, so rather than take the subway I decided to walk as the route to my hostel looks easy enough. There are policeman standing on every street corner here in BA (Im lazy so thats what i´ll refer to Buenos Aires as from now on), but there was one corner that was unguarded. It was at this corner that somebody started wiping something of my bag. I´ve heard of this scam happening before. Basically someone sprays something on your bag then acts really helpful to you cleaning it off. Whilst this is happening and your distracted somebody else tries to steal something. Being wary I declined the help and tried to give it a quick rub down myself. This middle aged couple kept trying to help and grab at the side of my bag. I pushed their hands away and went to pick up my bags and move on, i´ll give it a proper clean later. It happened really quickly no more than a second, but as I picked up my big bag they´d gone as had my small bag with all my travel photos, the PSP, camera, souveniers and 7 months of scrap book collectables. There was no way that I was letting that go so I shouted out as loud as I could in my best Spanish, "Un Robar, me ayuda, donde vas" which basically means a thief, help me where´d they go. It had been a busy junction and several people started pointing to the other side of the road. They must have underestemated me, because having been mostly sleeping on a bus for 2 days i´m full of energy and my big bag feels light. I gave chase across the busy 6 lane highway (Amazingly just like in films cars do stop if you run out in front with your hands held out). Realising they weren´t going to get away, they dumped my bag on the side of the road. As I´d got it back and everything was still there I let them get away. I´d got what I wanted. Pretty much everybody i´ve met whos been travelling a long time has had something pinched, I´ve been lucky so far but was nearly another statistic.

After arriving at my hostel I found out they´d double booked and it was full, but they had another one nearby I could stay in for the same price. As I just wanted to get my bags down I agreed. It turns out my new hostel is actually student accommodation for students at the local university. This could be good except its for gay students. Theres the rainbow flag everywhere and advertisements for gay clubs and sex shops everywhere. As I don´t know where else to go and don´t wont to walk around the city with my bags right now I´ver booked myself in anyway. As it turns out theres also a few girls staying here and only half the blokes are gay. For some reason they seem to think I´m Irish and I was about to correct them when they started getting a bit anti-english, as they thought the Irish hate the English. As they were giving me good advice at the time, I thought it best to just let them think i´m Irish.

I had a look around the city, first impressions are its ok, but nothing special. Santiago had been much better, and eventually I even managed to get a box so I can post my valuables home now incase anybody else tries to nick them.

Although its Friday night i´m staying in tonight. Russ and Pa are passing through tomorrow so well meet up and go out tomorrow night. It turns out that Russ has had his bag nicked here in BA too whilst he was waiting for a bus and we´ve lost the dvd player. Good job we´ve got insurance. So instead of going out I watched Harry Potter which was a bit weird as it was dubbed in Spanish, but the actors weren´t kids but middle aged blokes so it just didn´t seem right. I also found out from the news, its not smog but smoke from fires all around BA thats reducing the visibility. The airports had to be closed as have many of the bus routes as visibility is as low as 9m in some places and theres been loads of crashes.

As theres a free pool table here, I got challenged to play and am pleased to say I beat everybody with the exception of one bloke who only won because I accidentally potted the black. God knows what the students do these days, dont tell me they actually study.

Day 212 - Saturday 19 April

After meeting up with Russ who's just arrived in BA, we headed off to Boca Juniors football ground. Theres a game on today and were going to try and catch it. You can get a ticket at the tourist info office for 180 Pesos (30 quid) as its supposed to be a bit dangerous around there and they escort you in but we've heard otherwise, and as i'm only staying 5 mins walk away if it is dodgy round there i'm buggered anyway. We ended up getting reasonably posh seats in a quiet area for only 60 Pesos. So the saving should pay for tonights drinks.

As the game doesn´t start until twenty past six, Russ went back to his hostel for a little rest whilst I passed the time having a cup of tea in a local cafe. I don´t know where the time went but suddenly it was time to go to the game.

Theres supposed to be really fanatical about the game and this perception is backed up by tv programmes I´ve seen, but today although there were thousands of people there it was rather calm and I never felt in any danger (certainly no need to be escorted in). I've heard far better atmospheres and felt in more danger at some english games. Although ex players include Diego Maradonna and Carlos Tevez, and the current Argentinian captain Riquelme plays for them, i'd say the standard was equal to that of a lower Premiership/Top Championship team. (I say this based on the one game i´ve seen before loads of Boca fans start sending me emails).

The game finished 2-1 to Boca Juniors so everybody seemed happy. After having another rest at midnight we met up again to go out for the night. After having a few warm up beers we managed to find a club around 4 am and headed in. The place was packed and once again the music was Latino and everybody seemed to be able to dance really well. Its like you see in a film, I really must learn how to dance well. Its the first time Russ has heard it and he agrees. It may be seen as a bit gay back home if you learn to dance but out here everyones doing it. Everyone keeps telling me Argentinian girls love European men, but if you can't speak Spanish or dance amazingly it doesn't matter you aint going to do well. My attempts to strike up conversations where met with "no entiendo" ( I dont understand). So frustrated I gave up and headed back to the bar.

Russ and Pa had another row (Don't think its going too well and he may send her back to Bangkok soon), and she stormed off. As she had no money, doesn´t speak any Spanish and doesnt even know where shes staying (Russ takes care of everything), he had too chase off after her, leaving me at the bar with a huge round we'd just bought. By the time i'd finished them I was a bit worse for wear and it was already 7am. With the place still busy and the subway opening up again in an hour, I hung around before finally leaving at 8am.

Although ugly I thought it a good idea to chat up the receptionist so spent a further 2 hours talking to her. Even though I was blind drunk and didn't understand hardly anything she said, I think I was doing ok. She seemed keen to talk. (Yes I know she could have just been bored). With tiredness starting to kick in by 10am I said goodnight and turned in for some sleep.

Day 213 - Sunday 20 April

I managed to surface around 3ish and felt ok, so headed to the San Telmo region. I've heard you can see people dancing the tango on the streets on a Sunday, so wanted to see for myself.

There not kidding theres a huge market selling all sorts off crafts and antiques, and various bands/street performers/people dancing the tango entertain passers by. Some good some not so good, so I spent the next few hours taking it all in. If im still here next sunday i'll have to try and come a bit earlier and spend more time here.

After watching a bit of tv I was about to head to bed when the receptionist from this morning who was back on duty beckoned me to sit and talk with her. Once again I didn't have a clue what she was on about, but every so often nodded or said "si", and she seemed happy to carry on. I'm not drunk now though so after 20 mins I excused myselk and went to bed. Russ sent me a text message saying he missed his bus today and has had his wallet nicked again.

Day 214 - Monday 21 April

I had a little lie in today then headed for the post office. After nearly losing all my collectables from my trip so far I thought it best to send them home pronto. Unfortunately this is South America and nothing is straight forward. I had to visit three different post offices spread out across the city before I could find one that would accept my parcel. Something about it being over 2kg in weight. The whole process was very frustrating and took about three hours. I don't ever want to hear anyone moan about the Royal Mail again.

After finally posting my parcel I spent the remainder of the afternoon having a proper wander around the city centre shops. (To be honest its just like any other city centre in the world).

The evening was pretty uneventful too. I've spent most of it catching up on this diary as i'm well behind.

Day 215 - Tuesday 22 April

After having another lie in it was lunchtime before I was ready to venture out for the day. I'm off to explore Recoleta the posh part of BA.

All the worlds designer shops have an outlet in this area but with it being out of my price range for the time being I only had a quick walk around the streets. There is a nice old church here though so I had a look inside. Although i'm not religious they're a lot more impressive inside than back home, so I feel there worth a look (they're free as well), and you never know maybe i will become converted.

I was planning on visiting the old cemetary where all the old rich Argentinians are buried as is Eva Peron. The place looks like a mini city itself with all the big crypts but the Liverpool v Chelsea champions league semi final was about to start so i'll have to save it for another day.

I passed an Irish pub that was showing it and had happy hour on, 2 drinks for the price of one. It turns out its 4 quid a pint, thats not much of a happy hour in my book, but with the match already kicking off, I didn't have much choice.

Theres a big Boca Juniors game on tonight. Its the south american version of the champions league and Boca need to win by 3 or more goals to progress to the quater finals so I stayed in with the gays and watched the match. It was a much better game than the one i'd seen on saturday and after 20 mins Boca were 2-0 up. The place looked electric, like you see on the tv and Boca played outstanding as well (So ignore my comments about saturdays game, I must have been unlucky). Boca won 3-0.

Day 216 - Wednesday 23 April

As i´m taking it easy this week, I had a lie in until lunchtime before spending a couple of hours responding to all my emails. Everybodies decided to all email me at once so i've got loads.

Spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Barcelona v Man Utd champions league game before deciding to stay in and learn a bit more Spanish. The students here have taught me a load of new useful words so I must write them down and learn them before I forget.

Day 217 - Thursday 24 April

Once again I had a bit of a lie in before going to get a bit of breakfast/lunch in the city centre. With BA being the home of Tango i'm debating whether to see a show or not. Russ said he saw one and although ok its a better standard on Strictly Come Dancing, so I should save my money and not bother. Instead just watch people dance it on the streets fro free. I hit the internet to do some research. Its certainlty tourist prices, you could see a show back home for the same price. As my vacation is a bit longer than 2 weeks, i'll have to think about it.

I headed over to the Palermo region of BA, as its supposed to be quite nice and several people have told me I should go out there. As the botanical gardens are close by and its a cloudless day in the low 20's first of all I called in there. There not a patch on the gardens I saw in Sydney but there are loads of stray cats living there. They seem to be everywhere.

I found the bars people are on about, but now i'm on my new budget they're a bit pricey. Besides its the middle of the afternoon and their quiet, so I went back to learn some more Spanish.

I ended up having another night in watching tv with the students. They were watching Nip + Tuck that American plastic surgery drama and tonight was the first episode. It was also in English with Spanish subtitles so easy for me to watch. Worringly I really enjoyed it but it is the first non sporting tv or film that I've watched in over 6 months. I'd promised myself never to go back to watching trashy tv theres so much more you can do with your time, but now I don´t know.

Day 218 - Friday 25 April

I was woken up by the receptionist i´ve been trying to avoid all week (that will teach me to get drunk). Theres an Israeli guy who wants to check in but doesn't speak any Spanish so she needs an interpretor. Christ what does she think i'll be able to do.

After helping him check in (more by guesswork and luck than my actual spanish abilites), I headed off back to the cemetary in Recoleta. Some of the crypts really are impressive, and eventually I managed to find Eva Perons. Once done I realised I don´t really know anything about Eva apart from her being a bit of an icon here so I went to read up about her.

Back at the hostel I started talking to the Israel bloke there. You dont know how good it is to speak in English for the first time since Saturday. We decided to try and buy some booze but unfortunately all the local shops where shut, so had to settle for watching tv instead as neither of us fancied hitting a club.

Day 219 - Saturday 26 April

I don´t really have anything left that I want to see in BA, so didn´t bother getting out of bed until lunchtime. After managing to avoid the receptionist I headed to the bus station to buy a ticket out of town. I'll be glad to leave, although sometimes I think its ok for some reason I just don't like it here.

With not much else to do I headed back and did a bit of reading and playing on the PSP. I was determined not to make the same mistake as last night, so bought a bottle of wine early. It only cost me three Pesos (50p). I met up with the Israeli bloke who'd also bought a load of beers in the tv room and gave my wine a try. It was horrible but a third of the bottle in it didn´t taste too bad.

With this being my last ever saturday night i'll ever be in BA I feel I should go out. The Israeli bloke was being a bit boring though and wanted to stay in. Unfortunately if your on your own in a big city and don't speak the local lingo your not going to have a good night, so I ended up staying in yet again.

Day 220 - Sunday 27 April

As i'm still in town and the San Telmo market had been so good last week I headed back there. I dont know if its because its an overcast day and a bit cooler, or whether the magics simply warn off second time round but it didn´t seem as good. So after only a couple of hours I left and went back to do a bit of reading instead.

I spent the evening trying to watch tv. Now I know this trips all about seeing and experiencing new things, but some things will remain untried. Quite a few of the gay blokes had their partners with them and I saw things no staright bloke wants to see. I suppose i've got to remember i'm staying in a gay hostel but i'm glad i'm leaving tomorrow.

Day 221 - Monday 28 April

With my bus not leaving until 7pm, I spent most of the day reading and packing. When the time came to leave I was hoping to slip away unnoticed, however the receptionist had other ideas. She came running round and gave me a big hug. There were quite a few student shanging about and they all started chanting that I had to give her a kiss before I could leave. Now she probably wouldn't be too bad if half her teeth werent black, but the students weren't taking no for an answer.

After wiping the event from my memory, I made it to the bus station and hung around until my bus arrived. I've decided to splash out a bit and spent another 20 pesos (2 quid), so I could travel cama instead of semi-cama, as im keen to experience a cama journey and see if its really worth the extra money. My god it was, not only were the seats bigger (it was just like the Malaysian buses all over again), but you got a proper full size pillow, and even free champaign. So there I found myself stretched out in my chair sipping champaign while the bus made its way north.

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