Blogs from Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America - page 21

Arriving fresh from our first experience of cama and our longest bus to date from Puerto Iguacu (20hours) we ran into our first taste of tipping culture in Argentina. A guy actually wanted a tip for lifting our bags out of the luggage compartment. We feigned ignorance and got out of it this time. We set off to find the local bus we needed to take to reach our hostel, Tercero del Sur, in San Telmo (a traditional bohemian area, very pretty and safe). This proved more challenging than we first thought. We wandered just outside the bus station looking at bus signs for the number 152 but only finding every other number between 150 and 160. We spotted a gendarmeria and thought we would try our luck with Spanish (it couldn´t be worse than our ... read more

Argentinien gehört zu den 10 grössten Ländern der Welt, und dieses unglaubliche Land bietet auch dementsprechend viel. Maradona, Che Guevara, Weine aus Mendoza, "das beste Filet der Welt", Pampa, Buenos Aires, Iguazu, Wirtschaftskrise ... das sind nur einige Stichwörter die man mit diesem faszinierenden Land verbindet. Wir sind also von Ecuador nach Argentinien geflogen - wieso diesen Weg.. Naja, wir wollten einfach Argentinien im Sommer/Herbst und nicht im Winter besuchen. Wir brachten also beide mal viel US Dollar mit, denn der Schwarzmarkt für Dollar floriert, das heisst der inoffizielle Wechselkurs ist ca. 30% höher, da kann man ganz viel sparen. Argentinien war vor ca. 100 Jahren eines der reichsten Länder der Welt! Leider geht es seither stetig bergab. Die verschiedenen Militärdiktaturen haben das Land über Jahrzehnte regiert und die Bevölkerung eingeschüchtert. Im Jahre 2003... read more

DAY 21 With a 4 pm flight to Buenos Aires we only had limited time to explore Bariloche. While the surrounding area is outstandingly beautiful and often compared to the European Alps the town is pure commercialism with outlet shopping, recreational equipment and chocolate shops everywhere and left us a little disappointed. Our first trip had finished all too quickly with different fights to BA. Met some great people and exchanged contact details so hope to keep in contact.DAY 21 Our first trip has finished all too quickly with a fight to BA. Met some great people and exchanged contact details so hope to keep in contact.... read more

Day 2 Topped up the B&B's Sube underground credit card to take a trip into town. Each trip costs P3.50 (approx $0.50) regardless of the length. If only so cheap back home! Considering the number of busses we will be taking over the next few months a minor head to tail crash between 2 buses was sobering (one of 3 accidents we saw today!) they seem to drive fast and furious over here and as a pedestrian you have to be very alert to get across the road. Not much of a plan to start our day due to an inadequate map. Started to get the feel of the downtown area with a decent map from the info bureau. A tour of the famed French Renaissance style opera house (Teatro Colon) was a highlight. We got ... read more

Expect long day flying to start our trip. Early flight to Sydney then Qantas to Santiago with 3 hour stop before next flight to Buenos Aires. Expectations proved correct. Nearly 24 hrs from door to door. Kieran was up much earlier than normal (5.20 am) to take us to the airport. Thanks k. Arrived safely & not too tired after a few catnaps along the way. Pushed ourselves to stay up a little longer with a quick orientation around the B&B for a supermarket. A snack for dinner with complimentary mini bottles of wine from Qantas seemed to do the trick. Ruth was snoring as soon as head hit the pillow. Unusually I took longer but both had deep early sleeps. Jetlag not to bad. Off to explore BA.... read more

Argentina is fantastic! Well what we have seen so far... We spent 5 days in Buenos Aires which was pretty quiet as we needed some time to recover from our flights. While in Buenos Aires we did loads of walking as the city is pretty spread out. We visited Casa Rosada which is the main parliament building. As it was the weekend we were able to join a free walking tour & explore inside. We also went to the Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron was finally laid to rest. It's also the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires. The tombs are so elaborate & large, it's unlike any other cemetery we have visited. We also organised our next couple of weeks & managed to book our boat & bus tickets in spanish and so far ... read more