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Published: August 7th 2007
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Small Town Argentina - Humahuaca
It was quite easy making the crossing into Argentina from Bolivia. For westerners that is. For locals there is a big queue whilst bag checks are done. Little did we know at this stage that this was just the beginning of the checking process. After being hauled off two buses along with everyone else, and our bags checked, we realised there must be quite a problem with smuggled goods. Not sure what exactly they were looking for - drugs, counterfeit goods?
Our first stop in Argentina was a little town called Humahuaca. A little more difficult to pronounce than spell (Mawaca?!??) but we eventually managed to get the idea across to the bus driver. This place is very touristy for a good reason - nice quaint streets, pretty central plaza and lots of crafts shops. We stayed two nights, enjoying the scenery and good food (beef and llama steaks).
Salta - beef, beer, wine and a very strong cocktail
We had a couple of days in Salta. The first night was an eat and drink all you can barbeque (Pete managed half a cow) and then off clubbing
The very good stuff
which we definitely did not get to try until 5am. It
The very good stuff
which we definitely did not get to trycost 2 pounds to get into the club and this included a toxic vodka cocktail. The next day or so in Salta was spent recovering. We did look around the city and even got a chairlift up the Cerro San Bernado to view the city from above.
In Search of Vino Tinto
Not a challenging search in Argentina but we headed to the epicentre of wine-making - Mendoza. This city was flattened by an earthquake in 1861 and rebuilt as wide tree-lined avenues and many plazas. We were not convinced it fully lived up to its romantic reputation but it was a nice place to base ourselves whilst we sampled the local produce.
We booked onto a wine trip and visited two bogedas. The first, Lopez, is a huge wine producer in Argentina. The tour was interesting but the sampling here disappointing - both the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were from their new range aimed at youngsters (ie cheap and rough). Neither of us like oaked Chardonnay and the Cabernet tasted like it was still fermenting. The second bodegas was
much nicer. A family run place with lovely-tasting Malbec and Shiraz. Yum yum. Had to buy
San Telmo local
a bottle for later, though sadly they only export to the US.
Buenos Aires - What to do first?
Before arriving in this great city we had listed our must-do activities. We began working down the list straight away.
Tango Time... Pete promised Ang that he would dust off his dancing shoes and strut his stuff in a tango lesson. We enjoyed an hour and a half of seductive, graceful, artistic and passionate dancing - by our instructors and tried our best to copy without breaking too many of Ang's toes. Unfortunately we don't have any photos and our video cannot be loaded up to the blog.... sorry. Good fun and we look forward to Pete's Mum and Brian giving us a demonstration of how to tango when they arrive in Lima in a few weeks.
Our first full day in Buenos Aires was Sunday which luckily was the day of the street markets in San Telmo. We wandered the street markets full of antiques and crafts and Pete's wallet didn't come off too
badly. We persuaded ourselves that a good souvenir would be a full set of antique cutlery which is now weighing down
Shopping for Antiques
Ang's backpack as it would cost more to send home the 4kgs than they actually cost. It was one of the conditions of purchase that Pete wouldn't carry it.... what a gent!
In San Telmo, once the market had packed up, we were treated to a free tango display by the locals in the square - much better than a flashy touristy show.
Next on the list was watching a footy game. Pete was hoping to see a Boca Juniors or River Plate match as they are the more famous teams here in Buenos Aires with the bigger stadiums. Instead we were very lucky to get tickets to San Lorenzo vs Arsenal (not the gooners thankfully). Big game as if Lorenzo won they would win the league for the first time since 2001. We arrived at the stadium 2 hours before kick-off which we thought was excessive until we saw that the stadium was nearly full already and there was a warm up game going on. Once the game started we only had to
wait 5 minutes before the first goal and the second for Lorenzo followed shortly after. The party was put on hold though as by
San Lorenzo fans
awesomehalf time it was 2-2. All credit to San Lorenzo as they took about 25 seconds to get the lead in the second half and after scoring a penalty as well the party really started. Fireworks, flares and nearly 50,000 fans jumping up and down - Ang could not have asked for a better football game to go to - thank god they won!!! Hopefully when Pete takes her to the New Meadow at Shrewsbury the atmosphere will live up to this.
Another key activity on the list was finding a great steak in Buenos Aires. After eating his own body weight in tasty Biffe de Chorizo, Pete could not find a steak that was as good as that found in New Zealand. What's more, he is now actually sick of the sight of steaks and it may be some time before he is able to look at a cow again. (He assures he will be fine for the homecoming barbeque Dennis!)
We chose to walk across Buenos Aires (making sure
Eva Peron
Lays 5m below where we stood to take this photo. to stick to busy streets). Very big city and we were knackered after walking 7 hours and skipping over all the dog poo that litters the streets.
Eva Peron
Lays 5m below where we stood to take this photo.Highlights were posh Palermo, Evita's grave and so much beautiful architecture.
Great place and one of the most enjoyable cities we have been to on the trip.
We originally hoped to visit Patagonia but sadly changed our plans to visit Bolivia and northern Chile instead as the weather was more favourable there. Patagonia is high on the list for future travels....
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Dennis Barlow
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Steak and wine will be provided for a bbq when you return. We're also getting new mattresses (1 inch deluxe versions), turning off the hot water and rounding up the cats so you feel at home. Your nieces will teach you some ballet, and your nephew will remind you how to play football. Mum and I are skipping off (like the pun?) to an all-inclusive, luxury resort in the south of France. Enjoy!