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With the opening Six Nations fixtures kicking off the day after our arrival in Argentina, it was important that our accommodation in Mendoza had firstly a TV and secondly ESPN. So when, after half an hour of searching for a hostel with any space for das lads, a random Argentinian woman approached us on the street and said she had an apartment we could use for our four days in the city, we were naturally intrigued. The big moment came when she left us alone in the flat to think the offer over and we raced over to the TV. On finding ESPN and ESPN+ we immediately bit her hand off! Thus despite Mendoza being one of the principal wine growing areas in Argentina, set amidst some amazing scenery, with plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy, we spent our weekend there glued to the rugby and football.
A lot of chat about Argentina pre travels had been about whether we would be able to catch 1) a football match and 2) the big one- El Clasico- Boca Juniors versus River Plate. Quite incredibly and totally by chance the final of a pre season tournament was to be held in Mendoza
The Aftermath
Celebrating victory with the River fans (prior to Dave's encounter with the Boca hooligans!)that weekend and the opposing teams just happened to be the big two! What a result, especially as we hadn't originally planned on going to Mendoza but the state of the roads in southern Bolivia called for a re-think. So after securing three tickets off a tout outside the ground we headed into the cauldron. Now, Rhys and Pots sensibly wore neutral clothing to the ground as none of us had any idea which section of the ground we were going to be in. David on the other hand, innocently enough, decided to wear his blue and yellow Team Bath t-shirt. This probably would have gone down fairly well in the Boca end, being their club colours, but the closer we got to the stadium, we realised we were in with the River fans. Cue a few nasty stares, one or two words from the security and hence the reason why David is now the proud owner of a River Plate shirt!
But the drama didn't end there. 3 penalties, 4 sendings off and 3-2 later, River emerged victorious in an absolute cracker of a match. This was terrific news whilst we were walking away from the ground with
the rest of the jubliant River fans, joining in with their singing and all, but things took a turn for the scary on the realisation that to get back to our pad, we had to walk passed a large number of angry Boca fans. The fact that David decided to keep his River Plate shirt on definitely didn't help matters. Naturally he copped a considerable amount of verbal abuse as we waded through the hordes of Boca fans, the majority opting to label him a 'puta'- son of a bitch/ worse! Much worse was to follow though as one of the local ruffians walked over and punted him in the leg! Despite no support from the boys, who had decided it was every man for himself and therefore engineered a stealth movement to a safe distance of some 20 metres away, Dave discreetly managed to remove his shirt and we skirted off home, with no major harm done.
After four days in Mendoza it was time to board the overnight semi cama bus. 20 hours, a few films in English and some decent grub later we arrived in Buenos Aires. We would have liked to tell you all about
the different areas of this incredible city and what they have to offer but we can't. The nightlife was too good and went on far too late ruling out much of the next day. We only ventured to La Boca once and completely sacked off Palermo, Recoleta etc. Instead we can talk about steak! Anyone who ever goes to Bs As (as the locals call it) must make sure they go to El Desnivel, situated in the beautiful cobbled streets of San Telmo. There are no words to describe how good the steaks were there and the empanadas David and Pots ate on the second occasion as a little starter, started an obsession with the small pasty like things that was to last until we left South America.
Apart from beginning our steak eating craze, we also managed to catch the opening day of the shambles that was GB's Davis Cup tennis match against Argentina at Buenos Aires's Parque Roca. To say us lads were annoyed on hearing that Andy Murray had pulled out of the tie because of the possibility he might get injured would have been a grave understatement.
After 7 days and 6 nights of
sport and drinking in BA it was time to start the journey further south on the first leg of the mammoth trek to Patagonia. Our first stop on our tour to Patagonia was Puerto Madryn, a 24 hour bus journey from BA. Again we didn't really do a lot here as the tours to see the penguins, sea lions, etc tended to be out of our price range and we were out of season for the whales as well. We continued to eat well though and if anything the steaks we ate there were probably the best we cooked, I mean Rhys and David cooked, in Argentina. And when washing them down with a 45p 1 litre bottle of Quilmes, it would have been very difficult to complain. The sausages too were pretty sensational.
The only activity we managed to do, apart from lounging on the beach, strolling down the promenade and generally stuffing ourselves, was a little day trip to Gaimen. This village has strong Welsh roots and forms part of the small Welsh speaking community that exists in southern Argentina. The main attraction of the village was the number of Welsh tea rooms, each serving up afternoon
tea complete with a large and varied selection of cakes and pastries. In the end though the prices had rocketed from those quoted in the Lonely Planet (something we have found to be a common occurrence on our travels) and we had to settle for a pretty weak version, although Rhys did start flirting with the owner in Welsh. Overall we all agreed it was a complete waste of a day! Terrible place, terrible people.
After letting the heartbeat settle for a few days after the rigors of Buenos Aires, we again boarded another overnight bus and started the assault on El Calafate. El Calafate is quite an attractive little town and had the feel of a ski resort about it, but with more of the older generations visiting the place than the younger backpacking tourists, it was fairly expensive compared with the rest of Argentina. But being the base camp for trips to the awe-inspiring Perito Moreno Glacier and to El Chalten, where some of the best walking/hiking in Argentina, if not South America, can be done, El Calafate was well worth the visit. It was also the location of the discovery/evolution of the perfect home-cooked Argentinian meal,
which would form the cornerstone of the majority of our future meals in South America. The meal included three enormous medium-rare steaks, huge amounts of tomato and garlic potato salad and a side of freshly baked baguette/ empanada- all cooked by ourselves from the hostel. Unbelievable. We must emphasise that the success of this dish and the endless enjoyment we acquired from it should not result in our parents back home badgering us into whipping up something similar for them! What goes on on tour, stays on tour...
In El Chalten, probably the windiest place in the world, Rhys and David undertook a glacier walking trip on the famous Glacier Torre, which included some zip wires, stunning scenery and walking on the vast glacier complete with proper crampons. They were disappointed however not to be able to attempt the promised ice climbing with pick axe, which unfortunately never materialised! With the Champs League 2nd Round later that afternoon, the boys legged it back from the glacier in order to catch the start of the game. Unfortuantely the "fly boys" who were staying in the same accommodation as us had other ideas about what to watch. Luckily we convince them
to turn over but it wasn't the last of the confronations with them, particularly when the second night of Champions League action, the evening which saw massive wins for Liverpool and Arsenal over the Milan clubs, clashed with a Boca game!
After returning to El Calafate from El Chalten, we decided to make the move to San Carlos de Bariloche in the Lake District of Argentina. Bariloche is another stunning town and with the biggest ski area in South America close-by, as well as plenty of other outdoor activities including white water rafting (unfortunately the river was too low when we were there after a booming summer), kayaking and cycling it is popular all year round. We stayed in Hostel 1004, mainly for the panoramic views across the lake and town from the top floor communal area and balcony. Superb! The professional standard kitchen, easily the best of the trip, enabled us to continue eating like kings, the highlights being a bolognese pizza and on the last night the infamous 1/2kg steak with a side of spaghetti bolognese, all for maybe 2-3 quid. Naturally there were also a few empanadas eaten over the course of the week we were
there for...
Activities in Bariloche included a nice little meander around the lake, after catching a chairlift to one of the many scenic lookout points around the lake, and the odd game of chess, usually ending in victory for Pots and bewilderment or capitulation for Rhys. There was also some pretty decent nightlife, usually centred around the Irish pubs dotted around the city. Other than that it was another chilled out and enjoyable week.
Whilst it was sad to leave Argentina and South America as a whole, we were all looking forward to heading to an English speaking country for a change as well as the chance to meet up with the Barmy Army and catch a bit of cricket in New Zealand...
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