Buenos Aires, Beyond and the one way ticket that wasn't

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Sorry for the delay. I'm sure you have all been checking this page daily at the very least..!

So, 10th October, we get to Heathrow. Check in for our flight at some fancy computerised contraption and head to the desk to check in our bags. "Where is your ticket out of Argentina?" asks the lady. "We don't have one" says I, "we are planning on travelling overland." "Well we can't let you on the plane without seeing evidence that you plan to leave" says the lady. "Argh" we say. "You need to book a fully refundable return ticket at the desk over there and get the money back later" says the lady... and so it went on. So an unmentionable amount of money and prolonged panic attack later, we get through to departures and resolve to forget about it until we get to Argentina.

Arrive in Buenos Aires. Naturellement, they do not ask for any proof of onward travel at immigration. Who knew? The most money I have ever spent in a single transaction wasted.

Anyway, Buenos Aires looks like Spain but with lots (and lots and lots) of dog poo everywhere that the Argentinians seem to have no problem with stepping in, frequently. First stop, airline office. "You need to cancel the ticket via the UK" says the lovely man who likes Scottish music. "Argh" we say once again. So we consult airline website for a UK reservations number and attempt to make the call. Do British national rate numbers work overseas? No they do not. Is there a regular landline number online? No there is not. So finally I call Mama Graves and she sorts out the whole thing for me. What a woman. Never travel on the airline in question, even if it is just because they charge you for booze (!!?!!?) on international flights.

So Buenos Aires was grand. We do have photos but I am not currently in possession of the camera so it'll have to wait. Stayed in beautiful hostel to start with then had to move to a minky one somewhere else where we had to stay in a dorm that smelled of sweaty boys. There were two options - 1. noseclip or 2. get very very drunk on local beer. Option 2 was decided upon unanimously and charged to smelly dorm tab which the smelly hostel then tried to charge us double for the next day in the hope that we were too hammered to remember how much beer cost and how many we had. Fools. So we sorted it. And made the guy get into trouble with his boss for trying to rip us off. Cool. Then went to a fantastic antiques and tat market in San Telmo where I could have filled another backpack with cool but utterly useless stuff.

The plan was to spend a bit of time relaxing on the beach after Buenos Aires. Now it is spring here and summer season proper doesn't start until mid November. We had spoken to a nice tourist information lady who had recommended a small town called Clarameco to us. Wasn't in our guidebook but so much the better we thought. Mr Jones did some internet research, decided it would be perfect, we booked an overnight bus ticket and off we went.

We were told we had to change buses at this wee town called Tres Arruyos. So we got there at 6am and were escorted into a free taxi to Clarameco because the only bus that went there was broken. Fair enough. The taxi driver dropped us right at the door of the campsite we had chosen. It was shut. The taxi driver had more than likely told us as much but our Spanish being what it is I think we probably just smiled and said "Si, gracias" a lot. Back into town we went. Clarameco was tiny and most of it looked like a building site. It does however boast the second tallest lighthouse in Argentina. I almost peed my pants with excitement. So by 8am we were sitting on the beach wondering what to do with ourselves and I vowed by all the lighthouses in South America, no matter how tall, never to heed the wisdom of Paul's "internet research" ever again.

Finally we found a bus stop that yielded transport back to the 6am bus station place. It was decided that we would just keep heading south to our next proposed destination which was in the guidebook with a map and everything. The only problem being we couldn't get on a bus until half past midnight. It was 11am. We hadn't washed for longer than I care to mention and the prospect of doing so again was far far away. Not only that it was a stinking public holiday and everywhere was closed. Found a park, ate bread and cheese at far too regular intervals and played scrabble (current scores in South America championship: Vikki - 3, Paul - 1.) For 13 hours.

Next morning after super comfy bus journey - they have these fabulous enormous bus seats that turn into beds here and they give you pillows and blankets and everything. And you get breakfast the next morning which is even dodgier than aeroplane food but still strangely satisfying and the bus waiter guy can carry trays full of cups of coffee even when the road is really bumpy. I reckon they must have some sort of simulator at bus waiter training camp, even a couple of seasoned hospitality industry pros were suitably impressed - we arrived where we are now, at Puerto Madryn. Found an open campsite, albeit 4km out of town, pitched tent and had a shower.

So this place is the site of a Welsh colony. Some Welsh folk landed in 1865 and made some caves. Or something. There are a couple of statues and a Welsh centre to prove it. But the Welsh centre is only open for 3 hours a day so if you need your Welsh fix at any other time then tough.

It is also the place where one can take hideously overpriced tours to see whales and penguins and elephant seals and sealions. Which is where Paul has gone today. I have neither the budget nor the inclination so decided to forgo it in favour of some quality Vikki time which has been grand. I have worked on the tan which up until today consisted of only my hands, face and feet as it is very sunny but super cold most of the time but have just noticed a t-shirt sleeve mark - rubbish, run out the battery on the ipod, been for expensive coffee at beachside cafe, eaten too many peanuts and composed this for your reading pleasure.

Tomorrow we are packing up the tent and getting a bus further south to El Calafate where they have a great big glaciar.

More to follow along with pictures once I work out how...

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Comments

[Sir Andrew of Wragg]

Green colour
V jealous, especially of all the poo. Dont even get me started on the lighthouse

[Mama Graves]

At last discovered your Blog site!!
Hey Vic Good reading! Methinks Ted must have been to Buenos Aires at some time!!!!!