And gets propositioned on the way… read on!
I got to Buenos Aires in pouring rain from sunny London without mishap. My hotel was ok, in the historic area of Buenos Aires and cost around £12 a night for bed and breakfast, and it has a bathroom too, so not bad. This is a good time to visit Argentina as prices are very low – most meals are under £5 and a giant bottle of beer just £1! I wanted to visit a tango show last night but was just too tired around midnight, the time it is all supposed to kick off. Plan to take a city tour of Buenos Aires.
Went to a place called Puerto Madero and it reminded me of all the regeneration that has taken place in Docklands in London. There were very few people and a lot of brand name American eateries, so, I was a little disappointed. I walked back to town where the real people live, but my poor feet hurt after that! On the plus side, it could be classified as training for my forthcoming Patagonia trekking!
The local beer is good and it is now sunny, in sharp contrast to the day I arrived, so prospects are promising. Then headed by bus to El Calafate in Argentina. I am having great weather – sunny, dry unusually windless, and hot, even by my standards! I was even down to a plain shirt and wished I had packed my sandals. I did a 8-9 hour trek from a place called Refugio Pehoe on the lake of the same name (pronounced correctly as “pewe”. to glacier Grey. It was a very scenic walk compared to the one done the other day to Torres (or more accurately “torture”. del Paine which is featured on the all of the postcards here. I reckon this one was a bit tougher than the Machu Picchu trek in Peru, although that was nearly 5 years ago and my age is definitely beginning to show in my knee joints. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before I start considering Saga holidays!
We met some travellers who had to forego their plans as there was no accommodation at the next two destinations we are heading to, the only other option being to set up your own tent! Having roughed it for the last two nights I am not ready for a repeat performance. The alternative was 180 US dollar per night hotel with everything priced in good US $ – the cheapest item on the menu being a coca cola at only $4! Taking of prices, I was shocked at the London prices of everything in the Torres Del Paine National Park. Still, it didn’t stop me from having 2 bottles of Chilean red last night at £8 each. The idea was to stun myself into a deep slumber in the tent and not notice the gale winds and rain.
One thing I have been disappointed about is not being able to gaze at the night southern sky. Chile has some of the best skies for star gazing – but it has been too cold or too cloudy or both! I am beginning to feel quite worn out now and looking forward to taking a hot shower and sleeping in a proper bed! Sleeping bags are not for people like me who toss and turn and sleep in the spread-eagle position!
On a bus from Puerto Natales, I met an unemployed doctor from Spain. As a result of having a fluent Spanish speaker on the team, we were able to find a hotel room very quickly and cheaply, and sorted out our transport – or more accurately dis-sorted! I decided to abandon my very much desired plans to go on into Chile via Coyhaique and head north through to Puerto Montt on the scenic Carretera Austral, now nearly completed, connecting the upper part of Chile to the remote Southern part. This is a lasting legacy started by General Pinochet. It is said that he wanted it named after him but this was met with a fair amount of opposition.
From Puerto Montt, in Chile, we went to the small but pretty and very touristy, town of El Calafate in Argentina. We visited the Perito Glacier, (a natural wonder that grows by 2m a day) almost immediately after we arrived. It was hot and baking there, but a bus ride one hour later, it was rainy at the glacier. This is Patagonia, so the weather remains ever changing after all! Our Spanish doctor refers to El Calafate as a “tourist trap”. apart from the Perito Moreno, there are other excursions but all priced in US $ and upward of $200! We could move on to our next planned destination of Fitzroy, another “must see” place, but nothing to move on from there til Saturday when we head for the Chilean border once again – and then there is no way of connecting to the Carratera Austral with any certainty!
So, the three of us decided to leave town and take a plane, considerably cheaper than taking the bus over 4 days to Bariloche – another very touristy place renowned for its Swiss like setting and more importantly for me, chocolates! We rented a car at Bariloche airport and although not planned, we managed to tour the whole of the Argentinean lake district in 24 hrs – something that would normally take at least 3 days! With our Spanish doctor friend, we did some intense travelling and did not sleep in the same bed twice. When we all split, I missed our new friend’s animated conversation: drink coffee … dug.. dug… dug…, visit x click, click, click….. and his favourite phrase: “we have 2 possibilities”…. to which I would reply: “what about?” The response would be: “we have 3 possibilities… you decide”. He had all makings a 1st Division civil servant or indeed Local Govt officer, if only he could make decisions! We became good mates and did a list of countries we will travel together in the future – almost all except Britain and USA! A real Globetrotter in the making, rucksacks and only economy class for the “authentic experience” – not sure if it meant not hiring cars!
I did things not “programmed” like hire cars, and which our Spanish doctor friend drove like an aspiring Italian Grand Prix driver in a red Fiat Punto replica. This even gave time to visit the island of Chiloe, S America’s 2nd largest) – did in half a day (instead of whole day) by special negotiation. The place where we stayed In Castro also did the tours, ran the Tourist office, the taxi company ..the lot!
Arrived back in Buenos Aires – in broad daylight in sharp contrast to the previous week when (thanks to Taris our Spanish travel companion and now fast friend) we seemed to be getting to our destinations in the middle of the night with no accommodation fixed! It was a bit of a relief to be in BA after a 15 hr bus journey (very comfy sleeper – got up fresh as a daisy and wished our air flight had been of the same standard – meals, night cap fizzy champagne etc. from Neuquen (Arg).
This time in BA, we opted to stay in the slightly posher part of town. I didn’t realise the unexpected benefit until we left a Thai restaurant about 1am. We ran into a stunning, vivacious, voluptuous raven-haired beauty who we initially mistook to be a typical friendly Argentine but she made proposals about providing massage and other services by gesticulation as we didn’t understand Spanish, but we got the drift all right!
One of my travel companions muttered something about going to sleep as he was dog tired whereas I tried to explain that my Redbridge Council zero-budget (Hem is a UK civil servant!) for entertainment and socio-economic research would not allow such indulgences. Only moments earlier I was reflecting on the night time economy as the Environmental Executives of BA municipality, who were furiously flushing the pavements and clearing garbage just yards away. And then to be presented with this provocative proposal – my thoughts of returning home had me thinking of gaps in the Skills Matrix, the reliability of National workforce data with excluded key sector professionals in the all important tourism and culture industry; was she entitled business start up advice and grants, etc, etc – enough of work talk.
On serious note: life is pretty tough for most people after the near-collapse of Argentina’s economy 3 yrs ago and a great many try and cope with everyday life by doing two or three jobs and even reverting to desperate means.
Not one for taking taxis for the “authentic experience”, I found myself taking the underground metro. It was amazing to find that that TV screens suspended over the platforms showing all kinds of stuff – one in particular was a Miss Brazil (previous night I am sure it was Miss Argentina) parading on a catwalk – starting with a glasses, full business suit and the mandatory army officer hat – starting to strip of each apparel at a time – Did she take everything off? No Se, I don’t know. I was on the fast and frequent train by the time she got down to her essentials! Visit Argentina – its a great place to enjoy yourself !
Discus this article and give feedback in our online forum