Cordoba

There is nothing to do in this town. You can walk through it in a day. I'm getting more and more turned off by Argentina. Maybe I just miss home? Maybe it's because my bag got stolen? Maybe it's because the stupid bus company guy wouldn't let me on with a CLOSED bottle of wine on the bus and I had to leave it outside, for no apparent reason. What a douche.

I walked through Cordoba and saw a Jesuit church, a really nice Gothic church and that's about it. Enjoy!

Rosario

Rosario is far away from Buenos Aires, but still close enough to retain that European/North American atmosphere about it. Two blocks from my hostel is a Starbucks. This is not why I came to South America. I wanted something different. It's time to move on from Argentina and come back again when the spring thaw is happening so that I can do Patagonia.

I'll be heading to Cordoba tomorrow. Then getting out here into Chile soon enough.

Buenos Aires - Part 3

Violated. Stripped. Useless. Stupid. Confused.

Just a few of the words to describe what I was feeling the other day. After a half-year of travel, I got robbed. But it was the gentlest robbery I could have been part of. Four people disguised themselves as tourists, walked into the hostel after getting past the security (which was one overworked receptionist), and took my bag.

It was my big backpack. And no hostel has a locker big enough for it. I usually leave it on the floor near my bed because there really is no where to put it. ¿What can you do? Haha! I just realized I have the upside down question mark on my computer. But I digress. The thieves came in, did their business and left. The manager came later and reviewed the security tape with me, but there was really nothing else to be done. Good thing I have insurance.

Abastos Shopping Mall

They only got clothes because I had all my other valuables on me. They got no money, no passport, no gadgets, nothing really. Losers. And this experience has taught me to do more with less. I did have to go to a giant mall to replace my things, but that was the extent of the inconvenience. There are also massive taxes on imported items because the government wants to support internal economies, by stifling the importation market. So anything imported, like my Levis and my Nike shirts have huge markups on them that are passed onto the consumer by the retailers. Again, what can you do?

I still have a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, because hey! I´m in Argentina and living my dream. Time to move on from this place though, it feels too much like home. It´s very North American. Except for changing money, where you walk down the street and guys just shout out ¨Cambio! Dolares! Reales!¨ Then you stop to talk to one, and they tell you the rate for your American dollar, which is 30% higher than if you got it from the bank or a change house. Then you follow him to a corner, or a kiosk that sells newspapers, or a store with the windows all papered up and there you get your bills and make sure they aren´t counterfeit. An interesting experience to say the least!!

The steak is also amazing, as well as the wine. That´s all I´ve been having for dinner. I´m sure that has to be healthy! I read a study on it by Agentinian scientists. :)

Bife de chorizo a mariposa

Bife de Lomo

Bife de chorizo

Tapas

I´m headed to Rosario next. A town 4 hours north of BA.

Until next time...

Buenos Aires - Part Two

Today was a lazy day. I walked around a bit and then went to the oldest cafe in BA, Cafe Tortoni. It's been open since 1858 and Argentina's presidents and dignitaries have been dining there since then. I ordered some churros and coffee because this place was a definite tourist traps and those were the least expensive things on the menu. The waiters were dressed up in tuxedos and there was an old-timey cash register. After the coffee and churros, I went walking.

I went walking for a while before I came to this. The Washington Monument in BA. Not really, they made this obelisk to commemorate 400 years of BA being a city. It's massive and in the middle of one of the most major streets in BA. There's traffic whizzing by everywhere and tourists in the centre taking pics. 

They also have their best replica of Times Square as well, complete with McDonald's and Coca-Cola ad. Haha! 

Buenos Aires - Part 1

This city is so massive. It just goes on forever. 13 million people in the greater BA area.

I landed here after a short plane ride from the north of Argentina. We got off the plane and shuttled into a bus. I thought we had to be driven somewhere far away. The bus literally did a u-turn and then let us off, because they didn't want people to be walking on the tarmac.

There are so many different parts to this city and so many different areas that tell different stories. My hostel is located in the San Telmo barrio. This place is the birthplace of tango. The buildings are a little run down, but the area is getting gentrified so soon the middle class will have to move out to the poorer areas of town. I love the architecture on the walk from my hostel to the centre of town. The buildings here just have so much character. It's really lovely to see.

Three kings

The centre is massive and dedicated to showcasing the beautiful pink palace where the president lives. There are also different buildings around the centre showcasing the French and Italian architectural influences here. The people here are very different from the people in the first four countries I've been in. They are lighter skinned, taller and look very European. It feels like I'm not in South America at all! The video shows the splendour of the square.

Pink Palace

Today I took the subway up to the Recoleta area of town . There is a bookstore there that is in a converted theatre. They have kept the original curtains and stuff and just made the whole thing a bookstore. It's really something to look at. It's got a really nice ambience about it as well. There's a cafe where the stage should be, so you can sit around and soak it all in. 

Theatre bookstore El Ateneo

Recoleta neighbourhood

Family Tomb

I also walked up to the national cemetery. I have a thing for cemeteries...I don't know why. I like seeing how different countries honour and respect their dead. In this country, as in Bolivia, there are massive massive family graves and monuments. I had to say massive twice, because they are that big! And there were a lot of them. I saw the resting place of Eva Peron, more commonly known as Evita. She led the women's suffrage movement in Argentina. She also fought for workers' and health rights for Argentinians.

Now you know... :)

Evita's Tomb

Salta

After a 9 hour drive, I finally made it to Salta. It was three hours from Tarija to the border. An hour at the border where they actually x-rayed our bags. And then another six hours to the city of Salta. There were so many police checks in Argentina. Probably because it's the road from Bolivia. Drugs or whatever. But when they saw the Canadian passport, they just let the whole van through. It was really nice.

Salta is a small town that's easily walkable. The one thing that really struck me was that even in this small town, there's rapid development and progress. Everything looks newer and shinier than Bolivia and a lot of the small cities in the Andean countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia). The architecture has been restored properly and they are taking care of a lot of the heritage buildings.

July 9th is Argentina's independence day so all of the principal plazas in the country are named 9 de Julio. So I was sitting in the 9 de Julio on July 9. It was exciting!

Argentina!

Another country entered and it's time again for the overview. Argentina and Chile are both known for their wines, so I think I will do some taste testing for everyone and let you know which country's wine is better. This country stretches for about a quarter of the continent. And I will be doing it all (or mostly) by bus! No more planes. This isn't Bolivia. The airlines want to make a lot of money here. Bolivia made me realize air travel can be cheap if the government wants it to be for the people.

Enough of my insights. Time for what's planned!!!

• Buenos Aires - Tango capital of the world and rich historical heritage
• Rosario - the cultural capital of Argentina with arts and the theatre flourishing all around 
• Cordoba and Mendoza - the heart of wine country
• San Luis - Las Vegas of Argentina
• Salta - where there's a train to the clouds (it climbs thousands of metres)

Then I'll head to Chile (separate future post) and San Pedro de Atacama for the desert night sky and observatories to see the stars! From there I'll go to the Salt Flats of Bolivia. I didn't go earlier because I had heard reports of -20C nights with no heat. Hopefully, by the time I get there, it'll be better. After that, I head back to Chile, and work down to Santiago. Then I head back to BA because I have some more friends coming down! Then I'll head to Uruguay (separate future post) and come back, because it's just a ferry across the river to Uruguay from BA. When I get back, I'll head south in Argentina to:

• Bahia Blanca - a beach town
• Nequen - for the bones of the largest dinosaur ever found on earth!!!
• Bariloche - for a ski weekend
• Puerto Madryn - to get back to nature and see penguins and whales
• Lake Buenos Aires - for the marble caves!
• Parque Nacional de los Glaciares - for glaciers and to watch icebergs break off

It's going to be a crazy loop. And I'm gonna cherish every second of it!

Tarija

The wine country of Bolivia is found in the south. I took a flight down here because I wasn't allowed to fly directly into Buenos Aires without and onward ticket if I came in on a Bolivian airline. I don't understand these crazy rules. What it means is that I'll be traversing northern Argentina by bus.

I've gotten too used to the state-run airlines in Bolivia. They are just so cheap. It's $50 to get anywhere in the country. And that's way better than a 14-18 hour bus, even though they are $5. Ah well. I'm a travel snob, what can I say.

The hostel owner is a really nice guy and was telling me about all this stuff to do in Tarija. I didn't have the heart to tell him that my visa was expiring and that I had to leave the next day. When I went to the bus station, I got some bad news that there were no buses leaving that day! Only on Sunday and Thursday. It was Monday. Seeing as my visa was going to expire, I found another option. A (semi-) personal van. When I went to their offices, I learned that two people had just cancelled. So I got the last two spots for me and my friend! Things always work out.

I walked around Tarija and took in the town in an afternoon like the hostel owner said I would. Saw the gold house and the blue castle and the dinosaur bones on display. They were real...not resin replicas like in the ROM. And there was nothing stopping you from touching them except a little sign saying, "No tocar" (do not touch). It was really cool. I love the archeological stuff. Enjoy the pics below.

The main plaza

Bipedal dino

Mastadon

Some sort of turtle

Tiny invertebrate the size of two quarters

Ancient jewelry

The first chips and dip bowl

Gold House

Check out the angels holding up the pillars!

Blue Castle

Happy Canada Day

I flew back to Santa Cruz thinking I could get a flight to BA from here, but turns out I need an onward flight or bus ticket. So, I'm heading to the south of Bolivia for a long bus ride across half of Argentina. You don't need an onward ticket if it's a land crossing, or if it's an air entry from an Argentinian airline. Only a Bolivian one.

Happy Canada Day all!!!

I celebrated by going to the deadest Canadian bar in Bolivia! Wooooooo!