Buenos Aires

3 - 7 March 2011

You can´t buy bus tickets online in Chile unless you have a Chilean credit card. The bus company that ran from Santiago to Buenos Aires obviously didn´t have an office in Pucon so when we left Pucon on the night bus to Santiago, we had no idea when we could get a bus from Santiago to Buenos Aires. We got into Santiago at 6am and luckily got on a bus to Buenos Aires at 10am, so everything worked out ok. The bus ride took 21 long hours, which could have been much shorter if we didn´t have to wait at the border for 3 hours. It seems that all the busses to Argentina leave Santiago between 9 and 10am, so if you´re unlucky enough (like us) to get on a bus at 10 with a slower driver than the rest, you end up with a VERY long wait. I´m just glad the weather was good, it would be absolutely miserable to do it in winter.

Photos to follow

The scenary on the way across to Argentina was stunning, the mountains and the road through them are a marvel!

We arrived in Buenos Aires at 6am in the morning, grabbed a coffee and tried to figure out where we were going to stay. It was a Sunday and nothing was open so we ended up walking around the centre of town until 9am when things started to open up. We found a hostel in San Telmo (just south of the city centre), checked in and had a much needed shower. After that we felt a bit more human and went to explore the Sunday Markets in San Telmo. Just as we got there it started to rain but an hour later it cleared up and we got to see some cool antiques, art and jewellery. We had lunch and Lawrie got his first Argentine parrilla (bbq) and Kitty was just excited to have a bigger choice to eat than fries or salad. We were still pretty wrecked from the bus ride so we had a siesta and went back to the markets in the afternoon where we saw some cool tango musicians and dancers.

Photos to follow

On Monday we wanted to go on a walking tour but that didn´t work out so we just spent some time getting lost in the centre of town. We found a nice museum about the history of the city, which was in a beautiful old house with like 18ft ceilings! In the afternoon we went to Recoleta/Palermo and saw some flash shops on the way to the Recoleta cemetery where the important and famous people in BsAs are buried in some imposing masoleums.

Tuesday we again headed out to grab a (different) walking tour, this time successful! We we´re happy enough catching the Subte (metro) but the bus system would do your head in! We explored the city and took in all the historical sites & also saw the only Kosher McDonalds outside Israel! It´s interesting that BsAs has the second largest Jewish population outside of Israel (behind New York),

That evening we grabbed a wine with Ricardo & Krystle on the river before heading to dinner in San Telmo again. That night we all went to a pub quiz, which turned out to be a fizzer as only 5 people turned up! We did get some free drinks though!

Photos to follow

Wednesday we headed north to Tigre, in the delta of the River Parana. Transportation is by boat only and there are many islands to explore, all separated by little channels with overhanging trees. Lawrie wants a holiday house here! Apparently the Japanese wanted to turn it into the Venice of South America but didn't bribe the government enough (or something)

Photos to follow

Thursday we packed up our things and went shopping for Tango shoes for Kitty. We raced around the city on the Subte a few times as shops weren´t open! After getting the shoes we walked up to the Correo (post office) to post everything home but they were closed! We grabbed a quick lunch of a massive pizza (learning not to buy a Grande in the process) before catching the Subte to the bus station in preparation for our 16hr trip to Puerto Iguazu.