A great city. Lots to do, loads to see and plenty to come back to. Despite the madness of the city – pollution, smelly speedy buses, curb crawling cabs and 12-lane roads, I really liked Buenos Aires. It had a good feel to it.
The buildings are incredible – European style turrets, New York style art deco and some huge Victorian style tiled buildings often taking up a whole block. Full of detail and character, though sadly becoming a little dilapidated. The economy here is still dire and tourism seems to keep a lot of places going. The gap between rich and poor is shocking - some very affluent people here and desperate poverty. On the whole I feel safe here, different to Ecuador etc, more European than native Indian. Though like the rest of South America they do like their marches and demos.
Our first day in BA was the Thursday before Easter – there was a HUGE demonstration against the government. The protest was against the present government for doing nothing to punish those involved in the ‘dirty war’ of the 70s. This was when the military were in charge (again) and a lot of people ‘disappeared’, they were tortured and murdered, bodies discarded in the local river all for disagreeing with those in charge. As with all South American countries this is just as politically corrupt and unstable, and yes, I read up on my history including the unbelievably corrupt dictatorship of Evita and Peron. The other march we saw here was much more peaceful and pleasant! Again it seemed as though the whole of BA had taken to the streets but this time on the eve of Good Friday when the church service was led through the city streets. Thousands of people chanting and praying all with lit candles. Quite humbling.
Aside from Catholicism the other religion here is football – they are mad for it. They actually believe Maradona was sent by God to play football for them. Footy fans amongst you will of course know the Argentinean team he played for – Boca Juniors. To see this religion in action we went to a Boca Juniors game at their stadium and the fans put our fans to shame. All age groups actually jump up and down, chant and cheer throughout the whole game – a good way to keep fit, and god knows how the stadium stands it! When Maradona arrived to watch the game from his box the whole stadium went wild, including the opposition. All the photographers were facing him with their backs to the players coming out onto the pitch! No wonder he went slightly crazy. It was a great experience. It’s also fun watching the England games on TV, the commentators are barking, making up songs about the players and giving them nick-names. For example, ‘El Baby Rooney’, ‘Spice Boy’ (Beckham), and ‘Boy Wonder’ (Owen).
Other than sport I have taken in a bit of culture too. I was lucky enough to be in BA for the Independent Film Festival and saw a not-so-good Hal Hartley film and a couple of good Canadian films including ‘The Corporation’ – a must see in my view. To top that I went to my first opera, Verdi’s ‘Lombards in the First Crusade’ at Teatro Colon. It’s supposed to be one of the best opera houses in the world and I have to agree from my limited knowledge – a vast space, beautifully decorated, everyone really dressed up. Best of all was it’s accessibility – it was only 20 quid for a ticket which in London would have cost over 120. …the opera itself was great too.
That’s almost up to date from me! The other bit of news is that Ben and I have decided to go our separate ways which is difficult and sad, but it obviously wasn’t meant to be. I’m doing OK though. Arrived in Iguazu Falls for some time to myself then off to Brazil on Saturday to meet the girls!
Part 2: Buenos Aires
Part 1: Don't Cry for Me…
Yes, that’s right, it’s the Argentinean leg of the trip. Though 6 weeks have passed it hadn’t felt like we’d done or seen much until it was time to jot things down! Here’s part 1…
Left the bowler-hatted ladies in La Paz and had a daytime flight to Santiago in Chile. Crossed amazing desert land with endless views and yet more distant snow-capped volcanoes. Santiago was a fantastic city – a real buzz to it and so nice to be drinking wine again. Anyone that wants to escape life in old blighty would do well to consider here though getting a grasp of Spanish may be a consideration!
Chile to Argentina was my first taste of how people get around and travel the long distances here – mostly by bus. There are semi-cama (slight incline) or cama (almost flat) seats, though you do end up feeling as though the person in front of you is lying in your lap. The other option is a suite bus which is like having your own bed and own space in the bus – luxury and definitely recommended! We did that once travelling to Buenos Aires and the rest of the time got savvy to taking the seats at the front of the top deck of the bus. In Argentina there are also trains – interesting when night-time falls sitting in a pitch black old train feeling like you’ve been beamed into 1940s Argentina.
Anyway, after a 16 hour over night bus journey from Santiago (Chile) to Patagonia (Argentina) we arrived in a town called Bariloche and wondered where we went wrong! It was like a German or Swiss mountain town resort but with fake-looking wood cabins and buildings. Very touristy and catering to the wealthy Argentinean 'portenos'. How could Patagonia be like this?! After initial disappointment we hired a car for a day to see the lakes and mountains away from the town – really amazing scenery, big lakes with jagged mountain peaks towering over them. Saw the most breath-taking sunset ever – pinks, blues, purples and greys above and below saucer shaped clouds. Didn’t take a photo believing all Patagonian sunsets would be like that – wrong unfortunately, so it lives in memory instead. Another plus side to Bariloche is that it’s the chocolate capital of Argentina. My expectation of the country had been wine, horses and steaks, but in reality it seemed to be chocolate, siestas and cakes. They siesta from 12.30 to 4.30 here!
The food in Argentina is very meat orientated and they really don’t understand vegetables – I am crying for greens. They have huge steaks, chicken and pork and haven’t a clue how to cook fish. They have a delicious thing called ‘dulce de leche’ – remember heating up condensed milk so it becomes toffee? Yum. Ordering has been interesting with my limited Spanish. On first arriving I ordered croissants and the waiter looked at me quizzically, not knowing what I was talking about. It turns out they call them ‘media lunas’ (half moons). Food is cheap though, 5 quid meals and 75p bottles of perfectly drinkable red.
We decided Patagonia was too expensive to do on a budget, I’d love to have headed south to see glaciers but essential flights and car hire were too costly. So we headed north to Mendoza, wine country. Though unbelievably for me we didn’t do any wine tasting! Rented an apartment for a week and just enjoyed cooking and not being in a hotel so didn’t do much except chill. Quite a nice town with some great art-deco buildings. Without doing tours outside Mendoza there wasn’t much else to do so we put travels further north on hold for a few weeks and went south again to the Pampas.
Found a lovely country town called Balcarce. It’s central plaza was lined with orange and lime trees, yes that’s oranges and limes on the same tree – oranges above, limes below, quite bizarre! It was also the home town of the famous racing driver Fangio and had a fantastic museum full of old F1 and racing cars from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s – mercs, Ferraris, etc.. After a couple of days in the town we spent a couple by a local lake and started to enjoy tranquility. Saw some amazing bird-life and I haven’t a clue of most of the names but a lot of birds of prey, parrots and a humming bird – beautiful green and white colours moving at terrific speed.
Another long bus journey took us to the biggest mountain range of the Pampas (which are flat so the mountains are not exactly Everest). We went to a place called Sierra de la Ventana, had to bust the budget and hire a car but well worth it. Ventana means ‘window’ and the reason this mountain range is named such is from one of the highest mountains where the rock at the peak has formed a natural window. We climbed this scrambling over rock boulders, not easy and v windy at the top but the huge views were worth the effort. Small birds nesting at the top had a great game where they flew towards the window, then folded in their wings, curled into a ball and let the wind hurl them through the window – bird bombs! Amazing. We also climbed the highest mountain (1230m from memory) called ‘Tres Picos’ (3 peaks). An 8-hour walk but much more satisfying than Ventana - up steep rocky path initially then out onto beautiful meadows slowly winding up to the summit which was again another steep rocky climb. This mountain was on a private estancia (farm) so we had to get permission to climb. Great to see a working farm with gauchos on horseback driving huge herds of cattle. The views here were vast – you could see a town 100km away. Another breath taking view to put to memory, although we did manage photos this time.
It was sad to leave such stunning countryside and friendly locals. Next stop – return to Buenos Aires, the federal capital. In email 2!
