Ahh Argentina! I am here! Its like a breath of fresh air. These people are so european, I love it. Right now, i am here, in the great city of cordoba. Let me tell you though, it sure as hell wasnt easy to get here....

Borders in this part of the world are pretty lax. Or, er, i THOUGH they were till i got to argentina. They treat the place like its lined with gold, and they need to make sure you dont want to steel it. The people were nice enough, but, in the first 24 hours my bags were exhaustivley searched 7 times. ARGG..

1. 10:00am, at the border
2. 9:45pm, right after the bus left the terminal.
3. 10:00pm, agian, near some small town
4. 12:00am, ARGG... i was sleeping, i have no idea where
5. 1:23am, I AM TRYING TO SLEEP HERE; I HAVE NO DRUGS, GUNS, OR PEOPLE
6. 2:02am, perhaps they should send these people to isreal, i was there... and the security is lax in comparison.
7. 3:45am, this is rediclious...

Right, oh did i mention that even GETTING a bus was a nightmare?

As it turns out, i am trying to go south in argentina at a time when the entire population is returning from vacations in the north. After arriving at the bus terminal shortly after 10am, and being unable to find a direct bus with space, i decided to try my luck at getting to an intermediate city (san miguel de tucman) first, and the bus left at 9:35pm. GREAT, a 12 hour wait...

So, after ariving in san miguel de tucman, a BIG city, with hundreds of bus companies in one terminal, i was STILL unable to secure a seat to cordoba. I checked with about 50 companies, and they all had first avalability two days hence. I thought i was going to cry. (I hadnt slept in 2 nights)

After exploring, air travel, and a taxi, i was out of options. Fortunately, one of my travel tactics worked.

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Travel Tactic: When you cant speak the language of a place, communicate what you want, exactly, with ONE or TWO people. Tell them your story, of what a shitty experience you are having, and that you really need help. Tell them to remember you, and you will return later.

More than 50% of the time, especially if its a person of the opposite sex, when you return you will find good news.

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My new best friend at El Practico travel arranged a standby seat for me on the 1pm bus to cordoba! Defeated, sitting on the floor in clothes that had been used for more than 48 hours, you can imagine how happy i was to get there in 12 hours, not 72.

Downside? there wasnt actually a seat, so i was relagated to the driver and staff area. Cool. :) I met some great people! Laura, Mario, and the guys driving the bus were great. We laughed all the way there. We even picked up a cop who told us of all the ways to get away with crimes here in argentina. lol

Bus trips in argentina

I was so happy to be in a modern city agian, and i checked into a reasonably nice hotel. The Ducal Suites. For about 25CDN/Night, its an amazing deal.

I love this city, I will write more now.

Ciao!!

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Thanks for watching! I really do love it when people follow me. And if you actually read to the bottom, you MUST have half enjoyed reading, so post a comment! I love to see that people are reading. For more information about the trip, go look at about me. For more information about Simon look here.

Posted by Simon on January 12, 2004 05:30 PM
Category: Argentina, Simon in