Argentina Adventures
From Mendoza, we travelled by bus 13 hours to Buenos Aires (6:15 p.m. – 7:30 a.m.). It was actually quite comfortable, with seats that reclined completely horizontal which allowed for a decent night’s sleep. We were also able to watch a couple of action flicks which helped pass the time until midnight.
On arrival at the busy Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires, we took a taxi to a suggested bed and breakfast in the Rough Guide Travel Book, in the district of Palermo. Unfortunately, when we finally arrived after a 25 minute taxi ride ($8), there was a sold sign on the building. Obviously, our 2005 edition is outdated. We carried our luggage around and tried several hostels/hotels before finding a vacant room at a hostel ($35 without private bath) which ended up being a dump, so we moved the next morning to Borjes Design Hostel ($50 with private bath) which was excellent. Clean, friendly staff, large rooms, with large windows overlooking Paraguay Street.
With map in hand, we started navigating the streets towards the Polo Park in hopes of being able to watch a polo match. Unfortunately, there was no action on the field so we continued exploring the city. A third of Argentina’s population reside in Buenos Aires (13 million) so it is quite expansive with wide boulevards and tree-lined streets and several boroughs.
Over the next few days, we toured the Eva Peron Museum, saw her burial site at the Retiro Cemetery, checked out the shops on busy Florida Street, shopped at a couple of markets, and walked around the Palermo district. We had a great steak dinner at a very popular, local restaurant called Don Juan’s (4699 Guatemala Street) so we went back a second time. Since the weather was warm, we were able to enjoy our meals, sitting outside on the quiet street. We decided we’d take in a tango show on our last couple of nights in Buenos Aires in a couple of weeks. After 4 days of walking around, I treated myself to a pedicure ($10 for the hour) and got my hair done (highlights and bangs cut, and a trim for Fred, for only $30) and he did an amazing job. Fred said that was the first time he had his hair cut with a straight razor!
Our highlight of Buenos Aires was attending a futbol (soccer) match between River Plate and Huracan at Monumental Stadium. The local home team was River Plate (Petrobras) and they quickly went down 1- 0 within the first 5 minutes of the game. This did not put a damper on the fans’ spirit as they continued to sing, chant, and cheer. Two more goals were scored against River in the first half, leaving the home team down 3-0 at half time. Half-time was very uneventful, with 6 girls in red outfits and matching red umbrellas standing poised in the centre of the field – motionless. River came out very aggressive in the second half, and unbelievably, tied the game with three straight goals. Very exciting.
It was interesting to note that all the fans from the opposing team sat in one section at one end of the stadium with a police line down both sides. They were all contained within the one area, and once the game was over, those fans left first with a police escort. The home team fans had to remain in the stadium for approximately 20 -25 minutes with a line of 10 police officers blocking each exit of the stadium. In total, there must have been at least 100 police officers present – a riot squad, canine units, and uniformed officers. Fortunately, there were no incidents at this match, but I can imagine what a major international match would be like.
The day before we were to head south to Puerto Madryn, Fred and I decided to lighten our loads and mail a package back to Canada. Since it was being sent internationally, we had to mail it through the customs’ office which was at the far end of the city. Given the distance, we decided to save @$12/taxi ride, and take the subway, or Subtle, as it is called here.
*** See Fred’s previous blog, “Pickpockets on the Buenos Aires Subway” for our one and only experience riding on a South American subway.
After we located the correct building with the aid of a helpful man who spoke some English, mailing the package was quite easy (7.8 kg cost us just over $100). It was supposed to arrive within 10 – 12 days but that remains to be seen.
*** Just got an email from Mom – the package arrived intact (with just a chip off my hand painted Eva Peron wooden box I purchased to hold my playing cards). What a relief!
Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn
Fred and I decided to leave the big city and head south to Puerto Madryn, in the upper Patagonian region of Argentina. We purchased another sleeper bus for the 18.5 hour overnight trip. Once again, we watched a couple of action flicks in English (with Spanish subtitles). The drive was unbelievably flat and for hours after leaving B.A., the grasslands were pasture fields dotted with horses and cattle. The terrain when entering the patagonian region changed to scrub bushes (called steppe) and we saw a few sheep ranches, small towns/villages, but nothing more.
We arrived around 2:30 p.m and had pre-booked our accommodation at Hostel Viajeros (private room, bath, wi-fi, and satellite tv for $60) since we were discovering it was difficult to expect a private room with bath at hostels without booking in advance. With hostels hosting free internet, plus internet cafes everywhere, and specific websites which cater to booking hostels in advance (www.hostelworld.com is one), it has made our usual way of travel (just show up) much more challenging. We have always found accommodation everywhere, even in the high season. We prefer this method as it doesn’t tie us down to being anywhere at a certain particular time. As well, we like to see the room and the location before we pay for it (websites make you put a 10% down payment from your credit card to book it). Even though high season is not supposed to be until December, and more so January – March, we have been surprised at how booked everything is. I can just imagine what it will be like in the next few months!
We walked around the small city of Puerto Madryn and were surprised at the quality of the shops and restaurants. Apparently, cruise ships dock here enroute to southern Patagonia and Antarctica, so they cater to a different crowd. After enjoying a delicious pizza and bottle of Malbec, our next item on the agenda was booking a car for a few days to see the wildlife on Peninsula Valdes (@ $100 day with Budget). We ended up with a station wagon since the 2 smaller economy size classes were unavailable.
We headed out the next day, about an hour and a half and 100 km later, to the village of Puerto Pirimades. We drove around and found a room for $50 – it had two bunk beds and a private washroom, and included breakfast. After a beach-side hamburger n’ fries, we walked along the coast and saw “Southern Right Whales” spraying and breaching in the bay. We later drove down the coast and watched the whales, close to shore, at sunset.
We enjoyed a great dinner at a paradillo (grill house), with Heicki from Germany, who had been on the same bus beside us all the way from Buenos Aires. She films documentaries all over the world so was very interesting to talk to.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE – PART 3
(Part 1 – Theft of Fred’s daypack, Part 2, Theft in the B.A. Subway)
Well, let’s just say I never had to sleep in a bunk bed as a kid, haven’t since, and hopefully, will never have to again! Fred and I each decided to sleep on the top of our bunk beds since the mattresses appeared firmer and less-used. At around 4 a.m., I decided to use the washroom. The room was pitch black, but I knew the light switch was on the wall, directly across from me, about 4′ away. As I sat up and reached for the light, I went crashing to the floor, landing hard on my right side (hip, arm, and head). I startled Fred awake and managed to get to my feet and turn on the light.
After assessing the damages (a scrape on my right elbow, a goose egg forming on the right side of my head, and a big, red mark on my right hip), apart from my pride, nothing seemed too injurious. Since I still needed to use the washroom, off I slowly went, and somewhere thereafter, blacked out, crashed down, and hit my head on the bidet.
This time, I whacked the left side of my head, enough to leave a “big, gaping gash with blood coming out” as described by Fred. He wanted to take me to Emergency, but with my previous experiences with emergency rooms in Canada, I didn’t figure a village of 300 and 3 streets, would even have a doctor on call at 4 in the morning. Plus, I had sworn in the past, that unless a bone was sticking out of me, I was never going back to the hospital for an injury.
To make sure I was in my right mind, I started doing math facts in my head (e.g., 6 x 9 is 54. 7 x 8 is 56). In retrospect, I could have been answering myself wrong and didn’t know it! I knew from previous head concussions, my sister Caroline’s, not mine, that I should stay awake for an hour to make sure I didn’t vomit or pass out again. Nevertheless, I went back to sleep after a while with Fred watching over me.
In the morning, I had Fred look at my wound and it was open and gaping with my hair inside. Fred pretty much insisted that I go to the doctor’s office since he didn’t want to be the one treating it after it got infected. I relented and we arrived just after 9, when they opened. There was a receptionist just inside who didn’t speak any English so I just re-enacted banging my head on a sharp object. She went and got the male nurse, who also didn’t speak English, who then had me accompany him a room at the back. I re-enacted again to him what had happened and he looked at my wound and got the doctor. It turned out she didn’t speak any English either, but with my knowledge of Italian, I understood that I should have come in right after it happened and now it was going to be more difficult to stitch.
I had to lay down on a hard table, face first, while they squirted lots of what appeared to be iodine on my head. As I lay there, it came down onto the table, and onto my nose and mouth. I lay motionless as they applied more, then dabbed at. The doctor was trying to tell me what was coming next, but I didn’t understand, and at this point, I didn’t care. I just kept saying “Si”, “Si”, (yes), and hoping that whatever they were going to use, it was coming out of a new package. I then heard the scissors, snipping away at my hair and watched as it fell to the floor, beside me.
When I felt the first needle, I was hoping it was a painkiller, and not the needle to stitch me up. I have never had stitches before, but could imagine how painful the process was going to be. After a couple of pricks, I figured it must have been the painkiller as they then left me alone for a few minutes for it to kick in. Then came the stitches. Fortunately, she gave me enough and hardly felt a thing. Afterwards, she prescribed me some antibiotics and ibuprofen which I was to take for 72 hours. She indicated she would like me to go to the hospital in Puerto Madryn for a head x-ray but I figured I’d be okay and said I wouldn’t be going. To appease her, I agreed to come back 2 hours later in case I was throwing up or having dizzy spells. There were no directions as to the stitches though, which are still in my head. What surprised me the most about my visit was that there was absolutely no paperwork! No need to see my passport, my health card, plus, it was free!
Although I felt like I had just gone a round with Mike Tyson, I told Fred I was up to travelling in the car to the far east of the peninsula (1.5 hours on a wide, gravel road with many washboards). Here, we saw lots of sea lions, penguins, and elephant seals lazing about in the sand along the Atlantic coast. Off in the distance, we spotted a mother whale and her calf, swimming in the ocean. It was unbelievable windy!
The following morning, we took a boat cruise out to see the whales. They are named “Southern Right Whales” apparently because whalers found them to be the easiest to harpoon since they would come up right alongside their boats (hence, they were the right whales to kill). We must have seen at least a dozen and were able to come within 30′ of them. We did see one mother whale who had 2 calves which was very rare. Either she had twins, or more likely, the mother had adopted one. Also, the whales had barnacles on them.
After our few days on the peninsula, we headed back to Puerto Madryn and back to the same hostel. After returning the car, we purchased our 18. 5 hour bus tickets back to Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, this company had a different definition of “cama” and instead of getting the fully reclining, 6 foot space, we only had semi-reclining seats. Something we would make sure to ask, in the future.
On arrival, we took a taxi to Buquebus Terminal where we caught the 11:30 a.m express ferry (1 hour – $25 each) over to Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay. At this point, we had been travelling almost 24 hours straight. Luckily, I had booked a hostel over the internet from Puerto Madryn for the night which was in an excellent location in the historical district and only a 10 minute walk from the bus station (El Viajeros Hostel & Suites $60 with private bath and tv).
We will be spending about 12 days in Uruguay before heading back for what I’m sure will be more unique experiences in Buenos Aires December 1 – 3.
Tags: Argentina, Peninsula Valdes, Puerto Madryn, Southern Right Whale, Travel
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