Argentina is a great place to go, i would definitely go back ! There is plenty more I'd like to see, we didn't get to Barriloche or Mendoza and both look very interesting, as does Ushia. There is plenty to see, the food is excellent, I had no issues with getting sick from food or water. It is streets ahead of the other countries I have been to in South America. It is clean, prosperous and the people are very friendly.
The stray dogs are even friendly, we had one follow us for hours in El Calafate, he was no problem, just looking for something to do I guess. There are stray dogs everywhere, which takes a bit of getting used to for non dog lovers like me, but after a couple of days you get used to it.
The buses arfe a great way to travel, and easy to figure out as well. Many of the long trips are over night, so Super Cama, is the way to go if you can get it.
There is a little English spoklen, but you really have to make an effort at Spanish, which can be fun, trying to make yourself understood. If you make an effort they also will and genreally you can figure things out.
It was wonderful two weeks, and I had an excellent time !
Monday, March 9, 2009
A weekend in Buenos Aires
What a great last weekend in BA, we definitely made the right decision in heading back here from Uruguay !
Wanderinmg around the Recoletta and Palermo markets was a fun way to spend a hot sticky afternoon. Then we decided to go to a Tango Show, really good idea !
As part of the Tango show package we also had a free tango lesson, which we were hesitant about, but it turned out to be hilarious. I had no idea the Tango was essentially a walking dance, it was an interesting lesson. Then the show itself included wine and dinner (as Domi was drinking red and I was drinking white, we ended up being given a bottle each, neither of us were compaining - lol). The show was pretty good, it was a 5 act show, with live music and many doferent versions of Tango was danced, plus a couple of very good singers, all in all great show !
Then we went back to the hostel for what was suppoed to be one last beer, but we started talking to some people and ended up at a local Salsa club with them . It was a pretty cool club, we found out later it was a local bar, not a tourist bar, and totally enjoyable.
As it was pretty late (ie about 4:30 am) when we got in on Sat night, we were slow to get up and moving on Sunday, but when we had our bags all packed and hit the streets, it was another gorgeous day. We headed to the San Telmo market, and then as we started wandering the streets dsicovered there were plenty of street markets all over the city. we also went through San martin Plaza and discovered the Unicief Buddy bear display, artists had decorated brears and there were plenty of countries represented (unfortunately no canada bear though..)
All in all a great way to spend our last weekend in Argentina !
Wanderinmg around the Recoletta and Palermo markets was a fun way to spend a hot sticky afternoon. Then we decided to go to a Tango Show, really good idea !
As part of the Tango show package we also had a free tango lesson, which we were hesitant about, but it turned out to be hilarious. I had no idea the Tango was essentially a walking dance, it was an interesting lesson. Then the show itself included wine and dinner (as Domi was drinking red and I was drinking white, we ended up being given a bottle each, neither of us were compaining - lol). The show was pretty good, it was a 5 act show, with live music and many doferent versions of Tango was danced, plus a couple of very good singers, all in all great show !
Then we went back to the hostel for what was suppoed to be one last beer, but we started talking to some people and ended up at a local Salsa club with them . It was a pretty cool club, we found out later it was a local bar, not a tourist bar, and totally enjoyable.
As it was pretty late (ie about 4:30 am) when we got in on Sat night, we were slow to get up and moving on Sunday, but when we had our bags all packed and hit the streets, it was another gorgeous day. We headed to the San Telmo market, and then as we started wandering the streets dsicovered there were plenty of street markets all over the city. we also went through San martin Plaza and discovered the Unicief Buddy bear display, artists had decorated brears and there were plenty of countries represented (unfortunately no canada bear though..)
All in all a great way to spend our last weekend in Argentina !
Friday, March 6, 2009
A few words about the hostels...
Sometimes the worst hostels are not the worst nights....
We have had some great hostels this trip, the one in El Calafate was fantastic, (friendly, clean, helpful,). The one in Puerto Madryn was also pretty good, a little noisy and hot, no fan in the room, but overall very clean and pretty good.
The one we stayed at the first couple of nights on Buenos Aires seemed ok, but then..... When we came back north from El Calafate, we were arriving into BA around 11 ish at night, but we planned to take the 1 am slow ferry to Montivevideo which would arrive around 7 am, so we did not bother booking a hostel. When we got to the Bukebus (ferry) the ferry was not running, so now we needed a place to stay and it was late. So we went back to the hostel we had stayed at, they had a couple of beds left but they were in a coed dorm (which should have twigged us right away) but we were tired and it was now after midnight. This room was ridiculously hot, all the windows were open, and the street noise was loud. It had 8 beds, and there were bodies and stuff everywhere. I went to the desk and asked for bed numbers, and was given sheets and told to take any bed without sheets as they owuld be empty. We grabbed two beds and tried to make the best of things. Then about an hour after finally getting to sleep I was woken up, as apparently I was in someone elses bed. So I grabbed my sheets and stuff and headed to another bed, and was not to happy about it but it was easier than arguing at thst point.
I though DOmi was asleep and hopefully having a better night than me, but no such luck for her either. The guy in the bed above her was tossing and turning so much her bunk bed was actually moving around, and he kept dangling his feet over the edge, so she had strange feet in her face. She heard the whole ruckus when I got kicked out of the bed and was having trouble with the street noise
The street noise was so loud, I had trouble sleeping, (and I can sleep through everything that gioves you an idea how loud it really was) By 7 am I had had enough, I got up, showered and went to surf the internet, I just wanted out of there. Domi bravely tried to sleep for a bit longer, but as soon as she was up we headed out pretty quickly. I think I may have been better sleeping in the Bukebus terminal
This is probablly one of the worst nights I have evere had in a hostel anywhere in the world !
The hostel in Montevideo was not too bad. The staff tried hard and were very friendly, it could have been a little cleaner, but the atmosphere was good, it was quiet and they had a great BBQ one of the nights we were there (probably the best meal I had in Uruguay). We met some pretty interesting people that as well. One women was biking around the world, she had been travelling for about 2 years at this point. The rooms had no screens on the windows though and it was really hot and humid, so we got a lot of mosquito bites.
The place in Punta Del Este was very strange, it was not a good hotsel, but beds were hard to come by there, so we did not have too may options. A surfer guy basically is renting out rooms.... it was very bizarre. He basically went surfing during the day, and left the house unlocked at the back for anyone checking in and collected his money at night cause he would be gone to surf the waves in the morning. He was not helpful aboout the beaches or town
We really did not want to spend much time there, so we went for dinner had a bunch of wine before going back around midnight. As again the doors were wide open and no screens, both of us slept fully clothed hoping to avoid more bug bites. We left pretty early the next morning taking all our stuff with us, even though the Bukebus back to BA was not til 5 pm, we just kept our packs with us on the beach all day
Although this was not the worst night, it is probably one of the lousier hostels I have stayed in....
We are now back in BA in a different hostel, and so far it looks pretty good, quiet room, clean bathroom, and very helpful front desk staff so it is off to a good start...
We have had some great hostels this trip, the one in El Calafate was fantastic, (friendly, clean, helpful,). The one in Puerto Madryn was also pretty good, a little noisy and hot, no fan in the room, but overall very clean and pretty good.
The one we stayed at the first couple of nights on Buenos Aires seemed ok, but then..... When we came back north from El Calafate, we were arriving into BA around 11 ish at night, but we planned to take the 1 am slow ferry to Montivevideo which would arrive around 7 am, so we did not bother booking a hostel. When we got to the Bukebus (ferry) the ferry was not running, so now we needed a place to stay and it was late. So we went back to the hostel we had stayed at, they had a couple of beds left but they were in a coed dorm (which should have twigged us right away) but we were tired and it was now after midnight. This room was ridiculously hot, all the windows were open, and the street noise was loud. It had 8 beds, and there were bodies and stuff everywhere. I went to the desk and asked for bed numbers, and was given sheets and told to take any bed without sheets as they owuld be empty. We grabbed two beds and tried to make the best of things. Then about an hour after finally getting to sleep I was woken up, as apparently I was in someone elses bed. So I grabbed my sheets and stuff and headed to another bed, and was not to happy about it but it was easier than arguing at thst point.
I though DOmi was asleep and hopefully having a better night than me, but no such luck for her either. The guy in the bed above her was tossing and turning so much her bunk bed was actually moving around, and he kept dangling his feet over the edge, so she had strange feet in her face. She heard the whole ruckus when I got kicked out of the bed and was having trouble with the street noise
The street noise was so loud, I had trouble sleeping, (and I can sleep through everything that gioves you an idea how loud it really was) By 7 am I had had enough, I got up, showered and went to surf the internet, I just wanted out of there. Domi bravely tried to sleep for a bit longer, but as soon as she was up we headed out pretty quickly. I think I may have been better sleeping in the Bukebus terminal
This is probablly one of the worst nights I have evere had in a hostel anywhere in the world !
The hostel in Montevideo was not too bad. The staff tried hard and were very friendly, it could have been a little cleaner, but the atmosphere was good, it was quiet and they had a great BBQ one of the nights we were there (probably the best meal I had in Uruguay). We met some pretty interesting people that as well. One women was biking around the world, she had been travelling for about 2 years at this point. The rooms had no screens on the windows though and it was really hot and humid, so we got a lot of mosquito bites.
The place in Punta Del Este was very strange, it was not a good hotsel, but beds were hard to come by there, so we did not have too may options. A surfer guy basically is renting out rooms.... it was very bizarre. He basically went surfing during the day, and left the house unlocked at the back for anyone checking in and collected his money at night cause he would be gone to surf the waves in the morning. He was not helpful aboout the beaches or town
We really did not want to spend much time there, so we went for dinner had a bunch of wine before going back around midnight. As again the doors were wide open and no screens, both of us slept fully clothed hoping to avoid more bug bites. We left pretty early the next morning taking all our stuff with us, even though the Bukebus back to BA was not til 5 pm, we just kept our packs with us on the beach all day
Although this was not the worst night, it is probably one of the lousier hostels I have stayed in....
We are now back in BA in a different hostel, and so far it looks pretty good, quiet room, clean bathroom, and very helpful front desk staff so it is off to a good start...
A couple of days in Uruguay
Well our luck with the weather finally ran out when we hit Montevideo, and we had a rainy day. But we made the most of it and still wandered around the city and did a little shopping. The city is interesting, but there is not that much to see aside from the becahes (which are not much fun on a grey day...). WE did indepencia square, and the old city.
Before heading to Montevideo, we stopped in Colonia which is a Unesco hertigae site, but I have to admit these old port areas start to look the same, after you have seen a bunch of the so we did not stay too long.
Then we headed to Punta Del Este, which is billed as the Miami Beach of Uruguay. It still has a ways to go before rivalling Miami Becah, but the effort is there. There is a obviously a lot of money in the town, and there are hotels and condos all along the beach road. The shopping area has a lot of big names as well (Tiffany, Tommy, etc). Brava Beach on the Atlantic side is great for surfers but rough for swimming and the beach is kinda pebbly. Bikini Becah on the Gulf side is much nicer, with the fluffy sand, board walk and yatch club. It is also much busier. Wow was it hot, the sun is very strong. I spent most of the two days covered up in an effort not to get burnt.
I keep getting my poor feet burnt walking around, I may have to resort to wearing socks with my sandals, which will look ridiculous in fashion concious Buenos Aires.... I wore socks all today both on the beach and walking around and got a few strange looks, but my feet are much happier with me tonight !
Uruguay is nice, and I enjoyed the few days there, but it is not Argentina. It is about the same price, but the standards are not as high, the hostels are not as nice, food is not as good, so we opted to head back to Buenos Aires for our last weekend.
Before heading to Montevideo, we stopped in Colonia which is a Unesco hertigae site, but I have to admit these old port areas start to look the same, after you have seen a bunch of the so we did not stay too long.
Then we headed to Punta Del Este, which is billed as the Miami Beach of Uruguay. It still has a ways to go before rivalling Miami Becah, but the effort is there. There is a obviously a lot of money in the town, and there are hotels and condos all along the beach road. The shopping area has a lot of big names as well (Tiffany, Tommy, etc). Brava Beach on the Atlantic side is great for surfers but rough for swimming and the beach is kinda pebbly. Bikini Becah on the Gulf side is much nicer, with the fluffy sand, board walk and yatch club. It is also much busier. Wow was it hot, the sun is very strong. I spent most of the two days covered up in an effort not to get burnt.
I keep getting my poor feet burnt walking around, I may have to resort to wearing socks with my sandals, which will look ridiculous in fashion concious Buenos Aires.... I wore socks all today both on the beach and walking around and got a few strange looks, but my feet are much happier with me tonight !
Uruguay is nice, and I enjoyed the few days there, but it is not Argentina. It is about the same price, but the standards are not as high, the hostels are not as nice, food is not as good, so we opted to head back to Buenos Aires for our last weekend.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Fantastic Food
I was looking at my last post, and realised I forgot to mention the glass of Fmaous Grouse on the rocks they gave us on the glacier, using ice directly from the glacier of course.... Kinda cool to be sipping a drink on the glacier
The food here in Argetina is amazing, empinadas (meat filled pastries) and dolche leche (a very yummy milk and carmel like spread for bread, toast etc) have pretty much become staples in our daily diet. I was actually disappointed when we got butter and not dolche leche with the meal on the plane yeterday...
The pizza and pasta is excellent and the meat plates are huge. When we ordered the lamb the other night, the waiter suggested we´d be better splitting the one portion, and boy was he right, it was huge ! and arrived on it´s own little BBQ, so fitting two on the table would have been hilarious (As neither of us our really steak eaters, but we have been told we have to try it before we leave)
When you order items like meat, sides are not included you just get the meat. Pasta and the sauce come seperately as well, and the sauce is an extra charge (good thing we figured that out before ordering some...hee hee)
Ham and cheese comes with everything, esp items covered with cheese, there is usually a layer of ham underneath the cheese.
Trying to figure out what we are actually ordering is getting easier, as we are recognizing more spansih words, but sometimes it can be funny trying to figure out what we actually ordering.
We have tried a few wines, I´ve found a couple of whites that are really good (I may be drinking wine again by the time I get back....) and Domi has had some good reds as well.
The pastries and chocolates are also very yummy ! I am not really sure how Argentinias are not huge with all this amazing food
We are back for a brief overnight in BA, and realised when we arrived we had not seen a McDonalds or Burger King the whole time we were in Patagonia, it was kinda nice. McDonals has the McCafe here, which I have seen before but not also including it as internet cafe. It´s an interesting concept, in place where not everyone will have their own computers....
The food here in Argetina is amazing, empinadas (meat filled pastries) and dolche leche (a very yummy milk and carmel like spread for bread, toast etc) have pretty much become staples in our daily diet. I was actually disappointed when we got butter and not dolche leche with the meal on the plane yeterday...
The pizza and pasta is excellent and the meat plates are huge. When we ordered the lamb the other night, the waiter suggested we´d be better splitting the one portion, and boy was he right, it was huge ! and arrived on it´s own little BBQ, so fitting two on the table would have been hilarious (As neither of us our really steak eaters, but we have been told we have to try it before we leave)
When you order items like meat, sides are not included you just get the meat. Pasta and the sauce come seperately as well, and the sauce is an extra charge (good thing we figured that out before ordering some...hee hee)
Ham and cheese comes with everything, esp items covered with cheese, there is usually a layer of ham underneath the cheese.
Trying to figure out what we are actually ordering is getting easier, as we are recognizing more spansih words, but sometimes it can be funny trying to figure out what we actually ordering.
We have tried a few wines, I´ve found a couple of whites that are really good (I may be drinking wine again by the time I get back....) and Domi has had some good reds as well.
The pastries and chocolates are also very yummy ! I am not really sure how Argentinias are not huge with all this amazing food
We are back for a brief overnight in BA, and realised when we arrived we had not seen a McDonalds or Burger King the whole time we were in Patagonia, it was kinda nice. McDonals has the McCafe here, which I have seen before but not also including it as internet cafe. It´s an interesting concept, in place where not everyone will have their own computers....
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Perito Moreno Glacier
Wow, what a fantastic day!!!!
The first view of the Moreno Glacier was amazing,little did I know it would only get better. The Moreno Glacier is about 7kms wide, 35kms long, and you see about 60m above the water and is apparently 70m under the water to the lake floor. It is a stable glacier with enough snow behind it to keep replacing the sections that fall off at the front. It is one of the only glaciers in the world that is advancing daily,while most are receding. In the mountains behind the Moreno, there is a glacier park that has another 350 glaciers. At this point the Pacific ocean is only kms away. Hard to believe we are nowcloser to ot than the Atlantic...
The boat ride across to the glacier gave a great close up view of the glacier, and you could see and hear sections falling off. When pieces fall off theymakealoud booming noise (louder than the ice shifting on L Simcoe when it is frozen in the winter). It´s really cool to see.
Next up, actually getting on the glacier. First we had a little hike to the edge of the glacier where we got crampons on our feet. They take a bit of getting used to but I actually found it a little easier to trek on ice than hiking some of the steep sections on the Inca trail. Getting the hang of the duck walk up hill was pretty easy, the downhill ¨cowboy¨ walk was a little tougher but fairly easy once you got the balance right. Trekking on the glacier it´s self was interesting, the ice was very hard and crumbly, the surface could cut you like glass if you fell on it (no I didn´t trip for a change) and there were plenty of sinkholes where you could see the water running under the surface. Totally enjoyable !
After a ocuple hours on the glacier we headed for what they call the balcony area. This is area off the glacier where you get a view that really impresses how big the Moreno really is. This view is incredible,you can see the whole glacier, and as we had a beautiful clear sunny day, you could also see the caps of the mountains all around. Ice caps as far as the eye could see.It´s tough to explain in words what this actually looked like. Very Impressive !
Tonight we decided to treat ourselves to a Patagonia lamb dinner at a nice resturant. As Patagonia is full of sheep estancias (ranches) lamb is a specialty in this areas, and dinner was quite tasty, probably the best meal so far, and that is saying something cause the food here in Argentina is really good !
The first view of the Moreno Glacier was amazing,little did I know it would only get better. The Moreno Glacier is about 7kms wide, 35kms long, and you see about 60m above the water and is apparently 70m under the water to the lake floor. It is a stable glacier with enough snow behind it to keep replacing the sections that fall off at the front. It is one of the only glaciers in the world that is advancing daily,while most are receding. In the mountains behind the Moreno, there is a glacier park that has another 350 glaciers. At this point the Pacific ocean is only kms away. Hard to believe we are nowcloser to ot than the Atlantic...
The boat ride across to the glacier gave a great close up view of the glacier, and you could see and hear sections falling off. When pieces fall off theymakealoud booming noise (louder than the ice shifting on L Simcoe when it is frozen in the winter). It´s really cool to see.
Next up, actually getting on the glacier. First we had a little hike to the edge of the glacier where we got crampons on our feet. They take a bit of getting used to but I actually found it a little easier to trek on ice than hiking some of the steep sections on the Inca trail. Getting the hang of the duck walk up hill was pretty easy, the downhill ¨cowboy¨ walk was a little tougher but fairly easy once you got the balance right. Trekking on the glacier it´s self was interesting, the ice was very hard and crumbly, the surface could cut you like glass if you fell on it (no I didn´t trip for a change) and there were plenty of sinkholes where you could see the water running under the surface. Totally enjoyable !
After a ocuple hours on the glacier we headed for what they call the balcony area. This is area off the glacier where you get a view that really impresses how big the Moreno really is. This view is incredible,you can see the whole glacier, and as we had a beautiful clear sunny day, you could also see the caps of the mountains all around. Ice caps as far as the eye could see.It´s tough to explain in words what this actually looked like. Very Impressive !
Tonight we decided to treat ourselves to a Patagonia lamb dinner at a nice resturant. As Patagonia is full of sheep estancias (ranches) lamb is a specialty in this areas, and dinner was quite tasty, probably the best meal so far, and that is saying something cause the food here in Argentina is really good !
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Getting to El Calafate
That was a long bus journey ! We decided to go for it and head to the Moreno Glacier so from Puerto Madryn we hopped a bus heading for El Calafate.
Sixteen hours later we had to change buses in Rio Gallegos. The bus wasn´t as bad as it sounds, but also wasn´t the first class trip we had from BA.
Patagonia is pretty barren,not much to see for the first few hours but endless scrub grassand grazing lands. Then we got to some hills and the scenery was a little more interesting for a bit anyways. After a strange dinner (ham just doesn´t belong in a jelly roll...) and movie, I slept til Rio Gallegos.
At Rio Gallegos we had to change buses and had some time to kill so we went into town, not much there.....
Another 4 hour bus ride though some much more interesting scenery we arrived in El Calafate. This place is gorgeous ! The hostel overlooks Lagos Argentina, which is the 2nd largest lake in South America. It is a glacier lake and you can see the mountains off in the distance.
Tomorrow is the tour to the Moreno Glacier. Very excited !
Sixteen hours later we had to change buses in Rio Gallegos. The bus wasn´t as bad as it sounds, but also wasn´t the first class trip we had from BA.
Patagonia is pretty barren,not much to see for the first few hours but endless scrub grassand grazing lands. Then we got to some hills and the scenery was a little more interesting for a bit anyways. After a strange dinner (ham just doesn´t belong in a jelly roll...) and movie, I slept til Rio Gallegos.
At Rio Gallegos we had to change buses and had some time to kill so we went into town, not much there.....
Another 4 hour bus ride though some much more interesting scenery we arrived in El Calafate. This place is gorgeous ! The hostel overlooks Lagos Argentina, which is the 2nd largest lake in South America. It is a glacier lake and you can see the mountains off in the distance.
Tomorrow is the tour to the Moreno Glacier. Very excited !
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