Archives mensuelles : janvier 2005

After a cumulated total of 10 weeks in Argentina or nearby, comes the time of the little “Like – Don’t Like” game. There is no hierarchy.

I Like

People: The kindness, the generosity and the spontaneity of the people, starting with the friends I met in Buenos Aires, Salta and elsewhere. They will recognise themselves.

Cities: Buenos Aires for its buzz. Salta for its colonial feel and its wonderful people. Mendoza for its trees, its irrigation system (ditches along every street, I guess quite a few alcohol- or visually-challenged tourists fell in them at night…).

Landscape: The wonderful colours in the region of Salta and Jujuy. The amazing glaciers and the amazing colours of the lakes in Patagonia (Calafate). Ushuaia and its end of world feel. Cataratas de Iguazu, amazing falls that led Eleanor Roosevelt to say “Poor Niagara!”

The smell when passing in front of lavanderias (“laundry shops”). You’ll tell me that’s universal, but there are lots here. The locutorios (call shops, internet), generally cheap, that you find at EVERY corner.

The food, starting with a Bife de Lomo (steak) when gravity seems to be enough to push your knife across the meat. Continuing with Empanadas. The ones from the “Gourmet” chain I had last night were excellent. Very wide choice. The pizzas can be excellent too, and there are loads of other types of excellent restaurants. Buenos Aires is a place where you must be careful if you want to fit in the same clothes once you get back home.

Drinks, mentioning first a wonderful strawberry daiquiri in Las Caà±itas, made with real strawberries and no sugar. I might want to go there again this afternoon!

Tango, tango, tango.

Chatting with the taxistas (taxi drivers), listening to their stories, every taxi a different one, and letting them believe that I am not a tourist and that I live in Buenos Aires. Always nice receiving compliments on my Spanish!

Most hostels were so welcoming, full of really helpful staff. Only the odd one was a disappointment.

Flying over Buenos Aires. That’s just so amazing. The domestic airport is really close to the city, and the international one requires flying over the whole city. During the day, or at night, in any case it’s really cool. And it’s amazing how clear the limit is between the city itself and the “empty” pampa surrounding it.

Being able to change my flights very often, for little or no cost. Flying is really worth it here. In opposition, buses are comfortable, but if I wanted to change my reservation, I had to accept losing 30% of the value of my ticket.

I Don’t Like

The hostel I went to in Mar del Plata, and most people I met in Mar del Plata, the only one that was in my guide. High season, enough customers: good bye friendliness, spontaneity and helpfulness. Tourist business is business.

Double-checking an information to be sure I understood correctly and be told the opposite the next day.

Tourists in big groups. (That might be universal.) Organised tours or packs of backpackers acting as if they were alone in the room late at night or during the early morning.

Backpackers here for months that stay on the move, never spending more than a few days at the same place, that meet people for a few days and then never see them again, or rather, meet them again at the next gringo stop. Backpackers here for months for whom the most exciting is to meet other backpackers, and for whom it’s too difficult to learn Spanish, and didn’t even try at least to follow a 2-week crash course. However, I met some very nice people meeting precisely these criteria: there are always exceptions!

Having to share my dormitory. OK, that was my choice! But had I stayed longer I think I would have needed a few nights on my own in a more comfortable place…

This enormous gap that exists between rich and poor, wealth and poverty, here and elsewhere in South America. And the impression that there’s not much you can do about it.

The system, the lack of faith of the people in the political system, and the impression that changing the leaders will lead to the same results. One interesting comment was made to me about the fact that so many people disappeared during the dictatorship some 20 plus years ago. These were people who challenged the system. Now, there are not many young politicians, and most are of the generation of those who disappeared…

Argentina is really not a country where salsa is popular. For me, that was tough. There seems to be an aversion against most Latin American traditions… You’ll understand why, Argentina is something in between Europe and Latin America, and the people tend to want better relations with Europeans than with other Latin Americans. I was told: “But salsa is not an Argentine dance!” To this I replied: “It’s not European neither, but it is danced over there!”
However, there is Tango here, this is a compensation, although I didn’t have to opportunity to learn it seriously yet. Watching it is enough at the moment!

That’s all for now. I’ve probably forgotten many other points. Especially about things I liked. I might edit this post later.

After nearly two weeks in the wind and the “cold” (OK, not as cold as it is for some people on the other side of the world…), I really was in the need of a few relaxing days at the beach before diving back into the European winter.

I managed to link Ushuaia to Mar del Plata – what a contrast! – in less than 12 hours, which is I think quite an achievement. I landed just before one o’clock in the morning in Buenos Aires, just to dash to the bus terminal and take a night bus, very comfortable by the way.

These few days in Mar del Plata were quite nice. I can’t explain why I like to go to the beach. It’s kind of a love-hate relationship.

I don’t like the sand that gets into every place it can possibly get. I don’t like getting sun burns and putting cream on every hour is quite boring. The water can be cold when you get in, and if it’s not the case, it’s often cold when you get out…

However, I do like the beach. But not for too long we’ll say.

Now I am back in Buenos Aires, thinking about how I am going to organise my luggage to go home, without buying an extra bag.

For the first time I must admit, I really had today an idea of what distances really are here. With flights quite cheap and not so much time available to me, I’ve often been flying, but this time I travelled from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia by bus, including a stop in Punta Arenas.

The first part was a straightforward (indeed) 3 hour journey, and Punta Arenas is a city like many others, for people who do not care particularly about visiting cities that are so “famous.” (I know, Valparaiso is still missing on my list…)

From there, we left for a 12 hour journey to Ushuaia, starting by a detour of 2 hours up to the narrowest point of the Magellan Strait, logically named Punta Delgada. Of course, it took us altogether about an hour and a half to cross, when we concretely spent about 15 minutes on the water.

Wow, that whole trip was long. It included 3 hours to go past 15 kilometres and two border controls. Wow, that was boring. However, it was an incredible experience for me to go past this landscape, crossing one estancia every I-don’t-know-how-many kilometres. Roads are usually unpaved, and this adds to the “thrill” of the journey. And to the vibrations my bottom hasn’t yet forgotten.

The North of Tierra del Fuego island is as everyone can imagine Patagonia, with sheep, flat plains and wind. There is more variation in the South, with lakes, trees (yes) and mountains. Ah, and everchanging weather. Sun for 15 minutes, rain, sun, rain, etc.

I’m on holiday so I won’t start looking at optimising this journey but I’m sure that there’s some kind of potential!

Now I’m ready to go back to the sun and heat around Buenos Aires, and I plan to head to the beach for a few days in order to relax and take care of my “tan” before the great return…

I’m in Puerto Natales, and I’ve just come back from a nice hike in the Torres del Paine National Park. In contrast to what my feet might say, Paine in Spanish is not equivalent to Pain in English…

Anyway, these were very nice mountains, and I was really curious to see what all the hype of Torres del Paine was about. I can tell you know.

Well, apart from the wonderful light blue (glacier milk they call it, I know, it sounds weird…) colour of the water of the lakes, and the gorgious peaks, it was quite alpine I must say, and hence two days in the park were just perfect for me. And for my physical condition too!

Tomorrow: Punta Arenas.

Tierra del Fuego is indeed very isolated. Its communication system depends on only one transmission antenna.

It all started with a day without water in Calafate. No toilets, no shower, that’s a bit of an embarrassment when wanting to get rid of Patagonian dust and go out on a Friday evening.

Then, the best was to come in Ushuaia. Problems seem to follow me. 140 kph winds were stronger than the mentioned antenna, south of Rio Gallegos. This meant no possibility to phone past the Magellan Strait, no internet at all and no computer systems dependent on a network, such as airline reservation systems.

Having booked a ticket to go to Puerto Natales but not having paid it, I had to go to the airport with no booking and no idea of where I would stay in Chile or how I would get there. After being put on the waiting list I finally bought the ticket two minutes before the plane took off, without exaggeration.

The best was to come. When landing, my rucksack was nowhere to be seen! After 45 minutes of complaining and lamenting in order to find a solution, suddenly, it appeared! It had been forgotten on the plane…

Now, everything’s fine. I arrived in Puerto Natales, and am ready to go with a friend for a two-day trek in the Torres del Paine National Park. Under a tent. Yes. I’ll be able to check how warm my sleeping bag and my thermal underwear is…

And by the way, after missing out Valparaiso, I am very happy to discover a part of Chile!

Incredible. Here I am close to the southernmost town of the world! What a feeling! Indeed I nearly feel as if my head was upside down… However, I must admit it’s cool that I’m not going further and further south, because at each stage it’s cooler. And here, it’s really quite cool, around 10 degrees.

The weather is as expected for this part of the world, the setting of the city is really amazing for me, although it might not make the same effect to someone less impressed by “urban myths.”

Tomorrow, excursion along the Beagle Channel (again, another name that sounds like magic to me!) and then a bit of back and forth in Patagonia, as I am deciding to stay a bit longer here and cross over to Chile (finally!) for a few days.

Then, I’ll just have time for a couple of days at the beach to “try” and uniformise my tan…

A quick note from an isolated booming village in Southern Patagonia, El Calafate. From here depart the excursions towards Los Glaciares National Park. Days are very sunny, the temperature is a bit under 20, but there’s always a very strong fresh wind… But no sailors or windsurfers on the lake nearby…

Yesterday we went on a boat “cruise” exploring the arms of Lago Argentino, a wonderful light blue lake twice the size of Lake Leman (Yes, I come from Lausanne…). Huge glaciers at the end of each arm, plenty of “icebergs” of a wonderful blue, and strong winds as I cannot remember having to resist in my lifetime, cool showers when on the deck at the wrong moment, and with water at 4-5 degrees Celsius, no temptation for a bath.

Today, we went to Perito Moreno Glacier, the main sight to be seen, where the glacier crashes through an arm of Lake Argentino. In opposite to the other ones, here it was possible to get close on foot, and from higher above, which gives it another dimension.

Tomorrow, I’m off to the end of the world, Ushuaia. Some will be right arguing that the Chilean hamlet of Puerto Williams is slightly further south, however.

Coming back from my excursion today I had a new experience of Argentina. Piqueteros. They blocked the motorway with burning tyres, adding an extra hour at least to an already very long day. This is just symbolic of how desperate social conflicts can be. These persons have no other means of pressure than annoying other people and alienating them. They managed very well with me.

The Argentine Society seems to be divided into classes that never interact unless there is a conflict, which can be violent or not: piqueteros, kidnappings, “y que se yo” (etc.)

In Mexico, for the first time I had experienced protected residential zones (with fences all around and guards at the entrance, like in “Asterix”). I was a bit shocked at the time. Now I get used to it, as many of these “barrios privados” can be seen in Argentina as well. Once you get in, you are in an oasis of calm and security, with open gardens and private drives.

I understand the need and respect it, as security is really a big issue and would be to me if I lived here. It is however bizarre to me, and illustrates this separation of societies, where inhabitants from “villas miseria” (shantytowns) will never see the other side and vice versa.

Whilst in places like Salta and Mendoza there is not too much humidity and the heat is comfortable, it is different in Buenos Aires. This place is sticky. I was at the airport, getting on the bus bringing us to the plane at 6.40 a.m. (Yes, that’s in the morning!) We were delayed for I don’t know what reason and after 20 minutes we had to head back to wait in the terminal, as the heat was not bearable… I let you imagine. At 7 in the morning….

After Salta, here I am for a few days in another very nice provincial town, Mendoza, a lively city with trees on every street. And an irrigation system with deep trenches between the road and the pavement. THIS can be dangerous! However, I am very cautious and haven’t fell in one of them yet. Cross your fingers for me!

I have eaten good empanadas again. Unfortunately my aim to go to Valparaiso from here won’t be achieved, as it is a bit further and a bit more complicated to get there than what I thought. Partie remise, maybe later in this trip, or another excuse to go Down South another time.

Argentina’s at me again.