Travel Plans

I thought I would send a quick post to let everyone know I made it safely to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I arrived yesterday around 6:30am with my guidebook in hand and a new plan of attack. My original idea was to fly into BA and turn right around and fly out to Bariloche, which is on the other side of the country in Argentina´s picturesque Lakes District. There were several towns in this area I wanted to make sure made my travel map, but the more I tried to plan out the 10 days, the more I realized I would be cutting it awfully short on time.

Somewhere during my two hour layover in Panama City and my arrival in Buenos Aires 7 hours later, I decided to scratch my original plan...all of it. 10 days isn´t all too significant amount of a time, so why not make a home base out of Buenos Aires and make a couple overnight trips to Iguazzu Falls and bordering Uruguay. I suddenly felt a lot less stressed out about the timing and logistics of my 10 days of travel, but now needed a plan for BA (i.e., where to sleep).

After talking with Oliver, my cheeky UK friend in Vilcabamba, and about 20 minutes in my Lonely Planet guide book, the area of San Telmo sounded like a great place to post up in Buenos Aires. It is supposed to be full of tango and charming arcitecture.

I didn´t get much sleep on the plane and the house on my back weighed a ton. My mind a little fuzzy, I told the cab driver to just drop me off in San Telmo...anywhere. I jumped out, turned one corner and there she was - America del Sur. She is the hostel of all hostels. Some friends in Quito actually recommended this place as it just opened four months ago, the staff speak english and are all super friendly. As the single rooms were full, I am bunking up with two girls - Florence from Amsterdam and Carolina from Columbia. I feel like I am in the sorority again. As it is a fraction of the price of staying in your own room and I didn´t really have any other choice unless I wanted to keep treking through the city with, as I said, the house on my back, I would give it a shot.

Sharing a room turns out to be like riding a bike, you never quite forget the joys and the pains. The girls are very nice and respectful and I cured the noise issue with ear plugs. A single room is to open up on Sunday, but I just may stay where I am and put the money saved towards steak and leather. To all you travelers out there, check out America del Sur - http://www.americahostel.com.ar/.

I have gone back to my aimless walking, which has been fun. I putzed around San Telmo the first day and yesterday, I went to the Recoleta area of the city - beautiful shops and homes here! I read this is where the ¨ritzy¨ live where they can afford a professional dog walker. Quite the job with the 15 dogs tied around their wrists.

It also houses the famous Recoleta Cemetery. I showed up at 11:00am, just in time to catch an english speaking tour. The most famous person buried at the cemetery is Evita Peron.

After you have seen one tomb, you have kind of seen them all. I had gelato places to find! Luckily, the tour guides feel the same and the tour ended about 45 minutes from when it started. Well, I didn´t quite realize it had ended. I followed, what I now noticed to be an entire Aussie pack of tourists, out of the cemetery, thinking we were going to another site. It wasn´t until I was about to board their tour bus I realized my time with this group had ended. I laugh now because they must have been thinking - what this strange girl was doing following them around? I now wonder if the tours are even free at all. Oh well, it was for me.

As I mentioned before, I am horrible at making decisions. I, of course, have gone back and forth on whether I made the right choice to skip Bariloche all together. As I am strolling down Florida street (famous for its shopping), I see it. It was as if the clouds parted and sent straight from the heavens, a sign, a sign I was to stay in Buenos Aires.

However, let me know if there are any takers to ever do the west side of Argentina. Patagonia and the Lakes District is supposed to be amazing!

Love,

Alison