Cool kids call it BA

Buenos Aires, Argentina
28th April - 4th May (Sat-Fri)

I arrived in Buenos Aires at mid-day Saturday after catching the 6pm bus from Puerto Iguazu the previous day. I did the border hop on Thursday evening with two girls, one from Australia and one from Canada, and I was lucky to have been with them as they reminded me that I had to hand over the Brazilian departure card that I had filled in on my flight to Rio. I couldn’t remember at all where I had placed it for safe keeping and was very lucky to have found it hidden in the rain cover pocket of my bag or else I would have been fined €80 or go to the Paraguay border where the fine is cheaper.

I’ve been under strict instruction from everyone I have been talking to about Buenos Aires that I was to stay in the Millhouse hostel which is downtown. It’s been a testing experience to say the least, it’s the biggest party hostel in the country. You can’t not go out, in my last 5 nights here I tried to not go out twice and failed. Once was when we to this amazing evening  reggae style jam session in Konex, Palmero where a 16 piece percussion band played a 2 hour improve set with the conductor (they changed every song) using over 100 hand signals. Afterwards we decided to go for a quiet meal in a very retro restaurant that allowed you to play board games over dinner. Our table of 10 managed to be the last to leave at about 5am with lovely wine stained teeth. The nightlife is incredible, huge clubs with great house, electronic, dance and dnb music. The hostel has a party in its common room/bar area every night until about 2am at which stage everyone is shuttled off to the chosen venue  - Pacha (the Ibiza chain), Bahrein, Hype, Riki etc. During the day the dorms are all dark as people try to not feel like death by having long lie ins, followed by some quick sightseeing tours and another long afternoon nap before starting it all again.

I feel I have been quite productive with my time here. It’s been a long weekend here with public holidays on Monday and Tuesday so the city has been empty in comparison to now. With no traffic and all the high street hustle and bustle  taken to the backstreets all weekend meant it was a perfect time to do the city bus tour, watch some polo, take in the street art and markets (which are everywhere). On Sunday I went to the most amazing indoor/outdoor antique/arts&crafts market in neighbouring San Telmo where I had my first choripan. A delicious Argentinian chorizo sausage with two types of salsa that I’ve never even heard of before in some lovely soft bread making a gourmet hotdog for 12 pesos (about €2.50). In terms of other typical Argentinian things I’ve sampled the dulche de leche (two scoops please!) and the fernet de coca, an alcoholic beverage that tastes like you are sucking diesel but really makes sure you’ve enough lead in the pencil. I’ve yet to have an amazing steak and or see a tango show, but because I’ve seen so many terrific swing and tango performances on the street I don’t how bothered I am about paying for one.

Mercado San Telmo

Brasil v Argentina test match on Av del Libertador

Evita Paron buried in her family crypt at the Recoleta Cemetery

Recoleta Cemetery 

Restaurants in the tourist area of La Boca all have tango performers.

Buenos Aires is significantly cheaper than Rio, about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price. Once converted into euro subway ticket are 50c, taxis are never really more than €10 (the nightclub run to far away neighbourhoods so the ride isn’t much when you cram 6 of you in), take away pizza is about €4, empanadas (delicious snacks, about 3 would suffice for lunch) are €1 and dorm rooms are €12. Living costs during the day make nightlife costs extortionate, entry is anything from €5-€20 and one can of the cheapest beer is €5. Even though there are a lot of police around, taking care of personal belongings at night is at an all time high here. We take taxis at night but during the day I take the subway. There has been talk of a few backpacker muggings in our area, one girl arriving into the city from the airport was pushed over as she walked up from the underground and her entire personal ruckpack was taken. However when word went around the hostel one of the lads harshly remarked that ‘you would’ – note to self do not look vulnerable or meek.

Once this blog has uploaded I’ll put my quinoa crackers (80c) and pate(80c) away and head over to my friends new hostel for some steak. They’re staying in BA for another few days and can’t hack the Millhouse life anymore. I’m leaving for Patagonia tomorrow and I feel no words can accurately describe how relieved my body is to be leaving the city. I am exhausted and can’t wait to sit back and have some National Geographic experiences.