I travelled for one month across the north of Argentina. I had limited time, so decided to skip Patagonia and the south in favour of visiting Brazil. I travelled by bus from Santiago in Chile over the Andes Mountains to Mendoza. I flew to Buenos Aires and on to Brazil for a month. I came back to Argentina via the Iguazu Falls. I then flew to Salta which was my last stop before heading back to Chile and the Atacama Desert.
Pros of travel in Argentina:
- Nature. Argentina is a huge country with mountains, lakes, glaciers, waterfalls and deserts. It is not really known for its beaches, but there are some.
- Food. If you like meat that is. The steak in Argentina is, IMHO, without doubt the best in the world (followed closely by Brazil and South Africa). In a typical steak restaurant, you just get a piece of steak, that’s it. I mean, why spoil the experience by diluting the meal with side dishes? Grilling meat in Argentina, known as Asado, is truly an art form. The list of different steaks is quite bewildering and you will need a translator app to decipher which is which. Ironically, the Argentinians prefer a fatty steak. This is because the fat melts into the meat in the grill, giving it its flavour. I read the filet steak is not considered the best because “it is like a beautifuly woman – looks good on the outside, but no substance in the inside!”
- Value. With the rapidly tanking economy over the last decades and rampant inflation, Argentina will be one of the cheapest destinations in Latin America. Once an economic powerhouse and one of the richest countries on earth, economic mismanagement has lead to economic decline and a collapse of the peso. When I arrived in Salta coming from Brazil, I could not believe the exchange rate I got on the black market to change Brazilian Reais to Pesos. However, this backfired badly as I changed too many and when I got to Uyuni in Bolovia, not one money changer would take my leftover Pesos!
- Buenos Aires. IMHO the greatest city in South America and, along with Mexico City, one of the 2 greatest in Latin America.
Cons of travelling in Argentina
- Safety. Like all of Latin America, safety is a concern, especially in the cities. Exercise caution especially at night and don’t flash expensive items like cameras and watches. Some parts of Buenos Aires are not safe even during the day! Especially dangerous is after a heavy rainfall. Muggers are alert and if you go out when the rain stops, there will be few people on the streets and you’ll be a sitting duck.
- Economic malaise. While it is still possible to go out and have a good time in Argentina, the severe economic downturn means people are really struggling and there is a general malaise. At the time of writing over 50% of the Argentinian population now live over the poverty line, meaning they cannot afford to buy basic groceries.
- Language. English is not widely spoken outside of the main tourist areas. You need some basic Spanish. This would not be a bad thing, but the Spanish spoken in Argentina is generally recognized (along with Chile) to be the worst in the whole of South America. They say if you can understand Argentinian Spanish, you’ll have mastered standard South American Spanish. But for beginners/intermediates, this is like telling a fresh English as a second language learner to go straight to rural Ireland or Scotland and start there. Good luck.
Getting Around
I elected to tactically fly rather than take buses. Argentina has a good bus system with seats that recline for sleeping. The distances are vast and journeys often take 18 to 24 hours. Many budget travellers try to save money by taking these buses. Arguments about climate impact aside, this is in fact a very inefficient way to travel. You think you are saving money, but you are not taking into account the opportunity cost. Losing 1-2 days in a bus, apart from the physical hardship, means you cannot spend that time earning, studying, relaxing or doing anything productive. Air travel, therefore, is a much cheaper alternative.
A money-saving tip for Argentina (and the rest of Latin America) is to book using the local Spanish-language version of the airlines website. This gives you access to much cheaper fares only available to local residents due to tax reasons. When you check in the airport, the worst that can happen is they clock you and you have to pay the difference in the fare. This is complete luck and sometimes, they just check you in without paying attention to your fare, so it is well worth the risk.
Mendoza
Mendoza is a city in the north west of Argentina, famous for its wine, Malbec. In fact, there is a not a great deal to do here except for go on wine tours and get pissed. As I don’t really like wine and am not a huge fan of alcohol in general (in fact these days, I don’t consume it at all), I passed on the tours.
Apart from that, there is a zoo and some nice parks. It’s generally a nice place to chill for a few days. You can also go paragliding.
I arrived by bus from Santiago over the Andes mountains. The views were spectacular. I have dual nationality – New Zealand and Ireland. Both are excellent passports and equally useful for South America, so I decided randomly to use my NZ one. At the border, the guards were pretty nonchalent and the border formalities were quite relaxed and just stamped my passport without really checking it. This proved to be a horrendous mistake later in the trip!
I stayed at a hostel and one night, they invited the guests to a barbeque – all you can eat and drink for only 10 €! Not being a wine drinker (especially red wine – Malbec is red), I thought, well I won’t take advantage there, but maybe it will be worth it just for the meat. Well, the wine turned out to be excellent and we took full advantage of the endless supply of meat which was brought out on large skewers. You can choose what type of meat you want or pass. At the end, we were all completely stuffed and could hardly move after such a feast. Just as we thought it was all over, however, they started bringing out more meat! That was only the first round!
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the best city in Latin America. It is full of history, grandeur, culture and atmosphere. I stayed there for 12 days and was never bored. I couldn’t live there, however, as it’s also a massive city and quite dangerous in places, even during the day. Here is a brief rundown on the Buenos Aires neighbourhoods I visited. Note, this is just my take and not intended to be an all-ecompassing guide to each neighbourhood.
Downtown (Microcentro)
This is the centre and business district of Buenos Aires, where a a lot of the major tourist attractions are to be found. These include: the Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosada (official government house); Teatro Colón, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, and; the Obelisco on the famous Avenida 9 de Julio (the widest street in the world with 22 lanes).
Congreso/Monserrat
Over other side of the Avenida 9 de Julio is Congreso, where you can find the Plaza del Congreso. It houses the legislative branch of the government.
I stayed in this area south of the main attractions and walking distance to San Telmo (by crossing the Avenida 9 de Julio). It wasn’t particularly safe, even during the day and I had to keep my witts about me. One time, I took a taxi home and drove through the south of the area and there was plenty of street prostitution.
Puerto Madero
A modern, re-developed area with some nice restaurants and old restored ships, which you can visit.
Palermo
Supposedly the hippest and most bohemian neighourhood of Buenos Aires. It may have been that in the past, but I found it to be quite gentrified. There is apparently some good night life there, but I prefered to get an early night and be fresh for another punishing day of sightseeing!
It is divided into 2 parts: Palermo Soho (boutiques and cafes) and Palermo Hollywood (bars and restaurants). I actually preferred Palermo Hollywood, but there isn’t a great deal to separate them. I guess it is due to personal taste.
While in Palermo, I did a street art tour. The works are not only visually stunning, but many also tell a story of when street art was a popular medium for protesting against the then military junta.
Recoleta
Recoleta is an up-market neighourhood, famous for its cemetary featuring the tomb of Evita Peron. It is famous for its mansions, some of which are identical replicas of mansions in Paris. This is because Argentina used to be one of the richest countries in the world. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rich Argentians would travel to Paris and hired the same architects who designed famous mansions there to design the exact same replica in Buenos Aires. This is why Buenos Aires is often referred to as the “Paris” of South America.
The Recolata cemetary is a higlight. It is worth visiting just for the cemetary itself and the elaborate tombs. It is famous for the gravesite of Eva Peron. Nicknamed “Evita”, she was the Argentinian first lady during the reign of her husband Juan Domingo Peron, 1946-52. She was one of the most well-loved personalities in Argentinian politics and remains an Argentinian icon today. She dies at the age of 33 from cancer and is buried in the Recoleta cemetary.
La Boca
La Boca is a working class neighbourhood with colourful houses. It has now become a tourist attractions and is safe to visit during the day. Just make sure to stay to the tourist part and not wander off, like I did!
In addition to the colourful houses, La Boca is also home to the famous Boca Juniors football club. Boca Juniors is famous for having the most violent football fans in the world. Maradona played there in his early career. You can take a guided tour of the stadium. Although the stadium is only a 10-15 min walk from the the La Boca tourist area, take a taxi! I decided to walk for some exercise. After a few minutes, I started to wonder I was the only foreign tourist walking around by himself…??. Well, there was a reason why no-one else was casually walking around. The area is not safe, even during the day.
San Telmo
San Telmo was my favourite neighbourhood. It has real charm and authenticity. It is shabby and bohemian. Cool underground bars and cafes mix with old school restaurants. It is famous for Tango and its market on Saturdays. Not super safe, so use common sense.
The Saturday market features food and antiques. You can practice your tango outside the market on an open-air dance stage. I think the same old couple has been dancing there for the last 40 years!
The disadvantages of having 2 passports – missing out on Uruguay
I arrived at the small airport located in the city, assuming it was the domestic airport (it looked like the old international airport). I was staying in a central area near the downtown. On my second to last day in town, I decided to make a day trip to Colonnia in Uruguay. This is quite easy to do – you just head down to the port and buy your ticket. When I handed over my passport at the ticket office/immigration, they started jabbering to me in Spanish. Something was amiss, but I couldn’t understand what was wrong. Then a staff member came over to translate. My passport had expired! When I arrived at the land border by bus from Chile, they didn’t check the expiry date of my New Zealand passport! I had only 6 days left, which had of course since expired! This was a disaster because not only would I miss the chance to visit Uruguay, I would potentially miss my flight the next day to Rio de Janeiro the following day.
I had 2 options: go to the NZ embassy and get an emergency replacement or; go to the immigration office and get the entry stamp for Argentina transferred to my Irish passport. I opted for the latter. I went to this huge building with hundreds of people in dozens of queues. Luckily, people saw I was the only foreigner and lost and helped me. They took me to another building and helped me jump the queue. Despite that, it still took the whole day and it cost $50, but I was grateful, even if I missed out on Uruguay.
Having 2 passports in this case turned out to be an advantage. When I got to Rio, I stayed with a friend of my sister’s who was living there. She told me the only remaining New Zealand embassy in South America, which was in Buenos Aires, had recently closed. That meant I would have had to wait weeks if not months to have one sent from New Zealand or London. On the other hand, had I had only 1 passport, I would probably have paid more attention to the expiry date and had it renewed before travelling.
Almost missing my flight to Rio
After all the commotion of the previous day, I wanted to make sure I had a smooth, event-free flight the next day, so I prepared and set my alarm to get up early to get to the airport – this time from the larger, international airport which is outside of the city.
So, I get to the airport and can’t find my flight on the departures board. Hmmm… no need to panic, just ask at the desk, I thought. I went to the information and they told me, there are no flights to Brazil from this airport!! WTF!! It turned out, the airport in the city which I arrived in from Mendoza was not the “domestic” airport after all! What an epic fail! Both airports are international and my flight was from the small city airport. I rushed outside and threw some money at a taxi drivers – take me to the other airport and don’t spare the horses! He obliged and I managed to make the flight. What an incredible relief. At the time, Aerolinas Argentinas had a monopoly on flights from BA to Rio. For a 2 hour flight I paid more than $500 – much more in today’s money. Now you can fly this route with budget airlines for a fraction of the price.
Brazil back to Argentina
After spending a month in Brazil, I came back to Argentina via the Iguazu Falls. The Iguazu Falls are arguably the largest in the world and one of the highlights of South America. You can see the Falls from both the Argentinian and Brazil sides. You can spend one or maximum two days there. There is nothing to see in the local town.
Again, I managed to miss out on a new country following my Uruguay mishap. The Iguaza Falls are also quite near the border to Paraguay. It’s popular for locals to pop over in day trips to do some duty-free shopping. I failed to plan in an additional day and already had my flight booked to Salta. Hey ho, next time.
Salta
Salta is a small city in the north of Argentina. It’s a pleasant place to hang out for a few days. You can make some excursions into the surrounding countryside, which features desert landscapes, giant cacti, salt flats and coloured rock formations. The city itself is compact with a laid-back atmosphere. There are some brightly-painted churches you can visit.
Salta to the Atacama Desert
From Salta, I took a bus back to Chile to visit the San Pedro de Atacama and take the Uyuni Salt Flat tour in Bolivia. Argentina is a huge country and a month was a whirlwind tour. Due to time commitments (I had to get back to Peru on a certain date to make my flight to Costa Rica), I had to skip Cordoba, for example.
Otherwise it was an awesome tour – the highlights being of course Buenos Aires and the Iguazu Falls. Next trip I will cover the south and make it to the Lakes District and Patagonia.
La Boca photo by Adrian Gonzalez on Unsplash