Argentina (1 Viewer)

[MDR]

Am thinking of going to Argentina with Mrs Ro next year - anyone been? what's it like?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

I'd say it's a really cool place. Go for it!

 

[plug]

according to the missus, who lived in buenos aires for a while, it's deadly. relatively expensive compared to the rest of south america, but you know what that means compared to here... cheap!

buenos aires is enormous, and very european. big italian influence. tango clubs are where it's at, apparently.

this is all anecdotal of course. if I remember, I'll ask her about it in greater detail. I'd love to go there myself, visit patagonia and all that...

 

[plug]

yeah, she was only really in ba. then she travelled north into uraguay etc. but she did mumble something about mendoza and patagonia being supposedly fantastic. oh and they're mad into their steaks, what with the beef farming and the gauchos etc.

not v helpful, I know. but I'd say do it... fuck the begrudgers!

anyway some weblogs (fucking hate the word "blog"):
http://www.expat-blog.com/en/directory/south-america/argentina/
http://www.bootsnall.com/

and the lonely planet forum:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/categories.cfm?catid=22

came across a really big travel weblog site there recently, but I cannae find it now. anyway, you might find some reading above...

 

[ratmonkey]

oh and they're mad into their steaks, what with the beef farming and the gauchos etc.

some day I'm planning on heading over there and eating many many cows.

 

[plug]

good plan. I don't eat meat, but I occassionally fantasize about juicy bloody steaks dancing on plates, pouring pepper sauce all over each other...

more useless info: the spanish in argentina is a bit weird as well. there are some pronunciation differences; a double 'LL' is pronounced as a kind of 'ch' sound, where in other spanisg speaking countries it's pronounced like the 'Y' in the start of yawn or young. so "llave" (key) would be, (emphasis on the first syllable), "cha-ve" in argentina and "yah-ve" in spain etc. fascinating!

also, the pronoun vos is used instead of tú, which is the 1st person familiar form of address. etymologically, tú is related to the english thou, where the vos form relates to french, portugese and italian. so there we have it!

 

[ratmonkey]

more useless info: the spanish in argentina is a bit weird as well. there are some pronunciation differences; a double 'LL' is pronounced as a kind of 'ch' sound, where in other places it's pronounced like the 'Y' in the start of yawn or young. so "llave" (key) would be, (emphasis on the first syllable), "cha-ve" in argentina and "yah-ve" in spain etc. fascinating!

like in the welsh?

 

[plug]

like in the welsh?

 

[ratmonkey]

do they not have that kind of pronunciation on the ll as well?

 

[coast to coast]

Buenos Aires is dirt cheap, outside BsAs in the bigger cities like Cordoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Salta, things are even dirtier cheape. 1 Euro = 3.8 Pesos approximately. In the south (i.e. Patagonia, etc...) things can be more expensive because of the reliance on tourism. But I didn't spend much time there. Cordoba is a huge university town and had without doubt the most gorgeous population, not that BsAs itself isn't increible.

In terms of finding an apartment locals (porteños) get much cheaper rates than foreigners because their leases are longer, from what I'm told. I was renting a two bedroom appartment in the Microcentro for 1400 pesos a month, but a friend of mine is renting a three bedroom for something around 700 a month in Abasto.

The meat is fantastic and cheap but a lot of restaurants are shite and are perfectly happy serving bog standard grub like a gigantic steak and chips for about 15 pesos... if you bother your arse looking around the nicer areas (all the different parts of Palermo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte) and spend a little more you can get some seriously savage grub. Cheese is shit and expensive and they don't go in for anything too spicy I found. They absolutely looooove Dulce de Leche on everything for breakfast too.

In BsAs, I thought the nicest place was Palermo, it reminds me of the village in New York especially Palermo Viejo. Nicest restaurants, bars, shops and markets and what not... The innercity is noisy as fuck... builders digging up roads paths everything, noisy buses, protesters (for anything at all) and the fact there are no side streets, just a grid where every street is packed with traffic. Also every corner has Cartoneros sorting through the rubbish everynight to find recyclable stuff, but they're very peaceful indeed. Its pretty hard to find trouble at all unless you go to really rough areas, which you really don't need to, because they're usually miles away with nothing in them. That said, armed robberies went through the roof when Germany knocked them out of the World Cup. And they also just went on about how much better they were than Germany despite getting knocked out...

In terms of Spanish, they speak quickly, supposedly like Italians, given the large Italian influence. LL is pronounced like a shhhh and Y like J...also they don't use 'tu' they use 'vos' for the second person and other little idiosyncracies. However a shitload of them in the city speak English and want to practice it so its not much trouble to get by with only the basics I found.

Everyone (everyone) is completely mad for football and its really cheap and easy go to games everyweek. You can get into River or Boca for about 15 pesos each Sunday and they play Copa Libertadores games during the midweek too. There's s a great sports paper (that mainly deals with football) called Ole which comes out everyday and obsesses over every Argentine player on the face of the earth. Very good stuff.

 

[Gabbo]

I'm heading to BA with the gurfrend in August. Then we're heading up the "back" area (Mendoza, San Juan, Rioja, Catamarca). Anybody recommend any small towns or villages that may be worth checking out along the way? Also, any of those ranch places where they serve your steak on a wooden board? We're heading to Bolivia, and then on to Peru, eventually flying out of Lima. Anybody done a similar route? Help a brother out.

 

[flashback]

I'm pretty much a big fan of Arg, although Chile edges it in some ways.
I mean, its great, BA was lovely even though I was only there for 2 weeks. I was really exhausted when I arrived there though, so I kept a very low profile.
South Arg is jaw dropping stunning, as is South Chile.
Its a bit like becoming an alcoholic though, you just drink in this absurd scenery day after day until you become numb after a four or five months.

Oh yeah.. another massive soaring Lord of the Rings style snow crested craggy mountain with glaciers down its side, turquoise rivers springing out of it, black blue clear skies racing off into space and condors and various birds of prey flying around the shop.

Grand. That again. Sound. Now where am I going to sleep... ooh that looks like a nice sheltery bush SCORE.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

I'm off to Argentina in October. booked it at the weekend. Well, Brazil and Argentina. One week in Rio and environs, and 2.5 in Argentina. Due to the fairly tight time constraints, I'm very torn on the spots to hit. We'll have BsAs as base camp, but I suppsoe otherwise I'll be choosing a couple out of Iguazu (stopping in Cordoba on the way), Bariloche and the lake district, Mendoza or up around Tucaman in the north west. I think Patagonia may be out of the question as it seems difficult to get to and requires a bit of time.
Can't wait for the steaks, the football (going to Argentina v Uruguay and hopefully club games in both Brazil and Argentina), the everything.

 

[flashback]

I was in Bariloche for a few weeks.

There is a deadly trek near there in a place Huapi (pronounced "wapi").

Deadly as in: you might die.
Ah no. It is good though. It took me eight days walking to do the whole thing, 11 days in total because I spend 3 days relaxing in the one place "Laguna Negra" because I was a bit wrecked and the lad there needed to dig a hole for the new jacks so I got free food and board for giving him a hand. And it was Christmas.

Here is a link to the cabin.
http://www.cab.cnea.gov.ar/icsfs-13/images/fotos_varias/bche08.jpg

Like I said, the scenery is just taking the piss.

 

[flashback]

This is looking out over the other direction. That trough in the peak in the middle is the first or second days walk.

http://www.cab.cnea.gov.ar/icsfs-13/images/fotos_varias/bche12.jpg

As in, for fuxake lads.

That was the first trek I came in after, 11 days of that sort of shit, and I looked in a mirror for the first time, and thought "holy fuck, you look old".

 

[Gabbo]

That looks flippin amazin. Fuckin freezing too. Flashback, not sure whether you do or not, but did you do any kayaking or other water sports when you were over there? The ladyfriend and myself paddle and are trying to find a safe company to do it with.

 

[flashback]

That looks flippin amazin. Fuckin freezing too. Flashback, not sure whether you do or not, but did you do any kayaking or other water sports when you were over there? The ladyfriend and myself paddle and are trying to find a safe company to do it with.

Nah, to my shame I didn't.
I did do a bit of whitewater paddling. But, like, the fucking rivers there are immense. Like, I've have incidents on rivers in Ireland that have put a scare on me. Little grade IIIs that have had my stomach knot up.

But I walked along the banks of the Futalafu for a day or two, just to have a look.

Upwellings coming up about 400 meters away from stoppers.
That pretty much sealed the deal.

If I was going to be getting on serious grade 4 / grade 5s, I am going to be getting my paddling shit together for the previous year.

I will see if I can get a name of someone that runs trips out there though, my mate went a couple of years back.

 

[La La]

i've never been, but i dream of it.

sitting down to a huge steak and bottle of red wine all for 10 euro with a backdrop like that is one of my ideas of heaven

 

[Space]

That looks flippin amazin. Fuckin freezing too. Flashback, not sure whether you do or not, but did you do any kayaking or other water sports when you were over there? The ladyfriend and myself paddle and are trying to find a safe company to do it with.

Do wanna paddle in Chile or Argentina? I should be able to get a few places for ya either way. What kinda grade do you paddle at?

I find I paddle about a half grade higher in big volume but in saying that South American and Austrian big water a very very different.

 

[Gabbo]

Do wanna paddle in Chile or Argentina? I should be able to get a few places for ya either way. What kinda grade do you paddle at?

I find I paddle about a half grade higher in big volume but in saying that South American and Austrian big water a very very different.

I've got my grade 3 skills, but I feel comfortable enough on III to IV. My girlfriend wouldn't be too keen on water that was too big. A nice II to III would be ideal. I've heard Chile is amazing, but Argentina would be where we'd be aiming towards. The videos I've seen are immense. Cheers Moose.