Buenos Aires
Argentina's beautiful and enormous capital, Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America. This city is famous for being the embodiment of everything that is quintessentially Argentinian: beautiful women; juicy steaks; sophisticated culture; trendy cafés; and nightclubs that just never seem to close. A lovely place to hang out for a little while — and then for a little bit more after that.
Return of the Chris (and other reunions)
It seems that wherever I go on this continent, I simply cannot get rid of the guy. When I walked into The Clan this morning, who should I meet yet again, but my old travel buddy Chris! Nah, actually I was really happy to see him — it's been a while since we parted, back in Lima, and plenty has happened in between. Chris will be in town for a few days, before he heads off to explore various other places in Argentina. Today was also a day of reunion with Oly, who I last saw not that long ago in Quito, and who's going to be down here in BA for the next few months, trying to get some freelance web design work. Plus, I bumped into various other people that I haven't seen for a while — such as one guy that I met back in La Paz, and another that I met in Cusco. Seems like all the '07 PEB veterans have come down to Argentina — time for a big reunion party!
Hostel Clan, BA
My mate Patrick recommended Clan to me, back in Ecuador. It's one of the several big party hostels here in Buenos Aires (a city that is one big party, all night every night), and although the building is a bit of a dump, it's very friendly and it has a lot of character. The upstairs bar is the place to hang out every night, and it also has a ping-pong table and a TV, for keeping yourself entertained during the day. The hostel has free bikes, that you can borrow for riding around the city at any time. They arrange weekly games of fútbol ("soccer"), as well as twice- or thrice-weekly trips to see teams such as the Boca Juniors playing at the big fútbol stadium. They do all-you-can-eat BBQs a few nights a week. And they'll even hire buses to take you to the big discos in town, on Friday and Saturday nights. Just don't expect to get any sleep here, before about 4am each morning.
Super-comfy super-cama to BA
If you're going to travel by bus in Argentina, and you're going to travel long distances (and in Argentina, all distances are long distances), then do it in style. Last night, I took the super-cama (lit: "super-bed") express bus, with Via Bariloche, from Bariloche to Buenos Aires. And by G-d, it was by far the nicest and most luxurious bus ride I've ever had in my life. A seat that reclines back 180°, and that totally pwns most hostel beds. Movies on flat-screen suspended plasma-screen TVs. Roast beef and custard for dinner. Red wine and champagne served in-trip. Hot medialunas (croissants, lit: "half-moons") for breakfast. Pillows, blankets, you name it. This bus trip may have been a bit pricey, but it was still nothing compared to a (very small and crappy economy-class) plane ticket. Furthermore, a trip like this is more than just a means of transportation — it's an attraction of Argentina in and of itself.