Graffiti Tour

Although Buenos Aires is a masivo city, we have been mostly exploring by foot, wondering the busy streets and the different communities. At first we didn't know where to start, so Phil suggested a graffiti tour, which involves just walking from one piece of wall art to the next. Pretty simple, but truly elaberate and plentiful here. However, our day did not start out as simple as this open air art museum tour sounds. We, actually, spent the morning on another type of tour, a where-are-we-going-to-sleep-tomorrow-night tour. Before Buenos Aires, it was easy to find hotel rooms and it was common for menus to be waved in our faces as we passed by virtually empty restuarants. But here, we are experiencing quite the opposite. It is difficult to find a room in a hostel or a table at a restuarant, which although is not convenient when you are carrying your belongings on your back, but it is great for this metropolis (and the people watching). So anyway, we spent the whole morning looking for a new hostel, walking back and forth between our current one and new ones, trying to coordinate prices and dates. We eventally found one that we will be quite happy in, without breaking the bank (which is another new experience here in BA).

Ayres Porteños Hostel, San Telmo

We are currently residing at the following brightly-coloured hostel in the heart of San Telmo.

Ayres Porteños HOSTEL

Peru 708, San Telmo

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tel. +(54-11) 4300-7314

info@ayresportenos.com.ar

http://www.ayresportenos.com.ar/

Hostal Tango Suites, San Telmo

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, we wondered around the streets of the San Telmo district and found the following hostal. We remained here for two days to recuperate.

HOSTAL TANGO SUITES

Chacabuco 747 - San Telmo

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

República Argentina

Tel. +54 (011) 4300 - 2420

http://www.hosteltangosuite.com.ar/

info@hosteltangosuite.com.ar

Buenos Aires, Argentina

We made it safely to Buenos Aires after a very very long bus ride from La Paz (53 hours). Our morning in Bolivia started off with cold eggs and stale bread. We made our way to the bus station where we found out that the tickets we bought the previous day did not include transportation from La Paz to the border, which was frustrating. We were given tickets with another (extremely disorganized) bus company called 2 de Febrero. After much confusion (passengers screaming and yelling), we sat down in a very dirty, dilapitated old bus and began our journey to the border town of Villazon (what a nightmare). Shortly after getting on the bus, we obtained three pieces of information that we found to be quite interesting. 1-There was no ventilation in the bus and we couldn't open any windows. 2-There were no meals included (as we were originally told). 3-Conveniently, there was no bathroom (and we both had diarrhea). The funny part was that it was a 20-hour ride to the border. After four or five hours into the drive, the bus suddenly changed direction, and squealed into a farmer's field. We roared through dirt and debris down a some sort of path that sort of looked like a road (we're still not really sure). We spent at least two hours in this field as we came across many obstacles. We got off the bus to lighten the overall load of the vehicle to cross makeshift bridges, we bottomed-out a few times in holes that swallowed the wheels of the bus, and at one point everyone was involved with the construction of a bridge where the road seemed to suddenly disappear. We finally got back onto a reasonably good road and noticed that we had only detoured through the field to bypass a small town. We're not sure what the intention was maybe they were trying to avoid a check point or something. We spent the night trying to sleep as the bus rampaged down very rough switchbacks and were given a chance to go to the bathroom at approximately 3:00AM on the side of a cliff. We made it to the small border town of Villazon at 8:00AM. We retrieved our bags from the bus, and they were completely covered in dust and dirt (great). At the bus terminal, much more confusion awaited us. Supposedly, the bus company had over booked the bus and a handful of people we're required to take another the next day (luckily we were able to catch our connection that morning). Everyone was assigned new seats and there was a tremendous amount of confusion and discontent amongst the passengers (people were very grumpy). We finally got our bags and seats sorted out and drove two blocks to the Argentinian border. We spent four hours standing in the rain waiting for our passports to be stamped. We also had to get all of our bags back off of the bus, so that the police could root through all of our belongings (in the rain). We got back on the bus and were finally served a meal (after 28 hours with no food - actually, we had water and a few Goronzo chocolate bars from a desolate gas station back in Bolivia). We drove for another six hours to catch another connecting bus in Argentina (this is where the story completely changes). On this third bus, we were assigned luxury leather seats, that completely reclined to make a bed, we were served meals, there was air circulation/ventilation, and they even had wine. We couldn't believe the contrast. We spent the remaining 24 hours on this bus, sleeping and eating, reading and enjoying the scenery. We arrived in Buenos Aires around 5:00PM on Sunday, February 24th. We took a cab into San Telmo (main downtown area), found a hostal, and got drunk. (We will keep you posted with regards to how things unfold in Buenos Aires).

Expreso Transamericano

We will be travelling to Buenos Aires, Argentina from La Paz, Bolivia today at 1:00PM. The bus ride will take 48 hours in total. We will be making the trek with the following argentinian busline:

EXPRESO

TRANSAMERICANO

Servicio directo desde: Villazon, BOLIVIA hasta: Liniers, La Noria, Vilja Celina, Escobar, F. Valera, La Plata, ARGENTINA

Wondering La Paz

Imagine a prehistoric canyon, at 3660 metres, almost filled to the brim with houses, sky rises, cobblestone streets and people. Phil and I, for the past two days, have enjoyed La Paz´s spectacular scenery and amazingly busy streets filled with markets, music, food, and cars/buses/micro-vans. Yesterday, after arranging our 48 hour bus ticket to Buenos Aires, we wondered the streets first visiting an artisan market, where Phil found another lovely instrument, a Quena, a traditional Bolivian wind instrument, made from bone and wood. Next we wondered through the Mercado de Hechiceria, a witch craft market, which lead into a handful of other markets (where we enjoyed a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice) along our way to the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales. This museum had an amazing collection of traditional and modern Bolivian instruments, as well as a collection of international pieces. After this we headed to a little café to collect our musical thoughts, over a te con lemon (and a local liquor), delicious! The rest of the day was spent wondering from a main square to a look off, where Phil learned some Quechua (the language of the Incas) and I made friends with a little girl who graciously accompanied me down a large slide. In the evening we tried to catch some music at a Peña, a local folk-music venue, but by the time we had to head back to our hostel (we had a curfew) the main band was just going on. Although we did get entertained for a couple hours by choreographed dance numbers representing different groups in Bolivia (very touristy, but interesting), and a lovely solo artist on classical guitar. We look forward to exploring La Paz again in a month, but for now it is on to Argentina! Many thanks for the comments, great to hear from you!

La Paz, Bolivia

After arriving in La Paz, we took a taxi to our hostal. We were greeted by a friendly fellow behind a thick orange door adjacent to a busy downtown street. We checked in, went for something to eat, and returned, amidst a thunderstrom, to our nice dry rooms.

Casa de Huespedes

ARTHY'S

Guesthouse

Av. Montes No. 693

Tel. (591-2) 2281439

arthyshouse@gmail.com

http://arthyshouse.tripod.com