Down south again…

06/07/2009 - Once again, in my July vacations, I had to run away from Brazil…I was really unsure of where to go this time…couldn't decide whether to go back to Peru and suffer with the altitude again, or go to Ushuaia and try some cascades and skiing for a change…after much pondering, I decided to go down south and try something different this time...also a bit because of the good company I'd have down there and people I'd like to avoid on the other end...

 

Anyway, so I got my ticket way before hand this time, just to make sure I'd get a not so expensive flight and assure a place too. Of course I didn't know there would be a crisis in Argentina because of the Swine Flu and that flights would get almost half price cheaper…unlucky me this time, I guess…Not a problem! Can't quite remember
how much the ticket was, but I believe it was about 450 US dollars… I was taken to the airport and followed the usual routine: check in…customs…etc…at the specified time by the airline, I headed to immigration. When I first glanced at the entrance, I froze. The line was huge and it seemed that there was no way I'd be able to go through immigration on time for my flight. I'd never seen anything like that before…not even in Peru, when I almost missed my flight back to Brasil because of the long queues. I followed the line with my eyes and got even more scared…I couldn't see the end of it!!! So I got on my feet and followed it until it came to an end, after snaking a few times. It was looooong!! Luckily it was moving.

 

The movement didn't last long. Soon I was halted. It wouldn't move an inch. I'm glad Ademir kept me company as much as he could. Once I got to the cord, he left and I kept moving with the flow. There's no way I'd have made it, it weren't for the guys from TAM gathering passengers going towards Madrid, Frankfurt and Paris and taking them from line. That made the queue move quite fast, until it halted again…then, of course, there were the smart asses who decided to cut the line. And, surely, disorganized as they might, you had to take off your computer from your backpack/bag (no wander it was taking so long) for the x-ray machines, and once you saw, there were 15 people now in front of you who should have been behind you… puff… I made it…5 minutes before the schedule time…just to find out there was a delay…probably loads of people in the immigration line.

 

Once on the plane, I could only see Brazilians wearing masks. I, myself, wore mine. I guess the Argentineans are not that worried about the flu, even though I did see signs everywhere giving instructions on what to do or how to avoid it…None of the stewards were wearing any protection at all, neither gloves nor masks, so I guess the panic is all in Brazil. Even because they have signs up about Dengue everywhere too…Nobody says anything else about Dengue in Brazil anymore…it's only the flu now…Halfway through the flight I gave up on the mask (ok, maybe it was stupid of me, but it was really hurting my nose). Beto was on the plane with me and he did not wear a mask either…he did not seem to be worried.

 

Finally, after two hours sleeping on the plane, we landed in Buenos Aires. After checking my connection to Ushuaia, I figured staying at the airport till lunchtime the next day would be a bit too much, so I went on a hostel hunt on a taxi with Beto. The guy had charged us P$100, so once we got to the first hotel (after going around the block a couple of times and not seeing it…just like I'd done in Curitiba) and could not find two beds, we asked him to take us to another one…Too many "no vacancy" replies, we finally got to one that had space…ok, I had to sleep in a room with 4 other men, but I'd that before, so what? No big deal… the name couldn't be more Buenosairean…"Tango Hostel". At P$35 a night, it was not bad. Actually, it was pretty good…cozy, comfortable bed, clean bathrooms, broad outside area and friendly staff. Too bad I woke up too late in the morning and missed breakfast – I mean, I missed the media lunas, but got some great weak Argentinean coffee with milk…yummy…

 

After getting coffee, I decided to wander a bit, wait for time to go past. Headed to Puerto Maderas, just a few blocks down the road, where I was able to get some sun and relax a bit. Spent a few minutes there watching kayakers go by in the canal and being watched by hungry pigeons. Not that much to do there, so went back to the hostel after looking for a drugstore to buy some gel alcohol (yes, to prevent from the flu J). Also found an outdoor shop with reasonable prices in Calle Venezuela.

 

Once at the hostel, Beto finally got out of bed (at 2 pm!) and helped me out with my dead body (ok, my bag). Taxi and airport. Got there just in time for the check in. As I'd been warned in Brazil, in Argentina they wanted to charge me for the extra weight (27 kilos which had become 30). Somehow, I managed to get some stuff out of the bag (like changing shoes and wearing my plastic boots and taking my snowshoes with me), which brought the weight down to 24 kilos and I was able to get away with it. For a few minutes I thought I'd get away with the snowshoes going as hand luggage, but I was surely wrong. I was caught by the x-ray machine! Snowshoes are considered sharp material; therefore, it cannot be carried on the plane. You can imagine what followed next. I had to go back downstairs and check that in too. I thought I would have to pay for it this time, but the receptionist was nice enough not to charge anything.

Por ora, ficarei devendo a versão em português deste texto, sorry!!