PlanetEye

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

Destination: Buenos Aires

This overview is somewhat tardy—I meant to put in a summary of Buenos Aires as a city, but was so intimidated that I ended up getting excited enough that I posted a review already.

I should come clean right at the beginning: I love Buenos Aires. For some time I have wanted to move here. SO the truth is, I just can’t find the right words to explain in a quick entry exactly why I love BA. It certainly could be the food—repeatedly, almost every day, I have a meal I am passionate about (as long as you eat beef!) It could be the incredible style of the people—Italy with a Latin flavour. It could be the prices, which amount to about one third of North American prices, allowing me to live like a king for the same pain as normal life at home. Could be the legendary nightlife, or the fact that they eat at times I am actually hungry (11:30pm seems like a completely normal time to go for dinner), or the romance of tango in the streets. Hell, it could be the famously beautiful women (ok, and men, fine).

But in the end, it’s all of the above, and so much more. Every great city that people love to love, whether it be Paris, Barcelona, or Rome, is as much about a feeling, an atmosphere, a light—something intangible. BA has that magic, and the only way to know what it feels like is to go.

• Posted in  City Review
• 3 Comments »

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Bar 6, Buenos Aires

“Bar seis” is the kind of place you can hang out in all day. Trust me I’ve done it. A few times.

I should start by making it clear that I don’t want to give the impression this is a brunch place—it isn’t particularly. It seems to be just as busy for all meals, and is a great place to warm up with tapas and a drink before other restaurants get going in notoriously late-night BA.

However, a good, high-quality brunch is a thing of beauty anywhere; in the land where breakfast generally consists of nothing more than coffee and medialunas (mini croissants), it’s positively decadent.

Bar 6’s signature “top 6” brunch is beautiful, and spreads out so much you might need another table. Bagels (a rarity in BA), fruit, espresso coffee, fresh-squeezed juice, maybe some smoked salmon and of course, champagne (hey, this is Argentina!) Sip your coffee after, bring a laptop to check your email on the high speed wireless and it might take you so long to eat you’ll be there for dinner—equally as well done.

Bar 6 has more than a few low tables with couches, big comfy chairs, some on a catwalk above the bar so you can watch the fashionable crowd, others in a little glassed-in patio for smokers and sun seekers. Plus the location in the heart of Palermo couldn’t be better if you’re planning on stepping out afterwards to eat, drink or shop.

Bar 6
Armenia 1676, between Honduras and El Salvador
Open every day from 8pm
tel 4833.6807

• Posted in  Eating
• 1 Comment »

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Rooms to let for 50 cents…or, Apartment Rental in Buenos Aires

For most people, the single greatest expense while travelling is hotels. As soon as you’ve been away long enough for accommodation to outstrip your flight cost (which can range from a week to…well, as long as you can stay in that dorm bed for), the smart traveller is always looking for ways to reduce that serious suck on your travel finances.

While the simplest answer is to stay in cheaper places, there are other ways to travel smarter, without having to share your room with 15 other strangers. Who snore. Or shag in the middle of the night. One easy way is to travel overnight (see last post)—every good night’s sleep you can get on the road is one more night you can stay somewhere else.

If you have more time than money, a simple way is to rent a room (or apartment, or house) longer term. This almost always works out cheaper per night, even if all you’re doing is bargaining for a discount at the same hostel or hotel you were in anyway.

As in many cities, Buenos Aires has a thriving business in apartment rentals, where professional companies list and rent hundreds of apartments on behalf of their private owners. Minimum stay is usually a week, so as long as you are in town for at least few days, you can get an apartment for the same cost or cheaper than you’d pay for a comparable hotel room. Stay for a month, and the 4th week is usually free, making things even more affordable.

 

We’ve rented apartments in BA twice now, and I know of many others who have done so without problems. Sure, there’s no room service, but most come with regular maid service, and the benefits of privacy, space and your own home (and kitchen!) for the time can’t be underestimated—especially if you’re away from your real home for an extended time.

We’ve used ByT Argentina both times, and found them helpful, professional and have done almost everything in English. There are many more agencies out there, and a quick search on the Internet should turn up some.

Prices tend to bottom out at about $200 a week, so if your budget is rock-bottom hostel you may not be able to save. However, for only slightly more (especially if you’re sharing with one or more people) you can take a HUGE jump in quality. The two apartments pictured below were both in the $1000/month range—well worth the 20 or 25 bucks apiece per day, and a fraction of what we would have likely spent otherwise. Our latest came with high speed wireless internet, maid service twice a week and two local cell phones to use while we were in town.

Note that you may need to pay part or all in US dollars cash, and that there will also be a cash deposit on top, refunded at the end of your stay.

www.bytargentina.com

Another major player worldwide is Vacation Rentals by Owner

Apart-hotels are another option, typically more expensive but still good value when compared to standard hotels, and with the added space, privacy, kitchen, etc of your own place. In Mendoza we found this apart-hotel swanky and spacious for the price, although it was definitely out of the typical backpacker budget:
www.apartmendoza.com.ar/mt/index.html

Of course, there’s always Craigslist, but make sure to follow all the usual caveats about buying on the internet: no money orders, and best to be able to SEE it in person before you send any money.

• Posted in  Sleeping
• No Comments »

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Bus Travel, In Style

Seem like a contradiction? If it does you probably haven’t travelled long distance in Argentina, cama class.

Bus travel in much of Latin America is like train travel to Europeans, (or Indians, or Japanese): for everyone, rich or poor. The only difference is what type of bus you pick—how fast, and how comfortable.

An important note: this doesn’t apply everywhere. Examples of places this does apply include Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and international bus companies like Ticabus in Central America. Examples where this doesn’t necessarily apply include less affluent countries such as Bolivia and much of Central America (although there are different classes of bus in places like Honduras or Belize, the higher-end choices are often regular, if somewhat old buses.)

There are several, relatively standard levels of service when it comes to long distance buses.

• Basic, standard buses (aka común or something similar) are what you’d expect: not particularly comfortable, but they get you where you’re going. These tend to stop wherever and whenever there is a potential passenger, making the trip longer.
• Semicama  Cama means bed in Spanish, and although these are hardly semi-beds, the designation means the seats will recline, usually to the degree that a standard airplane seat would. The bus will likely be nicer, probably something akin to a Greyhound in North America. Probably movies of some sort, maybe a snack.
• Cama  Now life is getting good. Big, comfy seats (usually 3 abreast rather than a standard 4) that recline waaay back. Blankets and pillows are standard, as well as a meal (although not always fantastic), coffee, and sometimes even wine. Often these are combined with semicamas, with the cama seats on the bottom level. Movies, sometimes even with headphones. Few, if any stops en route.
• First class, VIP, etc. While the labels vary, these are invariably awesome. The main difference is that the seats will go completely flat.

 

I’ve found that the typical cama fare for a journey still costs about one-third the price of the equivalent air ticket, and since they travel at night, the time passes easily—not to mention if you are on a budget, you can easily justify the extra cost for a cama upgrade with the money you save on a hotel for that night.

One last important note: unlike some places where bus travel reservations and service are consolidated, there are often many different bus companies, sometimes with their own stations. Buenos Aires’ bus terminal has about 200 kiosks representing over 50 companies, divided by destination. To make sense of this there are some online resources:

The Bus Station (Busstation.net) although chaotic and overwhelming, can be a useful clearinghouse for latin bus companies. It also gives you an idea of how many there are out there.

For Argentina (and in particular in and out of BA’s Retiro station), the best one I’ve found is Plataforma10.com, where you can search by destination and compare all the schedules, prices and service levels at a glance. The site is only in Spanish, but it’s pretty intuitive, and you can even book online.

• Posted in  Transportation
• 1 Comment »

Friday, June 13th, 2008

Paragliding Argentina!

The sleepy town of La Cumbre seems an unlikely adventure sport capital. Nothing seems to move very fast, and it is terminally laid-back.
However, thanks to some cooperative geography and near-perfect conditions, parapente as it is known in Spanish, has become the thing to do here. La Cumbre has become for Argentinean paragliders what Rio has to hang gliders.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the sport, paragliding involves taking off from a cliff or other stationary object, wearing a specialized, highly maneuverable parachute. It’s not nearly as insane as it sounds.

In the case of La Cumbre’s takeoff spot at Cuchi Corral, a 20-minute drive outside La Cumbre proper, the ‘takeoff’ (which I expected to be out and down off a cliff, as in hang gliding), is more like jumping up. The rolling hills drop sharply off to reveal the wide Pinto valley (the only river in the country that does NOT run though a major city), and there is an almost constant wind blowing up from the valley below

The cliff isn’t particularly sharp—it’s feels more like an embankment—and course unless you have a couple of weeks to take serious solo lessons, you will be going tandem, so there really isn’t much to be afraid of. Add to this the fact that you are pulled up more then jumping off a cliff, and the comfortable seat-like harness, and it almost feel likes cheating. Extreme adventure sport? Hell, my pilot took two phone calls while we were up there! (This is not a joke—see photo)

That having said, it really is a rush, and undeniably fun. Plus, the ride basically lasts as long as the pilot wants it to; it took us about 10 extra minutes to land as we got caught in thermal updrafts.

Oh, and jumping off a cliff with a parachute on and landing 20 minutes later in exactly the same spot? Kinda weird.

It costs $60 per person for a 20-minute ride (longer if he likes you). Flights are obviously weather dependent; lifts are available from La Cumbre first thing in the morning when the pilots drive out themselves, usually at 8:00 a.m. Call for information.

www.parapentelacumbre.com.ar
toti_lopez@hotmail.com
phone from within Argentina: 03548-494017 or 15636592 (cell – talk loud if he’s flying!) Ask for Toti.

• Posted in  Adventure, Culture
• No Comments »

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

La Cumbre, Cordoba, Argentina

Argentineans often sing the praises of the university city of Córdoba, but what they rarely tell you is that the real pleasures of Cordoba lie not within the city itself, but in the rolling hills and lakes of the surrounding countryside.

One gem we might not have found had it not been for an Argentinean friend with family ties there was the small town of La Cumbre. 100 km north of Cordoba, La Cumbre is a laid back town of B&B’s, in the Punilla valley (a popular tourist route known for its beauty), surrounded by modest mountains and fields of tall grass. Its most popular tourist draw is a country road a few clicks out of town nicknamed the Camino de los Artesanos, a cluster of artisans, artists and cafes set amid fields overlooking the valley—a great spot for sunset with a glass of Malbec. Although the silver jewellery we bought was unique and high-quality, and I do like my traditional carpincho (capybara, aka the largest rodent in the world) slippers, our favourite spot was restaurant and microbrewery Juku. The best way to get to the area is via private vehicle, about a 10 to 15 minute drive on the dirt country road; cycling or horseback riding are other fun options.

In fact, your own vehicle is really the best way to explore this region; although buses are frequent, many of the areas you want to get to are most easily reached with the flexibility of a rental car. (We did without but that was only because I’d left my licence in BA!) There are plenty of options in Córdoba, and the tourist information office in the bus station or airport can point you in the right direction.

In La Cumbre as well, there is a tourist information office (in the old rail station, in the centre of town) that can hook you up with accommodation, but be aware that in the high summer season the town is very popular with locals—reservations are recommended. We arrived off-peak and there were tons of options.

Aside from the several Jesuit estancias in the region—some of which have UNESCO World Heritage status (note: check opening days and times if you go to visit) Le Cumbre is famous for one other pursuit: paragliding… More about that shortly.

Some La Cumbre info sites:

http://www.enjoy-argentina.org/cordoba-road-of-la-punilla-la-cumbre.php
http://www.argentinaturistica.com/2lcuiresenia.htm
JUKU Cerveceria
Camino de los Artesanos
03548 15465710

• Posted in  City Review, Drinking, Eating
• No Comments »