Week #22
From the last days together with Mike to traveling with my cousin through Northern Argentina.
October 22, 21:46
The idea was: picnic in the park and go to a museum. But as soon as we stepped foot outside the door we knew the picnic wasn’t going to happen. It was around 35 degrees. WAY too hot. And when we arrived at the museum, we found out it was closed. Today were the general elections for the new president, vice-president, national congress and governors. And we were stupid and forgot.
Soooo, we went to a coffeeshop instead and played some cards. Great alternative for a Sunday. :)
October 23, 09:54
Mike is sick, so I am on the way to a pharmacy to get something for his stomach. It’s our last full day together so it’s really shitty he is not feeling well. Shitty. Haha. Okay not funny.
I know I shouldn’t say this, cause for him it’s absolutely no fun, but I am kinda glad we get to stay in bed. Now we don’t have the urge to go do something with this last day. Now we can just be together.
October 24, 20:30
I’m not sure if my flight even exist. I booked it at a tour agency, paid in cash and received only a printed version of the boarding pass. No confirmation in mail or receipt or anything. I was supposed to already be in Buenos Aires right now, but my flight schedule was changed to 13 hours earlier. And somehow I got the notification of this change two hours after the plane already landed at the destination. Yeah. Then you have to go through a whole process of talking to customer service, to figure out if you can get the flight changed or refunded. Changing was not possible, cause the airline didn’t have another flight before the 27th. So a request for refund it was. Now it’s just waiting and hoping it gets approved. I did manage to find another flight leaving today, but that would cost me another 180 euros, unless I would find a place that would take cash so I could pay with the local currency. And luckily I did. So now I am on the way to the airport to hopefully get on a plane to Buenos Aires.
October 25, 10:15
I just want to cry. First the whole flight situation that happened yesterday. Then the taxi driver tells me I have to pay more than the agreed amount cause we took the highway. Alright. After that I finally arrive at the hostel at 01:00 in the night, booked because they said I could pay according to the Blue rate, the more profitable one. Then they proceed to give me a completely different rate, not in the slightest comparable to the rate that I expected. So the price went up almost three times. I checked in anyway, cause what else can you do at 1 am, and said I would pay in the morning. So they bring me to the room and it doesn’t look at all like the room that I booked. But I have to pee so I use the toilet first, before saying anything. Only to find that the bathroom is not clean at all. (Pubic)hair everywhere. It’s just gross. So I go back to the reception to tell them that this is not the room that I booked and that it’s not clean. They tell me it’s the only room available right now, but we can sort it all out tomorrow. Fine. At this moment it’s already 1:30 and all I want to do is lay down. So I agree. Finally in bed, I lay wide awake. Mike had sent me a text that I forgot the charger of my electric toothbrush. Sure.
So this morning after having slept for maybe 3 hours, I immediately check out. Half tried to argue about the rate not being right, but eventually paid it anyway. Somehow both my cards didn’t work, so I had to pay with euros. The euros that my grandma gave me, which feels like such a waste, but on the other hand it’s kinda like my grandma helped me through the rough day. Which is the only positive thing I can think of right now.
October 26, 09:33
It’s the day before a new adventure starts. Helena, my cousin, will arrive tomorrow in Buenos Aires and we’re going to rent a car to travel through Argentina! So excited! We first thought we would take a lot of national flights to get to the places we want to visit, but that truly is the least fun way to travel. Busses was the other option, but then you’ll have to spend A LOT of hours in these busses. Plus it’s mainly night busses, so you won’t even see much more of the country. So a car it is! And if we can find an agency that lets us pay in cash with the local currency, then just the car itself is like half the price of all the airplane tickets combined. Basically it’s all benefits. I am a little nervous tho, cause I haven’t driven a car in more than 8 months. But other than that I’m just super excited to go travel around like this: A ROAD TRIP.
October 27, 23:11
Omg this was so much fun! We just went to a dinner tango show. Helena arrived at 6 in the morning and we spend the day catching up and walking around the city. Super chill and then we found out dinner shows are a thing in Buenos Aires. So we went and it was so cool! Food was kinda shit and it was crazy expensive BUT the show itself was really cool.
October 28, 18:57
Sunsets are later here! I got so used to it being dark at six in the evening, but here the sunset is at 19:30. Amazing! We walked quite a lot today, about 15 km. From the San Telmo market close to our airbnb, to a national reserve with a view of the ocean, to this boulevard filled with restaurants covered in sunset colours. Helena still has the fast pace home to The Netherlands so I had to change my relaxed South American pace. Sadly haha but we’ll work on it. Now we’re first gonna sit down, have a drink and enjoy the view. No more walking (until we have to go back home).