South Argentine Tour
Hello everyone!
We present you a small summary of the latest news.
Let's start with the fact that the logisticians delayed our car. And I had to spend 1 month and 20 days in Argentina.
On the 1st day we were walking the streets of old Buenos Aires and got this photo. Thanks to the young photographer!
After the Dnipropetrovsk snow, the weather on the southern coast made us happy! Sun, summer, heat!
The search for a temporary car also took a lot of time. So we got comfortable and got to work!
And the coast of the Atlantic Ocean painfully reminds us of Ukraine!
What do you think? Write in the comments!
So. Meet "Zhuzha", temporary deputy of "Sunflower".
The deputy is really small, like a bug. We were constantly waiting for him to get stuck in rubble somewhere in the pampas and maybe in a couple of months our dried mummies would be found.
Occasionally flying pickup trucks, especially large ones, looked down on us.
01/27/16.
Rio Gallegos
After standing for about an hour on the Argentine-Chilean border, we realized that today we will not get to Ushuaia!
Why is that? Because when you rent a car, of course, at your request, the owners give a special piece of paper - a transit order (additional insurance). It was not possible to fix the problem over the phone, so we immediately received four stamps marked "departure".
January 28.
Incredible day!
For the first time in my life we visited the glaciers of Perito Moreno, Los Gaciares National Park. We drove over 500 km and got into a fairy tale. We just sat by the glacier and watched in fascination.
Heading to Perito Moreno, we saw many uninhabited cities and downed animals. Mobile communication catches only in the city!
Next - the city of El Calafate and a large number of animals. Especially fur seals posed for us!
We spent the night in a not very expensive hotel (by the standards of Argentina) called Paris, Rio Gallegos.
Price range from $34-86 per night.
Interesting fact! During these weeks that we spent in Argentina, we changed more than one hotel, but in almost every one we saw a "bidet"!
What is it, tradition or norm? Why you can't see them even in the most expensive hotel in Europe, but in Argentina - at every step, remains a mystery to us.
Let's tell a little about January 28th.
In the morning, the hotel administration amused us a lot - they put cereal for breakfast on the table, which had to be poured with hot milk!
Having circled around hot milk, we did not find anything better than pouring yogurt (cold) over cereal!
The day before, we couldn't find anything interesting in the 500 km zone, so we just drove at random along the road with clouds, hoping to meet something interesting on our own.
And now this interesting began to meet!
First - an incredible point from which a magnificent view of the fresh lake, just like the previous one, formed by the melt waters of the glacier.
Then - a mega brave fox, who came to see what we have and how, and as a result received 2 sausages for courage!
And finally, the "interesting" decided to please us completely - in the form of a long and lonely road, or rather, its direction, covered with rubble.
At first, we naively thought that this was just a piece of the road that we did not have time to do. Well, already a kilometer per 100 km, we still realized that no - this is the way the road itself looks like!
In general, we got tired. When we finally got to civilization, we really wanted to dance the "dance of joy"!
Friends, we can't tell you how Argentines deal with garbage. This is certainly not as romantic as about the glacier, but useful.
So, there are a lot of cats and dogs in Argentina. Not all of them are vagrants, many are even masters, but nothing vagrant is alien to them.
Therefore, in order not to deal with torn bags and stretched remains of garbage all over the street, the Argentines acted simply and gracefully - they raised the garbage to a sufficient height, which does not allow animals to rummage in the trash can, and facilitates the work of cleaners.
Residents made each such station with packed garbage bags individually, so to speak, a special order from each yard : )
That is, each of them belongs to a specific owner. Some of them are elegant (some are simple as doors), some claim to be art deco style, and some - to the French "Renaissance", but most importantly they fulfill their task - the city is clean and tidy!
Here are some photos, but of course there are too many stations to show you all of them : )
On Saturday, January 30, we had another extraordinary experience.
We were invited to dinner with the native Argentines - Ricardo and Alicia.
We saw a traditional hearth where Argentines usually cook meat, which is a must-have in every home.
While the meat was being prepared, we were offered an aperitif - guacamole with chopsticks, nuts and a local drink, somewhat similar to a martini.
Then we ate with pleasure "corne" (and in our opinion, ordinary beef, but cooked with such love that it melted in your mouth! )
Finally, a dessert, unusually tasty, but as it turned out, very easy to prepare! I'm attaching it to the pictures (maybe someone can read Alicia's handwriting? )
Ricardo and Alicia! You are wonderful! Thank you very much for the tour and for dinner!
And of course, the results of our South Argentine tour.
1. Country: Large areas. From north to south about 4000 km. Our route from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was about 3000 km. The north and east of the country is more populated than the south and west. As a result, the infrastructure is underdeveloped.
2. Roads: From north to south, along the coast, a network of paved roads is developed. For us it was a lifesaver. Our "Sunflower" has not sailed yet, so we had to rent a car in order not to waste time. The word most suitable for RENO is "ZHUZHA". Buzzing, not driving. Although on a straight and paved road, we squeezed 155 km per hour out of it! If they move west from the eastern inhabited shores, the roads will not always be paved. At best, they are from gravel, and most often cobblestone on cobblestone. We felt it in full measure when we tried to drive from the Perito Moreno glacier along the Chilean border to the north. Maps showed a good road, but it turned out the other way around. The problem is that you won’t be able to turn off after 10 km - the country is big - 100 km of the road without signs of life does not surprise anyone at all.
Usual for us, there is no coverage of the cellular network - you drive up to the settlement there, you almost drive off.
3. Fuel: Expensive, from 1.1-1.2 US dollars, northern part. Up to 0.85 in the south (they just produce oil). But gas surprised - around 0.35. True, in the south I did not meet gas stations with gas. The adapter for gas equipment is specific here. We will search.
4. Having found ourselves without a car and everything in it, we have to spend money on hotels. And we, accustomed to European prices and quality, had to periodically cheer each other up. Everything is terribly expensive and so backward that repairs seem to have not been done since the time of colonization. And in those places where there is repair, it is so poor quality and so expensive that we could not understand the pricing. Horror! I specifically choose a neutral word!
5. I met such expensive products for the first time. We are dairy guys and for us milk for 1.4 US dollars per liter is a SHOCK. We found milk for 1 dollar on sale (the sales period is ending), we rejoiced like small children.
1 month + 20 days and our "Sunflower" is with us again!
Now we are in full force and ready to conquer America!
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