GETTING READY

(Aventuras Argentinas Part 1)

Travel Tales Index - Aventuras Argentinas Index - Argentina Pix

 

Friends, Associates, Acquaintances & Moms,

This year, we are taking a trip to Argentina from December 29, 2005 until February 19, 2006 focusing on Buenos Aires and the Northwest of the country. For one reason or another, your name is on our travelogue e-mail list. It can NEVER be removed! (Just kidding) If you know anyone else that would like to receive our e-mails, have them contact Paul at PaulWorksHard@hotmail.com. This is the first of a series of e-mails you will be receiving related to our trip to Argentina. Here is information about planning, packing, logistics and answers to some questions people have asked us:

 

Why Argentina? (i.e. Paul, Where Do You Get These Nutty Ideas?)

A number of places we initially considered (Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Egypt) were ruled out given the current geopolitical situation. We ruled out Vietnam because after India last year we decided we wanted to hit a more developed country this year. When we were in Chile in 2004, we passed through Patagonia, Argentina and were left with a very good impression. The Argentine economy collapsed a few years ago and while it is recovering, costs are still very low, all things considered. We also tend to dance a lot (zydeco, east coast swing, west coast swing and waltz) and thought it might be fun to learn to tango at the source.

 

How Do You Plan Your Trip?

Our two biggest resources are the library and the Internet. We get as many guidebooks and look at as many web sites as we can. The idea is to decide which cities/towns/villages/small grouping of huts might be interesting to visit. We don't figure out exactly what we want to do in a town, just how many days we might want to spend there.

For this trip, Paul looked at 4 guidebooks: Footprint Handbooks, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Moon Handbooks. Which guidebook to use is dependent on the destination. For Central & South America, Footprint is by far the best. For Asia, Lonely Planets tends to be better. For Cuba, Moon Handbooks can't be beat.

Guidebooks we are using on this trip:

Footprint Argentina by Christabelle Dilks

Lonely Planet Argentina by Danny Palmerlee

After doing our research, we create a list of places we want to visit and how long we want to stay. We get a map of the country (usually from an on-line source) and circle each place on the map. Next, it is simply a matter of trying to connect the dots in an intelligent fashion. The guidebooks we use tend to focus more on logistics than information about various sites. So, they have maps of each town with lists of places to stay and eat and information about getting from point A to point B by bus, truck, boat, taxi etc. With the dots connected, we have a rough idea of our itinerary and what modes of transportation we will use between places. The initial plan may be changed radically or not at all depending on how much time we have, if a place is better/worse than it sounded in the books, if we decide to add/delete a town because of information from someone we meet on the road, etc.

 

What Do You Take With You? (i.e. Paul, Do You Bring Your Telescope?)

Here’s our packing list for this trip (including what we wear heading out):

Eagle Creek travel pack

Anorak/Nylon windbreaker

Locks for backpack

2 pair nylon convertible pants

Silk Sleep sack

1 long sleeve shirt

Mosquito Net

1 t-shirt

Lexan knife, fork & spoon

2 light weight s/s shirt

Princeton Tec Scout LED headlamp     

teva sandals

Nylon Cord - for clothesline etc.

Sneakers

Zip lock bags (to keep things dry)

Socks - 3 pairs

Money belt - hangs from belt

Underwear - 3 pairs

First aid kit

Sarong

Toilet articles kit

Bandana

Digital Camera

Language dictionary

Passport & back-up photocopy

Guidebooks

Journal

Books to read

We always wonder if people read this part of our travelogue, but we now know that at least, our good friends Bill & Ellen do. They gave Lois a wonderful gift for her birthday that everyone should have. Click below to see what it is.

The Full Truth (197.0 kilobytes)
The Truth Revealed!

Lois used to insist that we note she takes more than 3 pairs of underwear, but this year, she just won't let us say anything. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Anyway, the goal is to bring as little as possible. Our packs weigh less than 21 pounds each.

 

What Happens If You Get Sick?

You feel miserable for a little while and spend lots of time in the bathroom. On our Cambodia trip, Paul got seriously dehydrated, but made it to a clinic; got the best and most attentive medical care he ever received and was ready to go the next day. We bring Imodium and Cipro. The Imodium stops you up and Cipro is an antibiotic for any bacterial GI problems. We have used both of these on a couple of occasions. Worst case, you need to be evacuated to a nearby city with modern health care facilities. Insurance covers this. In fact, if you join DAN (Diver's Alert Network) for $30 a year, they have fantastic medical evacuation insurance.

 

Where Do You Stay? (i.e. At The Holiday Inn?)

Hotels, motels, guesthouses, inns, pensiones, albergues - any place that has cheap rooms for rent. The guidebooks list places to stay in each town. We have no reservations, not even in Buenos Aires. We usually don't know where we are staying until we walk up to the place, ask to see a room and decide whether or not we like it. Occasionally, we call ahead or have someone call for us and make a reservation if the next stop is a large city or we expect it to be difficult to find a room. We have never slept out in the cold, but have paid a lot more than we wanted; stayed in a place we really didn't like or spent an hour or two looking. According to Lonely Planets, budget accommodations are in the $10-$20 range. We'll probably spend at the low end of the range outside of Buenos Aires since we expect most places in Argentina to have clean rooms with running hot water. Occasionally, we might end up sharing a bathroom.

 

Money, Money, Money?

Costs to date:

Airfare for 2 to Buenos Aires        

$1,700

Guidebooks

$40

Based on the reading we've done, we are expecting costs to be around $40 per day for the two of us. In Buenos Aires, it will probably be a bit more and in smaller towns, a bit less. We are bringing $600 in cash (there's nothing like the US dollar), credit cards and two ATM cards. The cheapest and best way to change money is to use your ATM card to get local currency. The credit cards and cash are backups.

 

How Do You Communicate?

The official language in Argentina is Spanish and there are a few Indian languages. We're guessing that English is widely spoken in tourist areas. We've spent lots of time traveling in Spanish speaking countries, so while Paul is not fluent, he can communicate pretty well. Lois can ask and answer some basic questions and understand a menu. We have a small Berlitz dictionary, a sense of humor and away we go...

 

How Do You Get Two Months Off From Work?

Ask. It works for Paul. Don’t ask and don’t work. That is Lois’ method. Actually, Paul is quite lucky. The people Paul works for have been exceptionally accommodating of his desire to take a little extra time off. So, thank you very much to Jim.

 

What Is Your Route?

Click here to see our intended route. From Washington DC, we fly American airlines to Buenos Aires. Below is an ordered list of the places we are planning on seeing and how long I thought we might want to spend there. However, the chances of us actually sticking to this itinerary are slim since we don’t really have enough time to see everything listed below.

Buenos Aires

1-2 weeks

Tafi Del Valle

2

Rosario

3

Quilmes

1

Santa Fe

3

Cafayate

3

Córdoba

3

Molinos

1

Alta Gracia

1

Cachi

1

Villa General Belgrano

2-3

Salta

3

Mina Clavero

2

Jujuy

3

Villa Tulumba

1

Purmamarca

½ day

Cerro Colorado

1

Tilcara

2

La Rioja

3

Humahuaca

2

Catamarca

1

Buenos Aires

?

Tucuman

2    

 

 

 

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year To Everyone!

Lois & Paul
December 29, 2005

 

Aventuras Argentinas Index

        

 

        

Aventuras Argentinas Part 2

 

all content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2006.