Back to Buenos Aires after two years
Despite taking off from Panama about an hour late, we were only five minutes late arriving into Buenos Aires at 0115. We had to wait a while to get a gate but once the doors opened, it was a breeze through passport, baggage and customs.
Then things got a little tricker:
- From my previous visit two years ago, I recall that ATMs in Argentina charge a high fee and have a low withdrawal limit. I remember it was around USD3 equivalent per pop back then but the first ATM I tried tonight had a charge of USD10 equivalent, and the maximum I could take was around USD100. That’s an unbelievable 10% minimum!
- Also, the withdrawal limit had grown slightly in Peso terms but since the Peso had halved its value in the last two years, the limit had decreased in USD terms.
Quite wisely, we came prepared with USD anticipating this problem (but not appreciating how the problem had grown). We headed for the money changer but the queues were horrendous. Fortunately, there was another ATM near there which charged around USD6 equivalent and had the same withdrawal limit.
With cash in hand, we checked out the transport to the city. In the terminal prices were around ARS1000 and ARS900 but outside we got a taxi for ARS780 (USD29). Two years ago, I got a ride to the airport for half that amount in Peso terms, so with the current conversion to USD, it was similar in USD. From our previous experience, Uber can be half that amount or similar depending on demand. But we didn’t have the patience to fluff around with wifi and wait at wherever the designated spot was.
The ATM fees and taxi prices are an example of Argentina’s economic state. Inflation was running at 40%pa but now “only” at 20%pa!
Even though the ride was over 30km it took around 25km in the calm of the night. We checked into the Centuria Hotel where we stayed last time around 0230. Not bad, considering we had landed just over an hour ago. We were both in bed around 0300 but I had trouble sleeping till much later.
Getting more money
We woke at 0830 and headed for down for the hotel’s generous buffet breakfast an hour late. We returned to ready ourselves for the day but didn’t leave the room till 1100. It’s nice to be in a familiar city where we didn’t feel the pressure to go see and do new things.
The only pressure today was to get money. The ATM fees mean that we have to truly stick to our plan of cashing USD. Walking around the pedestrian mall, there were many touts who would lead you to their unmarked office to do the deal. Rates were better for big notes but Ecuadorian ATMs had given us only small notes. We did the deal through the side door of a newsagent/snack kiosk in the pedestrian mall. We were finally set to enjoy ourselves, knowing that we had money for the next few days sorted.
Free walking tour
We had lunch at our “favourite” cafe La Junta 1810 before returning to our room to rest-up so we could do the free walking tour. The starting point was at the Congresso at 1500.
It was drizzling on and off when we got there. We toyed with the idea of skipping it and doing it another day. But because the guide Dolores with pretty terrific, we stayed on.
She gave us a good political history and understanding of Argentina, along with snippets on the background of some key buildings. Some key bits that I remember include:
- The Conquistadors didn’t see much in Argentina. They only colonised so that the Portuguese couldn’t.
- The country didn’t have much of a history in the early days of colonialism. Hence very few colonial or baroque buildings. The beauties we see today are post-colonial modelled after the French cities.
- Peronism is a very divisive subject with Argentines, much like asking someone from the US whether they are Democrat or Republican; something you wouldn’t do unless you know the person well.
- There is a building with an outline of Evita Peron speaking into a microphone but some people have mistaken it has eating a hamburger!
- We saw the barber where the current pope used to get his haircut, quite near the Cathedral.
- During the Peron and military era, many people who held opposing views were abducted and never found. It is widely believed they were disposed into the river from aircraft at night.
- Protests are common in Buenos Aires. We saw three small ones during the tour but during my last visit a huge one meant that I had some trouble leaving the hotel for the airport on my final evening. The three we saw today were: a political one, one by mothers wanting justice for the political abductees and another one by mothers for young women who have disappeared due to human trafficking. By and large, police do not interfere with protesters even if they get a little disorderly since the police and military already do not have a good reputation amongst the public.
- The horrid cold, wet windy weather is unusual as the winter here is quite clear and dry.
During the tour, it was necessary to make a stop at Starbucks as most people were feeling the cold. I opted for a hot chocolate and the pricing here for small/medium/large varied only slightly it would be silly to get the small. I got the large which was a little too big but it cost nearly nothing more.
Kim finished the tour early before our Starbucks tour as he was too cold. We had gone from sunny Galapagos to Panama City with temperatures of 30 degC, to here where it was 7 degC with wind. He ended up catching a cold a couple of days later.
We had dinner a couple of doors away from the hotel at a corner place we had eaten at before two years ago. It was a good dinner of merluza with mash, and milanesa with chips. Actually the combination would have been better swapped around but we shared our dinner so it made no difference.