~By: Marco
As we are waiting to board our plane to Buenos Aires, I have a scroll through the pictures of the past few days. The views still fresh in my mind. I feel absolutely spoiled. How can anyone not like traveling? How can you prefer a holiday where you just get drunk and lay in a chair for 10 days in a row and still be $2K down. With not knowing how you actually spent it. How do people go to the same place every year, over and over again? How can someone be satisfied with oiling up and their only goal be getting the best tan for the coming two weeks?
Walking 20 km a day totally disconnects you from everyone and everything. No phone service. No Facebook. No Instagram. Just an endless road of rocks and dirt in front of you. Surrounded by trees and mountains. That feels like relaxing. I feel I start to appreciate my surroundings a whole lot more. Nowadays, everyone is constantly on their phones. At school, at the bus stop. During their lunch break. Strangers hardly talk to each other, nobody even smiles or says hello anymore. Then suddenly, if you are doing a 20 km hike in the middle of nowhere, with people you don’t know, you’ve never seen before and most likely will never see again, you start to say hello, “How are you? How was your day?” Weird isn’t it?
After having one of my philosophical moments on the plane again we got this little treat from mother nature. Although I have seen many sunsets and sunrises, they always stay beautiful.
Our last hostel was located pretty much in the center of Buenos Aires. Rock Hostel & Brewery is located right on ‘Plaza del Congreso.’ A beautiful area surrounded by parks, historical buildings and great architecture. Furthermore, it has a great atmosphere to meet new people with a bar in the middle of the communal area with large sofas and cool artistic decorations. As the hostel name might suggest, every dorm room has the name of a famous rock artist and throughout the hostel ‘the rock’ is visible through the art on the walls. The hostel has a good rooftop to relax and get away from the noise of the city. The view isn’t great, as you cannot see over the walls (even us tall Dutch guys couldn’t) but great to wind down with a beer and escape the madness of the city. Talking about beers, one of the areas we tried out for nightlife is ‘Palermo.’ Later, I found a video on my phone featuring six people in a taxi yelling (you could barely call it singing) Oasis’s Wonderwall. I believe we had a decent night out.
The following day we decided to be a tourist. As the tourists do, we visit La Boca, which is known for its colorful houses. As you might expect, it wasn’t as amazing as all the beautiful Instagram pictures. Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, I can definitely recommend going. However, don’t expect the world. Go there for an hour when it is sunny and enjoy the walk and the city. A nice tick off the box, but absolutely not a ‘must go’ if your time is limited.
What I do recommend is eating the ‘Menuas Dias,’ which are what the locals eat. Try some of the amazing local dishes for real South American prices. You’ll find them pretty much everywhere in the city and are absolutely worth trying.
On my last day we got invited to an Asado by a fellow colleague who used to live in Argentina and now works for the same airline I do. As I stated in the beginning, the people in this part of the world are absolutely amazing.
Often people ask me, “What is the best destination you go to?” Or, “What is your favorite place?” I always say, “The crew makes the trip,” and I would say this is very applicable for a country or city too. The people make the country. To finish this trip with a typical Argentinean ‘Asado’ (barbecue) was the cream on top. The Argentine’s know how to do asados. I’ve never seen so much meat accompanied by no salad or anything green at all. Just lots of meat and lots of red wine. What else can you ask for on a last day? Well, it would be nice if I could actually understand a bit of all this Spanish. Hey, always keep room for improvement! Another thing travel has taught me.
Check out parts one and two of Marco’s South American adventure and our other blogs about Chile
Follow Marco’s adventures on Instagram at Marcookunst
Marco’s Travel Itinerary and Hostel Information
Flights: London Heathrow (LHR) > Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini, Buenos Aires (EZE) > Aeropuerto Internacional Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez, Santiago (SCL)
Bus: Santiago > Pucón > San Carlos de Bariloche > El Calafate > El Chaltén > El Calafate
Flights: Comandante Armando Tola International Airport, El Calafate (FTE) > Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini, Buenos Aires (EZE) > London Heathrow (LHR)
Pucon- I Love Pucon Hostel
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kGXXEyIOAm0J:www.dutch.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/I-love-Pucon-Hostel-and-Backpackers/Pucon/270352+&cd=6&hl=nl&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-b-ab
Bariloche – Universal Traveler Lodge Hostel
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Universal-Traveller-s-Lodge-Hostel/Bariloche/79005?dateFrom=2017-04-07&dateTo=2017-04-10&number_of_guests=2&sc_pos=3
El Calafate-Hostel de las Manos
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Hostel-de-las-Manos/El-Calafate/38194
El Chalten-La Comarca Hostel
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/La-Comarca-Hostel/El-Chalten/59554?dateFrom=2017-04-07&dateTo=2017-04-10&number_of_guests=2
El Chalten-Racho Grande Hostel
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Rancho-Grande-Hostel/El-Chalten/16797?dateFrom=2017-04-21&dateTo=2017-04-22&number_of_guests=1
Rock Hostel & Brewery – Buenos Aires
http://www.dutch.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Rock-Hostel-and-Brewery/Buenos-Aires/69163
Flight El Calafate – Buenos Aires – Aerolineas Argentinas
http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/Welcome
Bus company – Andesmar
http://www.andesmar.com/