my writing is too bad to post in the guide but below is a few notes i have from when i was in argentina ( Feb / Mar 07):
The exchange rate for the euro in the airport is at 3.55, in the city 4.02 !!!!! Be careful were you change.... we were among some of the lucky people..... There is a bus to the city centre from the airport (ba) for 25 peso per person, that takes about 45 mins, much cheaper then the taxi !!! The hotel we stayed in is Hotel Ancon, it is on a very expensive street (av alvear) but its actually one of the cheapest hotels that we found in its class, the staff our friendly, its in a central location and costs about 90 pesos per night.....
From Buenos Aires we travelled by ´semi cami´night bus to Sierra Ventana. Its a nine hour bus journey, 63 pesos per person , but as the seats recline and their is air conditioning , its not a bad way to travel... This town is a picturesque town in the pampas, with a river running through it , sitting at the edge of a mountain... There is a lot to do here if you want to - swimming, hiking, trekking, cycling, fishing etc or what we chose relax beside the river and watch time go by…The Hotel provincial we were in is just at the edge of town. To be honest we spoiled ourselves, its the most expensive in town at 92 pesos for a double room ensuite. Though both the interior and exterior are shabby and starting to fade it is still very apparent that this was a hotel of grandeur and style albeit a few years back...The breakfast is laid out by a silver haired, straight backed man who for all purposes reminds me of a butler from old english black and white movies. He also carries a look upon his face that tells you that he thinks he is too good for this and lo and behold at night time he works in the Casino in the back of the hotel. Here he looks more comfortable as he scans the crowd and money..... which changes hands quickly and in abundance ! The casino appears to be the main bread winner for the hotel and is a huge draw to the surrounding area up until its finish time of 4am.....
Gaiman is 17km from Trelew and reachable by local bus for 2.25 pesos each. According to the guide books as you walk through the town you will here welsh still being spoken .....what we found was a cute picturesque town with small storeybook houses with rose gardens and tea rooms set around a plaza overlooked by hills. T he best thing about the village is at the edge of it, Parque El Desafio. The books and papers call the creator and 86 year old artist Joaquin Alonso the ´dali of recycling´. In 1998 he even gained a place in the guinness book of records. the park houses over 80,000 sode cans and bottles which have been recreated for the imagination of children. originally he created the park as a free way to entertain his granchildren. Within the area you can see a recreation of castles, dinosaurs, the taj mahal, flower gardens and plazas to commemerate those lost in the falkland war. Around the park are little plaques with sayings and quotes that inspire and cause you to giggle and smile. Similar to the wizard of oz you follow a path of yel low around the park in this case they are tulip bulbs ( plastic bottles originally).... This park is a must see for eccetric artistic imagination.
Uschuaia - Camping -...... the site is 3km from the city center ( this is an uphill walk and its not too bad, well until you get to the final hill, then that kills you.... if you stay over 3 nights you pay 10 peso per person per night, on site there are friendly staff, a kitchen with fire, utensils, cooker, fridge, each campsite area has a picnic table and chairs, and electricity point…
Mendoza - don’t pay for tours from the town for wine tasting instead take the local 172 bus (1.40 peso) out to the Maipu area to sample the local wines and visit the wineries, much cheaper and a better experience
Mina Clavero, this town is nice but in itself theres not too much to see, we use it as a base for other sites close by. The hospedajes primavera is nice and quite cheap, double rooms ensuite for 40 pesos (10 euro)... but it and the place across the road seem to have been hijacked by senior citizens. Nearby Sites : Parque nacional Quebrada del Condorito and Rocsen Polyfacetic museum.
Iguazu : 30 peso entry to park on either side for the waterfalls, in the town itself its worth a few mins to pop by the hummingbird garden , the local tourist office will give directions..
Border for Paraguay:
As we sit there we watch as a dozen men start to walk to the bus. No. not new passangers but "del boy" sales people. They open they’re jackets to reveal walking shops, as long as you don’t ask questions you can buy jewellery, cameras, watches, gadgets, souvenirs, cosmetics, bags..etc...anything they can carry, after a few minutes two cars pull up and eight more people board the bus trying to sell things, its getting ridiculous , there are more of them the passangers. Children also approach with candys and sweets....soon another bus with more people pulls up and the sales peoples all leave to chance there arm with the new victims.....As we get our passports back we{re told welcome to paraguay, what an introduction to the country ( especially when we knew the border crossing on brazils side had the worst reputation for contraban goods, weapons and drugs.)...
Just refresh to see it in action.