¡ Hola Patagonia !

Almost 4 weeks before I started kicked vending machines in Argentinean airports and went on shouting at Brazilian security guards, I happily arrived in Buenos Aires. It was 2 days before Christmas and Geri and I finally embarked on our journey to the southernmost city of the world through the wilderness that is called Patagonia. We put quite a lot of planning into this journey and I will dedicate a separate post to that process because I believe many could profit from it. This post however is about the frantic day of the arrival.

21 December 2013 was just another awful winter Saturday in London (windy, rainy, dark and dreary) but I was smiling the whole day as it was my departure day to Patagonia. I still needed to make some last minute purchases and I had to find out how on earth I would pack all my stuff into a 65-litre backpack for almost a month. After some anger fits, hopeful repacking attempts and the realisation that I will wear the same clothes over and over + I will not shave for a whole month, my stuff fit into the bag nicely. I was on my way to Heathrow at 5pm, sent out some goodbye emails to friends and family and I came to realise that next morning when I wake up, I would be in South America. Yayyyyyyy!!

The plane journey proved my night flight theory wrong. On long haul night flights I like sit in the middle rows in an aisle seat because this way I usually end up sitting next to a family who would not wake me up but rather get out on the other side through themselves ensuring a hassle free sleep. Well, on this flight I was graced by the presence of the Elbow King of Merseyside who I guess must have woken me up around 56 times despite the copious amounts of red wine I consumed after take-off. I arrived in São Paulo’s GRU looking and feeling like hell. At first I was shocked by the airport, but 10 minutes of walking around proved me wrong. The trick in GRU is to walk over to the terminal which has a Starbucks and some other nice shops. The walkover is not trivial, it is poorly signposted and seems to go through security but it doesn’t and it is definitely worth the effort, trust me. After a triple shot latte, some messages home (so that everyone can hate me) and a sandwich the stupid smile was back on my face.

The next leg was a short (2.5 hrs) flight to Buenos Aires’ AEP. I got my first taste of the Argentinean love for useless administration in AEP: declare ALL electronic devices, provide a full list of accommodations, give me your mother’s vaccination certificate, etc., but after 15 minutes of grilling I was finally out! Geri arrived some time before me and once we skipped a seemingly endless queue for checking in our bags for the evening flight and got some pesos from an exchange booth, we walked out of the Aeroparque that is conveniently situated on the Rio de la Plata which here resembles the sea more than anything. The sun was shining in 30 degrees Celsius and the little park opposite the airport seemed like paradise compared to cold and dark Europe.

After my initial shock and resistance (Should I have meat in a nondescript place in Buenos Aires? Will I die?) we ordered 2 burgers and a huge bottle of beer, sat down and felt like King Midas when he has just turned something into gold for the first time. Since we were on 2 different flights to Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche), our first stop in Patagonia and final stop for the day, I had some time for Buenos Aires. I jumped into a taxi and had myself driven to Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosada stands and where porteños (people of Buenos Aires) love to march up and down either protesting or just having fun. Thanks to my idiocy (I blamed it on enthusiastic ecstasy) I collected a “nice little sunburn” (I was as red as the Chinese flag) while walking around in the strong Southern Sun for 2 hours.

I decided to take public transport back to AEP which was a good idea as it was A LOT cheaper than taking a taxi and didn’t take much longer (40 minutes vs 15). I took the Subte (BA’s derelict underground) to Retiro station and then Bus 33 back to AEP. It cost 4 pesos instead of 70 pesos for the taxi and the only downside is that you must have either a SUBE card (not worth for one day) or coins for the bus. I already wrote about torn Argentinean notes, well at least they are available, unlike 1 peso coins which are harder to come by than the Koh-i-Noor.

AEP is BA’s smaller, quicker but way more unorganised airport mainly for domestic flights. The unorganised side not seem evident on arrival, but my departure to Bariloche was quite funny and scary. An unannounced gate change is nothing special, but airline agents not knowing which gate is for which flight and randomly boarding passengers on planes created a situation where the FA asked each passenger before take-off where they wish to travel because Ushuaia and Bariloche passengers were mixed up. After some fears that Bariloche would resemble the endless plains I was dreadfully watching for 2 hours, we landed close to a pine forest and the snowy peaks of the Andes. Hola Patagonia!

My amazement lasted exactly for 10 minutes when I realised that my bag is missing. No-one seemed to know where it was and after walking from agent to agent I finally got to the right one who said “It might have come with an earlier plane or it might arrive with a later one, please wait.”. LOL. My bag was of course already in Bariloche but it took some time and a bit of luck to retrieve it as I saw a random backpack behind a small wall and that was my bag. Unbelievable – both guys and all bags in the same place. Wow!

We drove home and were advised to go to Alberto’s parilla. Parillas are based on a very simple concept: grill the best quality beef and lamb in the world in an open oven and give so much food to people that they won’t be able to walk home. Don’t forget to bring some good wine along (my eternal love with Argentinean Malbec started in Bariloche) and there you go. We were foolish enough to order two full plates and two portions of papas fritas (chips) although we read about portions. Well, I have seen extreme amounts of food on a plate but nothing beats Argentina. Our “papas volcano” as we called it would feed a smaller village in Europe. The meat was enough for 2 days (we asked them to bag our food) and the only thing we could finish was the wine.

We walked home at 930pm and thanks to the southerly latitude the sun just set on our way home. I was so happy and so exhausted that it took me exactly 3 minutes to fall asleep and after an unexpectedly eventful but awesome Day 1 I was ready for one of the biggest adventures of my life to begin.