Sunday, January 06, 2008
San Martín de los andes - Argentina
We´d had some good times in Chile but Argentina was back on the books, we remembered it as so much cheaper than Chile. Probably one of the most beautiful border crossings, gravel tracks snake through, woods of monkey puzzle trees, at the bases of snow capped peaks.
San Martín is expensive and difficult to find accomodation. You guessed it we hadn´t booked and all cheap hostels were as I was told "completo, completo, completo...". Also, all the prices for food and hostels I remember from the north of Argentina were very inflated. It certainly looks like a nice place to spend some time but if you are traveling on a budget you need to book ahead to get somewhere cheap. We paid up for two nights and got our ticket out of here. The other thing I forgot about the hostels in Argentina is that they have "Wet Rooms". Lisa says that they are trendy and all the rage. You have a shower and the whole of the bathroom floods. A 5 minute shower leads to 15 minutes of pushing water arounds with a squeedgy thing trying to get it dry. You then get changed walk in to the bathroom and get your socks wet.
With the cold I still have I don´t really feel like doing any of the many sports and activities that are on offer.
Thing that take my fancy:
Mountain boarding: Think snowboard with wheels and dirt tracks.
Fly fishing: After my success with fishing for pyranahs I think it´s time to move on to something a bit more choosey about it´s food.
On the subject of food the Lonley Planet on a shoe string guide seems to have a different idea of what is cheap. Pizza Cala av San Martin 1129 never got a mention but it was one of the only budget (but good food and cheap drink) places in town.
San Martín is expensive and difficult to find accomodation. You guessed it we hadn´t booked and all cheap hostels were as I was told "completo, completo, completo...". Also, all the prices for food and hostels I remember from the north of Argentina were very inflated. It certainly looks like a nice place to spend some time but if you are traveling on a budget you need to book ahead to get somewhere cheap. We paid up for two nights and got our ticket out of here. The other thing I forgot about the hostels in Argentina is that they have "Wet Rooms". Lisa says that they are trendy and all the rage. You have a shower and the whole of the bathroom floods. A 5 minute shower leads to 15 minutes of pushing water arounds with a squeedgy thing trying to get it dry. You then get changed walk in to the bathroom and get your socks wet.
With the cold I still have I don´t really feel like doing any of the many sports and activities that are on offer.
Thing that take my fancy:
Mountain boarding: Think snowboard with wheels and dirt tracks.
Fly fishing: After my success with fishing for pyranahs I think it´s time to move on to something a bit more choosey about it´s food.
On the subject of food the Lonley Planet on a shoe string guide seems to have a different idea of what is cheap. Pizza Cala av San Martin 1129 never got a mention but it was one of the only budget (but good food and cheap drink) places in town.
