From tropical jungles in the north in Misiones over great grass plains in the center to the snowy mountains & lakes in Patagonia - Argentina is diverse, huge and just amazing. In total I entered Argentina three times with three different ways of transportation: First by plane from California, then by ferry from Uruguay and finally by land from Chile.
After a few days, it became obvious to me that Argentina made it to one of my very favorite countries of that entire trip and its stunning capital Buenos Aires one of my favorite cities. The country has so much to do and offer that a traveler could easily spend a year here absorbing the different cultures and landscapes. It's one of the countries I will definitely come back to.
First of all I spent nearly 2 weeks in Buenos Aires, enjoying the special atmosphere, wide choice of events, bars & urban sights and met amazing people. It was my first place in South America and it could not have been a better city to start this South American adventure with. The atmosphere in Buenos Aires is just somehow different than all other cities I have been to before and I can only advise everyone to visit it once in their lifetime. I explored the districts of La Boca, Palermo, Recoleta, Retiro & Puerto Madero, attended a football match and met amazing people in this city. I stayed a week with Delfi & Pampi who became really good friends and taught me a lot about Argentina.
The economy of Argentina is ripped apart, buried and tortured by a lot of corruption, historical reasons and incapable politicians. Five years ago 1 USD was around 40 Argentinian pesos, now in 2023 it's 380 Pesos and on the black market I was able to get 1,000 Pesos for 1 USD! You can either change your Dollars in one of the shady cuevas (caves) in the street with people shouting "cambio, cambio!" in front of them or use Western Union for a similar Blue Dolar rate. This made Argentina a really really cheap destination and some goods & services had similar prices as in India, Vietnam or Indonesia (with a much higher quality). I easily managed to travel around Argentina on a 15-20 € a day budget without limiting myself to anything.
From Buenos Aires, I traveled southwards to Bariloche in Patagonia, stayed in two towns around, did some beautiful hikes and found interesting animals I had never seen before. The lakes with all the surrounding snow-capped mountains of the Andes are just breathtaking and the weather during the day was super comfortable. I hitchhiked my way around the beautiful Rio Negro Province, which was super easy and never took longer than 15 minutes of waiting time.
I traveled to Chile, where I spent 2 weeks and came back to Mendoza, where I enjoyed good wine and cycled around the hilly vineyards. In Cordoba, Argentina's 2nd biggest city, I met Soledad with whom I traveled for nearly 2 weeks around Cordoba, Misiones and even a few days in Brazil. The province of Misiones is very humid and covered by subtropical jungles with tucans, coatis, jaguars and monkeys. We visited the overcrowded but stunning Iguazu Falls, tried to spot some jaguars (failed) and tucans (succeded) on a hike in the jungle and enjoyed "La Triple Frontera", a point where Paraguay, Argentina & Brazil meet with Rio Iguazu and Rio Parana.
5 Highlights:
- Buenos Aires, my first step into South America and a very liveable, special city
- Bariloche & towns around, beautiful hikes and landscapes
- Misiones with rainforests and the famous Iguazu Falls
- Villa Llao Llao & Villa Tacul with breathtaking views
- Mendoza & cycling around the vineyards
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| Visited places in Argentina |
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| Above Jujuy province on my flight from Austin to Buenos Aires |
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| Looks like a lot but isn't |
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| The downfall of the Argentine peso |
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| La Boca in Buenos Aires |
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| The GOAT |
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| "No permitas la gentrificacion" |
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| The legendary La Bombonera just two days before the match against River Plate |
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| Cementerio de la Recoleta; where rich people have bigger graves than many people's apartments |
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| San Telmo at night |
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| Ferry from Uruguay back to Argentina |
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| The roofs of Buenos Aires |
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| Boca Juniors vs Palmeiras, Copa Libertadores semi finals |
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| Sleeping & philosophizing |
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| Hookah at Delfi's |
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| A big part of Argentina: Mate |
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| Al Ateneo Grand Splendid, the most beautiful book shop I have ever seen |
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| Buying plants with Delfi |
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| Fluffy Lio with his Messi shirt |
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| Sleeping at Delfi's rooftop |
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| Estadio Presidente Peron |
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| Racing Club vs Platense (1-2) |
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| Arriving in Bariloche |
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| Couchsurfing an attic |
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| The village of Dina Huapi |
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| Hitchhiking Ruta Nacional 40 |
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| Crossing a railway bridge |
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| Exploring with Gonza |
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| There is one train a day and of course, it came the same second while we were crossing the bridge |
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| A very typical landscape of Patagonia |
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| With Gonza in Dina Huapi |
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| A beautiful room on Cerro Otto, close to Bariloche |
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| Hiking up Cerro Otto just under the cable car |
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| Beautiful viewpoint |
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| After a heavy storm in Mendoza |
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| Centro of Mendoza |
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| No Argentina is not a prime destination for culinary travel |
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| Busses are amazing in Argentina |
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| Couchsurfing with Rodd & Martin in Cordoba |
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| Cordoba |
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| Sol in the airport of Cordoba |
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| Way to Puerto Iguazu |
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| Puerto Iguazu bus terminal |
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| Pumas & Jaguars in the same place? Amazing! |
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| Rio Parana from the top of a waterfall |
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| Agouti in Iguazu National Park |
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| Stunning Iguazu Falls |
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| And the reality of crowds |
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| The park was closed for many days due to destroyed paths & floods |
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| Plenty of coatis |
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| Airbnb in Puerto Iguazu |
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| Argentina... |
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| ... Paraguay, ... |
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| ... and Brazil in one view |
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| The 1 Euro coin and the pile of bills have the same value |
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| On our way to Brazil |
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| Hasta luego, Argentina |
