We eventually arrived in Buenos Aires at about 2pm and took
a cab to the hostel (America del Sur) which was awesome. At reception they were
extremely helpful and friendly and sorted us out with some much needed beer
after we had dropped our bags in the room.
After a few beers we made our way into San Telmo (the suburb
we are based) into Florida Street which is a walking street with shops all
around. We were actually looking to exchange some US Dollars we had into Pesos
(the street rate known as the blue market is much better than rates offered by
the banks). This felt like it should be illegal but every 10m or so there is
someone saying “Cambio” and then you start talking about what rates they will
give you. These rates varied from about 12.50 but we eventually settled on a
rate of 12.80 Pesos per Dollar while the official rate is only 8.50 Pesos.
After agreeing on a rate you are taken into the back of a newsstand where you
are introduced to a new guy who checks that your notes are real (the higher
denomination the better) and then gives you the Pesos. We then checked that
they were real (just looking for a water mark really) and we were on our way.
It all felt very dodgy but this all happens with the police looking right at
you.
On our walk we also dropped off some washing that was
building up. When we were at the Sheraton they wanted to charge us 1 500 Pesos
(R2 000) which we immediately declined and managed to have it done for 100
Pesos!
We made our way back to the hostel (after stopping at a
street cafe for a beer) where we booked a pub crawl for that night and had a
calm evening before the pub crawl.
The pub crawl kicked off at 10pm at a pub around the corner
from the hostel. There were about 250 people doing the pub crawl (foreign and
local) and it was an awesome friendly atmosphere. At the first pub they offer
free beer, wine and pizza until 11pm when they promptly cut you off and get you
moving to the next pub around the corner. Due to the size of the group we split
into 2 groups and went to different pubs. In total we went to 3 local pubs and
then ended up at a night club which we went to by bus.
The club was huge and by this stage we were a little
inebriated after numerous cuba libres, beers, champagne and a few shots. After
enjoying this for a while we made our way to a taxi to go get some food on the
way home. We managed to get the taxi driver to take us somewhere to eat close
to our hostel. We ended up at a McDonalds and made our way inside. At the
counter all they were willing to serve us was coffee and said that they were
not serving food. We then left and found a place across the road which was
still open and ordered some burgers. These were definitely not worth the money
but at least they filled the gap (much to Damien’s disgust).
On leaving there was a guy sitting on his own and he asked
us if we were foreigners. So we started talking and in no time he was comparing
the fence on this side of the road and the fence on the opposite side (around
McDonalds). He was appalled that the fence this side was so open and inviting
while on the opposite side it was like a military barrier. For a while we
entertained his ramblings but eventually managed to leave and catch a cab back
to the hostel. For some much needed sleep.
I managed to get in a few hours before Damien’s infamous
snoring woke me once again but at least it has given me some time to catch up
on my blog!