An Originally Expected stay in Buenos Aires Became Unexpected

Our train arrived without problem to the border city. As soon as we got off the train, we took a taxi to the border. We got in a line to cross countries which ended up taking 2 hours of standing in line. When we finally made it Argentina, we walked 10 blocks with our gear to the bus station. Our plans were to find a bus to Buenos Aires, spend a night/day there and then continue to Montevideo and arrive on the 28th. We found a business that was selling tickets directly to Buenos Aires for a really good price. It would be a 24 hour bus ride with a dinner stop in Jujuey. It was leaving in 30 minutes. We were excited that we could leave right away.

It was a short 4 hour ride to Jujuey. We had to switch busses here. When we got off and got our gear, we asked around to see when our next bus was leaving. We got some mixed messages and eventually learned it would be at 7 from gate 5. We grabbed dinner and then went to gate 5 to wait. 7 came went without a bus. At 7:30 we asked around once more to see what was going on. This time, we learned that the “company” we bought our ticket from wasn’t really a business but rather, random people sell tickets for the bus. It doesn’t even pick up in the terminal but rather across the street. It would be there at 10.

At 9:45 we found the spot it was supposed to pick us up. We were relieved to find about a dozen others waiting too. The bus pulled up at 10 but it wasn’t leaving until 11. At 10:45, we were still sitting outside the bus with all of our luggage. They told us they were waiting for luggage tags (they put half on your bag and if you the other half for security) before we could load up. At 11:30, the driver came back and said that the other drivers were too tired to leave right now and that we were waiting for a few more people. He walked away again. At 12 people got tired of waiting and they loaded their luggage anyone and got on the bus. Jeremy and I stayed outside along with two other travelers we met, Rodrigo and Lanzo. At 12:30, we decided to go to the gas station around the corner to wait in there so the guys could charge their phones. Every 15 minutes we checked to make sure the bus was still sitting there. At 1:30, we went back to the bus to wait outside again. At 2,Jeremy and I gave up waiting and loaded the bus to sleep. I was woken up at 5:45 to the sound of the bus moving for the first time. I fell back asleep and woke up again at 9. The bus was stopped and I went outside to see where we were. I learned that we had merely driven down the street. We were still in Jujuey. They told us that the bus wasn’t going to leave till 4 at the earliest. After learning this, we grabbed or things and walked back to the bus station, a mere 3 blocks away. We bought new tickets for 12:30 to Buenos Aires. Our new plan was to find a ferry/bus to Montevideo as soon as we arrived in Buenos Aires so we could still arrive on the 28^th. The reason we wanted to get there by this date is because we have Orientation on the 4^th and we wanted to spend some time settling in before school started.

The bus ride was alright aside from the very disturbing men that were riding with us. On multiple occasions, they made both Alex and I feel extremely uncomfortable. Even Jeremy was creeped out and he felt bad that there wasn’t more he could do to help us.

We finally got to Buenos Aires at 1. From the bus terminal, we went straight to the company Buquebus to book tickets to cross the river to Uruguay. The only boat they had left was at 9pm, this meant we would be arriving in Montevideo at 2 am. We booked the tickets and contacted our host mom only to learn that she was out of town with the other Americans living there but her husband would be there to receive us. This made us rethink our plans. We have had zero contact with our host dad and did not want to spend the weekend there without Laura, our mom. We also felt uncomfortable arriving so late in the evening.  Alex went back to Buquebus and tried to rebook our tickets for Sunday instead. She returned an hour later and was successful. We booked a hostel and settled in for the night. I was finally able to take another shower which was freezing and ended up being in the male bathroom (you win some, you lose some) only to have to put dirty clothes back on. At first I was kind of bummed because I was really excited to get to Montevideo but after thinking about it, I was just glad to sleep in the bed for the first time in 3 nights and for the opportunity to explore the city the next day.

The hostel was called The Art Gallery and had some amazing works all over

Above my bed

Jeremy’s sister, Holly, is studying abroad in Buenos Aires and has been there for a month. He met up with her and spent the night catching up.

The next day, Jeremy and I met up with Holly and her friend to go to the zoo. I was really excited about this because we have tried going to the zoo in three other cities but end up running out of time. It was kind of funny getting to the zoo because its literally in the middle of this huge city.

It was the best zoo I’ve ever been too. They had all sorts of really cool animals; giraffes, zebras, toucans, red panda, elephants and much more!

We double named these kangarabs or rabaroos because if a kangaroo and a rabbit had a baby, this would be it

Seriously, look at the paws on this thing

WE FOUND THE REAL BLUGOLD!

Remember these guys from the Salar de Uyuni blog? Vacunas

We left the zoo around 1 to go to lunch. After lunch, we walked to an ice cream shop where we were told about some “must have” ice cream. Anyone who knows my family knows we love our ice cream so I wasn’t complaining.

About an hour later, we found the shop and they were right, the ice cream was definitely a must have. It was vanilla ice cream with dulce de leche and chocolate pieces.

   

After ice cream we continued to walk around. They took us to this book store that was in an old theater. It was extremely creative and a great use of an old space. After that we went to a plaza and hung out for a bit before the girls had to go.

Jeremy and I decided to take the hour walk back instead of taking a taxi. It was a great decision because it was a gorgeous day out and a really fun way to explore the city. We stopped at a grocery store and got the fruit we’d been craving because it’s safe in Buenos Aires.

We finally got back to the hostel at 7:45. I skyped my parents for a while and then at 9:45, we headed out for dinner. We went to this restaurant that was recommended to us by the hostel. They said it was a traditional Argentinean place and not fancy. It sounded perfect to us. We found it without problems.

The menu was extensive. So many dishes looked good but I knew that I had to get meat because I have heard they are known for their steaks. The plate was huge and the meat was every bit as delicious as they said it would be.

We also got smoothies because it was only 2 pesos more than the water costs. After the meal, we were so stuffed but had to make the end of travel feast complete. We ordered a dessert to share.

We practically rolled back to the hostel and almost immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Buquebus. 

We got there in plenty of time, went through immigration and boarded the boat. We had an hour and a half boat ride that would take us to Colonia, Uruguay and from there; we would take a two and a half hour bus ride to Montevideo.

Travel went smoothly.