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Good Parmesan
Nov 30, 2007

I TAKE PHOTOS OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN IN PLANET FITNESS

Bollock Monkey posted:

Looking for personal recommendations of things not to miss in Buenos Aires, if anyone has any! There for four days next week and another three around the 14th. Staying in Palermo Soho and Recoleta.

Checking out a Cafe/Bar Notable like El Federal in San Telmo. A bit touristy, but good to stop in for a coffee.

Nightlife around Palermo is crazy, a bar called Chupitos Bar was a lot of fun.

- Recoleta cemetery

- El Ateneo Grand Splendid

- Palacio de Aguas Corrientes is pretty stunning

- Plaza Gral. Lavalle at day / night

- The Feria de San Telmo on Sundays in Plaza Dorrego

- San Telmo market

- Bosques De Palermo

- Barrio China in Belgrano is cool, as are the mansion sightings around Belgrano.

- La Boca, though touristy, is worth checking out

- Tigre Estuary Tour

Food stuff

Búffala - helado shop in Recoleta, was one of my favorites, but any helado really is worth trying.

Confitería La Nueva Capital - typical bakery

Pizza - various famous shops along Av. Corrientes., or Pin Pun for fugazetta, or La Fachada in Palermo for pizza/empanadas, Los Inmortales

Empanadas- La Cocina in Recoleta or Doña Eulogia in Palermo Chico

Choripan truck vendors / popup markets along Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur is cool too.

Good Parmesan fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 26, 2019

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Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty
Thank you! We are planning a half day in Tigre, will we get much out of it doing it ourselves instead of finding a specific tour?

We were thinking of giving La Boca a miss because of its reputation but could be convinced to check it out if it's really interesting in some way.

Pizza, chorpian, empanadas, ice cream - all on the food list. Chupitos Bar is 15 minutes from our hotel so that's cool!

Recoleta Cemetery, San Telmo market, and El Ateneo Grand Splendid were already on the list so it's good you enjoyed them.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010
You can just show up at Tigre and take any of the tours; they're all the same. I'm not sure if you can DIY and rent a boat -- I didn't see anyone doing that when I went, but that would be a lot of fun if you're not on a tight budget. TBH for the tour I was amazed for like half an hour and then it kind of was just like driving through a suburban part of America, except the streets were made of water instead of pavement. It's super unique, at least IME, though and I'm glad we went.

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
Hey, you PMed me but I've been crazy busy sorry.

People in this thread probably have better advice on the touristy stuff than I do. I've lived here all my life and have done 1/10th of the stuff tourists do. IMO museums in Buenos Aires are nice but none as good as you'll find in any other major city so not worth losing time on (huge IMO disclaimer here) unless you find something specific to Argentine culture that you're really interested in.

The Palermo Soho area has great restaurants but trying to find good "Argentine" food is kind of a pain because Buenos Aires is basically "what if Europe but poor". Take advantage of devaluated currency and go to the 5-star restaurants and eat like a king for essentially 20-30 bucks per person. For "local food" (ie from the northern region of Argentina) try "1810 Cocina Regional".

Keep around 2-3000 pesos cash per person on you to avoid getting screwed by "out of order" credit card readers. Download the Mercado Pago app and link your credit card as most small shops use that for CC payments now a day (it's like a Stripe or Square analogue). You basically pay via QR code and at the moment you'll find a lot of places with no CC readers that weirdly use the QR code. I don't think Mercado Pago has different codes for different vendors so you might miss out on some credit card rewards, but MP is mostly small payment stuff anyway.

There's no alternate "blue" dollar like 4 years ago (I mean there is, but the difference is insignificant) so don't follow random people into sketchy places, just go to a bank or a legit "Casa de Cambio" which will have exchange rates posted at the entrance. That said, if you have no-fee or low-fee ATM card you are better off just doing ATM withdrawals as exchange places might have lovely rates. ATMS are 100% next to banks in a separate section you can get into at any hour. Some of them have a reader next to the door where they expect you to swipe your card to get in. Don't swipe your actual card you dummy, it will take any card with a magstripe like a library card, sometimes the readers will have card skimmers to try and clone your card details.

The exchange rate is fluctuating kind of wildly these days due to political uncertainty so as a general rule don't keep too many pesos on hand unless you need to. Try to lock down prices in pesos for tourist stuff before hand.

Public transport in the Greater Buenos Aires area is through the SUBE card. You get it at kioskos or at subway stations. The easiest way to refill it is at a subway station (there are other places but it's hit or miss). The subway is almost always faster than going by car. "Colectivos" (buses) are dirt cheap but Buenos Aires is famous for having protests and traffic jams (not Sao Paulo level but it can get bad) so YMMV, and right now is peak political season with the elections coming up so expect lots of those.

The only train worth taking is the "Ramal Mitre" to Tigre. All the others are slower than just sharing an taxi. If you go to Tigre and finish up early (you will) you can take the train back, get off at the Belgrano Station which puts you right at the "Barrio Chino" which is not as good as the ones in bigger cities but still a lot of fun, and a surprisingly good night spot.

Another option is taking a boat from Puerto Madero to Tigre. There's a couple of boat taxi services used by some commuters which should be fairly cheap and will probably give you a nice view of the city. The river gets choppy so try and do it on a nice day.

Uber works but is technically "illegal". Cabify is (imo) a better alternative and seems to have less issues and pricing is about the same. There was a spat of Cabbie attacks against Uber/Cabify drivers but that seems to have died down and was mostly overblown by the media. If it happens to you just get out of the car and walk away, it's not your issue.

There's a free bike system in the city which is real good and a lot of fun, though sadly doesn't have as many bikes as it should. Download the "Ecobici" app and have it preconfigured so you can steal bikes from under tourists who are busy figuring out how it works. Bikes with the red light on are not available.

Regular big city warnings apply. There's a bigger homeless population than years prior. Feel free to ask locals who they think is at fault for that if you enjoy political rants.

If I think of something else I'll post again! Let me know if you need any clarification.

dpkg chopra fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Aug 28, 2019

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty

No worries, life does that sometimes!

I hear ya on the living in the big city and never seeing it as a tourist thing, but I know when I lived in London I still had a few gems to share with people!

We're planning on exchanging about 1200 USD at the airport (we're travelling from the UK so had to buy currency anyway) and planned to use card rarely, and in bigger/fancier places (and for hotels) - does the payment app suggestion still apply? I've never heard of Stripe or Square, I only ever use cards or cash to pay. Planning to avoid ATMs because it's something like a 9% charge and that'll add up.

Already planned on the SUBE card. Good tips about taxis, thank you.

Sounds like our vague itinerary and general plans map on pretty well to suggestions, so that's good to know!

Bollock Monkey fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Aug 28, 2019

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



I'm thinking of taking a job in San Pedro as a receptionist in a few months. Gotta get back into the groove by recepting in my hometown for a while before moving to Driest Desert On Earth.

Beefeater1980
Sep 12, 2008

My God, it's full of Horatios!






I’m about to relocate to São Paulo for 6 months, living in the Vila Olimpia area and working in Rue Sansão Alves dos Santos. Anyone know these areas? What’s good to do around there? Excited to go to LatAm for the first time.

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty
Wow, I see what folk mean about Buenos Aires feeling very European. It's my biggest impression so far, Recoleta looks like Knightsbridge in London and more generally the city feels like Athens or something with a smattering of the USA when you consider the grid system and wide roads. Very interesting!

MrNemo
Aug 26, 2010

"I just love beeting off"

Go to la cocina and try a Pikachu empanada!

For more random takeaway empanada/Argentine pizza, not sure if it's still there but there was a small place near parque las Heras called pizza party that did really good porteño style. For my money they were better than guerrin for pizza and their empanadas are good. Nothing amazing but really typical, quiet, small place of you want something not touristy. I lived near there for a few months and that was my treat spot anytime my girlfriend wasn't in for dinner. (Google tells me the actual name is primo pizza)

Also: try el gato viejo. It's a restaurant and art gallery with really good, fresh meat. Super interesting place run by a sculptor in the back of an old train yard.

I'll also say, having been back in January, San Telmo market is a bit different. The indoor market used to be all old antiques and local food/random crap but is now various food stalls. It's much nicer looking but I really miss the little chori guy that had 10 peso house wine served from a plastic bottle.

Edit: any other suggestions I'll have are basically all variations on restaurants or bars. Visit the port in la Boca. It's very touristy but fun, the rest of the area wasn't really my thing.
If you want some really good food, UCO in the fierro boutique hotel is really, really good. It's run by an Irish guy who ran a small place in Bariloche for a few years.
If you're a wine fan, drown yourself in Malbec. I really, really recommend doing some wine shopping in the little grocery stores (usually run by Argentinian Chinese, people will just call the shops Chinos). Having spent a lot of time looking, they usually have the best prices without finding somewhere that is dodging taxes). If you want to be fancy get a bother of angelica Zapata but basically anything that's more than $5 will be pretty good.

MrNemo fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Sep 6, 2019

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty
La Cocina is right across from our next BA hotel so I'll try to go next week!

Don't think we'll make it to La Boca, but we went through on a bus.

Really wanted to try Don Julio but hadn't realised it's a world-class restaurant. Might try to nab a table early tonight and keep fingers crossed...

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Bollock Monkey posted:

La Cocina is right across from our next BA hotel so I'll try to go next week!

Don't think we'll make it to La Boca, but we went through on a bus.

Really wanted to try Don Julio but hadn't realised it's a world-class restaurant. Might try to nab a table early tonight and keep fingers crossed...

Don Julio is amazing, loving fantastic steaks at super cheap prices (for foreign tourists). Although imo a touch too salty, or maybe it was the mashed potatoes that were too salty, but I remember being parched all night afterwards.

Yeah just walk up there early. When looking up the place I see I wrote a tripadvisor review, also on a Friday, where we said we just walked up and got a table at 7:00 but that the place was full. It's also possible it's gotten way more popular in the past 5 years, but someone recently posting on TA said the same thing (i.e. show up just before 7 and you'll get a table pretty fast).

Saladman fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Sep 6, 2019

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
Please don’t show up at 7 at anything but the the most touristy restaurants in BA. I doubt they’ve even fired up the grills at that hour.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Ur Getting Fatter posted:

Please don’t show up at 7 at anything but the the most touristy restaurants in BA. I doubt they’ve even fired up the grills at that hour.

That is exactly why you have to show up at 7 at Don Julio, because no Argentine will show up then. If you go at 8:30 you're absolutely hosed and will probably get your seating at like 10:30 after standing outside for 2 hours.

VVV: Ah, yeah. I'm still shocked whenever I go to the US and see people sit down to eat dinner at a restaurant at like, 5:30pm, with last seatings even at nice restaurants sometimes being like 9:00.

Saladman fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Sep 6, 2019

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
Oh yeah, wasn’t knocking the advice just clarifying that it isn’t universal to even most popular BA restaurants, just the ones that cater to tourists

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
Edit: nvm had some incomplete info sorry

dpkg chopra fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Sep 6, 2019

MrNemo
Aug 26, 2010

"I just love beeting off"

I will say, don Julio is a good Parilla but I didn't really feel the amazement when I went. Not too say it's not really good meat for excellent value but I found that in plenty of other places in BA.

I'm perfectly happy to accept that I may be just pleased by heated meat in general... Or more usefully, if you can get a table there don't be disappointed at just hitting up another place!

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty
That's the current plan. We'll go early tomorrow with a backup in mind to save us wandering the streets, but at some point you've gotta remember that a country's signature dish is always going to be better there than in your own country. I've had some great steak in the UK but it's been relatively infrequent because I'm not rich enough to dine at high-end places all the time.

I've been pretty impressed by the variety of nations represented in BA restaurants, though we did get denied entry to a veggie Indian place last night for reasons that remain unclear.

Tonight we're going to check out 1810 Cocina Regional since it's come recommended. I'd have liked to explore more nightlife but being not-18-any-more plus a bit of an uncomfortable night last night with a persistent beggar plus language barrier has prevented that. But that's ok!

Looking forward to travelling to Iguazu on Sunday. I've not fallen in love with BA as so many seem to, it seems to lack a unique little something that other places seem to have - but maybe I've just not spent enough time here and don't speak enough Spanish to feel as confident exploring as I would in certain other places.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Bollock Monkey posted:

I've not fallen in love with BA as so many seem to, it seems to lack a unique little something that other places seem to have - but maybe I've just not spent enough time here and don't speak enough Spanish to feel as confident exploring as I would in certain other places.

To be honest that was the same impression I had after a week there. It's nice but felts so absolutely Spanish-Italian that it was hard to fall in find what was uniquely incredible about it. I think just a lot of people fall in love with whatever is the first big foreign city they travel to. I could definitely see North American travellers getting there and thinking "wow! incredible!", especially given that the North American stereotype of Latin America is "there's Rio, and everything is else is a dusty crime-ridden hellhole where people ride around on donkeys."

I was in Panama City a few months ago for a wedding with a lot of Americans there, and that was the impression people had, since it looks more like Dubai than like, Juba, which was in people's mental expectations.

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty
Yeah I can see especially for people who haven't seen much or any of Europe that it's probably pretty cool and different. My husband and I keep turning the corner and joking "Ah, I see we are in London behind UCL!" or "Yes, we appear to be on Niewemarkt in Amsterdam!" etc. I didn't have really any stereotype of the large South American city but I wasn't expecting it to be like this here! That in itself is interesting, I guess.

In Tigre yesterday we stumbled into a French restaurant, muddled through in our awful Spanish and our waiter's broken English, and ended up eating what tasted very much like an English stew. Then yesterday I accidentally ordered tripe (which I hated but at least now I know!) and there was an offer on that didn't translate well so we ended up being presented with 1.5l Malbec. So there have been some surprising moments, just not in the ways I had assumed there would be!

Bollock Monkey fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Sep 7, 2019

Oakland Martini
Feb 14, 2008
Refugee from the great account hijacking of 2008

Saladman posted:

That is exactly why you have to show up at 7 at Don Julio, because no Argentine will show up then. If you go at 8:30 you're absolutely hosed and will probably get your seating at like 10:30 after standing outside for 2 hours.

VVV: Ah, yeah. I'm still shocked whenever I go to the US and see people sit down to eat dinner at a restaurant at like, 5:30pm, with last seatings even at nice restaurants sometimes being like 9:00.

As an American/Canadian, I will proudly say that I eat dinner at 5:30 at home. Get up at a reasonable time and work a full day, and you can't help but be hungry then. This is honestly the only thing that I dislike about traveling in Southern Europe and South America, but it drives me nuts. How the gently caress can anyone wait until 9 to eat? Plus, I try to go to bed reasonably early when I travel so that I can up super early and make the most of my time in a new place, and I hate going to sleep on a full stomach.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Oakland Martini posted:

As an American/Canadian, I will proudly say that I eat dinner at 5:30 at home. Get up at a reasonable time and work a full day, and you can't help but be hungry then. This is honestly the only thing that I dislike about traveling in Southern Europe and South America, but it drives me nuts. How the gently caress can anyone wait until 9 to eat? Plus, I try to go to bed reasonably early when I travel so that I can up super early and make the most of my time in a new place, and I hate going to sleep on a full stomach.

Europeans (and I guess Latin Americans) usually eat a full lunch, whereas in america people tend to eat a sandwich at their desk in like 15 minutes while reading the news.

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
"Meriendas" (afternoon snacks/quasi-meals, if you can call it that) are also a thing in SA, but I mostly agree that it's a generally poo poo habit we have and would gladly move all of BA's schedule forward at least 2 hours.

Up north it's even worse, it's normal for everything to shutdown from midday til 5pm (culturally because it would get so hot that you just couldn't be out on the streets during those hours, nowadays it's just built in), so you will find people at the office until 9pm and then out at the gym at like, 11pm.

George H.W. Cunt
Oct 6, 2010





So Peru ended up being pretty baller. Proposed on Machu and it couldn’t have been a better day for it.

Even after 4 days of altitude around Cusco and the medicine it didn’t help the fiancé though so that more or less confirms that any sort of altitude is recipe for head explosions for her. Ah well.

torb main
Jul 28, 2004

SELL SELL SELL

George H.W. oval office posted:

So Peru ended up being pretty baller. Proposed on Machu and it couldn’t have been a better day for it.

Even after 4 days of altitude around Cusco and the medicine it didn’t help the fiancé though so that more or less confirms that any sort of altitude is recipe for head explosions for her. Ah well.

I vomited my brains out at 5 AM on the 2nd day of the hike - the one where we have to cross both Dead Woman's Pass and the one after it. So I was dehydrated, unable to eat, and had a raging headache while hiking 11 miles and climbing over 4000' - horrible experience, but I still would say that the hike itself was one of the coolest things I've ever done and would do it again 100%

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

George H.W. oval office posted:

So Peru ended up being pretty baller. Proposed on Machu and it couldn’t have been a better day for it.

Even after 4 days of altitude around Cusco and the medicine it didn’t help the fiancé though so that more or less confirms that any sort of altitude is recipe for head explosions for her. Ah well.

Normally I wouldn’t internet grammar on you, but since you’re about to use this word a lot: she’s your fiancée. The fiancé is you (assuming you’re a guy).

George H.W. Cunt
Oct 6, 2010





Saladman posted:

Normally I wouldn’t internet grammar on you, but since you’re about to use this word a lot: she’s your fiancée. The fiancé is you (assuming you’re a guy).

Good to know! I had no idea

Swarmin Swedes
Oct 22, 2008
Does anyone have any experience traveling/hiking in Patagonia in winter time?

My partner and I are going to be in Buenos Aires/Argetnina from June 30th to August 15th. I think we are going to try and set up base in Buenos Aires but we were exploring the possibility of trying to do some of Patagonia for maybe a week or two (or longer if it isn't prohibitively expensive) of the trip. I know the weather will probably be not ideal but from what research I have done it seems manageable if a little cold especially if we stay out of the mountains. It also seems like a lot shuts down for the winter so there would be concerns about finding lodging, guides, and whatever else we need. We had our eyes on either Calafate and Challten or Ushuaia and Tierra Del Fuego or a combination of the two. Additionally any other suggestions for things to do would be amazing.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010
El Calafate and especially Ushuaia are real towns with real people living there, El Chalten not so much. I was there in the end of winter (September) a few years ago and everything was fine and open. The Argentine side gets wayyyy less precipitation than the rainforest on the Chilean side, so it’s not going to make a huge difference in terms of getting around.

We found Tierra del Fuego to be pretty dull. Ushuaia has some nice restaurants but the feel of the place is like "what if Switzerland, but poor?". This depends on your life experiences of course; if you live near the Grand Canyon you’d maybe be like "ehh.." for the badlands near el chalten that we found incredible. The only reason we found to go to Ushuaia was to say we had been there, as the big penguin colony is seasonal and not there in winter. Tbh though if you have not spent lots of time in Colorado or the Alps or whatever then Ushuaia may also be amazingly beautiful for you two.

Either way, in El Calafate you should 10000% rent a car. The driving is trivial, roads are good, navigation easy and anyway you’ll have a GPS, and the tours are outrageously expensive and lovely because you’re stuck with the timetable of 50 other people and they’re very rushed, and based on your timetable you don’t seem like rushed travelers. I would also absolutely not trust hitchhiking there, as there are like... basically no cars.

We spent a week doing both in mid September and they’re definitely both 3 day minimums due to how far they are from anything, but there’s only really two days worth of stuff to do in Ushuaia: end of the world, drakes passage, and generally walking around Ushuaia. Unless you want to ski there for novelty. I would have wanted 1 or 2 days more for el Calafate but only with a rental car, so we could have done a hike somewhere near el chalten. If you go to Ushuaia and like food there are some great places there. Unfortunately I can’t remember if it’s Kalma or Kaupe that was amazing and the other only "pretty good" but in general there’s good food, as in much of the rest of Argentina. El Calafate is a very cute (but very small) town. Ushuaia is pretty ugly but not in any way dangerous or gritty, I think just all the snow and ice fucks up their streets and they don’t have the money to repave all the time.

Saladman fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Oct 19, 2019

Lady Gaza
Nov 20, 2008

I’d kind of agree about Ushuaia. The town itself isn’t that nice but then we stayed at Arakur up on the hill as a honeymoon treat which was great. We found the national park pleasant enough but agree that hiking around El Chalten was far better. We went in November and even then it got really cold and snowy a few times in Ushuaia so I imagine it’d be bitterly cold in winter. A couple of days in El Chalten it was also quite cold, and even in November the lake at Fitz Roy was frozen. If I could go back and change what we did I’d spend longer around El Chalten and El Calafate, I really liked them.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



Riots in Santiago de Chile, stay away for at least a week.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



Man gently caress, the riots spread far from the capital now, stay away for a while.

Some people are scared the military are gonna have to take power again.

Swarmin Swedes
Oct 22, 2008
Thanks all for the Patagonia advice! We are definitely leaning towards focusing our time in Calafate/Chalten and renting a car. Not sure how great the hiking will be with the shortened days and questionable weather but that definitely seems like our best bet.

Any advice for barrios to stay in in Buenos Aires. We are going to be there for 3 or 4 weeks? We would like to stay away from the super touristy areas but still be close to bars/restaurants/cultural centers.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Siegkrow posted:

Man gently caress, the riots spread far from the capital now, stay away for a while.

Some people are scared the military are gonna have to take power again.

Wow am I reading that right, 60 Argentine pesos to the 1 USD? And it was about 3.5:1 back in 2008? Is this a good time to go on a cheap trip

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer
It’s fairly devaluated right now but there’s Presidential election is next Sunday so exchange rate will likely go up quite a bit more


We also have rampant inflation sooooo

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



Hadlock posted:

Wow am I reading that right, 60 Argentine pesos to the 1 USD? And it was about 3.5:1 back in 2008? Is this a good time to go on a cheap trip

Maybe Argentina but deffo not Chile for a few weeks.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Hadlock posted:

Wow am I reading that right, 60 Argentine pesos to the 1 USD? And it was about 3.5:1 back in 2008? Is this a good time to go on a cheap trip

Most things will increase in price almost exactly proportional to the drop compared to the USD. The cheapest time to go was back in like 2010-2016 when they had their market exchange rate which was double the government rate. A steak that cost 40 AR$ in 2008 is probably to cost like 600 AR$ now even though the beef is domestic.

I mean I imagine so, that’s how it is for Tunisia when the dinar drops, like 95% of things increase in price proportionately except a few random things that have fixed prices like bread and electricity, which become crazy cheap. Unless your idea of tourism is eating rice, beans, and bread, then I don’t think you’ll save much unless they go back to having the currency controls which distort the market and favor tourists and both the richest and poorest locals while gutting the middle class.

Oakland Martini
Feb 14, 2008
Refugee from the great account hijacking of 2008

Swarmin Swedes posted:

Does anyone have any experience traveling/hiking in Patagonia in winter time?

My partner and I are going to be in Buenos Aires/Argetnina from June 30th to August 15th. I think we are going to try and set up base in Buenos Aires but we were exploring the possibility of trying to do some of Patagonia for maybe a week or two (or longer if it isn't prohibitively expensive) of the trip. I know the weather will probably be not ideal but from what research I have done it seems manageable if a little cold especially if we stay out of the mountains. It also seems like a lot shuts down for the winter so there would be concerns about finding lodging, guides, and whatever else we need. We had our eyes on either Calafate and Challten or Ushuaia and Tierra Del Fuego or a combination of the two. Additionally any other suggestions for things to do would be amazing.

Bariloche, Argentina is another awesome hiking spot, and it is sure to be a vibrant town during the winter as it has a ton of skiing. I have not been to Patagonia in the winter so take this with a big grain of salt, but I actually thought the hiking near Bariloche (in the southern part of Nahuel Huapi NP) to be as good or better than the hiking in El Chalten (did the overnight trek to FitzRoy and Laguna Torre) and Torres del Paine (did the W Trek).

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer

Saladman posted:

Most things will increase in price almost exactly proportional to the drop compared to the USD. The cheapest time to go was back in like 2010-2016 when they had their market exchange rate which was double the government rate. A steak that cost 40 AR$ in 2008 is probably to cost like 600 AR$ now even though the beef is domestic.

I mean I imagine so, that’s how it is for Tunisia when the dinar drops, like 95% of things increase in price proportionately except a few random things that have fixed prices like bread and electricity, which become crazy cheap. Unless your idea of tourism is eating rice, beans, and bread, then I don’t think you’ll save much unless they go back to having the currency controls which distort the market and favor tourists and both the richest and poorest locals while gutting the middle class.

Price increases usually lag behind inflation and currency devaluation for quite a few months. Prices still haven't caught up to the 25ish% devaluation from early August, for example.

I'm still seeing tons of things in pre-August prices just because locals simply can't pay 25% more, also fuel and electricity/natural gas prices are being heavily subsidized and/or kept low via political pressure before the election, so costs haven't gone up as much as the "should have".

Jfc good loving luck to Alberto Fernández with this shitshow

In any case my point is that things are "cheap" in dollars are right now, even more so if you're willing to find someone that will give you the unofficial dollar price.

Bollock Monkey
Jan 21, 2007

The Almighty

Swarmin Swedes posted:

Any advice for barrios to stay in in Buenos Aires. We are going to be there for 3 or 4 weeks? We would like to stay away from the super touristy areas but still be close to bars/restaurants/cultural centers.
Duque Hotel in Palermo Soho didn't feel like it was in a tourist centre and had brilliant service, can highly recommend. It's tucked back and a few streets up from the bit where all the bars and restaurants are clustered so it felt peaceful whilst still being easy to get out of an evening or to the metro station.

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huhu
Feb 24, 2006
I'm in Mexico City until Monday and then I'm in Oaxaca until Saturday when I fly back to Mexico City. Any suggestions for things I must do to enjoy Dia de Los Muertos? I just saw that there's a parade on Sunday in Mexico City. Otherwise I'm not sure if there's anything I should be doing.

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