Adios Argentina

After well over a month the time has come to farewell Argentina and BA and journey back up north to Bolivia - it definitely doesn't feel like it was long enough though. There is so much to see and do here that I'm sad to leave! From good markets, to great steak and fabulous wine - it is definitely a place, if I ever chose to move from Sydney, that would be high on my list. The place oozes character and charm that you don't get in Australia (but I will always love you Sydney...)

The crowd at the San Telmo markets

To say a last big hoorah to BA we ventured, for the fourth time, to Desnivel, our favourite steak haunt and pigged out on lomo, mashed pumpkin and potato accompanied by probably our last bottle of good Argentine wine for a while :( Pity we were so exhausted from having not even an hours sleep the night before (thank you crappy credit card company and poo head at Carnival that thought Claire's debit card was a credit card that meant we were up all night) that we struggled to fully enjoy it.

Dog walkers of BA

Oh and If you ever get to BA, and happen to be near the bus terminal - get a 'choripan' from the street vendor there. And make sure it is dripping with chimichurri. We'd been eyeing them every time we went to and from the bus station, however often having our hands full of extra luggage, we sadly would walk past - sniffing the air as much as we could, in the hope we could almost taste it. This time, though hands entirely full, we made the stop. And by George it was worth it. Sooooo tasty and the chili in the chimichurrin certainly gave us the kick along we needed to make it to the hostel, where we passed out from utter exhaustion.

Our final journey the next morning back to the train station - which we are now pros at because we have done it soooo many times - was epic, to say the least. Arriving at Diagonal Norte to change trains onto the Retiro line (where the bus station is), we soon discovered the mayhem that is subte travel in Buenos Aires peak hour. The first train pulled up just as we arrived at the station. Sweeeeeet, I thought. We're going to make it to the station in plenty of time. As the train came to stop however, we quickly realised that there was not an inch of room in any carriage. Let alone space for two girls carrying packs the size of teenagers on their backs. The people were packed into the train worse than a can of sardines. The looks of extreme discomfort on their faces, some smooched against glass of the doors of the carriage, said it all. We decided to wait for the next one. We need not have bothered, for it was just as bad. If not worse. We approached the doors, determined to get on. Just like a scrum, we were pushed from behind by fellow passengers, also determined to get their inch of space in the carriage. After a lot of pushing and shoving, we were on. The door just clipping closed behind our packs.

Where Eva Peron gave her famous speech - La Casa Rosada

Though I wish I didn't have to leave, the bank balance is crying, and Spanish lessons in Bolivia call, so 37 hour bus journey, here we come....